Best Open Source Software List

Open source software is software that is released under a license that allows companies the right to use, study, change, and distribute the software for any purpose. Open source software can also be developed in a public manner. 

The open source list has quite a few additions related to cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI). It also has other helpful tools for cybersecurity, healthcare, e-commerce, and more, based on software types and industries.

Open Source Software Categories

• Cloud Open Source Software
  
• Cybersecurity Open Source Software
  
• Healthcare Open Source Software
  
• E-Commerce Open Source Software
• Education Open Source Software
  
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) Open Source Software
• Big Data Open Source Software
  
• Content Management System (CMS) Open Source Software
  
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Open Source Software
  
• Internet of Things (IoT) Open Source Software
  

Cloud Open Source Software

Open source cloud software follows the recent trend of more cloud software. However, cloud open source software can save company’s money, giving companies more flexibility at a low or no cost. 

Here are five of the top cloud open source software:

ManageIQ

This cloud management solution is the open source project behind Red Hat CloudForms. It enables services like chargebacks, service orchestration, lifecycle management, and automated workflows, as well as enabling hybrid cloud environments. Operating System: Linux, VMware

OpenNebula

OpenNebula promises “the simplest cloud deployment and management experience.” Paid support, training, engineering, and consulting are available through OpenNebula Systems. Operating System: Linux.

OpenStack

This very popular cloud computing platform claims that “hundreds of the world’s largest brands” rely on it every day. Its sponsors include AT&T, Ubuntu, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, IBM, Intel, Rackspace, Red Hat, SUSE, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Symantec, and many other well-known technology firms. Operating System: OS Independent

Scalr

This cloud management platform has been highly ranked by market research firms, and it simplifies the process of managing multiple cloud environments. Its notable users include Expedia, Samsung, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Accenture, Sony, and Autodesk. Operating System: Linux

StackSync

This tool describes itself as “the open source personal cloud for organizations.” Like Dropbox, it syncs files across multiple devices, and it also includes client-side encryption for security. Operating System: Windows, Linux

For more on the cloud market: Top 16 Cloud Service Providers & Companies

Cybersecurity Open Source Software

Cybersecurity is necessary for every company. With cybersecurity open source software, companies can save money while protecting their infrastructure.

Here are four of the top cybersecurity open source software:

Mesos

Apache Mesos is a resource abstraction tool that makes it possible for enterprises to treat their entire data center as a single pool of resources, and it is popular with companies that are also running Hadoop, Spark, and similar applications. Organizations that use it include Airbnb, CERN, Cisco, Coursera, Foursquare, Groupon, Netflix, Twitter, and Uber. Operating System: Linux, OS X

Docker

Docker has quickly established itself as the dominant platform in the field of containerization. Many of the biggest names in technology, including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Red Hat, Rackspace, and Canonical are building or offering products that extend or use Docker technology. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

Kubernetes

Developed by Google, Kubernetes is an open source container management solution. It is highly scalable, running billions of containers in Google’s data centers, as well as containers at Viacom, Ebay, and Wikimedia. Note that to use it you will need Docker and a Google Cloud Platform Account. Operating System: Linux, OS X.

Linux Containers

This group oversees three separate containerization-related projects: LXC, a set of tools for containerization; LXD, a descendant of LXC which provides a more intuitive user experience; CG Manager container group manager daemon and the LXCFS filesystem. Its stated goal is “to offer a distro- and vendor-neutral environment for the development of Linux container technologies. Operating System: Linux

Learn more about cybersecurity.

Healthcare Open Source Software

Healthcare open source software is a vital role in the growth and development of their systems. Patient data, test results, scans, and more are important to protect, and open source health software can keep them safe.

Here are three of the top healthcare open source software:

GNU Health

An official GNU project, this award-winning application combines EMR functionality with a hospital information system and a health information system. It was designed to comply with industry standards, and it’s been adopted by the United Nations University. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

OpenMRS

OpenMRS began as a project to fix the medical record system at a clinic in Kenya and has grown into a leading open source medical record system used around the world, particularly in developing countries. It describes itself as “both just a library of API calls and a database and a default implementation of those API calls in the form of a web application.” Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

OpenClinic GA

Designed for healthcare facilities with limited resources, this hospital information system has been implemented extensively in Africa. It supports multiple languages, and it integrates with Central African health insurance billing tools. Operating System: Windows, Linux.

E-Commerce Open Source Software

E-commerce websites should be able to develop while giving companies the factors they need.  affording the freedom to customize it according to your needs.

Here are five of the top healthcare open source software:

Drupal Commerce

Designed for users with some development expertise, Drupal Commerce is a framework useful for building online shopping sites of all sizes. It includes a payment method API, tax calculation, dynamic product display, discount pricing rules, and more. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

ImpleCode eCommerce Product Catalog

This plug-in installs with just one click and works with any WordPress theme. It’s highly flexible, SEO-friendly, and accepts multiple currencies. Operating System: OS Independent

Isotope eCommerce

Isotope is an e-commerce plug-in for Contao CMS, a Web content management system designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. It’s highly flexible and paid support is available for purchase. Operating System: OS Independent

Lightspeed Web Store

This e-commerce platform was designed for brick-and-mortar retailers that want to have an online presence. It integrates with Lightspeed’s POS solutions. The source code is available on GitHub. Operating System: OS Independent

PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a very popular e-commerce solution with a mobile-responsive design, advanced SEO features, in-depth sales statistics, dynamic pricing rules, coupons and vouchers, reviews, loyalty programs, and email marketing. Paid cloud and expert versions are available, as well as a free download. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Education Open Source Software

Education companies and schools should have free or lower-cost open source software to help students and staff add and get more comfortable with their software.

Here are four of the top education open source software:

Safe Exam Browser

If you’re giving a browser-based test (for example, through a learning management system), this tool locks down the student’s system so they can’t browse the Internet or access other applications while taking the exam. It can be used with student-owned PCs, as well as with school-owned, networked systems. Operating System: Windows.

Anki

This app boasts that it can help students learn just about any type of information, whether they are learning a new language, studying for medical exams, or trying to remember guitar chords. It comes in iOS and Android versions, making it ideal for learning on the go. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X, iOS, Android.

The Mnemosyne Project

One of the better flashcard apps available, Mnemosyne was born from a research project that is studying the nature of long-term memory. It supports multiple card formats and uses an algorithm to determine which card should appear next. Users who choose to do so can upload their progress anonymously to provide data for the research team. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X, Android

MiKTeX

Specifically designed to help with the creation of technical publications and books that contain a lot of mathematics, MiKTeX brings the TeX/LaTeX solution that is familiar to many Linux users to Windows. Numerous add-ons extend its capabilities. Operating System: Windows, Linux

For more information on education technology: How AI is Being Used in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) Open Source Software

Open source artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software has an underlying code and is open to changes in scenarios.

Here are four of the top AI/ML open source software:

H2O.ai

Focused more on enterprise uses for AI than on research, H2O has large companies like Capital One, Cisco, Nielsen Catalina, PayPal, and Transamerica among its users. It claims to make it possible for anyone to use the power of machine learning and predictive analytics to solve business problems. It can be used for predictive modeling, risk and fraud analysis, insurance analytics, advertising technology, healthcare, and customer intelligence.

It comes in two open source versions: standard H2O and Sparkling Water, which is integrated with Apache Spark. Paid enterprise support is also available.

OpenNN

Designed for researchers and developers with advanced an understanding of artificial intelligence, OpenNN is a C++ programming library for implementing neural networks. Its key features include deep architectures and fast performance. Extensive documentation is available on the website, including an introductory tutorial that explains the basics of neural networks. Paid support for OpenNNis available through Artelnics, a Spain-based firm that specializes in predictive analytics.

TensorFlow

TensorFlow is one of Google’s open source artificial intelligence tools. It offers a library for numerical computation using data flow graphs. It can run on a wide variety of different systems with single- or multi-CPUs and GPUs and even runs on mobile devices. It boasts deep flexibility, true portability, automatic differential capabilities, and support for Python and C++. The website includes a very extensive list of tutorials and how-tos for developers or researchers interested in using or extending its capabilities.

Mahout

An Apache Foundation project, Mahout is an open source machine learning framework. According to its website, it offers three major features: a programming environment for building scalable algorithms, premade algorithms for tools like Spark and H2O, and a vector-math experimentation environment called Samsara. Companies using Mahout include Adobe, Accenture, Foursquare, Intel, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yahoo, and many others. Professional support is available through third parties listed on the website. Operating System: OS Independent.

For more on AI: 100 Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Companies

Big Data Open Source Software

Big data needs to be analyzed so a company can see patterns and trends, specifically human behavior and interactions. Open source software will help a company pay less for visibility.

Here are five of the top big data open source software:

Alluxio

Formerly known as Tachyon, Alluxio describes itself as “a memory-centric distributed storage system enabling reliable data sharing at memory speed across cluster frameworks.” It works with tools like Spark and Hadoop to speed up performance on big data queries. Operating System: Linux, OS X

Hadoop

This Apache-sponsored project is the best-known big data tool available. Numerous companies, including Amazon Web Services, Cloudera, Hortonworks, IBM, Pivotal, SyncSort, and VMware, offer related products or commercial support for Hadoop. Well-known users include Alibaba, AOL, eBay, Facebook, Google, Hulu, LinkedIn, Spotify, Twitter, and Yahoo. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

Pentaho

Now owned by Hitachi Vantara, Pentaho describes itself as “a comprehensive data integration and business analytics platform.” Its customers include Caterpillar, Halliburton, BR, and Nasdaq. It allows organizations to integrate big data from a variety of sources, including Hadoop, NoSQL databases, analytic databases, and relational databases. It then enables interactive analysis, reporting, and visualizations, allowing users to create customized dashboards that suit their unique purposes.

The open source version of the Pentaho software is available on the Community website. In addition, the company offers a free thirty-day trial of its paid enterprise software, and it offers a variety of paid services like custom visualizations, training, enterprise support, consulting, certification, and technical support. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

GridGain

Powered by Apache Ignite, GridGrain offers an in-memory data fabric for the fast processing of big data and a Hadoop Accelerator based on the same technology. It comes in a paid enterprise version and a free community edition, which includes free basic support. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Apache Impala

Cloudera claims that its SQL-based Impala database is “the leading open source analytic database for Apache Hadoop.” It can be downloaded as a standalone product and is also part of Cloudera’s commercial big data products. Operating System: Linux, OS X.

For more information on big data: Top 23 Big Data Companies: Which Are The Best?

Content Management System (CMS) Open Source Software

A content management system (CMS) lets a company create a website without understanding any code. There are many options of CMS open source software available for big data.

Here are five of the top CMS open source software:

Orchard

This ASP.NET-based CMS is modular and highly extensible, making it easy to add blogs, photos, and much more. The project has several international communities, and Microsoft staffers are involved in the project. Operating System: Windows

Plone

Calling itself “the ultimate enterprise CMS,” Plone offers integration with many other enterprise tools including Salesforce and other CRM solutions, Oracle, continuous integration tools, and many Web services. Paid support and other services are available through third-party providers. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

Pimcore

This award-winning CMS claims to be “the industry’s first integrated open-source e-commerce and product information management platform for delivering rich and compelling e-commerce (B2C/B2B) experiences across all available channels.” Paid support, training, and add-ons can be purchased through the site. Operating System: Linux, Unix

SEOToaster

This solution claims to be “the most advanced SEO CMS and ecommerce website builder.” It offers hub and spoke marketing technology that allows users to manage localized websites from a centralized interface. Operating System: OS Independent

SilverStripe

Created by developers in New Zealand, SilverStripe is both an open source CMS and a development firm that provides a variety of related services. SwipeStripe adds e-commerce capabilities to SilverStripe sites. Operating System: OS Independent

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Open Source Software

Open source software with customer relationship management (CRM) offers customer support, pipeline management, and more.

.Here are five of the top CRM open source software:

iDempiere

This community-run ERP, CRM, and supply chain management solution is a fork of an earlier project called ADempiere, which was itself a fork of Compiere. iDempiere, as it is now called, has adopted OSGi standards and continued development on the ADempiere code. A good option for international organizations, it can handle multiple organizations, multiple languages, multiple currencies, and multiple accounting formats. It offers tools for materials management, procurement, sales and marketing, manufacturing management, accounting, and more. Because it is Java-based, it can run on Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X servers; it also requires a PostgreSQL or Oracle database. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X, others

Group-Office

Group-Office combines enterprise CRM and groupware features like calendar and email. The paid professional version adds a help desk, mobile sync, time-tracking, projects, and document editing. A hosted cloud version is also available. Operating System: OS Independent.

CiviCRM

CiviCRM was particularly designed for advocacy groups, NGOs, and non-profit organizations with similar needs. It includes modules for case management, fundraising, event management, membership management, e-mail communications, and marketing, and it integrates with both Drupal and Joomla. Operating System: OS Independent

SugarCRM

SugarCRM is an extremely popular, award-winning open source CRM solution. The website link above is primarily devoted to selling cloud-based subscriptions, but you can find the open source version at SugarCRM.com/download. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

X2Contacts

This CRM tool gives marketers the ability to capture Web leads, track Website visits, draft and track emails, and automate and manage campaigns. It comes in a cloud-based version that runs on AWS or in an open source version. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Internet of Things (IoT) Open Source Software

Internet of Things (IoT) open source software is a significant help in connecting other IoT devices and applications to pass on information. IoT open source software will help a company while saving money.

Here are 10 of the top IoT open source software:

Arduino

One of the best-known names among open source IoT projects, Arduino is a platform that encompasses both hardware and software. The software includes an integrated development environment (IDE) for writing code in the Arduino language.

Eclipse IoT Project

The Eclipse Foundation has a long list of IoT-related projects that include standards and development frameworks. The project also offers a wealth of videos, tutorials, sandboxes, and other tools to help new IoT developers get started on their first projects.

Kaa

Focused on speeding IoT projects, Kaa describes itself as “a production-ready, multi-purpose middleware platform for building complete end-to-end IoT solutions, connected applications, and smart products.” It enables communication and monitoring between IoT devices and back-end infrastructure, and it can be easily deployed on Amazon’s cloud. Operating System: Linux

OpenIoT

Funded in part by the EU, OpenIoT describes itself as a “blueprint middleware infrastructure for implementing/integrating Internet-of-Things solutions.” The project’s goals are to be able to collect and process data from nearly any IoT device, a stream that data to the cloud and analyze and visualize the collected data. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

SiteWhere

SiteWhere aims to help companies build scalable IoT applications and speed their time-to-market with new products and services. It integrates with MongoDB, HBase, Hortonworks, Clouder, Apache Solr, and Twilio, and it supports deployment on nearly any cloud computing platform.

ThingSpeak

This IoT application and API make it possible to collect and process data from remote devices. Key features include real-time data collection, geolocation data support, data processing, data visualizations, and device status messages.

Windows Developer Program for IoT

Microsoft released much of the code for its IoT program on GitHub. It’s a collection of tools and templates for programming small devices and connecting them to Azure services. Operating System: Windows, Linux

Zetta

Based on Node.js, Zetta can create IoT servers that link to various devices and sensors. The website includes a page devoted to projects built with betta that includes a car speed tracker and home security systems.

RIOT

RIOT calls itself “the friendly operating system for the Internet of Things,” and it aims to be developer-friendly, resource-friendly, and IoT-friendly. Key features include support for C and C++, partial POSIX compliance, multi-threading, energy efficiency, and more.

Node-RED

This “visual tool for wiring the Internet of Things” simplifies the process of connecting IoT devices with APIs and online services. It is built on Node.js and includes a browser-based flow editor. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X

Bottom Line: Open Source Software

The open source list has quite a few additions related to cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), cybersecurity, healthcare, e-commerce, education, big data, customer relationship management (CRM), and content management system (CMS). 

As the list of open source software grows, more companies can find the software they need to improve their systems.