8 paid apps and their free replacements that run from a folder.

Timeabout 15 minutes to read

Cost$0 for every replacement

Eight paid apps that content creators and small businesses pay for, each with a free replacement that runs from a folder. For every one you see what you get and what you give up. All eight cost nothing and need no account and no installer: you unpack a folder.

At a glance

Ps~~Photoshop~~→KrKrita

You getPainting and drawing with layers and brushes. Opens and saves Photoshop .psd files.

You give upGenerative Fill and the other AI tools.

Ai~~Illustrator~~→IkInkscape

You getLogos and icons that stay sharp at any size. Exports PNG, PDF and SVG.

You give upAdobe Fonts and cloud sync.

Pr~~Premiere Pro~~→ShShotcut

You getCutting, trimming, music and titles. Exports an MP4 with sound.

You give upPremiere's AI tools, the Frame.io link and shared team projects.

Ac~~Acrobat Pro~~→PDPDFsam Basic

You getSplit, merge, rotate and reorder PDF pages.

You give upEditing text inside a PDF, signing and forms.

Lo~~Loom~~→OBOBS Studio

You getRecords your screen and camera with no time limit.

You give upThe instant share link.

1P~~1Password~~→KPKeePassXC

You getAll your passwords in one encrypted file on your own PC.

You give upAutomatic sync between phone and PC, and password recovery.

No~~Notion~~→JoJoplin

You getNotebooks, checklists and tables in plain text files.

You give upDatabases, boards and live pages you share with a team.

Lu~~Lucidchart~~→drdraw.io

You getFlowcharts and diagrams. Opens Visio files.

You give upSeveral people editing one drawing at the same time.

Every one runs from a folder on your PC, with no account and no installer. The sections below show each program and what you give up.

Before you start

A Windows PC with about 3 GB of free disk space if you want to try all eight.
No account and no administrator rights are needed for any of them.
This is the second Free swaps guide. The first one covers a free voice generator, in the voice generator guide.

What the paid apps cost

Paid app	What it costs a month	Free replacement
Photoshop	$11.03	Krita
Illustrator	$11.03	Inkscape
Premiere Pro	$11.03	Shotcut
Acrobat Pro	$9.60	PDFsam Basic
Loom Business	$18.00	OBS Studio
1Password	$3.99	KeePassXC
Notion Plus	$10.00	Joplin
Lucidchart Individual	$9.00	draw.io

Prices change and differ by country, so check yours before you decide.

1. Photoshop: Krita

Photoshop, $11.03 a month → Krita, $0

What it is. Krita is a painting and image program. You can paint, draw, retouch photos and work in layers, the same way you would in Photoshop.

A sunset painting open on the canvas in Krita — Krita with a sunset picture open. It is a test painting I drew for this guide.

Example: I painted a sunset in Krita and saved it as a Photoshop .psd file. That means a file you make in Krita opens in Photoshop with its layers, so you can pass work to someone who still uses Photoshop.

You give upPhotoshop's generative tools (Generative Fill, Remove, Harmonize). Krita is made for drawing and painting.

2. Illustrator: Inkscape

Illustrator, $11.03 a month → Inkscape, $0

What it is. Inkscape is a vector drawing program for logos, icons and anything that must stay sharp at any size. You can draw shapes and text, and export them as PNG, PDF or SVG.

Inkscape with a logo drawn for this test: the diamond is selected and the Fill and Stroke panel is open.

Example: I drew a logo and exported it as a PNG and a PDF. Try opening one of your own Illustrator files to see how it looks.

You give upAdobe Fonts, generative recolour and cloud sync with the other Adobe apps. Inkscape is made for screens, and a print shop that needs full CMYK may ask for Illustrator files.

3. Premiere Pro: Shotcut

Premiere Pro, $11.03 a month → Shotcut, $0

What it is. Shotcut is a video editor. You can cut and trim clips, add music, titles and transitions, and export an MP4.

Shotcut with a video preview, a three clip timeline and a music track — Shotcut with three clips and a music track on the timeline, and the preview above.

Example: I put three clips and a music track on the timeline and exported a short MP4 with sound. Try it on your own footage first.

You give upPremiere's AI tools such as Text-Based Editing, Generative Extend and Enhance Speech, the Frame.io link and shared team projects.

4. Acrobat Pro: PDFsam Basic

Acrobat Pro, $9.60 a month → PDFsam Basic, $0

What it is. PDFsam Basic splits, merges, rotates and reorders PDF pages. For example, you can pull pages 3 to 5 out of a long PDF, or join several PDFs into one.

PDFsam Basic with the Merge tool and three sample PDFs in the list — PDFsam Basic with the Merge tool open and three sample PDFs in the list. The tools you get are on the left: extract, split, merge and rotate.

Example: I merged three sample PDFs into one file. Splitting, rotating and reordering pages work the same way.

You give upEditing text inside a PDF, signing, redacting and forms. PDFsam Basic works with whole pages: it splits, merges, rotates and reorders them.

5. Loom: OBS Studio

Loom Business, $18 a month → OBS Studio, $0

What it is. OBS Studio records your screen and your camera, so you can make tutorials, talking-head videos and screen walkthroughs with no time limit. Loom has a free plan too, limited to 25 videos of 5 minutes each at 720p, so the $18 plan is the one you would be dropping.

OBS Studio with three scenes, a picture source and the recording controls — OBS Studio with three scenes (Intro, Interview, Outro) and a picture as the source. Nothing is recording here.

Example: I set up three scenes (Intro, Interview, Outro) that you can switch between while recording. The first start opens a setup wizard, which you answer yourself.

You give upThe instant share link, viewer counts and automatic titles. OBS saves a video file on your PC, and you upload and share it yourself.

6. 1Password: KeePassXC

1Password, $3.99 a month → KeePassXC, $0

What it is. KeePassXC keeps your passwords in one encrypted file on your own PC. You remember one master password, and it fills in or copies the rest.

KeePassXC with a sample database of five entries, labels shown in English.

Example: I made a password file with a made-up master password, added a fake entry and opened it again. A wrong master password was refused. I used no real passwords.

You give upAutomatic sync between your phone and PC. With KeePassXC you keep the file in a folder that OneDrive or a similar service syncs, and open it on your phone with a separate app.

7. Notion: Joplin

Notion Plus, $10 a month → Joplin, $0

What it is. Joplin is a notes app. You can keep notebooks, checklists, tables and web clippings, and everything is stored as plain text on your PC. Notion also has a free plan at $0, so you are only replacing the paid one.

Joplin with a notebook of sample notes and a note open on the right — Joplin with a notebook of sample notes: the list is in the middle, the open note with a table and a checklist is on the right.

Example: I wrote sample notes with a table and a checklist, as you see above.

You give upNotion's databases, boards and live pages shared with a team. Joplin is for writing and keeping notes, and it syncs through a service you pick, such as Dropbox or OneDrive.

8. Lucidchart: draw.io

Lucidchart Individual, $9 a month → draw.io, $0

What it is. draw.io, also called diagrams.net, draws flowcharts, mind maps and diagrams from ready-made shapes. Lucidchart has a free plan too, limited to 3 documents with 75 shapes each.

draw.io with a flowchart from idea to publish — draw.io with a flowchart from a new idea to publishing. The shapes are on the left and the diagram on the right.

Example: I drew a flowchart from a new idea to publishing and exported it as a PNG.

You give upLive commenting, version history and the Microsoft 365 and Jira links. draw.io edits files that you save and share. It opens Visio files, so try one of yours.

Before you cancel anything

Each of these is a download you unpack and run from a folder. That tells you it runs, not that it fits your work, so do these three things first:

Open your own files in it. Your photos, videos, PDFs, notes or drawings, not mine. Do this before you cancel anything.
Check Acrobat first. PDFsam Basic works with whole pages, so if you pay for Acrobat to edit text or sign, see whether your own jobs need that.
Keep the paid plan until it works. Cancel only after a real job went through the free program from start to finish.

How to run a portable app

A portable program is a folder that you unzip and run, with nothing installed and no changes to Windows. Right-click the zip, choose Extract All, open the new folder and double-click the program inside: krita.exe in the bin folder, KeePassXC.exe, inkscape.exe in the bin folder, shotcut.exe, pdfsam.exe, obs64.exe in bin and then 64bit, and draw.io.exe. Joplin is a single file, JoplinPortable.exe. Delete the folder to remove the program.

Two tips. The Inkscape download is a .7z file: get the small 7-Zip program 7zr.exe from 7-zip.org and run 7zr.exe x inkscape.7z. For draw.io, pick the download with "windows" in its name. On the first start some programs take a minute to open a window.

How to get the best result

Pick the swap that matches one real job you do every week, and do that job in the free program before you cancel anything.

Use your own files. Open your photos, videos, PDFs, notes or drawings in the free app and look at the result.
Keep the paid plan until the free one has carried a whole job from start to finish.
KeePassXC: write your master password down somewhere safe and keep the database file in a synced folder.
OBS Studio: answer the setup wizard once, then save a short test recording to see the sound and the picture.
Prices: they change and differ by country, so check yours on the company page before you decide.

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