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I think we are forgetting the obvious, and it’s the non-political or controversial Wikipedia pages.
Bored Panda was interested to find out why some people are suspicious of free things compared to paid options.Marketing psychology expertJohnson shed some light on this. He explained that this happens due to a cognitive bias that’s known as ‘price-quality heuristic.’
“We instinctively associate higher prices with better quality. This bias is deeply ingrained in consumer psychology because, in many cases, paying more does lead to better materials, services, or experiences. When something is free, it can trigger doubt about its value or legitimacy. People might wonder, ‘If it’s free, is it really worth my time?'” he explained to us in an email.
Project Gutenberg- Free ebooks.
The Internet Archive should be regarded as one of the 7 wonders of the information age.
Khan academy! Bless the guy who made it, what a champion.
“For instance, compare a free online course with a paid one from a reputable institution. Even if the free course offers similar content, the paid option feels more trustworthy because it signals investment and value. Thus, people often equate cost with quality, safety, and legitimacy.”
Archive.ph/It unlocks pay wall articles if you attach it to the beginning of the link.
I built qrfa.st which offers free qr codes.I built it because I heard horror stories about people making qr codes, only to find out later they had a “trial” and now were being forced to pay $30/month to have their codes work.I am a serial entrepreneur and have the skills so I just got to work building it.Users get 10 free dynamic codes that they can update even after printing them, and unlimited static codes(which cannot be updated becuase they have fixed data embedded in the code).
Ilovepdf and smallpdf.Seriously. These two have literally saved my skin soo many times. It takes less than a minute to merge pdf files, compress them, split them, convert to and fro to different formats and much more.Truly amazing websites.
“On the other hand, we may see previously free services moving behind paywalls as consumer expectations shift. Social media platforms or free content websites could begin charging for ad-free experiences or exclusive content. We already see this with platforms like YouTube, which offers a premium service for those wanting to avoid ads or access special features,” he said.The news isn’t immune to this either. “News outlets are another example—many previously free sites now offer paid subscriptions as they move away from ad-supported models. As digital advertising becomes less effective and users demand better, more tailored experiences, companies will likely push more essential features or content into the paid category. This shift reflects a broader trend of consumers paying for control and quality in their online experiences.“You can find more of Johnson’s expert insights on hisbrandingandhuman natureblogs. Meanwhile, you can watch his TEDx talk aboutserendipityin the age of advanced AI on YouTube.
“On the other hand, we may see previously free services moving behind paywalls as consumer expectations shift. Social media platforms or free content websites could begin charging for ad-free experiences or exclusive content. We already see this with platforms like YouTube, which offers a premium service for those wanting to avoid ads or access special features,” he said.
The news isn’t immune to this either. “News outlets are another example—many previously free sites now offer paid subscriptions as they move away from ad-supported models. As digital advertising becomes less effective and users demand better, more tailored experiences, companies will likely push more essential features or content into the paid category. This shift reflects a broader trend of consumers paying for control and quality in their online experiences.”
You can find more of Johnson’s expert insights on hisbrandingandhuman natureblogs. Meanwhile, you can watch his TEDx talk aboutserendipityin the age of advanced AI on YouTube.
Some museums websites have online walkthroughs so you can simulate seeing at least part of the collection without going there or paying an entry fee.
I guess not for everyone, but for anyone interested in orchestral music & composition:IMSLP - International Music Score Library ProjectYou can find most public domain orchestral compositions (full scores, individual parts, & recordings), with a wide range of search options (composers, time periods, instrumentation, etc.)Kinda niche, but this was such a crucial tool for my undergrad.
Justin Guitar. If you want to try learning guitar, his lessons are really great and easy to follow, and they’re free. Some of the extra stuff costs money, but you don’t need any of it to learn.
Why pay for something if you can legally (!) get the same quality of information and services entirely for free? It’s economical. It’s logical. It’s rational. And it’s what’s going to help you budget better and save costs when money gets tight.For instance, there’s no doubt that education is important. Vital, even. And a good degree from a quality university is well worth the effort. However, if money is tight and you don’t want to go into debt, you have countless alternatives. For one, there are lots of completely free formal college courses you can do from any corner of the world that has internet access.Meanwhile, there are plenty of tutorials, guides, and how-to’s on YouTube and Google if you want to learn a specific skill or even just brush up on a topic you care about. Libraries chock full ofbooksare also still a thing! All the information you could ever want is there for the taking. The biggest challenge is putting consistent time, effort, and energy into your studies. No money in the world will buy you discipline, willpower, or passion.
Why pay for something if you can legally (!) get the same quality of information and services entirely for free? It’s economical. It’s logical. It’s rational. And it’s what’s going to help you budget better and save costs when money gets tight.
For instance, there’s no doubt that education is important. Vital, even. And a good degree from a quality university is well worth the effort. However, if money is tight and you don’t want to go into debt, you have countless alternatives. For one, there are lots of completely free formal college courses you can do from any corner of the world that has internet access.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of tutorials, guides, and how-to’s on YouTube and Google if you want to learn a specific skill or even just brush up on a topic you care about. Libraries chock full ofbooksare also still a thing! All the information you could ever want is there for the taking. The biggest challenge is putting consistent time, effort, and energy into your studies. No money in the world will buy you discipline, willpower, or passion.
Definitely Librivox. They host copyright free books which volunteers read out and record.Most of the time, it’s not exactly the same level as an audible production, but free is free and they have alot on there.
Temp mail for one, you can make unlimited, free, completely disposable emails just at the click of a button.
Generally speaking, people will gladly pay for things they care about, but they also want to save money. For example, if you’re a book lover, you’ll be happy to buy paperbacks and hardcovers and fill up your cozy, little library nook at home. However, if you happen to be a student,college textbookscan be incredibly expensive. Some would argue they’re unfairly overpriced and put students—who usually don’t have much spare cash lying around—in an awkward position. You kind of need them for one semester, but the hefty price tag hurts to look at.Even the biggest book lover in the world might stop and think about where their money is best spent. They might consider downloading the textbooks they need for such a brief period of time. And though piracy is illegal, there’s the argument to be made that access to knowledge should be easy, free, and universal. (Imagine someone punishing you for reading too much and too widely! ‘1984’ much?)But even if you don’t download anything, you can still find plenty of guides, summaries, and notes on any topic you’re going to study online. Alternatively, you can always buy pre-loved (i.e. secondhand) textbooks at fairs or get notes from friendly students who took the same classes before.
Generally speaking, people will gladly pay for things they care about, but they also want to save money. For example, if you’re a book lover, you’ll be happy to buy paperbacks and hardcovers and fill up your cozy, little library nook at home. However, if you happen to be a student,college textbookscan be incredibly expensive. Some would argue they’re unfairly overpriced and put students—who usually don’t have much spare cash lying around—in an awkward position. You kind of need them for one semester, but the hefty price tag hurts to look at.
Even the biggest book lover in the world might stop and think about where their money is best spent. They might consider downloading the textbooks they need for such a brief period of time. And though piracy is illegal, there’s the argument to be made that access to knowledge should be easy, free, and universal. (Imagine someone punishing you for reading too much and too widely! ‘1984’ much?)
But even if you don’t download anything, you can still find plenty of guides, summaries, and notes on any topic you’re going to study online. Alternatively, you can always buy pre-loved (i.e. secondhand) textbooks at fairs or get notes from friendly students who took the same classes before.
DaVinci ResolveBest video editing software that you can get for freeEDIT: capcut is also quite awesome if you are a complete noob and just want some stuff for your socials. Great presets.
Radio Garden is a global map of active radio stations. You can rotate the globe anywhere and listen in. Want to know what’s on the radio in Morocco right now? You can find out here.Radiooooo is a similar website. It’s a world map that allows you to both click on individual countries and also go back to different decades to see what was popular there at the time.
If you Google “dog with a hat on” you will be astounded at how many different dogs and different hats you’ll find.
Study.comexplainsthat the primary motivation behind sky-high college textbooks is, of course, profit for the publishers. There’s a lack of competition in this area of publishing, so some companies feel like they can get away with charging more and more for new editions. A lack of competition does, however, hurt the consumer. In this case—the students (and their parents who sometimes finance them).
Decent, empathetic professors will provide you with all the study resources you need free of charge. They understand that it’s impractical to spend so much of your hard-earned cash on books when all of that information can be so easily shared and reshared digitally. And if you do genuinely care about the author, you’ll find a way to buy their books or support them in other ways in the future!
I try and post this every time it comes up, but if you’re in the USA and you earn less than a certain amount of money – currently $79,000 – you can use the same software you might otherwise do to file your federal 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. Thankfully, it seems to be coming a lot better known, to the extent that the US is inviting all states to use a similar system in 2025.
Millions of books and academic articles. An open database of almost all human knowledge.https://annas-archive.orghttps://libgen.rs or https://gen.lib.rus.ec/r/scholar for article requests which aren’t yet archived.Use a VPN, use with caution and respect local copyright law. Don’t reupload these contents to other sites, or it could cause issues and violate T&Cs.
What are the best free online resources and tools that you personally know and use, dear Pandas? Which of the things mentioned in this list do you think you’d find the most useful?
What paid things do you hope will become completely free in the very near future? We genuinely can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Https://asoftmurmur.comI use it every day to fall asleep.
Linux.With Windows going apeshit a lot of us are evacuating, but i never expected it to feel like such a big upgrade.Sure, it’s a though transition for a couple days, having to google how to install video codecs on Fedora, and how to auto mount harddrives on boot. But then you see how helpful the community is, and you keep running into all these clever solutions that they’ve implemented on problems you always assumed you’ll have to live with.We’ve seen Facebook and Amazon succesfully monopolize and now live in the awkward aftermath with no cheap stores and awkward social structures. But Microsofts “Embrace, extend , extinguish” has not yet won, and this is a piece of paradise we can all keep alive together.
Coursera free courses, khan academy, scishow, CS50 course.There is alot.
Abandonware games.There is an entire library of absolute gem games you have never played that are not available on online platforms, completely for free. Some of them are not downloadable, but will link you to places where you can buy them, so no piracy is present here.EDIT: You absolutely have to give a try to SAW and You Are Empty. SAW is a spinoff game that takes place after SAW 1’s ending in an alternative universe where detective Tapp had survived. The controls are weird and the gameplay loop is repetitive, but I think that it’s still really cool. You Are Empty is practically Half-Life clone, and might be too long for some gamers, but it is absolutely fun and really dynamic, as you never stay too long in one place.
Sunny Classroom if you want to learn computer networking. Super bright professor who has some underappreciated tricks for things like memorizing subnets.Humor is a bit dry but if you want an Asian guy who out of the blue hits you with things like “Thank you for being patient with my strong… CHINGLISH” you’ll love him.Definitely recommend!
If you’re in the US, your state’s “unclaimed property” website.https://unclaimed.org/Companies often owe people money but they either have bad address information (or they just get lazy) so instead of sending you a check, they turn it over to the state. You can look up your name, family members’ names, or company name and see if the state is holding cash in your name.I’ve never found money for me but I have found a hundred or so for my parents, 4 figures worth for my in-laws, and five figures worth for the company I was working for at the time.
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There are free harvard courses you can attend.
(For U.S. residents) Informed Delivery at usps.com. Emails you daily images of the mailpieces you should be receiving along with tracking numbers for any packages.
Duolingo isn’t perfect and won’t make you fluent in a language without outside practice and study too but It’s a great start and encourages you to keep up with vocabulary every day.
For university students: Zotero is a great, no-b******t reference manager. Also, SciHub for accessing paywalled journal articles.
The Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube… has amazing videos on almost any math/science videos. There are probably so many degrees that can be thanked to him lol.
Free online courses like Websites such as Coursera, edX, and Khan Academy provide a wealth of knowledge for free. It’s an excellent approach to acquiring new talents without spending any money.
Free Microsoft office replacements. Screw 365 subscriptions.
Library Genesis.PDF drive onlineYoutube.
Removepaywall. It really helps when you want to read an article from an online publication, but don’t want to subscribe to it at all or already reached a limit of free articles.
For me, one of the best free things online is educational content from platforms like Khan Academy, Coursera, and edX. You can learn almost anything for free, from coding to art history, at your own pace. Also, check out free audiobooks and eBooks from Project Gutenberg and LibriVox. If you’re into fitness, there are tons of high-quality workout routines on YouTube, like Yoga with Adriene or Fitness Blender. And don’t forget about the endless amount of free entertainment on platforms like Spotify, where you can find podcasts on virtually any topic.
Free cartoons from the late 80s - 90s uploaded on YouTube. Examples - Street Sharks, Mighty Max, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers: Beast Wars… The list of cartoons available for you or your children is huge. YouTube isn’t just for Minecraft videos. It has an amazing selection of Saturday Morning Cartoons.
UBlock Origin and VLC.
Https://www.desmos.com/calculatorI was never that good with graphing calculators, also they’re expensive.
A basic “get started” class with Microsoft excel. Such a useful tool that most people don’t know how to properly use.
BandcampYou can listen to music for free. Support your favourite artists.
Not sure if it’s been posted, but Flashpoint Archive includes thousands of archived flash games from your childhood (if, like me, you grew up in the early 2000s).
/askreddit is a pretty cool place, ran into some smart, some funny and some weird people over here.
Kaggle. It’s a site with great free data analytics lessons and data sets. It is a great skillset to have.
FfmpegIt’s a free command-line tool that can cut/merge/re-encode mp3/mp4/any other video/audio format you can think of. Instead of finding some random website to convert .mp3 to .wav, spending an hour uploading a huge a*s file, you can cut out the middle man and just use what they use under the hood on your local machine. Requires a bit of technical knowledge but you can normally google “how to _ ffmpeg” and you’ll find a command you can copy paste.
Education, there are plenty of videos on YouTube about different topics.
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Free courses and software tools. Example of that is Google Drive and other Google Services.
Learning a new language.
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