Open-source software, reviewed in plain language
Flink is a small, independent catalog of free and open-source programs. Every entry explains what the software does, who it is for, where it falls short, and where to get it from the official source.
Open-source software has never been better, but finding the right tool is still harder than it should be. Project pages are written for developers, comparison articles are often written for advertisers, and app stores are full of look-alike clones. We try to fill the gap with short, practical write-ups that you can read in a few minutes before deciding whether a program is worth installing.
We do not develop any of the programs listed here, and we are not affiliated with their authors. Every download button on this site takes you directly to the project's own website or code repository, so you always get the original release.
Browse by category
Notes & Knowledge
Note-taking apps, personal wikis and outliners that keep your data in open formats.
Media
Players, home media servers and recording tools for video and audio.
Security & Privacy
Password managers and encryption tools you can inspect and trust.
Recently reviewed
Joplin
Markdown notes with end-to-end encrypted sync.
Jellyfin
A self-hosted media server for your own library.
KeePassXC
An offline password manager built on the KDBX format.
How we choose software
A program has to meet a few basic conditions before it appears in the catalog:
- A recognised open-source license. The source code must be publicly available under a license approved by the Open Source Initiative or a widely accepted free-software license.
- Active maintenance. We look for recent releases, a responsive issue tracker and a project that is not abandoned.
- Usable by non-developers. If a tool requires compiling from source just to try it, it is probably not a good fit for this catalog.
- Open data. We favour software that lets you export your data in a standard format, so you are never locked in.
Read more about our approach on the About page.