Here is my selection of the best programs I actively use, or have at least tested enough to recommend.

Documents, spreadsheets, presentations

Microsoft 365 is a yearly subscription and, depending on the plan, you are looking at amounts in the thousands of Czech crowns. But if you do not need corporate Excel sharing, comments and macros, free alternatives may be enough.

LibreOffice is still free, open-source and handles common Microsoft Office formats well.

ONLYOFFICE offers free desktop editors, feels more modern and looks closer to the original Microsoft Office than LibreOffice. It is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and for normal writing, spreadsheets and presentations it is more than enough for most people.

Google Docs is not great from a privacy perspective, but as a product it is very capable, and because it runs in the browser, it works basically everywhere.

Among privacy-first tools, dDocs by Fileverse is worth mentioning. It is an end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Docs / Word, runs in the browser, does not require an account, and supports offline mode, Markdown and LaTeX. The same company also makes dSheets, a decentralized alternative to Google Sheets / Excel. Both apps are still in public beta, so I would treat them more as interesting tools to try than as a primary office suite.

I was also recently interested in Euro-Office, after it appeared on the Tuta blog (formerly Tutanota). It is a European open-source initiative around a web office editor, built on a fork of ONLYOFFICE, with companies and projects such as Nextcloud, IONOS, Tuta, XWiki, OpenProject, Open-Xchange, Proton, Soverin and Office EU involved. Euro-Office itself is more of an editor meant to be integrated into other services, while Office EU is one of the participating projects and is also building a broader European cloud suite with documents, storage, email, calendar and video calls. If you like the idea of a European replacement for Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace, I would definitely keep an eye on it. It looks interesting, but it is still fresh, and there is already discussion around the ONLYOFFICE fork and default formats, so for now I would mainly treat it as a project to watch.

For forms instead of Google Forms, I would recommend Tally. It works a bit like writing a document, looks more modern than Google Forms, and under fair use it offers forms and responses for free.

Email client

Outlook is honestly unnecessary for me at this point. For email, Thunderbird has been enough for a long time. It is free and easy to set up.

On Android I use Thunderbird for Android, which is based on K-9 Mail, and it is much better than having five different apps for different providers.

Video calls

Google Meet and Zoom are OK, but I would rather look at Czech community alternatives: Nolog Talk (an OpenTalk instance by the Nolog association) and vpsFree Meet (Jitsi by the vpsFree.cz community hosting project). Both can be used for free and without registration.

Password manager and notes

If there is one thing I would recommend to almost everyone in 2026, it is a password manager. Bitwarden has unlimited passwords, unlimited devices and passkeys in the free plan, so for a normal person there is not much to overthink. And if you want to host it yourself, Vaultwarden is an unofficial lightweight self-hosted implementation of the Bitwarden API in Rust, compatible with the official clients - this is exactly what I host at home on my homeserver (article coming soon!).

A good alternative to Notion is AppFlowy, an open-source workspace for projects, wikis, databases and notes. If you are looking more for an Obsidian alternative, Logseq, Anytype or Trilium Notes make more sense. For Google Keep-style notes, I use Blinko.

Video and photo editing

For video editing in 2026, one of the strongest choices is DaVinci Resolve. It is made by Blackmagic, a company that produces cameras and other gear for filmmakers and enthusiasts. You can either use the free version with some limitations, or buy a one-time Studio license (around CZK 7,000-8,000 depending on the seller). Resolve comfortably covers editing, color grading, effects, motion graphics, audio post-production and, since version 21, static photo work through a dedicated Photo page. For smaller edits, Kdenlive is also fine. And for format conversions or scripted processing, FFmpeg is the best.

For 2D motion graphics as an alternative to part of the work people do in After Effects, Cavalry is a good program, free for individuals on macOS and Windows. Alternatively, you can use the Fusion tab directly in DaVinci Resolve.

For photos, there are plenty of programs, for example darktable and RawTherapee. They are not as friendly as Lightroom, but they can do a lot and are free. A very interesting new option is RapidRAW, a modern open-source RAW editor aimed directly at a Lightroom-like workflow. It is non-destructive, GPU-accelerated, has a photo library and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but it is still in active development, so I would treat it as a promising alternative to try. If you do not want Lightroom and want something reasonable, I can recommend Czech Zoner Studio. The official yearly license for one person currently costs CZK 1,499, although reseller discounts can of course vary.

Graphics

The most interesting recent development in graphics software is Affinity: the whole company was acquired by Australian Canva, and the new Affinity app is now offered free for individuals (with a paid Canva account you also get some AI features, but the main part of the app is completely free). The current version is available for macOS and Windows, with iPad support planned for later. There is no official Linux support, but I managed to run it through Linux-Affinity-Installer. Affinity is one of the most interesting options for anyone who needs to make simple graphics or edit photos.

When I need a really quick edit, or I do not have Affinity and other programs available, Photopea works in the browser almost everywhere and works great. It is an online editor very similar to Photoshop, created by Ivan Kutskir in Prague.

For drawing, Krita is excellent - a professional open-source painting program. GIMP is still relevant, especially if you want a purely open-source solution or something that runs natively on Linux.

Audio, vectors and 3D models

For recording and editing audio, I recommend Tenacity (a fork of Audacity).

For vectors, I personally use Inkscape (or Affinity / Figma).

For 3D modeling, Blender is the best free and open-source choice. If you need something closer to CAD, I can recommend Onshape, which runs fully online and has a layout fairly similar to expensive Autodesk tools. But be careful with the free plan: it is only for non-commercial use and documents are public.

Operating system

For the more adventurous, there is of course an alternative to Windows itself: Linux. It is not for everyone, and not everything works the same way as on Windows, but if most of your work happens in a browser or in programs that have Linux versions, it is no longer exotic.

I have had good experience mainly with Linux Mint, Debian, CachyOS and Fedora. I would recommend Mint to people who want the calmest transition from Windows. Debian is a very stable base. Fedora is more modern, but still reasonably reliable. CachyOS is a fast Arch-based system for people who do not mind experimenting a bit more.

Conclusion

Paid software makes sense when it earns you money. If Photoshop, Premiere or Lightroom pay for themselves every month, I have no problem with that. But for a blog, event posters, everyday photos, home video, writing and normal digital life in 2026, it is no longer true that you cannot exist without Adobe, Microsoft or other big names.

The hardest part today is not living without expensive software. The hardest part is choosing from so many good options.

What is WARP?

WARP is a VPN service by Cloudflare, launched in 2019. Unlike traditional VPNs that slow you down and drain your battery, WARP was designed to actually speed up your internet. It's built on the WireGuard protocol – modern, efficient, and open source.

Cloudflare described it as "a VPN for people who don't know what VPN stands for." It encrypts all traffic from your device, not just DNS queries. And unlike most VPN providers, Cloudflare:

• Doesn't log user-identifiable data
• Doesn't sell your data to advertisers
• Doesn't require any personal information – not even an email
• Gets regularly audited by independent firms

Why WARP?

I use it because:

• It's free with no data limits
• Unlimited speed – Cloudflare has servers worldwide
• Masks my IP from sketchy websites
• Encrypts traffic – useful on public Wi-Fi
• I can use it to download... Linux ISOs 😏

WARP won't put you in a different country like traditional VPNs – don't expect to bypass Netflix geo-blocks. It connects you to the nearest Cloudflare server, so instead of your exact location, you might appear to be browsing from a nearby city. It's not perfect anonymity, but it provides solid basic protection.

Is it actually private?

Let's be honest – WARP is not an anonymity tool. Instead of your ISP, Cloudflare sees your traffic. You're shifting trust from one company to another.

The difference is who you trust more. Your ISP:

• Knows exactly who you are (you're paying them)
• In many countries, is legally required to log your traffic
• Often sells data or shares it with ad networks
• Can block content at the DNS level

Cloudflare, on the other hand, claims to:

• Not log identifiable data to disk
• Not sell data or use it for ad targeting
• Get regularly audited (the latest audit confirmed they're keeping their promises)

Is it better than your ISP? Probably yes. Is it perfect privacy? No. If you need true anonymity, look into Tor or paid VPNs like Mullvad, which accept cash or cryptocurrency payments.

WARP is a good compromise – it's free, fast, and significantly better than browsing with no protection at all.

Why not the official app?

Cloudflare offers its own 1.1.1.1 client, but it's proprietary, fairly heavy, and doesn't even exist on some platforms. Since WARP runs on WireGuard, you can bypass the official app entirely and use a purely open source client. Benefits:

• WireGuard is lightweight – minimal battery impact
• Open source – you can verify what it does
• Works everywhere – including Linux, routers, and Android TV
• No bloatware – just a clean VPN config file

What you'll need

1. wgcf – CLI tool to register a WARP account
2. WireGuard – installed on your device

Step 1: Generate configuration using wgcf

wgcf registers a WARP account and creates a WireGuard configuration. Download the latest release for your system.

Windows

Open Command Prompt and navigate to the folder with the downloaded file:

cd Downloads

Register an account and generate the configuration:

wgcf.exe register
wgcf.exe generate

Linux / macOS

wgcf register
wgcf generate

The result is a file called wgcf-profile.conf – a complete WireGuard configuration ready to import.

Tip: If you have a WARP+ key, you can enter it during registration for faster speeds.

Alternative: Generator on this page

Don't want to install anything? Use the generator below – it registers a WARP account and creates the configuration right in your browser. No data leaves your computer.

Step 2: Import into WireGuard

Windows / macOS / Android / iOS

1. Open the WireGuard app
2. Click Import tunnel(s) from file
3. Select wgcf-profile.conf
4. Activate the tunnel

Linux

# Copy the configuration
sudo cp wgcf-profile.conf /etc/wireguard/wgcf-profile.conf
 
# Enable the tunnel
sudo wg-quick up wgcf-profile
 
# Disable the tunnel
sudo wg-quick down wgcf-profile

Android TV

WireGuard isn't in the Play Store on Android TV, but you can sideload it:

1. Download the APK from F-Droid or the official website
2. Transfer to your TV – I recommend LocalSend (open source, works over local network)
3. Install the APK and import the configuration

Note: If internet disconnects after activating the VPN on your TV, set a proxy in system settings: IP 127.0.0.1, port 56000. Also keep in mind that remote control via local network (e.g. from your phone) won't work while the VPN is active.

Step 3: Verification

After connecting, verify that WARP is working:

curl https://cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/trace

Look for the line warp=on in the response – that means you're connected through WARP.

Bonus: Cloudflare DNS

Even without full WARP, you can use Cloudflare DNS – just change the DNS on your device or directly on your router:

Changing DNS on your router affects all devices on the network – it usually works seamlessly, devices pick up the new DNS via DHCP. But if you have something that depends on your ISP's DNS (some IPTV services, etc.), be careful.

Why change DNS?

Cloudflare DNS is fast (often faster than your ISP's DNS) and more private – Cloudflare claims to delete logs within 24 hours. As a bonus: many blocks on school and corporate networks work through DNS. When you swap your DNS, you might find that previously blocked sites become accessible. Not that I'd recommend that... 😏

Other DNS providers

Cloudflare isn't the only option. Here's an overview of popular DNS resolvers:

If privacy is your main concern, Mullvad or Quad9 are great choices. If you want to block ads at the DNS level, try AdGuard.

Conclusion

WARP through WireGuard is a simple, free, and open source path to better internet privacy. No proprietary app, no limits. Works on anything that supports WireGuard – from your phone to a laptop, Raspberry Pi, or Android TV.

If you want to learn more about this topic, Linus Tech Tips has a good video on WARP.