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30 Helpful Things On The Web That Are Free And Everyone Should Take Advantage Of, As Shared By People Online
The internet is a wonderful place: you can find answers to the most random questions you ever have, you can listen to music, watch movies, get something to eat without stepping foot outside, connect with people on the other side of the world, and other awesome things.
You know what is more awesome? That there are so many useful websites, apps, and services that are totally free. Redditor_2017 asked “What free things online should everyone take advantage of?“ and people came with an abundance of various resources, ranging from educational sites to ones giving financial services.
So here is a compilation of the amazing things that can be found online for free. Don’t forget to upvote the ones which you would use and feel free to add to the list in the comments!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
Dolly Partons Imagination Library
Dolly Partons Imagination Library if you have a child younger than 5. The send an age appropriate book once a month. It's amazing! I have so many books for my daughter since I signed up and she loves getting them in the mail!
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg. Lots of free classic books.
Photopea
Photopea. It's a Photoshop clone that is completely free (unintrusive side banner ad, can be removed by a one time payment) and has all the basic features of Photoshop, using basically the same interface. If you're used to Photoshop and just need to get something quick done, there's nothing better out there. Best of all, it's completely contained within your browser. There's no installation, no local files, not even an account or sign in.
Khan Academy
Use Khan Academy for literally everything. It’s free knowledge that you can use to clep out of university courses, or to simply invest your time in a worthwhile topic. Free quality education is best education.
Skiplagged
Skiplagged for flights. It’s so good that United sued them and lost.
They essentially exploit the pricing manipulation that airlines use. Example, if you want to go from Phoenix to Atlanta, sometimes a ticket from Phoenix to Ft. Lauderdale connecting through Atlanta is cheaper. This website finds those flights for ya. Just don’t check in a bag!
My 90s TV
My 90s TV.
This is more of a novelty website, but I think it's pretty cool and you can lose yourself for hours with nostalgia. It basically uses YouTube videos to simulate watching TV in 90s and you can specify what year you want and what categories you want to see when you change channels.
There is also a My 80s TV and a My 70s TV
Freecycle
Freecycle its litterly people giving away stuff they dont need/want any more that they can't/don't care enough to sell
Archive
Archive has lots of old but free content. For example a lot of DOS games, directly playable through the browser.
This is probably the worst description of archive.org that I've seen so far. It's so much more than this!
Unsplash
Unsplash is where you can get free photos of just about anything, provided by the photographers themselves, to do with what you like.
Duolingo
Duolingo I have been using this for quick Spanish lessons with my morning coffee for a couple years now. It doesn't override the need to take classes for college credits, but I recently had to take a course and it was a breeze. There are a few hundred languages that it teaches and the mobile app makes it easy to do anywhere while waiting.
1aauto
1aauto. It is a car parts supplier, but their videos show exactly what tools you need, what parts you need, and how to do a repair yourself. Great money saver if you don’t know much about mechanics. Someone I knew was going to get screwed by their mechanic (700 bucks for a water pump replacement). Showed them that, they did it themselves for 30 bucks. It makes it quicker too, knowing what tools you need ahead of time for your particular car.
Futureme
Futureme.
You can write letters to yourself (or other people) in the future! I personally love this type of self reflection and self support from my past self.
This way, I'll always have someone wishing me a happy birthday, even if it's just past me.
Zotero
Maybe not everyone, but for students Zotero is a lifesaver. It will store your sources, import them to a bibliography in whatever citation style you need, and even create in-text citations in your paper. It saves hours of work.
Here is a tight hug to whoever added this.Know that you are appreciated and loved.
Camelcamelcamel
Camelcamelcamel is really nice to track online prices to help you get the best deal. Also Black Friday is a myth and the sales aren't good at all.
Openlearn
OpenLearn from the UK’s Open University - free courses for all levels of study, samples of university materials, study skills nd tie-ins to BBC documentaries. Everything under Creative Commons licence so you can use it as you see fit:
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/
I can't recommend this enough. I've studied science subjects with my home ed kids and took a beginners business course that really helped me. The courses tend to cycle so if you missed one it will be back around again soon.
Library Genesis
Library Genesis, a great place to look for and download college/university textbooks for free, as well as other books.
You can also try emailing the author of the book and politely asking for an electronic copy. The publishing house gets 99% of the money from textbook sales, so the author might just give you a free one.
Waze And Google Maps
Google Maps and Waze are so useful if still blows my mind that they are free. Waze does have ads that show up when you are stopped but it's still free and had a lot of great features. They have slowly been moving the more popular features to Google Maps too like speed trap reports and current speed/speed limit.
I've been a Waze user for a couple of years and it's absolutely amazing. It gives traffic reports, speed camera alerts and all sorts of other cool things. Highly recommended as a sat-nav!
Terms Of Service; Didn't Read
Terms of Service; Didn't Read.
A free site for people too lazy to read the entire ToS.
So people can't be bothered to read the terms of service, but they can be bothered to go onto thus website to read the terms of service. Hmm 🤔
Heavens Above
Astronomer here! You can look up all the satellites flying over your house tonight, including the ISS, Hubble Space Telescope, those pesky Starlink satellites, and whatever else your heart desires, complete with star maps and precise timing. The website is called Heavens Above and there is an Android app, but unfortunately no iOS one last I checked. (For iOS I use “Sputnik!” which is free and tells me the ISS and Hubble passes overhead.)
It should be noted btw that many if not most of these objects are visible even in a city if on a good pass right above you. So out and see some cool stuff! :)
Astrophotographer here. There are several apps available - like Night Sky for example - that are far better than this. If you hold your phone to the sky the app tells you what you're looking at (or point it at the ground for a view from the other side of the planet). Zoom in with two fingers and tons of deep space stuff is revealed
Top Class Actions
Top Class Actions basically a site that lists active class action lawsuits you might qualify for. I've used it for trivial things like suing red bull for a free case because it "didn't give me wings" but on a serious note. It made me aware of the suit against Equifax for leaking my data. That should be a settlement worth over a $100. It's a cool way to hold corporations semi accountable, and score some money/freebies for any wrongdoing that went under the radar.
Free File
If you're in the USA and you earn less than a certain amount of money -- currently $69,000 -- you can use the same software to file your taxes for free.
The system is called Free File, and companies that sell you tax software are trying very hard to make it difficult to find. Don't let them.
So glad I live in a country where this happens automatically and I don't have to do anything except under certain circumstances
Melody Ml
I recently found this
melody.ml.
Use it. I swear.
U can isolate vocals, drums, bass from mp3. Files You'll need an email address to download the isolated files
there are a few sites that do this e.g. https://vocalremover.org/ which is more convenient to use . They use all use the spleeter engine which you can download and modify yourself https://github.com/deezer/spleeter
Blender
Just started using Blender, an open source video editor and animation tool. Good for making YouTube videos.
Flightradar24
Flightradar24.
It allows you to see plane traffic live
And to look up the [sometimes] interesting history of the aircraft you'll be flying on. I once flew on United Airline's oldest aircraft then in service, a 29 year old, MD-80.
Codecademy
Codecademy is an awesome site to learn how to use some programming languages. Doesn't get into the really advanced stuff, but it's good for a start.
I like it. I learned a lot quickly and use what i learned³ all the time. Light html skills are useful and impress employers
Thenounproject
Thenounproject has a wide selection of icons. I use them for presentations!
Nexus Mods
Nexus mods.
Nexus mods has thousands of video game mods, made by independent content creators, available to download at no cost.
I recently downloaded a bunch of mods for a new Fallout 3 playthrough from nexus! The game still crashes every 15 minutes but damn it’s still soo good.
The Anki Flashcard
I'm standing, slowly clapping with great aplomb, and shouting Bravo! repeatedly.
Load More Replies...Yep, it's not only the posts, it's all the comments. (and I fear that I will forget about the bookmark
Load More Replies...I have some websites of my own that I like to use: Befunky.com is a very helpful photo editor I use. Not quite photoshop, but it's handy. Studentuk.com is a good place to go if you need a classic story or a bedtime story. Aggie.io is a wonderful collaborative drawing site that I love to use and make a lot of art on. If you give someone the link to a drawing you made on there while you're still on and they join, you'll be able to talk to them and see their icon for the site (as well as username for the site). :3
Oh, also, how could I forget! Sculptfab is pretty good for people just starting their 3D rendering career. I use it sometimes and try to make small and somewhat simple 3D objects, which you can then post to Sketchfab (their main site) or something. And everything I've listed is free.
Load More Replies...Pixlr.com is also a pretty decent alternative to photoshop that's totally free. It's not as in depth but it's pretty easy to use. (I, for some reason, didn't like using gimp) Then there's "Doesthedogdie.com" which can tell you if a triggering scenario happens in a movie or show you are thinking of watching. Be that a dog dying, or a great number of other scenarios, such as if there is a suicide in the film or sexual assault, etc.
Oh that's a good resource, the doggie one. I spent the first couple episodes of The Queen's Gambit worried about what was going to happen to that little orphan girl.
Load More Replies...Another good resource in many cities here in the US, and I'm sure in many other countries, is your local public library website. With my local library membership, I can get access to not only ebooks, audio books, videos, and music, but courses for adults and children (including test prep for high school equivalency, college entrance, citizenship), a tutoring service with live tutors, academic journals, legal library, local and state history resources. There's really too much to list. Many of our resources are also multi-lingual. I'm sure some local libraries are more extensive than others since so much depends on local support, but you may be surprised by what your local library can provide online.
Where is stackoverflow.com? The single greatest resource for all IT people.
Anyone who writes code needs to bookmark Stackoverflow.
Load More Replies...Hinative.com is pretty good if you're thinking of learning a language. You can ask native speakers questions, ask them to make sentences, correct your sentences, pronunciation, etc. It's free and your questions will be answered within a few minutes. There's also 101Languages which is a company that owns a bunch of langauge learning websites like spanishpod101, Japanesepod101, frenchpod101, Thaipod101 and more. It's not free but you can take a free premium trial for 7 days with no credit card AND delete your account out of the system whenever you feel like *wink wink*
It's all about Open Source Vs Closed Source software. Don't buy OS that rules your life, adopt a penguin. Linux sets you free.
Add this to the list for free radio anywhere in the world:- http:\\radio.garden
Quick note on some of the free university stuff: You need the textbooks to follow alone some of them, and that costs $$$ so beware!...
slader.com is super useful imo it has the answers to a lot of textbooks, and even includes step-by-step instructions (which is very useful for my algebra homework since I need to show work)
doesthedogdie.com is a great website for avoiding movies where the dog dies, or any potentially triggering content in media for that matter.
Not really useful but really sweet and can help you relax and have a little fun. Try this: https://www.window-swap.com/ it randomly shows you view through someone's window anywhere in the world. Also, when you don't know what to cook but have some leftovers: https://myfridgefood.com/ musical time machine: https://radiooooo.com/
I'm standing, slowly clapping with great aplomb, and shouting Bravo! repeatedly.
Load More Replies...Yep, it's not only the posts, it's all the comments. (and I fear that I will forget about the bookmark
Load More Replies...I have some websites of my own that I like to use: Befunky.com is a very helpful photo editor I use. Not quite photoshop, but it's handy. Studentuk.com is a good place to go if you need a classic story or a bedtime story. Aggie.io is a wonderful collaborative drawing site that I love to use and make a lot of art on. If you give someone the link to a drawing you made on there while you're still on and they join, you'll be able to talk to them and see their icon for the site (as well as username for the site). :3
Oh, also, how could I forget! Sculptfab is pretty good for people just starting their 3D rendering career. I use it sometimes and try to make small and somewhat simple 3D objects, which you can then post to Sketchfab (their main site) or something. And everything I've listed is free.
Load More Replies...Pixlr.com is also a pretty decent alternative to photoshop that's totally free. It's not as in depth but it's pretty easy to use. (I, for some reason, didn't like using gimp) Then there's "Doesthedogdie.com" which can tell you if a triggering scenario happens in a movie or show you are thinking of watching. Be that a dog dying, or a great number of other scenarios, such as if there is a suicide in the film or sexual assault, etc.
Oh that's a good resource, the doggie one. I spent the first couple episodes of The Queen's Gambit worried about what was going to happen to that little orphan girl.
Load More Replies...Another good resource in many cities here in the US, and I'm sure in many other countries, is your local public library website. With my local library membership, I can get access to not only ebooks, audio books, videos, and music, but courses for adults and children (including test prep for high school equivalency, college entrance, citizenship), a tutoring service with live tutors, academic journals, legal library, local and state history resources. There's really too much to list. Many of our resources are also multi-lingual. I'm sure some local libraries are more extensive than others since so much depends on local support, but you may be surprised by what your local library can provide online.
Where is stackoverflow.com? The single greatest resource for all IT people.
Anyone who writes code needs to bookmark Stackoverflow.
Load More Replies...Hinative.com is pretty good if you're thinking of learning a language. You can ask native speakers questions, ask them to make sentences, correct your sentences, pronunciation, etc. It's free and your questions will be answered within a few minutes. There's also 101Languages which is a company that owns a bunch of langauge learning websites like spanishpod101, Japanesepod101, frenchpod101, Thaipod101 and more. It's not free but you can take a free premium trial for 7 days with no credit card AND delete your account out of the system whenever you feel like *wink wink*
It's all about Open Source Vs Closed Source software. Don't buy OS that rules your life, adopt a penguin. Linux sets you free.
Add this to the list for free radio anywhere in the world:- http:\\radio.garden
Quick note on some of the free university stuff: You need the textbooks to follow alone some of them, and that costs $$$ so beware!...
slader.com is super useful imo it has the answers to a lot of textbooks, and even includes step-by-step instructions (which is very useful for my algebra homework since I need to show work)
doesthedogdie.com is a great website for avoiding movies where the dog dies, or any potentially triggering content in media for that matter.
Not really useful but really sweet and can help you relax and have a little fun. Try this: https://www.window-swap.com/ it randomly shows you view through someone's window anywhere in the world. Also, when you don't know what to cook but have some leftovers: https://myfridgefood.com/ musical time machine: https://radiooooo.com/