Open Source: The Tools to Know in 2025

David B.David B.
7 min read

This article presents a selection of essential open-source tools to navigate the digital landscape of 2025 effectively, using solutions where you are in control of your own data.

Secure Communication and Collaboration

  1. Jami is a secure and decentralized communication platform offering messaging, voice calls, and video calls. Unlike Skype, Jami operates on a peer-to-peer architecture, enhancing privacy and reliability. It supports group chats, end-to-end encryption, and can be self-hosted. Jami is available on Linux, Android, Android TV, Windows, iOS, and macOS.

  2. Linphone is an open-source VoIP (Voice over IP) application that enables high-quality audio and video calls using the SIP protocol. It is suitable for businesses and organizations seeking secure and reliable communication. Linphone is cross-platform and offers different licensing options, including open source.

  3. Jitsi Meet Online is a free, open-source video conferencing service that works directly in the web browser and on mobile phones. It offers secure, encrypted meetings with features such as chat, screen sharing, and recording. You can also choose to self-host your own instance.

  4. MiroTalk is another browser-based video conferencing tool that uses WebRTC for real-time communication. It features an interactive whiteboard, file sharing, and low-latency audio/video calls. MiroTalk can be self-hosted and requires no installation.

    1. Element is a Matrix client that enables decentralized and secure communication via text, voice, and video. It can be self-hosted or you can use Element’s free hosted service. Element offers end-to-end encryption, file sharing, group chats, and integration with other services. It is available on various platforms, including the web.

  5. Wire focuses on team communication but can also be used for personal conversations. It offers end-to-end encryption by default and supports multi-device synchronization.

  6. Nextcloud Talk, integrated into the Nextcloud platform, provides video conferencing and communication capabilities, including screen sharing and messaging. Using Nextcloud Talk requires a self-hosted Nextcloud server.

  7. Mattermost is an open-source collaboration platform designed for secure team communication. It offers team chats organized into channels, file sharing, voice and video calls, and enterprise integrations.

Project Management and Productivity

Several open-source tools can enhance the organization and productivity of your projects:

  1. OpenProject is a powerful open-source project management software for classic, agile, or hybrid project management in a secure environment. It enables project planning and scheduling, task and issue tracking, agile management (Kanban and Scrum), time tracking, team collaboration, and much more. OpenProject can be installed on your own infrastructure, giving you full control over your data.

  2. Plane is an open-source issue tracking and project planning tool designed to streamline software development workflows. It offers Kanban boards, issue tracking, team collaboration, and integrations with GitHub, GitLab, and other tools.

  3. Wekan is an open-source Kanban board for task and project management with an intuitive user interface. It supports collaboration, customizable boards, and activity tracking.

  4. Papermark is a collaborative documentation platform that combines note-taking and project management, with support for Markdown and real-time collaboration.

  5. Affine is a collaborative knowledge base that merges hierarchical and non-linear workflows for organizing notes, tasks, and databases, with real-time collaboration and cross-platform availability.

Tools for Developers and Self-Hosting

Developers will also find many useful open-source tools:

  1. Postiz is an open-source social media scheduling tool designed to streamline content management across multiple platforms. It uses artificial intelligence to optimize publishing times, supports multiple platforms, and provides analytics and collaboration tools.

  2. Tolgee is an open-source localization platform designed to simplify the translation process for software applications. It offers in-context localization, developer-friendly SDKs, and collaboration tools.

  3. MedusaJS is an open-source headless commerce platform built with Node.js, offering a customizable and scalable e-commerce solution.

  4. Formbricks is a developer-focused form backend solution that simplifies data collection and processing without requiring backend code.

  5. Hanko provides passwordless authentication solutions, enhancing security and user experience with support for WebAuthn and biometric authentication.

  6. ToolJet is an open-source low-code platform for rapidly building internal tools with a drag-and-drop builder and database integrations.

  7. Novu is an open-source notification infrastructure for developers, enabling unified management of all communication channels via API and template handling.

  8. Flipt is an open-source feature flag solution that helps teams deploy code safely by enabling/disabling features without redeploying.

  9. PostHog is an open-source product analytics suite that lets you understand user behavior through event tracking, session recording, and feature flags. It also offers a self-hosted option for full data control.

  10. Dub is an open-source URL shortener and link management tool with analytics, API integration options, and a self-hosted version.

  11. Coolify is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Heroku & Netlify that simplifies app deployment.

  12. Taubyte provides serverless computing solutions that simplify backend management for developers, with a focus on edge computing and scalability.

  13. Dokku is a PaaS implementation for hosting applications using Docker, enabling Git push deployments and offering a plugin ecosystem.

  14. PocketBase is an open-source backend that includes a database, authentication, and file storage using SQLite.

  15. Appwrite is an end-to-end backend server for frontend and mobile developers, offering authentication, database, file storage, and function execution.

  16. Supabase is an open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL, providing instant APIs, authentication and authorization, real-time databases, and storage solutions.

  17. Airbyte is an open-source data integration engine that consolidates data from various sources via numerous pre-built connectors and supports custom connector development.

  18. Phoenix is a high-performance web development framework written in Elixir, known for its excellent support for WebSockets and real-time applications.

Analytics and Monitoring

To understand the usage of your websites and applications:

  1. Plausible is a lightweight, open-source web analytics tool focused on privacy, with no cookies or collection of personal data.

  2. Fathom Analytics provides simple, privacy-focused web analytics that are GDPR-compliant and have minimal impact on website loading times.

Automation and Integration

To automate your workflows:

  1. n8n is an extensible workflow automation tool that connects various applications and services through a visual editor and numerous integrations. It offers a self-hosted option.

Artificial Intelligence

To integrate AI into your projects:

  1. Trieve is an AI-based infrastructure development platform designed for retrieval and ranking tasks, offering enhanced semantic search and fine-tuning tools with human oversight.

  2. LLMWare focuses on leveraging large language models (LLMs) to provide AI-driven solutions to businesses, such as AI assistants, document processing, and custom model training.

E-commerce Platforms and CMS

For creating online stores and content management:

  1. PrestaShop is a free open-source e-commerce solution with numerous features for product management, customizable storefronts, and multilingual support.

  2. Composio is an integration platform that empowers AI agents and LLM applications to seamlessly connect with external tools, services, and APIs. With Composio, developers can rapidly build powerful AI applications without worrying about complex integration challenges.

  3. NocoDB transforms your SQL databases into an intelligent spreadsheet interface, instantly generating REST APIs.

  4. AppFlowy is an open-source alternative to Notion focused on privacy and extensibility, allowing local data storage and a customizable interface.

  5. Nextcloud offers a client-server suite of software for creating file hosting services with synchronization, sharing, and collaboration tools, all while providing complete control over your data.

Marketing and Customer Engagement

To manage your marketing efforts and engage with your customers:

  1. Mautic is an open-source marketing automation platform for campaign management, email marketing, and lead management.

  2. Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement suite offering live chat and multi-channel support tools.

  3. Cal.com is an open-source scheduling platform that simplifies meeting reservations with customizable booking pages and calendar integrations.

Monitoring and Alerts

For monitoring your systems:

  1. Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit with a multidimensional data model and a powerful query language (PromQL).

ERP

For managing enterprise resources:

  1. ERPNext is a complete open-source ERP solution for businesses of all sizes, including CRM, inventory management, accounting, and more.

In 2025, the landscape of open-source tools is rich and diverse, offering powerful and privacy-friendly alternatives to proprietary solutions. Whether you are an individual, a development team, or a large enterprise, adopting these tools can provide you with greater control, welcome transparency, and unmatched flexibility.

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Written by

David B.
David B.

Passionate and versatile Fullstack web developer, I create tailored solutions (websites, applications, etc.) that perfectly fit your needs. My skills include MERN Stack, NextJS, Python, and Microsoft Power Platform.