Sometimes having the right tools can make all the difference in the world. A lot of really good software packages can tend to be “best kept secrets”.

This is a list¹⁾ of software that Maker may find useful. Everything on this list is “free” (“gratis”), “free” (“libre”), or at the very least has a “light” version for non-commercial use. (Some may restrict commercial application, or require a paid license to use commercially, always check the license ahead of time, and compensate engineers for their work when they ask for it). Applications that are “trial” versions in that critical core functionality is fundamentally crippled or time limited are ineligible for this list.

Anibit staff tends to lean toward Microsoft Windows Desktops, and so this list may have somewhat of a bias, but many of the listed software is cross-platform, and we'll try to make a note of additional platform availability. In addition, many Mac and Linux user are likely already aware of many of these applications.

http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

²⁾

http://www.7-zip.org/

http://www.hexedit.com/

http://www.gimp.org/

http://www.inkscape.org/

http://www.getpaint.net/

http://www.blender.org/

http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

http://librecad.org/cms/home.html

http://www.openscad.org/

http://freecadweb.org/

http://heekscnc.blogspot.com/2014/03/heekscnc-10.html

http://www.openscad.org/

http://slic3r.org/

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/eagle-pcb-design-software/product-overview

http://www.kicad-pcb.org/

http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/

http://fritzing.org/home/

http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs.aspx

http://pytools.codeplex.com/

http://www.eclipse.org/ http://www.eclipse.org/cdt/

http://www.atmel.com/tools/atmelstudio.aspx

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuarmeclipse/

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15702

http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/

³⁾

http://sourceforge.net/projects/wxmaxima/

http://www.povray.org/

⁴⁾

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/