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title: My favorite open source tools
header: header.jpg
---

I'm a huge fan of all things open-source. I've spent many hours exploring open-source software, and I've discovered so many fantastic tools and apps that have improved my workflows in so many ways. I want to share my personal favorites with this blog post.
These are the open-source gems that I believe deserve a spot on everyone's computer. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do! Let's get started!

## Design & Prototyping

For the few times that I need to design something or prototype something visually, I found that using open-source tools helps me in saving costs for subscriptions or software itself.

### Penpot

> **Repository:** [https://github.com/penpot/penpot](https://github.com/penpot/penpot)

Penpot is an exceptional open-source software due to its versatile design capabilities, collaborative features, and platform independence. It offers a range of design tools such as vector editing, layer management, and reusable components, allowing users to create detailed UI/UX designs. The platform facilitates real-time collaboration, enabling design teams to work together effectively on shared projects. As a browser-based application, Penpot is compatible with various operating systems, making it accessible to a wide range of users.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://penpot.app/">Try Penpot</a>

### Excalidraw

> **Repository:** [https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw](https://github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw)

Excalidraw excels as an open-source software with its user-friendly interface, powerful drawing tools, and collaborative features. Users can create freehand drawings, shapes, and insert text with customizable styles and colors. Real-time collaboration is enabled through shareable links, allowing teams to work together seamlessly. Lastly, its ability to export drawings in various formats, like SVG and PNG, makes it a versatile tool for users across different industries.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://excalidraw.com/">Try Excalidraw</a>

## Game Development

### Godot Engine

> **Repository:** [https://github.com/godotengine/godot](https://github.com/godotengine/godot)

Godot is a remarkable open-source software due to its comprehensive game development capabilities, flexibility, and active community support. The engine provides a feature-rich environment with a powerful scene system, visual scripting, and built-in node architecture, enabling users to create both 2D and 3D games with ease. Its scripting language, GDScript, is easy to learn and offers a high level of customization, allowing developers to create unique gameplay mechanics. Furthermore, the thriving Godot community fosters continual improvement and offers invaluable resources for developers, from tutorials to asset libraries.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://godotengine.org/">Try Godot</a>

### Aseprite

> **Repository:** [https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/)

Aseprite is an outstanding open-source software, specifically designed for creating pixel art and animations, with a user-friendly interface and an extensive set of tools. It offers a wide range of features such as layers, frames, customizable palettes, and tileset support, which empower artists to produce detailed and intricate designs. Aseprite also includes advanced animation capabilities with onion skinning, sprite sheet generation, and loop controls, enabling users to bring their creations to life. Furthermore, the active community behind Aseprite ensures ongoing development, support, and a wealth of learning resources for users.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://www.aseprite.org/">Try Aseprite</a>

## Modelling & Texturing

### Material Maker

Material Maker (a software made with the Godot Engine btw) can be best described as a tool for creating textures with a node-based setup. You combine different types of nodes that influence your texture (e.g. adds a pattern, rotates the texture or adds contrast or shapes to it) into a final graph that computes your final texture. There are great examples of these node graphs out there for you to take a look at. If you need a procedurally generated texture, try it out.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://www.materialmaker.org/">Try Material Maker</a>


### Blender

Blender is a whole suite of tools related to graphics and 3d modelling. You can edit your 3d models, texture them or render out images from your models. I use it mostly to edit my 3d meshes from photogrammetry or 3d scans and optimize them for the web.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://www.blender.org/">Try Blender</a>


## Typesetting and Writing

### Typst

> **Repository:** [https://github.com/typst/typst](https://github.com/typst/typst)

Typst is a great open-source software that offers seamless collaboration, customizable templates, and an intuitive environment for creating and editing documents. It runs in a browser, allowing users to work together across different locations and ensuring that everyone stays on the same page with shared documents in team workspaces. The software's reactive templates automatically format content as users type, and it supports switching templates without altering the content. With features like instant previews, clear error messages, familiar programming constructs, and easy formula editing, Typst is designed for scientific writing but is also easily accessible by beginners.

<a class="cta-button my-4" href="https://typst.app/">Try Typst</a>
