After the subscription boom, retaining access to the software you need has become more expensive than ever before. Because these renewals happen at different times of the year, most of us don’t have the whole picture, either. At one time, I was spending $500 a year on subscriptions like Microsoft 365, Grammarly Pro, Notion, Evernote, and Todoist.

This was an eye-opener, and I didn’t want to pay these companies such a hectic figure. Soon enough, I managed to replace all these subscriptions for free, and here’s how it went.

OnlyOffice replaced my $100 Microsoft 365 plan

It looks like Word, and that’s the whole point

I was looking for a viable alternative to Microsoft 365 to save $100 a year, and my search ended when I came across OnlyOffice.

OnlyOffice is a completely free office suite that packs almost all the features you’re used to in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Compared to other Microsoft Office alternatives I’ve tried, OnlyOffice offers the best compatibility with Office files, and it can edit DOCX or PPTX files without causing structural changes.

Setting up and installing these applications on your desktop or mobile devices is also easier. The core editors are open-source, but you can explore additional pricing plans for business needs. Keep in mind that I have been using OnlyOffice desktop apps, not the cloud collaboration platform. These apps have a UI that resembles Microsoft Office apps, and the transition was effortless.

Before that, I tried LibreOffice, which was somewhat limited, especially because of compatibility issues. With OnlyOffice, however, these things are taken care of, and the performance is also impressive. I also understand the Microsoft 365 plan gives me OneDrive storage and a couple of other benefits, but they are not the biggest things to miss when I’m saving $100 a year.

Obsidian took over from my paid Notion workspace

Plain Markdown files I actually own now

While everything was convenient per se, Notion was charging quite a lot for its unlimited experience, and that stopped when I came across Obsidian.

Obsidian is a really customizable writing app that has replaced Notion for me over the last year. For what it’s worth, I was planning to leave Notion because it had become so complex. With Obsidian, however, I get a local-first storage system and connected notes that I can always expand. Obsidian’s apps are available for free on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Because all documents I create in Obsidian are saved in Markdown, the system works well with AI tools. I’ve also been trying out the Obsidian MCP for Claude Code, making this writing app more of a second mind. In the same way, I’ve been testing quite a few Obsidian community plugins to push what I can do with Obsidian.

Now, the free version of Obsidian doesn’t include synchronization, but I can easily fix this with Syncthing. An area where Notion would still outperform Obsidian is its team collaboration features, but I don’t use them much. So, for the most part, I’m happy that I’m not paying Notion.

OS

Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, iPadOS

Developer

Dynalist Inc.

Pricing model

Free

Initial release

March 30, 2020

Joplin replaced Evernote without the yearly bill

My notes now sync through a folder, not a company

Before it became a congested second-brain app, Evernote used to be my go-to place for storing notes. Now, Joplin does that without upgrade notifications.

I’ll be honest. Joplin is a free note-taking app that I can’t stop talking about. Since coming across it while researching another article, Joplin has been my go-to app for all sorts of writing, even replacing Microsoft Word. This simple app packs almost all the features I needed from Evernote — minus the price tag.

As you may imagine, Joplin relies on local-first notes that are stored in Markdown by default. However, when you ultimately want to sync your notes across devices, you can choose what works best for you. I’ve set it up using Dropbox, and I can still use E2EE sync for the best encryption.

Like Obsidian, there is no dearth of plugins I can integrate with Joplin, which means I can expand its features as I wish. There is even an MCP that I use to connect my Joplin notes to other AI apps like Claude Code and Codex. That I don’t have to pay anything for these features is an impressive feat and a good enough reason not to go back to Evernote ever again.

OS

Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, Terminal

Developer

Laurent Cozic (and community)

Price model

Free (open-source); Paid subscription for cloud storage

TickTick’s free tier replaced Todoist Pro

Nine lists, ninety-nine tasks each, and I made it work

Todoist Pro was something I used to consider necessary for my task and project management needs, but TickTick has replaced it.

For reference, TickTick is not a completely free app, unlike many of the ones I’ve talked about here. Instead, there is a pro version, but I’ve found that the free version is good enough for me, since it lets me create 9 lists with 99 tasks per list. It also doesn’t offer many pro features on the free plan, but I don’t miss them.

With what it offers, though, TickTick Free is a great way to manage my tasks and projects. It gives us a good dashboard that lets me take care of my entire day, week, or month. In addition to basic task and project management, TickTick Free also offers features such as a Pomodoro timer, habit management, and limited access to the Eisenhower matrix.

Sure, I sometimes miss the option to check out the calendar view, but TickTick delivers surprisingly great options for the fact that I don’t pay anything. I don’t mean to say that Todoist Pro is worthless, but I don’t need those additional features for a smooth task-management experience.

OS

Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Web

Price model

Free (paid plans available)

A grammar checker that doesn’t nag for an upgrade

Grammarly is something else that I don’t really pay for my personal work anymore, and LanguageTool is the reason for that affordable switch.

First of all, LanguageTool is not a complete replacement for Grammarly, and that may be a good thing depending on what you use it for. For example, unlike Grammarly, LanguageTool doesn’t run your text through an AI and change the style altogether. Instead, it gives you the necessary grammar corrections to keep you on the right track.

This means LanguageTool cannot assist you with style corrections, rewriting, or tone detection as much as Grammarly does. At the same time, I’ve used LanguageTool for academic writing, and it’s been a pretty good companion overall. You’d also appreciate the fact that you can run the LanguageTool server on your device instead of sending everything to someone else’s servers.

Even if you don’t go to the extent of running this thing locally, the free version of LanguageTool is more generous than the free version of Grammarly, and you get a lot of value for that. Some AI features are available in the free version, but they are not as dominant as the ones you would find on Grammarly.

OS

Windows, macOS, Linux

Developer

LanguageTool

Price model

Free

I’m not pretending the trade is painless

I’m not trying to say that shifting from these paid apps to these free alternatives was easy! If you think about it, the convenience these tools offer is so addictive that I missed some aspects after switching to free alternatives. Over time, though, I have learned to appreciate the features these tools offer and the privacy boost I get, especially with tools like Joplin and Obsidian. These benefits are great on their own, and I’m happy that I don’t have to pay close to $500 a year!