Linux Alternatives to Popular Apps

Switching to Linux doesn't mean giving up your favorite software. Here's what to use instead — and a lot of it is stuff you might already know.

One of the biggest worries people have about switching to Linux is: "Will my apps work?" The honest answer is that some Windows/Mac apps don't run natively on Linux, but for almost everything, there's a great alternative — and many of them are completely free.

Even better, a surprising number of popular apps already work on Linux. You might not even need to switch anything.

Good news: Many of the apps listed here are also available on Windows and Mac, so you can try them out before you switch to Linux. If you like them, you'll feel right at home.

Office & Productivity

Replacing: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
LibreOffice	Full office suite with Writer, Calc, and Impress — the most popular MS Office replacement on Linux	Free	Yes
OnlyOffice	Office suite that looks and feels closer to modern Microsoft Office, with great .docx/.xlsx compatibility	Free	Yes
Google Docs	Works in your browser — no install needed, and you probably already have a Google account	Free	Yes (it's a website)

Photo Editing

Replacing: Adobe Photoshop

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
GIMP	Powerful image editor that can do most of what Photoshop does — layers, filters, advanced tools, the works	Free	Yes
Krita	Built for digital painting and illustration — amazing brush engine, great with drawing tablets	Free	Yes
Photopea	Photoshop clone that runs entirely in your browser — even opens .psd files	Free (ad-supported)	Yes (it's a website)

Video Editing

Replacing: Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
DaVinci Resolve	Professional-grade video editor used in Hollywood — color grading, effects, audio, the whole package	Free (paid Studio version available)	Yes
Kdenlive	Beginner-friendly video editor with a clean interface — great for YouTube videos and simple edits	Free	Yes
Shotcut	Simple, no-nonsense video editor that's easy to pick up — supports tons of formats out of the box	Free	Yes

Music & Audio

Replacing: Audacity (it's already on Linux!), FL Studio, GarageBand

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Audacity	Record and edit audio — perfect for podcasts, voice recordings, and quick audio cleanup	Free	Yes
LMMS	Make music with virtual instruments, drum machines, and effects — similar to FL Studio or GarageBand	Free	Yes
Ardour	Full digital audio workstation for serious recording and mixing — used by professional musicians	Free (pay-what-you-want for binaries)	Yes

Web Browsers

Great news — all the major browsers already work on Linux. You don't need to switch.

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Firefox	Privacy-focused browser that comes pre-installed on most Linux distros	Free	Yes
Chrome	Google's browser — works exactly the same as on Windows, all your extensions and bookmarks carry over	Free	Yes
Brave	Chrome-based browser with built-in ad blocking and privacy features	Free	Yes

Email

Replacing: Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Thunderbird	Full-featured email client from Mozilla (the Firefox people) — supports Gmail, Outlook, and any email provider	Free	Yes
Evolution	Email, calendar, and contacts all in one — great Outlook-like experience for GNOME desktops	Free	No (Linux only)

Note-Taking

Replacing: OneNote, Evernote, Notion

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Obsidian	Powerful note-taking app that stores everything as plain text files — great for building a personal knowledge base	Free for personal use	Yes
Joplin	Open-source Evernote replacement with syncing, notebooks, and Markdown support	Free	Yes
Standard Notes	Simple, encrypted note-taking — focuses on privacy and keeping things clean	Free (paid plan for extra features)	Yes

Messaging

Most popular messaging apps already have native Linux versions. You won't miss a beat.

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Discord	Voice, video, and text chat — the official Linux app works just like on Windows	Free	Yes
Telegram	Fast, cloud-based messaging with great group features — native Linux app runs perfectly	Free	Yes
Signal	End-to-end encrypted messaging for the privacy-conscious — native Linux desktop app available	Free	Yes

Gaming

Replacing: Steam (it's already here!), Epic Games Store, GOG Galaxy

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Steam	The same Steam you know and love — native Linux app with Proton, which lets you play thousands of Windows games	Free (games sold separately)	Yes
Lutris	Game manager that helps you install and run games from GOG, Epic, Ubisoft, and more on Linux	Free	No (Linux only)
Heroic Launcher	Open-source launcher for Epic Games Store and GOG games — nice interface, easy to set up	Free	Yes

Tip: Check ProtonDB to see how well a specific Steam game runs on Linux before buying. Most popular games work great.

File Manager

Replacing: Windows Explorer, macOS Finder

Every Linux desktop comes with a file manager built in. Which one you get depends on your desktop environment:

File Manager	What it is	Comes with
Nautilus (Files)	Clean, simple file manager — focuses on ease of use	GNOME (Ubuntu, Fedora)
Dolphin	Feature-rich file manager with split panes, tabs, and built-in terminal	KDE Plasma (Kubuntu, Fedora KDE)
Nemo	Familiar and customizable — feels a lot like Windows Explorer	Cinnamon (Linux Mint)
Thunar	Lightweight and fast — gets the job done without any fluff	Xfce (Xubuntu, MX Linux)

Media Player

Replacing: Windows Media Player, iTunes, QuickTime

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
VLC	Plays absolutely everything — any video or audio format you throw at it, VLC handles it	Free	Yes
mpv	Minimalist, keyboard-driven video player — lightweight and blazing fast	Free	Yes
Celluloid	mpv with a friendly graphical interface — simple and clean for casual use	Free	No (Linux only)

Screen Recording & Streaming

Replacing: Bandicam, Camtasia, XSplit

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
OBS Studio	The gold standard for screen recording and live streaming — used by virtually every streamer and content creator	Free	Yes

Cloud Storage & File Syncing

Replacing: Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Nextcloud	Self-hosted cloud storage — like running your own Google Drive with files, calendar, contacts, and more	Free	Yes
Syncthing	Syncs files between your devices directly — no cloud server needed, completely private	Free	Yes
rclone	Command-line tool that connects to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3, and 40+ cloud providers	Free	Yes

Note: Dropbox and Google Drive don't have official Linux desktop apps, but rclone and third-party tools like Insync (paid) can fill the gap. Nextcloud and Syncthing are the go-to choices if you want something fully open source.

Password Manager

Replacing: LastPass, 1Password, Apple Keychain

App	What it is	Price	Also on Windows/Mac?
Bitwarden	Cloud-synced password manager with browser extensions, mobile apps, and a desktop app	Free (paid plan for extras)	Yes
KeePassXC	Offline password manager — stores everything in an encrypted file on your computer, no cloud needed	Free	Yes

How to Install These Apps

There are two main ways to install apps on Linux. Both are easy.

Option 1: Your distro's package manager

Open a terminal and use the install command for your distro. Here's how to install VLC as an example:

# Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS, Debian
sudo apt install vlc

# Fedora
sudo dnf install vlc

# Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS
sudo pacman -S vlc

This works for most of the apps on this page. Just replace vlc with the app's package name (usually the app name in lowercase, like gimp, kdenlive, or obs-studio).

Option 2: Flatpak (works on every distro)

Flatpak lets you install apps from Flathub, a universal app store for Linux. It works the same on every distro.

# Install an app from Flathub (example: OBS Studio)
flatpak install flathub com.obsproject.Studio

# You can search for apps too
flatpak search discord

Many distros (Fedora, Mint, and others) come with Flatpak already set up. If yours doesn't, check our Package Managers guide for setup instructions.

Which method should I use? Either one works fine. Your distro's package manager is great for everyday apps. Flatpak is handy when you want the latest version of something, or when an app isn't in your distro's default catalog.

Some apps provide their own installer

A few apps (like Chrome, Discord, and DaVinci Resolve) provide .deb or .rpm files on their websites that you can download and install directly — just like downloading an installer on Windows. Double-click the file and your system will handle the rest.