The 10 Best Sites to Get Free Software for Students

Avast is a well-known anti-virus program that automatically scans your computer for viruses, spyware, Trojans, and other malicious software. It's free to use and also has in-browser protection against phishing and spam. The downside is that it can sometimes slow down the performance of your system, especially when a scan is active. The best way around this is to schedule scans for the middle of the night (although, as a student, you might still be awake).

GIMP is a free, open-source photo-editing program that is almost as powerful as Photoshop. It's a popular choice when you can't afford the fees Adobe charges, especially considering the hundreds of plug-ins and third-party additions to the program that its community has created. GIMP is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is automatically compatible with other free software such as Inkscape (a good choice for color management for art students). The only downside is that GIMP is a complicated program that has a substantial learning curve. Even students familiar with Photoshop need to learn their way around GIMP's UI.

Your college career is one of the best times of your life. The photos you take may need an extra touch to make them pop and net you all the Instagram likes you know they deserve. Pixlr is a great photo-editor that provides dozens of filters, brushes, and masks. For less-experienced photo editors, Pixlr can also perform many of these tasks automatically.

With the deprecation of Adobe Flash, Pixlr Editor was discontinued and replaced by entry-level Pixlr X and advanced Pixlr E.

Audacity is one of the most popular free options for sound and audio editing. At first glance, its interface seems basic, but a wealth of features and tons of power lie hidden beneath its bland facade. Audacity takes a bit of time to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it's the best choice for editing audio and video short of high-priced software like Adobe Audition.

The Microsoft Office Suite may seem like the default application suite for the entire world, but that demand means the attached price point is a bit prohibitive. While students can get discounts, it often isn't worth it for the basic tasks they have to do. On the other hand, some free word processing applications aren't powerful enough. LibreOffice strikes the perfect balance and gives students access to six programs: Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base. These are just different names for software that mimics the features of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. LibreOffice is open source, free, and immensely useful. This article's writer made use of it for his entire degree!

While LibreOffice is a powerful program, some people may prefer the familiarity of Microsoft Office. There is a free option for students that don't want to pay for the full Microsoft Office 365, known as Office 365 Education. You need a student or faculty email address to access the software, but once you do, you have access to a full-featured version of the software applications you know best.

If you're an art student working with 3D modeling or a game designer who needs sprites for your upcoming project, Blender is the go-to program to do those tasks. Blender provides professional-grade animation software for no cost, and the fact that it is open source means there are constant improvements made to the software by the community. After you get the hang of Blender, you can create entire films entirely through animation.

Gone are the days when students needed to carry around a thumb drive loaded with their assignments. Cloud storage is easy to come by, especially when Dropbox offers all users 2 GB of storage for free. Just sign up with any email address and take full advantage of one of the best free storage options on the web.

When you don't feel like working on your latest assignment, it can be hard to focus. The constant pull and temptation of social media can distract even the most strong-minded student. That's where Cold Turkey comes in. This program allows you to block access to certain websites during a specified time. The only way to turn it off is to restart your computer. It's the perfect solution for staying focused during hours of study.