A curated, bilingual directory of genuinely free and open-source alternatives to proprietary software.
Visit the live directory · Deutsch · Contributing
FOSS Alternatives helps people find transparent, privacy-respecting software they can inspect, modify, and often self-host. The catalogue contains more than 600 tools across 40 categories and is available in German and English. Entries must use a recognized free-software or open-source license; source-available licenses such as BSL and SSPL are excluded.
- More than 600 curated FOSS tools with dedicated detail pages
- 40 categories spanning everyday apps, infrastructure, creative tools, and development
- German and English routes with a persistent language switcher
- Static full-text search powered by Pagefind
- Card and compact list views with filters and sorting
- Proprietary-to-FOSS comparison and self-hosting guides
- Dark and light themes without third-party tracking or cookies
- Responsive, accessible, fully static output deployed to GitHub Pages
- Weekly license-gated discovery of new projects through the GitHub API
- RSS feed and sitemap generation
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Astro 7 | Static site generation |
| Tailwind CSS 4 | Styling |
| TypeScript | Typed application and catalogue data |
| Pagefind | Static full-text search |
| GitHub Actions | Validation, discovery, and deployment |
| GitHub Pages | Hosting |
Requirements:
- Node.js 22.13 or newer
- npm 10 or newer
git clone https://github.com/BEKO2210/european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source.git
cd european-alternatives.eu-free-open-source
npm ci
npm run devThe development server prints the local URL. To create and inspect a production build:
npm run check
npm run lint
npm run build
npm run previewsrc/
├── components/ Reusable Astro components
├── data/ Categories, tool records, and shared types
├── i18n/ German and English UI strings and route helpers
├── layouts/ Shared page layouts and metadata
├── pages/ File-based German and English routes
├── styles/ Global Tailwind and site styles
└── utils/ Shared utilities
public/ Static images, icons, and generated assets
scripts/ Catalogue discovery and maintenance scripts
.github/workflows/ CI, deployment, and scheduled maintenance
Contributions in English or German are welcome. You can:
- suggest a FOSS tool,
- report incorrect or outdated information, or
- submit a pull request for catalogue, documentation, accessibility, or code improvements.
Before opening a pull request, read CONTRIBUTING.md, keep the change focused, and verify it locally:
npm ci
npm run check
npm run lint
npm run buildNew catalogue entries belong in the appropriate file under src/data/tools/.
Use an existing record as a template, provide German and English copy, use a
valid SPDX license identifier, and register the slug in
scripts/existing_slugs.json to prevent automated duplicates.
The weekly Auto-Discover FOSS Tools workflow searches public GitHub
repositories, validates candidates against the project's license allowlist,
rejects known source-available projects, categorizes accepted tools, and runs a
production build before committing generated data. Maintainers can also run the
workflow manually with configurable star and result limits.
Automation accelerates discovery; it does not relax the project's FOSS-only policy. Corrections and false-positive reports are always welcome.
- Application code is provided under the MIT License.
- Catalogue text and other editorial content are provided under CC BY-SA 4.0.
See the site's license overview for plain-language information about licenses used by catalogue entries.
Built for digital freedom, privacy, and software choice.