Free alternatives to Webex, Camtasia, etc
Interesting open source alternatives for handling online meetings, videos, screenshots, and files:
- DimDim, an open-source free alternative for online collaboration (paid comparison: WebEx)
- CamStudio, an open-source free limited AVI screen recorder and AVI-SWF converter (paid comparison: Camtasia)
- MWSnap, a free alternative for basic screen captures (paid comparison: Snagit)
- CutePDF, free print-to-PDF software (paid comparison: Adobe, Win2Pdf, etc)
- FileZilla, open-source free alternative for FTP and sFTP (paid comparison: SmartFTP, WS_FTP, etc)
- CrossLoop, free remote screen sharing app (paid comparison: CoPilot, GoToAssist)
You get what you pay for: these free versions are far more limited than their full-featured commercial cousins.
However, depending on which particular features you need, sometimes they suffice.
They also provide an easy, no-cost, first step into these categories.
Alan Rimm-KaufmanAlan Rimm-Kaufman founded the Rimm-Kaufman Group...
I would add to this comprehensive list:
1. Create Pdfs for free: Pdf Creator, Pdf995
2. Hold online meetings: Yugma.com. In the paid version you can also record your meeting. But if you have either Camtasia or Camstudio, you don’t need that.
Hope this helps.
I stumbled upon another cool project at http://showmypc.com, made from standard Open Technologies
Some of these projects do have a very real value.
As the author in this blog mentioned about the features, most of these projects are more than enough for most Online collaboration needs.
I stumbled upon another cool project at http://showmypc.com made from standard Open Technologies
Some of these projects do have a very real value.
As the author in this blog mentioned about the features, most of these projects are more than enough for most Online collaboration needs.
Thanks for the note about Dimdim. We’re super excited to be a free, easier Webex alternative and we’re about to launch our open beta program so come check us out.
We want to help the world meet freely.
thanks very much Alan… you rock!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
We use WebEx at home and then saw that it is NOT free at home…
added ‘free’ to WebEx google and voila! Here we are.
I’ve been using 3 of the 6 mentioned and now I will be using all 6.
Thank you again! It is very much appreciated.
Great information thanks
Thanks for the tips,
I’ve tested DimDim and looks great. I created a real free account and it’s working for me.
Thanks again.
Your missing VNC or RealVNC. Great product for use on closed lan. Developed by IBM and then given out for free. Have used this for years and prefer it to Microsoft Remote connection.
You may want to take a look at a dramatically different approach from RHUB (http://www.rhubcom.com) — Web Conferencing Appliance. It is “WebEx in a Box”.
Thanks for the information. Very useful list.
Hey,
I checked two products like dimdim and cutepdf but none is free. What are you talking about free and open source?
Sorry Jim, this post was written in 2007. Apparently some of those products are gone.
Jim (& George)-
We still offer a free version of Dimdim. Just click Sign Up Now at the top of the Dimdim site.
Thanks!
-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
Dimdim Web Conferencing
e: kevin@dimdim.com
twitter: @dimdim
facebook: dimdim.com/facebook
DimDim is no longer free. They were aquired by Salesforce and the sourceforge version is so out of date to be nearly unusable. Just updating this article with current events.
I don’t think Crossloop isn’t free anymore.
I know this is an old post, but since the rankings of relevance on Google place it near the top, it would seem many folks are viewing it. LogMeIn will do what you want, navigating through firewalls, etc. They have a free version.