One subscription looks cheap. Ten of them do not. A design app, a photo editor, a language app, a fitness tracker and a bit of cloud storage can easily cost more than your phone bill every month.
The good news: almost every popular paid app now has a free alternative that does the main job. We wrote a full guide for each one. This page is the shortcut. It gives you the best free pick per paid app in one line, then sends you to the full list when you want the details.
When we pick a free app, we check the same five things every time:
- Free tier limits: how much you get before it asks you to pay.
- Watermarks: whether free exports carry the app's logo.
- Ads: how many, and whether you can live with them.
- Account needed: whether you can start without signing up.
- Data export: whether you can take your data with you if you leave.
Last checked: September 2026. Prices are US App Store or official US prices unless noted, and they come from each full guide. Plans and prices differ by country and change without notice.
- Design: Adobe Express replaces Canva, Krita replaces Procreate and VN replaces CapCut, all free.
- Photos: Snapseed on your phone and darktable on your computer replace Lightroom. Ente gives you 10 GB of encrypted photo backup for free.
- Health and family: Cronometer for calories, Komoot or Nike Run Club for runs and rides, Google Maps location sharing for family.
- Learning: Language Transfer is a fully free language course. AnkiDroid and AnkiWeb are the real Anki at no cost.
- Productivity and media: Microsoft To Do is completely free on every platform, and Libby lends you audiobooks with a library card.
- Rather pay once? See our list of [buy once software](/buy-once-software/) with no subscription.
Paid apps and their best free alternative
Search by app or job. The price is what the paid app costs, as listed in the full guide.
| Paid app | What it costs | Best free pick | Full list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procreate | $12.99 once (iPad only) | Krita (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android beta) | Procreate alternatives |
| CapCut | Pro $19.99/mo, Standard $9.99/mo | VN (no watermark) | CapCut alternatives |
| Canva | Pro US$18/mo or US$144/yr | Adobe Express | Canva alternatives |
| Lightroom | US$11.99/mo | Snapseed (phone), darktable (desktop) | Lightroom alternatives |
| Life360 | Silver $9.99, Gold $16.99, Platinum $24.99 | Google Maps location sharing | Life360 alternatives |
| MyFitnessPal | Premium $19.99/mo or $79.99/yr | Cronometer | MyFitnessPal alternatives |
| Strava | $11.99/mo or $79.99/yr | Komoot (routes), Nike Run Club (running) | Strava alternatives |
| Duolingo | Super $12.99/mo | Language Transfer | Duolingo alternatives |
| Anki | Free, except AnkiMobile $24.99 once on iPhone | AnkiDroid and AnkiWeb, or Mochi | Anki alternatives |
| Audible | $14.95/mo (Standard $8.99/mo) | Libby | Audible alternatives |
| Things 3 | $9.99 iPhone, $19.99 iPad, $49.99 Mac | Microsoft To Do | Things 3 alternatives |
| Google Photos | 15 GB free, then from $1.99/mo | Ente (10 GB free), Immich (self-hosted) | Google Photos alternatives |
| Truecaller | Premium ₹99/mo or ₹899/yr | Google Phone (Android), Silence Unknown Callers (iPhone) | Truecaller alternatives |
| Notion | Free plan, paid plans for more | Obsidian, Coda | Notion alternatives |
| Todoist | Free, Pro $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr | nTask, TickTick | Todoist alternatives |
Creative: drawing, video, design and photo
Procreate. Procreate is a fair $12.99 one-time buy, but it runs only on iPad. Krita is free and open source on Windows, Mac and Linux, with a beta for Android tablets and Chromebooks. On an Android tablet, ibisPaint X and MediBang Paint are free with ads. See all Procreate alternatives.
CapCut. CapCut Pro costs $19.99 a month, and CapCut is still banned in India. VN is free with no watermark and a multi-track timeline on Android, iPhone, Mac and Windows. For Reels and Shorts, Edits and YouTube Create are fully free. See all CapCut alternatives.
Canva. Canva Pro is US$18 a month or US$144 a year (₹4,000 a year in India). Adobe Express is the closest free match, with 100,000+ free templates, 5GB of storage and phone apps. Affinity, made by Canva itself, is now completely free on Windows and Mac. See all Canva alternatives.
Lightroom. The Lightroom plan is US$11.99 a month. Snapseed by Google is free on your phone with no ads or watermarks. On a computer, darktable is a free, open source RAW editor with a photo library like Lightroom Classic. See all Lightroom alternatives.
Health and family
Life360. Life360 Silver is listed at $9.99 and still gives you only 2 place alerts. Google Maps location sharing is free on Android and iPhone and can alert you when someone arrives or leaves. All-iPhone families can use Apple Find My. See all Life360 alternatives.
MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal Premium is $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year, and the barcode scanner is behind it. Cronometer gives you free barcode scanning and custom macros on the free plan. FatSecret is another generous free option. See all MyFitnessPal alternatives.
Strava. A Strava subscription is $11.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Komoot lets you plan routes for free, and your first map region is free forever. Nike Run Club has no subscription at all. See all Strava alternatives.
Learning
Duolingo. Super Duolingo is $12.99 a month, and the free Energy system cuts sessions short. Language Transfer is a fully free audio course with no ads, no sign-up and no paid tier. Busuu is the pick if you want a structured course with a free plan. See all Duolingo alternatives.
Anki. Anki is mostly free already. Only AnkiMobile on iPhone and iPad costs $24.99 once. AnkiDroid and AnkiWeb give you the real Anki for free. On iPhone, Mochi is free offline with unlimited cards and imports Anki decks. See all Anki alternatives.
Productivity
Things 3. Things 3 costs $9.99 on iPhone, $19.99 on iPad and $49.99 on Mac, and it has no Android, Windows or web app. Microsoft To Do is completely free on all of those. TickTick is the best overall pick if you want more features. See all Things 3 alternatives.
Notion. Notion has a free plan, but it is not the right shape for everyone. Obsidian keeps your notes on your own computer and works offline. Coda mixes documents, tables and spreadsheets for team projects. See all Notion alternatives.
Todoist. Todoist Pro is $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and the free plan caps you at 5 personal projects. nTask is our top pick, with a free plan and a cheap paid plan. TickTick is a strong second on every major platform. See all Todoist alternatives.
Media and storage
Audible. An Audible membership is $14.95 a month for one credit. Libby lets you borrow audiobooks from your public library for free with a library card. LibriVox has over 20,000 free public domain audiobooks. See all Audible alternatives.
Google Photos. Google Photos gives you 15 GB shared with Gmail and Drive, then Google One starts at $1.99 a month for 100 GB. Ente gives you 10 GB free with end-to-end encryption. Immich is free and open source if you want to host your photos yourself. See all Google Photos alternatives.
Phone
Truecaller. Truecaller is mostly an India app, where Premium is ₹99 a month or ₹899 a year. On Android, Google Phone flags spam for free. On iPhone, Silence Unknown Callers plus Live Voicemail stop most spam calls. In India, CNAP now shows the caller's registered name with no app. See all Truecaller alternatives.
When paying is still worth it
- You use it every day and the paid features save you real time.
- You rely on sync across phone, tablet and computer, and the free pick does not match it.
- You need clean, watermark-free exports for work or clients.
- The app is a one-time purchase, like Procreate or Things 3. Paying once often costs less than a free app's upsell over a few years.
If you only use an app now and then, start with the free pick. Most paid apps have a free trial if you change your mind. And if you want to own your apps outright, see our buy once software list.
What is the best free alternative to Canva?
Is there a free app like Duolingo with no ads?
What is a free alternative to Google Photos?
Are free alternatives safe to use?
Are there apps I can pay for once instead of every month?
Sumit
ContributorHi, I'm Sumit, Being an introvert I have always been obsessed with technology-computers and reading dozens of posts to learn, find answers out of my curiosity. I love to write as I explore more.
