The New Leaf Journal is powered by WordPress and and other free and open source software and services. I use free and open source operating systems, tools, and services on my own computers and devices. Below, I will recommend some of my favorite FOSS software and services in several categories. If you are interested in some of the software we use here on WordPress, see my related resource page on WordPress plugins and themes .
The following lists are not intended to be exhaustive. I will list software and services that I personally use or used regularly in the past. I will periodically update the list to add new software and services as I try different tools. What works for me may not work for you, but I think that most readers will find a few suggestions to try for their own computers and devices.
Services S erviceSource Purpose Free? Self-Hostable? Analysis Bitwarden GH Passwords -mium Yes A terrific FOSS password manager with a robust free plan. I have been a customer since 2020. Cryptpad GH Encrypted collaboration -mium Yes FOSS Google Drive alternative. Solid free plan and can be self-hosted. JMP Chat GL SMS-XMPP Bridge No No Bridges a phone number to an XMPP account. I reviewed it here . Mullva d V P N GH VPN No No My go-to VPN provider. Posteo GH Email Host No No I use Posteo for my personal email. Open source, reasonably priced, and supports IMAP and POP3. Tutanota GH Email Host -mium No I use Tutanota for a password management email account. Its Android client works well for that purpose. SimpleLogin GH Email Aliasing -mium Yes FOSS email aliasing service. Robust free plan. I have premium which allows for custom domains. Snikket GH XMPP Hosting In Beta Yes I use Snikket to host a custom domain XMPP account that is linked to my JMP Chat number. Standard Ebooks GH Free ebooks Yes No Standard Ebooks produces beautifully formatted ebook classics that are available for free. Site and books are open source. Wallabag.it GH Read-it-Later No Yes I am not using Wallabag at the moment, but it is a great tool for saving articles to read later. It can be self-hosted, but the official instance is reasonably priced.
Bookmarks and Organizing Tool Source Purpose Platforms Analysis Buku GH CLI bookmarks manager Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android (Termux) Powerful bookmarks manager – I use it with Bukubrow (see web extensions) to manage bookmarks across browsers. Bukuserver GH GUI browser for Buku Linux, MacOS, Windows Graphical browser for Buku bookmarks that exposes a front-end on a local web server. TagSpaces GH Local file organizer Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android Tag and organize local files. I am using it in conjunction with SingleFile (see Web Browser Extensions) and Zim (see Writing Tools).
Chat Clients Client Source Protocol Platforms Analysis Element GH Matrix Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS The flagship Matrix client and best choice for desktop. I use it inside Ferdi (see below). Gajim GL XMPP Linux, Windows, MacOS Minimal XMPP client and my current choice for desktop. Snikket GH XMPP Android I am using the Snikket client (along with server) on my Android-based mobile devices.
Email Clients Client Source Platforms Analysis K-9 Mail GH Android Terrific free email client for Android-based devices. Thunderbird LP Linux, Windows, MacOS Email client (and more) for the desktop. Tutanota GH Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS Tutanota only works in its own client. On desktop, I use it through Ferdi.
Media Software Source Purpose Platforms Analysis Calibre GH E-book manager and viewer Linux, Windows, MacOS Incredibly powerful e-book manager and viewer with a plethora of features. FreeTube GH YouTube client Linux, Windows, MacOS Very good desktop YouTube client that also allows for downloading videos. Hypnotix GH IPTV player Linux Quality IPTV player. I use it to watch NHK TV World. Lutris GH Game launcher and manager Linux Game launcher and manager for Linux with compatibility tools. mpv GH Media player Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android Simple lightweight media player. NewPipe GH YouTube/PeerTube client Android Privacy-friendly YouTube client for Android. PlayOnLinux GH Game launcher/compatibility Linux Simple game launcher for Windows software on Linux. Radiolise GH IPTV/Radio PWA IPTV and radio progressive web app. SMPlayer GH Media player Linux, Windows Video player front-end for MPlayer. Can use mpv as video backend.
Operating Systems Passwords and 2FA Application Source Purpose Platform Analysis Aegis Authenticator GH 2FA (HOTP/TOTP) Android Essential simple free and open source 2FA application for Android. KeePassDX GH Password Manager Android KeePass application for Android. KeePassXC GH Password Manager Linux, Windows, MacOS Local password manager that manages KDBX databases. Working on transitioning to it for all of my passwords.
Client Source Platform Analysis FeedReader – DecSync GH Linux RSS reader that syncs with DecSync. I use this on my computers. Flym-DecSync GH Android RSS reader that syncs with DecSync. I use this on my tablet. spaRSS-DecSync GH Android RSS reader that syncs with DecSync. I use this on my phone.
Thing Source Purpose Analysis Cloudron GL App installer/control panel I use Cloudron to manage the server running this humble online magazine. WordPress WP Blogging CMS. Powering The New Leaf Journal and millions of websites around the world.
Tool Source Purpose Platforms Analysis DecSync GH Sync contacts, calendars, tasks, RSS, and OSM locations. Linux, Android I use DecSync with Syncthing for syncing contacts and feeds between my computers and mobile devices Syncthing GH P2P synchronization tool Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android An essential tool for syncing directories directly between devices. I use it for many purposes.
Web Browsers Browser Source For Based On Analysis Badwolf Link Linux WebKitGTK+ Very simple, minimal, and privacy-friendly browser that I use for opening articles from my RSS reader. Bromite GH Android Chromium A de-Googled version of Chromium for Android. This is my primary browser on /e/ and LineageOS. Falkon GL Linux QTWebEngine A terrific lightweigh web browser for Linux operating. Firefox Merc Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS Self (Gecko) One of my secondary browsers on desktop. Make sure to go through its options carefully before using it. Ungoogled Chromium GH Linux, MacOS, Android Chromium Chromium without the Google. My primary desktop web browser. I enjoy the 2.5 hours it takes to build.
Web Extensions Extension Source For Purpose Analysis Bukubrow GH Chromium, Firefox Buku bookmarks integration Easy browser integration for the Buku bookmarks manager ClearURLs G H Chromium, Firefox Link cleaning Not technically necessary with uBlock Origin, but I appreciate some of its extra features. Dark Reader GH Chromium, Firefox, Safari Dark mode For those who like reading in dark mode. It also has a light mode. LocalCDN CB Chromium, Firefox CDN emulator Loads third-party resources locally. Mark-It GH Chromium, Firefox Notes A fun extension that adds markdown note taking to one’s web browser. Privacy Redirect GH Chromium, Firefox Rediretor Redirects links to several social platforms to privacy-respecting frontends. Search by Image GH Chromium, Firefox Image search Easy way to search for images using many search engines. Sidebery GH Firefox Vertical tabs Add vertical tabs to Firefox. With a bit of tweaking, you can create some interesting set-ups. SingleFile GH Chromium, Firefox Save webpages as HTML files Powerful extension for saving webpages as HTML files. Skip Redirect GH Chromium, Firefox Skip imtermidiary URLs Skips intermediary URLs and takes user directly to end location. The Great Suspender – No Track GH Chromium Tab suspender Suspend unused tag. I covered it and another good option, The Marvelous Suspender, in an article . uBlock Origin GH Chromium, Firefox, Palemoon Ad and Script Blocking The essential extension. I use it for ads, scripts, and many trackers. How do people live without it?
Note: Chromium refers to browsers based on Chromium. Examples: Chromium, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, and Opera. Tool Source Purpose Compatible With Analysis Ghostwriter GH Markdown Editor Linux, Windows (portable), MacOS (unofficial) My favorite markdown editor. I reviewed it here . Libre Office Writer Gerrit Word Processor Linux, Windows, MacOS Terrific FOSS alternative to Microsoft Word Markor GH Text/Markdown Editor Android Well-rounded markdown/text editor for Android. Pepys GH Markdown Journal Linux, Windows, MacOS Simple markdown daily journal Zettlr GH Markdown Editor/Research Linux, Windows, MacOS Markdown editor with powerful features for research Zim GH Desktop Wiki Linux, Windows, MacOS A personal desktop wiki with too many features to detail here
Miscellaneous Resources Resource Source Purpose Analysis Awesome Humane Tech GH Tech resource List of humane tech software and services – sorted by category. Search Engine Party GL Search engine resource A sortable list of search engines and how they compare in various metrics. The Visual Novel Database Repo Visual Novel wiki Database of visual novels with more than 24,000 entries. We include a link to it in all of our visual novel reviews.
