Free and open source marketing software alternatives
As small businesses look for ways to optimize their operations and stay competitive in a rapidly changing market, the choice of software they use can have a significant impact on their success.
Open source software has emerged as a popular option for small businesses seeking cost-effective and customizable solutions. Open source software offers a range of benefits, from lower costs to enhanced security and reliability, making it an attractive choice for businesses of all sizes.
- Cost-effective: FOSS is often free to use, which can significantly reduce software costs for small businesses.
- Customizable: FOSS is customizable, meaning that businesses can modify the software to meet their specific needs, without having to rely on expensive proprietary software or licensing.
- Reliability: FOSS software is often more reliable than proprietary software because it is tested and used by a large community of users.
- Compatibility: FOSS software is often compatible with multiple platforms, which can reduce compatibility issues between different systems.
- Flexibility: FOSS software is often more flexible than proprietary software because it can be easily integrated with other FOSS applications.
In this article, we will showcase some of the best options available on the market to paid software.
Mattermost
What it does: Team messaging, task and project management, and workflow orchestration in one place.
Alternative to: Slack, MS Teams, Trello, Jira, Notion
Flarum
URL: https://flarum.org/
What it does: Free and open source PHP based community software to create your own forum. Very useful for peer to peer customer support or brand community building.
Alternative to: Invison Community
Wekan
What it does: Project and task management through a Kanban board
Alternative to: Trello
Zulip
URL: https://zulip.com/
What it does: Real-time chat with an email threading model.
Alternative to: Microsoft Teams
Chaskiq
URL: https://chaskiq.io/
What it does: Messaging Platform for Marketing, Support & Sales
Alternative to: Hubspot, Freshdesk, tawk.to
Joplin
What it does: Ppen source note-taking app
Alternative to: Notion for business, Evernote
Passbolt
URL: https://www.passbolt.com/
What it does: Password manger for teams
Alternative to: LastPass, Dashlane
Rocket.chat
URL: https://rocket.chat/
What it does: Communication platform for staff and customers
Alternative to: Teams, Slack, Zoom
Etherpad
What it does: Online editor providing collaborative editing in really real-time
Alternative to: MS Word, Google Docs
Revive Adserver
URL: https://www.revive-adserver.com/
What it does: Free, open source ad serving system
Alternative to: Google Ad Manager, Google Adsense, AdButler
PrestaShop
URL: https://www.prestashop.com
What it does: Ecommerce platform
Alternative to: Shopify, Wix
Matomo
What it does: Website analytics
Alternative to: Google Analytics
UVdesk
What it does: Helpdesk solution for customer support
Alternative to: Zendesk
Log Chimp
URL: https://logchimp.codecarrot.net/
What it does: Track, manage, engage, and analyze your customers feedback
Alternative to: Canny
Discourse
URL: https://www.discourse.org/
What it does: A platform for community discussion.
Alternative to: Tribe, Circle