Safe Sites to Download Free Software
Before downloading any of these, make sure that you have fully updated your anti-virus protection for your computer.
While these sites are rated highly and are safe for downloading software from, it is still a good idea to be safe when downloading things off the internet.
1. Miro
This is an open-source, non-profit site for getting some software, music, games, and much more for free. To find something specific, just browse through their genre categories to find whatever will fit your needs.
2. LinuxTracker
Search these user-uploaded torrents to find software for Linux IOS. They have over 409 pages of downloads which you can browse or, if you are looking for something specific, you can search by name.
3. BitLove
This is a directory of free Podcasters. You can find hundreds of podcasts, viewable by their name in alphabetical order, and download every episode.
4. Vuze
Use this site to download videos about:
- Comedy
- Motors
- Sports
- News
- Music
- TV Shows
- Movies
- Games
- Tech
- Nature
- Science
5. Legit Torrents
Legit Torrents is a torrent tracker for only legal torrents. There are thousands of illegal torrent sites out there, but only a handful of websites that deal with legal torrenting. You can find games, software, and more here: all of it is legally available for download.
6. Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. They have over 400,000 software downloads available. You can narrow your search by year it was made, languages, and software types.
7. Ninite
Install and update your programs with just one quick click. No need to worry about spam, spyware, or malware. Just pick the apps you want to download and then go.
You can find downloads for:
- Chrome
- Spotify
- Discord
- Audacity
- 7-Zip
- WinRAR
- GIMP
- And many more!
8. Major Geeks
MajorGeeks was founded in 2001 with the goal to provide the top 1% of safe, editor-tested downloads. They list less than 10,000 downloads on the website because of this, making sure that you are downloading only the best and safest software.
9. Donation Coder
This site is for tons of professional-quality software that can be used for both personal and business uses. You won’t find toolbars, adware, or spyware on here. They also have forums you can use to talk to experts about installing software, just in case you have any trouble doing it.
10. Download Crew
This site has 31,335,409 downloads, 5,622 reviews, and 332,005 members. Browse software by the operating system, device, and software types. You can find downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
11. Filehorse
This is a fast and simple way to download free software for Windows.
Categories for software are:
- Browsers
- Plugins
- Anti-Spyware
- MP3 and Audio
- Messaging and Chat
- Anti-Virus
- Video Software
- File Sharing
- Firewalls and Security
- CD, DVD, Blu-ray
- File Transfering
- Cleaning
- Office and Business Tools
- Photoshop
- And many, many more.
12. Filepuma
This site offers many software downloads in the available categories:
- Security & Firewalls
- Browsers & Plugins
- Communications
- Developer Tools
- Internet & Network
- FTP Software
- Download Managers
- Search Tools
- P2P & File-Sharing
- Print Server
- Network Management
- Remote Access
- Wireless Network
- Graphics Design
- Utilities
- Compression & Backup
- Video & Audio
- Photos & Images
- Desktop
- Business
- Education
- Productivity
13. SnapFiles
This is a safe and easy site to use for getting software. They have thousands of Windows-compatible programs that are free and legal to download. The software is added to the site by either the company that owns it or the developer that made it. That way, you don’t have to worry about someone uploading a virus and claiming it’s the software you are looking for.
14. FileHippo
Get the latest versions of the best software. Downloads are hand-picked by the site’s editors. It’s also all tested for malware, adware, and viruses, so you get only safe downloads. There are no added bundles, installers, or toolbars.
15. Softpedia
This is an encyclopedia for free downloads. They have over 1,000,000 available downloads with hundreds of items added every single day. This includes downloads for Windows, Mac, Android, and Linux.
16. Brothersoft
This site has over 250,000 freeware and shareware downloads. These are available for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices. Every day, they add new software, so check back often.
17. Tucows
Get downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux, and more with this site. They have all sorts of programs available, including photo editors, antivirus, VPN managers, and more.
18. Soft32
All software on Soft32.com has been tested to ensure it’s 100% free of spyware, viruses, and other malware. They have over 150,000 software downloads available to their website’s community.
19. Giveaway of the Day
Every day this site offers free licensed software you’d have to buy otherwise. This can be a great way to get software that normally costs well over $50 completely free and legally.
20. Giveaway Club
This is another site that does a daily software giveaway. You can also read user reviews of the software before downloading, which is a great way to figure out if you want to take the time to install your free software or not.
21. TopWareSale
This site is normally used to sell software. However, they also have a free deals section! Get professional, high-quality programs completely free.
22. Tickcoupon Giveaway
Tickcoupon Giveaway is one of the most popular software giveaway websites out there. It’s focused on offering, sharing, and updating new free licensed software. You can also get coupon codes for software that isn’t free so you can save a lot of money.
23. Giveaway Download
This site sells software, however, it also has free downloads. Get giveaways for software for Windows, PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and more. You can also get free video games from here.
24. SourceForge
This is an open-source and business software platform. They distribute software to 33 million users worldwide. They have over 430,000 programs available for business owners. If you know anything about developing programs, you might also like the free tools they have on the site for developers.
Free Browser Software
25. Chromium
According to the site, Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. This site contains design documents, architecture overviews, testing information, and more to help you learn to build and work with the Chromium source code.
Free Video (Multi Media) Player Software
26. VideoLAN
VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player. It plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. Some features of the program are:
- Plays files, discs, webcams, devices, and streams.
- Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, Unix, iOS, Android, and more.
- No spyware, ads, or user tracking.
- Completely free to download to use, forever!
27. MPC HC
MPC-HC is an open source media player that works for the Windows operating system. It supports all common video and audio file formats available for playback. They are 100% spyware free, and there are no advertisements or toolbars included with the program.
Free File Sharing Software
28. DC++
Direct Connect allows you to share files over the Internet without restrictions or limits. It’s completely free of advertisements.
Free Photo Editing Software
29. GIMP
Don’t want to pay monthly for Photoshop? Now you don’t have too. GIMP is a free, open-source program similar to Adobe Photoshop. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, or illustrator, you can do whatever you need to with Gimp.
Free Office Software
30. LibreOffice
This is an open-source version of Microsoft Word. You can get several applications that work like the Microsoft Office Suite.
The programs they have offered are:
- Writer – word processor
- Calc- spreadsheet
- Impress – presentations
- Draw – diagrams
- Base – database
- Math – formula editor
Free Zip Software
31. 7-zip
7-Zip is free software with open source code.
Features of the program are:
- High compression ratio in 7z format with LZMA and LZMA2 compression
- Packs and unpacks file types of over twenty types
- Strong AES-256 encryption in 7z and ZIP formats
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Localizations for 87 languages
Free Privacy Software
32. Tor
Defend yourself against tracking and surveillance with the Tor browser. You can browse the internet entirely privately. It prevents someone from watching your connection, so they cant see the websites you visit.
Free Email Software
33. Thunderbird
This is software that makes email easier. Its easy to set up and customize and loaded with lots of features. It’s also incredibly safe to use.
Features of the program are:
- Personalized Email Addresses
- One-Click Address Book
- Attachment Reminders
- Multiple-channel Chat Rooms
- Tabbed Email
- Ability to search the Web
- Message Archive
- And much more!
Free Password Manager Software
34. KeePass
KeePass is a free, open source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager. It puts all your passwords on one database, which is locked with a master key password. That way, you only need to remember one password to access all of your passwords.
Free PDF Reader/Editor Software
35. Foxit Reader
This is one of the best softwares for creating, sharing and securing PDFs. It lets you make PDFs in a few ways including uploading scans, converting Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel sheets. You can even combine multiple PDFs into one new file.
Foxit Reader is available for both Windows and Mac.
36. SumatraPDF
This is actually my favorite PDF reader that I have it installed on my PC, Laptop, Android phone and Surface Pro tablet/laptop.
It is very light so unlike Adobe Acrobat Reader DC it won’t be hogging your computer’s resources resulting in a slower device.
Free Antivirus Software
37. Kaspersky
A great antivirus software that is very easy to use and has a very small impact on the performance of whatever device you install it on. It protects you against all kinds of malware.
