The internet is a fantastic source of knowledge and entertainment. It’s filled with resources to help you learn, create, and relax.
The vastness of the internet has one shocking limitation: with so much content, it’s hard to find valuable resources online. And it’s getting even worse as search engines transform into pay-to-play white pages, social media ranks rage bait, and the massive push toward paid subscriptions for cool stuff.
Despite all that, you can still find a bunch of cool free things on the internet.
The Best Free Things on the Internet
We’ve compiled a list of our favorite free online resources. You might be shocked at all the cool stuff available online for free!
Hey folks! Transparency Disclosure- Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means I’ll receive a small commission if you decide to click on it and buy something. Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost you anything extra!
Open Library
Are you still spending money on books? You need to check out OpenLibrary.org!
The website offers free books that anyone can access directly from their computer. They’re scanned into Open Library, page by page, working on your computer, phone, tablet, or e-reader.
If you love books and don’t mind reading from a screen, you need to browse Open Library.
Archive.org
Need to find old music or an old video game? Head to Archive.org.
The free online resource is a repository of digital information. You can download old 8-bit games, find those YouTube videos from your youth, or browse old cookbooks.
The website features over a million pieces of digital content, ranging from television shows to audio files, books to old music.
Archive’s Way Back Machine feature helps you find content from older websites that no longer exist, serving as the ultimate museum of the internet.
The Open University
fizkes via Shutterstock.com.
It’s harder and harder to find free courses on the internet. Coursera used to offer free courses and only made you pay if you wanted the certificate, but I can’t find that option anymore.
But Open University still provides a wide range of educational opportunities for free. The website lists over 900 free courses in a variety of subjects, from math to business to childhood education.
If you want to learn something new, it’s a great place to start.
GCFGlobal.org
GFCGlobal is a free online resource for life skills. While the Open University leans towards personal development, GCFGlobal is focused on the essential life skills everyone needs for success.
The free platform offers courses in basic math and reading, writing, grammar, personal finance, and more. If you’re lacking in a life skill, check it out; they might have a class that can help.
Khan Academy
The Khan Academy is one of the best free things online for students. It offers coursework and tutoring in a wide range of subjects, ranging from elementary school to adult learners.
It offers classes in math, science, and social studies, helping kids complement their schoolwork and master the subjects.
Adult learners can also benefit, as the website has classes in life skills, economics, and finance. Unfortunately, they don’t have a lot of higher-level math and science courses for advanced students, but it’s very helpful for basic college and below.
Blender
Blender is Microsoft’s video editing software, and it’s completely free! The software usually comes pre-installed on every Microsoft PC, but even Mac users can head to the website and download it.
I used Blender for all my YouTube videos. It offers a host of professional video editing tools, allowing users to splice, add green screen effects, edit audio, and do everything else they need to make studio-quality videos.
Dexed
Want to create ‘80s-style synthetic pop music? Check out Dexed, an FM simulator that lets you make fun sounds.
Dexed is an open-source audio plugin that was developed as a tool/companion for the original DX7, a Yamaha keyboard. The plugin helps you make synthetic sounds for your music.
GIMP
If you need to edit photos but don’t want to pay for Photoshop, consider downloading GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).
The open-source software allows you to edit photos for free. Many users expressed dissatisfaction with the steep learning curve and lack of full functionality, but it’s an excellent option for those on a budget.
Stellarium
Anyone interested in astronomy or astrophysics needs to check out Stellarium, one of the best free things on the internet for star lovers.
The free, open-source software is basically a planetarium right on your computer. It has a catalog of over 600,000 stars, and showcases the night sky that you’d actually see with your naked eye in vivid 3D imagery.
Geocaching
Geocaching is a free internet thing that helps you get outdoors to have some fun!
It’s a free scavenger hunt made by real people for real people. Download the app and search your area for little containers called geocaches. Find the cache, sign your name, and write about your adventure online!
To make it more engaging, people started adding little gifts, like a dollar or a small trinket. You never know what you might find in the geocache, and you can start for free!
Guitar Tabs
Learning an instrument has never been easier. You can find guitar tabs and notes for nearly any song imaginable with a simple internet search.
Although there isn’t one dedicated website for all your guitar tab needs, you can probably find the right chords by searching for the song name + guitar tabs.
Games
You can never be bored when you have the internet. A quick search will help you find a bounty of free games, from classics like chess to weird stuff like finding an invisible cow.
There are even apps that pay you to play your favorite mobile games. Consider downloading MistPlay to earn gift cards for playing the silly games you were already going to play.
Entertainment
Why pay for cable when you can get YouTube for free?
The platform does have a premium package, which allows ad free viewing, but you can watch nearly anything you want for free, as long as you don’t mind watching the commercials.
YouTube is great because it offers far more than entertainment. You can explore hobbies, skills, history, learning, and nearly any subject you can think of on the robust platform.
Art Work
The National Academy of Art is making art more accessible. The gallery has submitted over 50,000 photos to Wiki-Commons, allowing anyone to download them for free.
The National Academy of Art also partnered with GitHub to make the data associated with the works more accessible. Anyone can download the complete dataset of art information.
Ummm…US??
Is blogging dead? I hope not.
The internet abounds with wonderful, unique, informative websites run by individuals who want to share their knowledge with the world.
Partners in Fire is one of probably millions. These blogs offer personal stories, unique experiences, different perspectives, and a wide breadth of ideas on nearly any topic you can imagine.
Our website alone offers resources on happiness, finances, wellness, art, hobbies, and more. I’d call that one of the best free things on the internet, wouldn’t you?
Unfortunately, blogging is dying because search engines are no longer showing our content. That doesn’t mean our content disappeared. Please take some extra time to enjoy the wide range of wonderful material passionate people are creating online every day.
We appreciate it far more than the five giant companies working nefariously to hijack all your attention.
Free Stuff Abounds
Despite the challenges with the internet, it’s still the best place to find information and resources for whatever you want to do.
These free resources still exist; you just need to dig a little deeper to find them. We hope this article helped, and that you continue to visit Partners in Fire, which is clearly still one of the best free things on the internet!