Lancé en 2009 sur un marché alors encore relativement calme, Grammarly a débuté en tant qu'outil par abonnement destiné aux étudiants, créé par...

Reading Time: 9 minutes Email provides a direct, two-way communication line to your target audience, which makes it, in a sense, more social than marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. However, this doesn’t automatically lead to high open rates or email engagement. You need to know when the best time to send an email is and how often you should send them. Without a well-thought-out schedule, you’ll likely overwhelm your customers’ inboxes. In this post, we’ll discuss email scheduling and cadence best practices, along with the best day and time to send email marketing messages. Let’s jump in.   What is Email Cadence? Email cadence is the ideal frequency and most impactful time for your business to send marketing emails to your subscribers. It’s a process that involves experimentation, testing, and adjustments, as you’ll need to understand your subscribers’ preferences and modify your email schedule accordingly. It matters because it will greatly impact the success of email marketing campaigns, specifically engagement and your relationship with your subscriber list. Send too many emails, and they’ll likely unsubscribe. Get the timing wrong, and you’ll see an impact in your open rates.   The Best Time to Send an Email: By Industry and Day There isn’t a universal email cadence to replicate, as it varies by industry. That said, the best time to send an email is typically at the start of the workday between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on weekdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being the most effective days. This is why it’s crucial that you dig into the averages for your industry, conveniently set out for you in this table based on the data collected. It’s a good place to start, especially if you’re new to email marketing and don’t have your own data yet. Industry Best Day To Send Emails Best Time To Send Emails Retail and Ecommerce Monday (for conversions) and Sunday (for opens) 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and again 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Financial  Friday (for conversions) and Sunday (for opens) 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and again 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Media and entertainment Thursday (for conversions and opens) 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. and again 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.   An Ideal Sales Cadence Email Template (by MoEngage) Once you’ve identified the best time to send emails for your industry, you can plan your email marketing campaign around these times. We’ve created this sales cadence email template for a hypothetical brand, StrideGo, a subscription-based fitness app, to help you see how this will look in practice. It shows how to plot out your emails so you can balance frequency with the best times to send an email.   From sales to subscriber re-engagement, there are various ways you can tweak this template to match your campaign goal, as the following examples from well-known B2C brands illustrate.   Email Cadence Examples From Top Brands Some of the best email cadence examples come from brands that have turned email into one of their most effective channels. From limited-time flash sales to regular content updates that help build your brand as a thought leader, here are some ways you can approach email cadence, timing, and content. 1. Grammarly | Flash Sale Campaign goal: Promote a flash sale Grammarly’s email campaign serves as a good example of how to strike the right balance between staying top of mind without becoming an annoyance. The first email succinctly links the offer with their subscribers’ pain point, which increases their chance of opening it. They then wait two days before sending a follow-up email to remind subscribers that the offer will soon end. To capitalize on the powerful effect of urgency, they wait until the day the offer ends to send their final reminder. What this email campaign does well: Grammarly doesn’t solely rely on the massive discount to drive subscriptions. They take it one step further by linking their software with their potential new subscribers’ pain points. It’s a great example of a customer relationship email. 2. Airbnb | Announcing New Updates Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/host-news-updates-to-our-review-policy-new-sustainability-resources-and-more   Campaign goal: Highlight new blog content and product updates Airbnb sends monthly email newsletters that share industry news, product updates, and learning resources. On the surface, it functions as an email newsletter, but it’s also an effective tool for establishing thought leadership. Industry news isn’t as exciting or time-sensitive as sales, so it makes sense for this type of email to be scheduled on a monthly basis only. What this email campaign does well: The newsletter helps to build brand awareness and encourages product discovery. The strategic placement of several calls to action (CTAs) per email also helps to generate website traffic. 3. McDonald’s | Personalized Updates Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/smiles-davis-your-january-account-in-review Campaign goal: Update customers about their loyalty points See how they’re proudly announcing their email marketing cadence? Each month, McDonald’s sends a statement that summarizes loyalty program members’ activity for the past month and current status. It’s an effective tool for engaging their most loyal customers to grow their customer loyalty even further. What this email campaign does well: The personalized content makes regular diners feel special. Plus, the fact that it visualizes how many points they’re away from a reward, along with the only-once-a-month email cadence, serves as good encouragement to visit McDonald’s more often. How? Well, when customers receive the email once a month stating the reward, it serves as a slight nudge to pay a visit in the hope of winning more rewards!   5 Best Practices for Email Marketing Cadence Here are five email cadence best practices that will help you drive noteworthy results for you to replicate (and let you get the best use out of your email cadence tool). 1. Create a Customer Journey Each email marketing campaign should have a specific goal, whether that’s to create brand awareness or drive webinar registrations. Creating and mapping the customer journey will ensure that you know where your target audience typically starts and what type of message they’ll need at which point to move them toward your goal. If you have clarity on the typical steps your target audience takes and their behavior, your email communication will improve the customer experience. Each message will be relevant and valuable. 2. Segment Your List Email preferences differ from one segment to the next. For example, your frequent shoppers generally like to receive regular promotional emails with exclusive deals. On the other hand, occasional buyers would rather receive fewer emails and resonate better with educational emails. Segmenting your email list allows you to send daily emails to those in your most engaged group, while weekly emails are reserved for another group. 3. Personalize Content One of the most crucial email cadence best practices is content personalization. In addition to adjusting your email frequency to your segment’s preferences, you should also tailor the actual content so that it’s relevant to specific recipients. Generic content quickly gets ignored, while location-based product recommendations feel useful. For your email cadence to click, you need recipients to click on the CTAs, and personalized content will encourage engagement. The added benefit of using email personalization is that once your open and click-through rates improve, you can also increase your email frequency. 4. Test and Tweak Like with virtually anything in life, it takes time before you find your rhythm. The same applies to email cadence. A/B testing will allow you to see if your frequency and timing work and give you the data you need to improve your campaigns. You can, for example, send specials to half of your frequent shoppers daily, while the other half receive specials only weekly. Alternatively, you can send the whole segment the same email on the same days at the same time, and then experiment with the best time to send an email. 5. Let Subscribers Select Email Preferences While you still need to do your own rigorous testing, give your email subscribers the option to choose how often they want to receive emails from your brand. It’s as easy as adding a link in your email signature that takes them to a page where they can select which emails they choose to receive. You can even take it one step further and let them choose the frequency by type of message. For example, they might want to hear about deals weekly, while company news is best served only once a month. This also allows them to change the frequency at a later stage, should their needs change. Aside from making your job easier, it also gives your subscribers an alternative to unsubscribing from your emails altogether.   Top 3 Email Cadence Software and Tools There are several great email cadence tools that can automate much of the labor involved in identifying the best time to send an email campaign. Here’s a quick look that highlights the core and unique features of three such software solutions. 1. Best for Cross-Channel Customer Engagement: MoEngage   MoEngage’s enterprise-ready, cross-channel customer engagement platform gives your team the data and insight they need to personalize customer experiences. For help specifically with email cadence, you can use it to design relevant emails that match your customers’ preferences and meet them where they’re at in their journey. What makes it such a unique email cadence tool is its deep focus on customer engagement. It doesn’t just send emails but also helps you understand the why and when behind engagement. For example, it has a “Best Time to Send” feature that uses advanced data analysis to make sense of historical customer interactions. How pricing works: MoEngage keeps pricing simple and flexible by offering only two plans (Growth and Enterprise) and dozens of features available to be purchased as add-ons. What makes it stand out: MoEngage’s impressive predictive capabilities let you tailor your emails to your customers’ next best action, ensuring they receive timely, relevant content time and again. 2. Best for Email Scheduling for Small Businesses: Klaviyo Klaviyo’s marketing automation platform offers tools for email and SMS marketing. With its built-in data platform and drag-and-drop editor, you can easily create customizable templates and send personalized emails. You can, for example, use data like browsing history, past purchases, and subscription status to send relevant and timely updates. It also has a Smart Send Time feature to help specifically with the best time to send an email. How pricing works: Plans start at $45 per month based on features and the number of monthly emails you want to send. What makes it stand out: As it integrates with platforms like Shopify, you can use real-time customer data to personalize your communication. 3. Best for Inbound Marketing: HubSpot HubSpot is an all-in-one solution that businesses can use to attract and engage their target audience across the entire journey. It offers various hubs (like sales, marketing, and operations) built to work together and integrations with more than 1,000 third-party apps that expand its capabilities even further. To help with email cadence, you can check out Cadence, a multi-channel sales prospecting tool available in its app marketplace. It will tell you who to email and allow you to automate sequence steps. How pricing works: Depending on the platform solutions you need, pricing ranges from $15 per month per seat to $4,700 per month per seat for seven seats. What makes it stand out: HubSpot is built around inbound marketing and combines everything you’ll need for lead nurturing to customer support into one interface.   Manage Your Email Cadence With MoEngage When you’re creating your email marketing strategy, you should also plan for the best time to send an email. If you send your email at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, it will only be buried with dozens of other emails when your recipients finally make time to check their inbox. You want to find out at what time your subscribers are most likely going to open their inbox and ensure your email reaches them at this time. In addition to the day and time, you also need to consider the email cadence. Here’s an idea: why not remove the guesswork altogether? With MoEngage’s Best Time to Send (BTS) feature, you can reach out to your customers at just the right moment. What’s more, MoEngage’s AI engine, Sherpa AI, keeps updating the best time to send an email based on changing customer behavior. Want to see this super-cool feature in action? Schedule a 1:1 demo today. The post When is the Best Time to Send an Email? appeared first on MoEngage.

Macworld There’s something of a misconception when it comes to the Mac: that Mac apps cost more, just like the computer itself. While powerful tools like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro certainly have price tags commensurate with their robust feature sets, many of the greatest Mac apps won’t cost you anything more than the time they take to download them. A quick note before we begin. Apple has changed its security settings in macOS, so you’ll need to allow your system to open a couple of these apps. A dialogue box may pop up telling you a certain app “is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” Click Open to proceed with the installation. These are the best free Mac apps we use, in alphabetical order. Amphetamine – free anti-sleep app Foundry Amphetamine will keep your Mac awake. Featuring a menu bar-based interface, the app lets you temporarily override your Mac’s sleep schedule (even when your MacBooks’s lid is closed) and even adds a few useful features like activating only when connected to specific Wi-Fi networks and keeping only certain drives awake. Download Amphetamine. Audacity – free audio editor IDG Amateur Mac recording engineers have known about the power of Audacity for years. A robust desktop client for recording and editing multi-track projects, Audacity will let you edit and add effects just like you would with Logic Pro X without needing to spend hundreds of dollars on a bunch of features you won’t need. Granted, the interface is quite a bit outdated, but you need only spend a few minutes with it to see just how powerful it is. A killer tool for podcasting, recording audio books, and creating video voiceovers, Audacity will turn your Mac into a multi-track recording studio, and it won’t cost you a dime. Download Audacity. Backup and Sync from Google IDG Even the most stalwart Mac fans have to admit that Google does photos better than Apple, despite Apple’s improvements over the years. While there ids no longer the unlimited free storage there once was, with instant syncing across virtually any device, and an amazing search engine, Google Photos is everything we wish Apple Photos would be. But you might not know that there’s a super easy way to get photos from your Mac into your Google Photos library. Google offers a small utility called Backup and Sync that will automatically upload images stored on your Mac. The simple menu bar app works with your Google Drive to continuously scan for images in folders of your choosing to keep your photo library in sync. And it’s so efficient, you won’t even know it’s working. But thats not all! Backup and Sync makes an extremely effective cloud storage solution for all file types. In fact, if you use more than just Apple gear, it’s probably the best cloud storage solution. Get Backup and Sync. BBEdit – free HTML and text editor BBEdit Professional software developers have been singing BBEdit’s praises for years, but you don’t need to spend a bundle to get on board. The free version of BBEdit is a full-featured editor in its own right, sporting powerful features such as multiple clipboards, automatic backups, live search and syntax-highlighting support for more than 20 programming languages. But you don’t have to be a Swift coder to appreciate it—anyone who writes and edits large chunks of text on their Mac should grab a copy. Download BBEdit. Google Chrome – free web browser Foundry The debate over which is the Bbst web browser for Mac is one that won’t be settled anytime soon, but in the meantime, every Mac user should have a copy of Chrome alongside Safari in their Dock. Fast, smart, and endlessly customizable, Google’s browser is an excellent alternative to Apple’s, with speedy surfing, smart syncing, and Google Assistant-style voice searches. And with a dedicated store filled with extensions and themes, finding ways to enhance it is way easier than it is on Safari. Google has even added some intelligence to Chrome on Mac with AI-based search tools in a Chrome for Mac update. Download Chrome. ClearVPN – free Mac VPN IDG There are lots of VPN clients available for the Mac, but few of them are as straightforward and effortless as ClearVPN, which has a free plan. Rather than let you choose from a complicated list of servers, ClearVPN’s straightforward interface will automatically route you to the best option based on what you want to do, whether it’s private browsing or watching Netflix outside the U.S. Everything else happens in the background—protocols, servers, and encryption are handled in real-time using MacPaw’s Dynamic Flow Technology that automatically selects the best server for your needs. Heavy users will want to subscribe for $13 a month, but the free plan—which offers few shortcuts including Netflix streaming and ad-free browsing—is a great addition to any Mac. Read our review of ClearVPN for more information. Download ClearVPN. Duplicate File Finder – free duplicate file remover IDG If you’ve been using your Mac for a while, there’s a good chance you have accumulated duplicate files along the way. And some of them could be eating up precious space on your drive. You could run a full disk cleaner to find and root them out, but if you want to quickly find double files and get on with your day, make space for Duplicate File Finder in your Applications folder. Simply drag a folder onto its window and within seconds you’ll have a full report of the duplicates on your machine, letting you see what they are and where they’re hiding, and letting you delete them in a snap. Unless you opt for the $5 pro version, you’ll have to deal with the occasional ad, but it’s an indispensable tool nonetheless. Duplicate File Finder is part of MacCleaner Pro, which features in our Best Mac Cleaner roundup. Get Duplicate File Finder from the Mac App Store or Nektony. Foxit PDF Reader – Free PDF reader Foundry Foxit PDF Reader is a free document viewer that supports advanced annotation tools. This lets you control the size, color, and style of inserted text or shapes. The app also packs some handy customization features, such as support for changing the document’s background shade, reversing and rotating pages, signing forms, and more. Beyond tweaking the PDF file, this Mac app can read the text aloud, measure distances, calculate areas, magnify selected spots, and have AI analyze your document. It’s certainly more capable than Apple’s Preview app and most free PDF readers we’ve used. See how Foxit PDF Editor compares to other PDF tools in our round-up of the Best PDF editor for Mac. Get Foxit PDF Reader. GarageBand – Apple’s music maker IDG If you want to make music on your Mac there’s no better place to start than GarageBand. Loaded with loads of instruments, sounds, loops, and beats, GarageBand will help you make killer tracks whether they’re bound for a stage, screen, or just your ringtone. And in true Apple fashion, its interface is drop-dead simple, letting you record, scrub, and mix just by dragging and dropping. You can use real instruments or virtual ones, and an array of pre-recorded tracks and samples will let you compose a great song even of you can’t hold a tune. And if you’re clueless about where to begin, there are even a couple piano and guitar lessons to get you started. Get GarageBand from Apple. Grammarly – free grammar and spelling checker IDG Spell-check on our iPhone is awesome, but it’s not so great on our Mac. That’s where Grammarly comes in. Available as a Mac app or a Safari extension, it adds a powerful spelling and grammar engine to Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else you type words. (It even works in our CMS, which is why this blurb is free of errors.) Easy to use and basically restriction-free for most people, Grammarly will be a lifesaver for anyone with clumsy typing fingers—especially if you’re stuck using one of the problematic MacBook keyboards. Get Grammarly from the Mac App Store. IINA – free Mac media player IDG While VLC (above) will always have a place on our Mac, IINA is making a strong case for supremacy. Its sleek, minimal design makes it feel like a fresh and modern video player, while features like dark mode and picture-in-picture put VLC to shame. But IINA’s best feature is its uncanny ability to play basically any file type you throw at it, from years-old local files to YouTube playlists. Plus, it’s written in Swift and open-source, so you can bet the features—including native M1 Mac support—will keep on coming. Download IINA. Kindle – free book reader IDG Sometimes you just want to curl up with your Mac and read a good book. With the Kindle app for Mac you can do just that. Like iBooks, but for all of your Kindle books, comics, and Kindle Unlimited subscriptions, you’ll be able to access all fo your Amazon.com purchases  right on your desktop. With a full-screen mode, five font options, a dark theme, and adjustable point sizes, brightness, and page widths, you can customize your reading experience just the way you like it. There’s also a built-in dictionary and easy annotating, and Amazon’s Whispersync tech will let you pick up right where you left off on any device. Except, you know, from an actual book. Download Amazon’s Kindle app for Mac from the Mac App Store. Onyx – free Mac cleaner IDG Mac maintenance might not be as vital to the day-to-day operation of your Mac as it once was, but slowdowns still happen. And when they do, Onyx will clear them up. A general-purpose utility with more tools than a Swiss Army knife, Onyx packages maintenance scripts, cache cleaning, and permissions repairers to keep your Mac in tip-top shape. Its simple interface makes it quick and painless to run all kinds of cleaning solutions, but its best feature might be the individual optimized versions Titanium Software offers, going way back. Onyx is one of a number of Mac cleaners we review in our Best Mac Cleaners group test. Read our review of Onyx. Another free Mac cleaner worth a look is Piriform Software’s CCleaner. Download Onyx. Pages/Numbers/Keynote – the free office apps on every Mac Foundry Apple’s productivity suite has been a benefit to new Mac buyers for years, but now everyone can get them. Previously available for $20 apiece, for a while now they have all been free, and you won’t find a better set of tools without opening your wallet. With professional features, powerful collaboration, and tremendous cross-platform versatility, Apple’s office suite of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with apps sporting much higher price tags. Things like Touch ID protection and real-time tracking belie its free status, and of course, there are iOS companion apps that are also free so you can work wherever you are. And don’t worry if you have a mountain of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files—it’ll work with those, too. Get Pages, Numbers, and Keynote from the Mac App Store. Polarr Photo Editor – free photo editor IDG While most photo storage apps offer a rudimentary set of editing tools, serious Instagrammers are going to need a little more creativity. Look no further than Polarr Photo Editor. The free version of Polarr offers the same great interface as the subscription version, with enough tools, filters, brushes, and slides to turn your bland selfies into social-media worthy masterpieces. You’ll be able to add text, tweak colors, remove spots, and apply masks like you can with Photoshop, just without the subscription to Creative Cloud. We look at the best free photo editing apps for Mac separately. Download Polarr Photo Editor from the Mac App Store. Raycast – free shortcut app Foundry While Apple’s Spotlight technology tends to do a good job of quickly finding files of all kinds via its indexed, system-wide search engine, Raycast may just do it better. Raycast, developed by Raycast Technologies, functions as a quick, on-the-fly application launcher, wherein you can quickly access files by typing in a few keywords, tell Raycast what function to perform (such as searching user folders, etc.), and then let Raycast go to work. While you’ll need to permit Raycast to search through local drives the first time using it, the program is intuitive, simple, and, for many people, everything they wish Apple’s Spotlight technology could be. Download Raycast. Shazam – free music recognition app IDG We all know how great the Shazam app is on our phones, but it might be even better on the Mac. It does the same thing—identify songs that it hears and direct you to where you can buy them—but on the Mac it’s always listening for music. And as soon as the Shazam app hears a song, it’ll identify it for you, whether it’s played on your Mac or somewhere else in the room. And now that Apple owns Shazam, It’s kind of like a peek at what is almost certain to be a future macOS feature that you can play with right now. Get Shazam from the Mac App Store. Simplenote – free note taking app IDG Don’t let Simplenote’s name fool you—the only thing simple about it is the decision to download it. No matter how or what you write, Simplenote promises to fit neatly into your workflow, with a syncing and organizational system that rivals the most powerful note-takers around. The deceptively powerful app puts a premium on speed and efficiency, offering a clean, lightweight interface that lets you breeze in and out of your notes, organize your thoughts, and quickly find things buried under a mountain of text snippets. Get Simplenote from the Mac App Store. Slack – free team collaboration and messaging app IDG Since its launch in 2013, Slack has quickly become the first name in business collaboration and messaging, and its free Mac app is the best way to keep in touch with your team. Bringing everything you love about the web interface to your Dock, the Slack desktop app lets you quickly switch between groups, change your status, drag and drop files, and, of course, communicate with your team members. A lightning-fast search gives you instant access to buried messages, and granular notifications will keep you apprised of only the most important correspondences. It’s so good, you might not want to turn it off at the end of the work day. Download Slack. Spark – free email app IDG Apple’s default email client gets better with each macOS revision, but if you’re looking for something different, Spark will be a refreshing change of pace. Smart, stylish, and speedy, Spark will help you get control over your inbox with powerful filters that help you focus on the messages that need your attention. It works with Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, and just about any other email address, and its companion iOS apps will keep all of them perfectly synced. With a deceptively powerful interface and a slew of advanced features, Spark just might ignite your passion for email again. Or at least make you not hate it as much. Download Spark from the Mac App Store. Spotify – free music streamer IDG Apple Music might come free with every new Mac, but unless you subscribe for $10 a month, it’s kinda useless for listening to anything other than your purchased music (although there are ways to get Apple Music for free). That’s not the case with the Spotify app. Whether you’re a premium subscriber or a free one, the Spotify app for the Mac is chock full of tunes to get you through your workday. It also makes an excellent podcast directory and player. Just like the iPhone app, you can listen to anything you want with two limitations: shuffle mode is always on and visual and audio ads occasionally pop up. Download Spotify. VLC media player – free media player IDG Video formats are constantly changing, and you no doubt have all sorts of movie files littering your Mac’s drive. But if they haven’t been encoded in 64-bit or MPEG, QuickTime might not be able to play them. That’s where VLC comes in. Open-source and omnipotent, the media player will play, stream, or convert just about any video format you can throw at it, while sporting a clean, minimal interface that strips away unnecessary controls and puts the focus on the content. It’s so good, you might forget it didn’t cost you anything. Download VLC. The Unarchiver – free unzipper ZIPs and RARs might not be as prevalent as they were when the Mac operating system was named after big cats, but if you still have expanding and extracting needs, The Unarchiver’s immediate and inconspicuous processing will help you quickly get at the files hidden inside. With dozens of supported formats and drop-dead simple one-click operation, the app will dutifully extract and expand all sorts of extensions, in numerous languages and virtually any compression method. Get The Unarchiver from the Mac App Store or direct from MacPaw. Wake Up Time – free clock app with alarms IDG With no Clock app, setting an alarm on your Mac isn’t quite as easy as it is on your iPhone. But with Wake Up Time, it is. Featuring a skeuomorphic design that looks like a modern clock radio, the app will let you choose an alarm time and one of eight pre-loaded sounds (including a rooster and a cow), or pick one of your favorite songs to play when the time arrives. You can even download a helper app that will put your Mac to sleep until the alarm is ready to go off—because machines need some down time too.  Get Wake Up Time from the Mac App Store. WhatsApp Desktop – free text messaging WhatsApp If you send a lot of WhatsApp messages, you need to get WhatsApp Desktop on your Mac. There’s not all that much to it—it basically mimics the web interface in a floating window—but it’ll sync your chats so you don’t have to reach for your phone every time you want to read or respond to a message. You will, however, need to have your phone within range and connected to Wi-Fi, and you won’t be able to make calls, but if you’re a chromic Whatsapper, it’s a must-have. If you have an iPad and want WhatsApp on that read: How to get WhatsApp on iPad. Download WhatsApp Desktop Zoom – free video conferencing IDG Since 2020 we all need a copy of Zoom on our Macs, alongside Teams, no doubt. The Zoom Mac app is the best way to get hooked up with your colleagues or family. It has an easy interface for both joining and creating meetings, with quick audio and video settings and easy view options. And you’ll get a bunch of options that aren’t available on the web, such as chats, contacts, and a status icon. Download the Zoom Mac app.

A shared language for product teams to build usable, intelligent and safe GenAI experiences beyond just the modelGenerative AI introduces a new way for humans to interact with systems by focusing on intent-based outcome specification. GenAI introduces novel challenges because its outputs are probabilistic, requires understanding of variability, memory, errors, hallucinations and malicious use which brings an essential need to build principles and design patterns as described by IBM.Moreover, any AI product is a layered system where LLM is just one ingredient and memory, orchestration, tool extensions, UX and agentic user-flows builds the real magic!This article is my research and documentation of evolving GenAI design patterns that provide a shared language for product managers, data scientists, and interaction designers to create products that are human-centred, trustworthy and safe. By applying these patterns, we can bridge the gap between user needs, technical capabilities and product development process.Here are 21 GenAI UX patternsGenAI or no GenAIConvert user needs to data needsAugment or automateDefine level of automationProgressive AI adoptionLeverage mental modelsConvey product limitsDisplay chain of thought (CoT)Leverage multiple outputsProvide data sourcesConvey model confidenceDesign for memory and recallProvide contextual input parametersDesign for coPilot, co-Editing or partial automationDefine user controls for AutomationDesign for user input error statesDesign for AI system error statesDesign to capture user feedbackDesign for model evaluationDesign for AI safety guardrailsCommunicate data privacy and controls1. GenAI or no GenAIEvaluate whether GenAI improves UX or introduces complexity. Often, heuristic-based (IF/Else) solutions are easier to build and maintain.Scenarios when GenAI is beneficialTasks that are open-ended, creative and augments user.E.g., writing prompts, summarizing notes, drafting replies.Creating or transforming complex outputs (e.g., images, video, code).E.g., converting a sketch into website code.Where structured UX fails to capture user intent.Scenarios when GenAI should be avoidedOutcomes that must be precise, auditable or deterministic. E.g., Tax forms or legal contracts.Users expect clear and consistent information.E.g. Open source software documentationHow to use this patternDetermine the friction points in the customer journeyAssess technology feasibility: Determine if AI can address the friction point. Evaluate scale, dataset availability, error risk assessment and economic ROI.Validate user expectations: - Determine if the AI solution erodes user expectations by evaluating whether the system augments human effort or replaces it entirely, as outlined in pattern 3, Augment vs. automate. - Determine if AI solution erodes pattern 6, Mental models2. Convert user needs to data needsThis pattern ensures GenAI development begins with user intent and data model required to achieve that. GenAI systems are only as good as the data they’re trained on. But real users don’t speak in rows and columns, they express goals, frustrations, and behaviours. If teams fail to translate user needs into structured, model-ready inputs, the resulting system or product may optimise for the wrong outcomes and thus user churn.How to use this patternCollaborate as a cross-functional team of PMs, Product designers and Data Scientists and align on user problems worth solving.Define user needs by using triangulated research: Qualitative (Market Reports, Surveys or Questionnaires) + Quantitative (User Interviews, Observational studies) + Emergent (Product reviews, Social listening etc.) and synthesising user insights using JTBD framework, Empathy Map to visualise user emotions and perspectives. Value Proposition Canvas to align user gains and pains with featuresDefine data needs and documentation by selecting a suitable data model, perform gap analysis and iteratively refine data model as needed. Once you understand the why, translate it into the what for the model. What features, labels, examples, and contexts will your AI model need to learn this behaviour? Use structured collaboration to figure out.3. Augment vs automateOne of the critical decisions in GenAI apps is whether to fully automate a task or to augment human capability. Use this pattern to to align with user intent and control preferences with the technology.Automation is best for tasks users prefer to delegate especially when they are tedious, time-consuming or unsafe. E.g., Intercom FinAI automatically summarizes long email threads into internal notes, saving time on repetitive, low-value tasks.Augmentation enhances tasks users want to remain involved in by increasing efficiency, increase creativity and control. E.g., Magenta Studio in Abelton support creative controls to manipulate and create new music.How to use this patternTo select the best approach, evaluate user needs and expectations using research synthesis tools like empathy map (visualise user emotions and perspectives) and value proposition canvas (to understand user gains and pains)Test and validate if the approach erodes user experience or enhances it.4. Define level of automationIn AI systems, automation refers to how much control is delegated to the AI vs user. This is a strategic UX pattern to decide degree of automation based upon user pain-point, context scenarios and expectation from the product.Levels of automationNo automation (AI assists but user decides)The AI system provides assistance and suggestions to the user but requires the user to make all the decisions. E.g., Grammarly highlights grammar issues but the user accepts or rejects corrections.Partial automation/ co-pilot/ co-editor (AI acts with user oversight)The AI initiates actions or generates content, but the user reviews or intervenes as needed. E.g., GitHub Copilot suggest code that developers can accept, modify, or ignore.Full automation (AI acts independently)The AI system performs tasks without user intervention, often based on predefined rules, tools and triggers. Full automation in GenAI are often referred to as Agentic systems. E.g., Ema can autonomously plan and execute multi-step tasks like researching competitors, generating a report and emailing it without user prompts or intervention at each step.How to use this patternEvaluate user pain point to be automated and risk involved: Automating tasks is most effective when the associated risk is low without severe consequences in case of failure. Low-risk tasks such as sending automated reminders, promotional emails, filtering spam emails or processing routine customer queries can be automated with minimal downside while saving time and resources. High-risk tasks such as making medical diagnoses, sending business-critical emails, or executing financial trades requires careful oversight due to the potential for significant harm if errors occur.Evaluate and design for particular automation level: Evaluate if user pain point should fall under — No Automation, Partial Automation or Full Automation based upon user expectations and goals.Define user controls for automation (refer pattern 15)5. Progressive GenAI adoptionWhen users first encounter a product built on new technology, they often wonder what the system can and can’t do, how it works and how they should interact with it.This pattern offers multi-dimensional strategy to help user onboard an AI product or feature, mitigate errors, aligns with user readiness to deliver an informed and human-centered UX.How to use this patternThis pattern is a culmination of many other patternsFocus on communicating benefits from the start: Avoid diving into details about the technology and highlight how the AI brings new value.Simplify the onboarding experience Let users experience the system’s value before asking data-sharing preferences, give instant access to basic AI features first. Encourage users to sign up later to unlock advanced AI features or share more details. E.g., Adobe FireFly progressively onboards user with basic to advance AI featuresDefine level of automation (refer pattern 4) and gradually increase autonomy or complexity.Provide explainability and trust by designing for errors (refer pattern 16 and 17).Communicate data privacy and controls (refer pattern 21) to clearly convey how user data is collected, stored, processed and protected.6. Leverage mental modelsMental models help user predict how a system (web, application or other kind of product) will work and, therefore, influence how they interact with an interface. When a product aligns with a user’s existing mental models, it feels intuitive and easy to adopt. When it clashes, it can cause frustration, confusion, or abandonment​.E.g. Github Copilot builds upon developers’ mental models from traditional code autocomplete, easing the transition to AI-powered code suggestionsE.g. Adobe Photoshop builds upon the familiar approach of extending an image using rectangular controls by integrating its Generative Fill feature, which intelligently fills the newly created space.How to use this patternIdentifying and build upon existing mental models by questioningWhat is the user journey and what is user trying to do?What mental models might already be in place?Does this product break any intuitive patterns of cause and effect?Are you breaking an existing mental model? If yes, clearly explain how and why. Good onboarding, microcopy, and visual cues can help bridge the gap.7. Convey product limitsThis pattern involves clearly conveying what an AI model can and cannot do, including its knowledge boundaries, capabilities and limitations.It is helpful to builds user trust, sets appropriate expectations, prevents misuse, and reduces frustration when the model fails or behaves unexpectedly.How to use this patternExplicitly state model limitations: Show contextual cues for outdated knowledge or lack of real-time data. E.g., Claude states its knowledge cutoff when the question falls outside its knowledge domainProvide fallbacks or escalation options when the model cannot provide a suitable output. E.g., Amazon Rufus when asked about something unrelated to shopping, says “it doesn’t have access to factual information and, I can only assists with shopping related questions and requests”Make limitations visible in product marketing, onboarding, tooltips or response disclaimers.8. Display chain of thought (CoT)In AI systems, chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting technique enhances the model’s ability to solve complex problems by mimicking a more structured, step-by-step thought process like that of a human.CoT display is a UX pattern that improves transparency by revealing how the AI arrived at its conclusions. This fosters user trust, supports interpretability, and opens up space for user feedback especially in high-stakes or ambiguous scenarios.E.g., Perplexity enhances transparency by displaying its processing steps helping users understand the thoughtful process behind the answers.E.g., Khanmigo an AI Tutoring system guides students step-by-step through problems, mimicking human reasoning to enhance understanding and learning.How to use this patternShow status like “researching” and “reasoning to communicate progress, reduce user uncertainty and wait times feel shorter.Use progressive disclosure: Start with a high-level summary, and allow users to expand details as needed.Provide AI tooling transparency: Clearly display external tools and data sources the AI uses to generate recommendations.Show confidence & uncertainty: Indicate AI confidence levels and highlight uncertainties when relevant.9. Leverage multiple outputsGenAI can produce varied responses to the same input due to its probabilistic nature. This pattern exploits variability by presenting multiple outputs side by side. Showing diverse options helps users creatively explore, compare, refine or make better decisions that best aligns with their intent. E.g., Google Gemini provides multiple options to help user explore, refine and make better decisions.How to use this patternExplain the purpose of variation: Help users understand that differences across outputs are intentional and meant to offer choice.Enable edits: Let users rate, select, remix, or edit outputs seamlessly to shape outcomes and provide feedback. E.g., Midjourney helps user adjust prompt and guide your variations and edits using remix10. Provide data sourcesArticulating data sources in a GenAI application is essential for transparency, credibility and user trust. Clearly indicating where the AI derives its knowledge helps users assess the reliability of responses and avoid misinformation.This is especially important in high stakes factual domains like healthcare, finance or legal guidance where decisions must be based on verified data.How to use this patternCite credible sources inline: Display sources as footnotes, tooltips, or collapsible links. E.g., NoteBookLM adds citations to its answers and links each answer directly to the part of user’s uploaded documents.Disclose training data scope clearly: For generative tools (text, images, code), offer a simple explanation of what data the model was trained on and what wasn’t included. E.g., Adobe Firefly discloses that its Generative Fill feature is trained on stock imagery, openly licensed work and public domain content where the copyright has expired.Provide source-level confidence:In cases where multiple sources contribute, visually differentiate higher-confidence or more authoritative sources.11. Convey model confidenceAI-generated outputs are probabilistic and can vary in accuracy. Showing confidence scores communicates how certain the model is about its output. This helps users assess reliability and make better-informed decisions.How to use this patternAssess context and decision stakes: Showing model confidence depends on the context and its impact on user decision-making. In high-stakes scenarios like healthcare, finance or legal advice, displaying confidence scores are crucial. However, in low stake scenarios like AI-generated art or storytelling confidence may not add much value and could even introduce unnecessary confusion.Choose the right visualization: If design research shows that displaying model confidence aids decision-making, the next step is to select the right visualization method. Percentages, progress bars or verbal qualifiers (“likely,” “uncertain”) can communicate confidence effectively. The apt visualisation method depends on the application’s use-case and user familiarity. E.g., Grammarly uses verbal qualifiers like “likely” to the content it generated along with the userGuide user action during low confidence scenarios: Offer paths forward such as asking clarifying questions or offering alternative options.12. Design for memory and recallMemory and recall is an important concept and design pattern that enables the AI product to store and reuse information from past interactions such as user preferences, feedback, goals or task history to improve continuity and context awareness.Enhances personalization by remembering past choices or preferencesReduces user burden by avoiding repeated input requests especially in multi-step or long-form tasksSupports complex tasks like longitudinal workflows like in project planning, learning journeys by referencing or building on past progress.Memory used to access information can be ephemeral (short-term within a session) or persistent (long-term across sessions) and may include conversational context, behavioural signals, or explicit inputs.How to use this patternDefine the user context and choose memory typeChoose memory type like ephemeral or persistent or both based upon use case. A shopping assistant might track interactions in real time without needing to persist data for future sessions whereas personal assistants need long-term memory for personalization.Use memory intelligently in user interactionsBuild base prompts for LLM to recall and communicate information contextually (E.g., “Last time you preferred a lighter tone. Should I continue with that?”).Communicate transparency and provide controlsClearly communicate what’s being saved and let users view, edit or delete stored memory. Make “delete memories” an accessible action. E.g. ChatGPT offers extensive controls across it’s platform to view, update, or delete memories anytime.13. Provide contextual input parametersContextual Input parameters enhance the user experience by streamlining user interactions and gets to user goal faster. By leveraging user-specific data, user preferences or past interactions or even data from other users who have similar preferences, GenAI system can tailor inputs and functionalities to better meet user intent and decision making.How to use this patternLeverage prior interactions: Pre-fill inputs based on what the user has previously entered. Refer pattern 12, Memory and recall.Use auto complete or smart defaults: As users type, offer intelligent, real-time suggestions derived from personal and global usage patterns. E.g., Perplexity offers smart next query suggestions based on your current query thread.Suggest interactive UI widgets: Based upon system prediction, provide tailored input widgets like toasts, sliders, checkboxes to enhance user input. E.g., ElevenLabs allows users to fine-tune voice generation settings by surfacing presets or defaults.14. Design for co-pilot / co-editing / partial automationCo-pilot is an augmentation pattern where AI acts as a collaborative assistant, offering contextual and data-driven insights while the user remains in control. This design pattern is essential in domains like strategy, ideating, writing, designing or coding where outcomes are subjective, users have unique preferences or creative input from the user is critical.Co-pilot speed up workflows, enhance creativity and reduce cognitive load but the human retains authorship and final decision-making.How to use this patternEmbed inline assistance: Place AI suggestions contextually so users can easily accept, reject or modify them. E.g., Notion AI helps you draft, summarise and edit content while you control the final version.Save user intent and creative direction: Let users guide the AI with input like goals, tone, or examples, maintaining authorship and creative direction. E.g., Jasper AI allows users to set brand voice and tone guidelines, helping structure AI output to better match the user’s intent.15. Design user controls for automationBuild UI-level mechanisms that let users manage or override automation based upon user goals, context scenarios or system failure states.No system can anticipate all user contexts. Controls give users agency and keep trust intact even when the AI gets it wrong.How to use this patternUse progressive disclosure: Start with minimal automation and allow users to opt into more complex or autonomous features over time. E.g., Canva Magic Studio starts with simple AI suggestions like text or image generation then gradually reveals advanced tools like Magic Write, AI video scenes and brand voice customisation.Give users automation controls: UI controls like toggles, sliders, or rule-based settings to let users choose when and how automation can be controlled. E.g., Gmail lets users disable Smart Compose.Design for automation error recovery: Give users correction when AI fails (false positives/negatives). Add manual override, undo, or escalate options to human support. E.g., GitHub Copilot suggests code inline, but developers can easily reject, modify or undo suggestions when output is off.16. Design for user input error statesGenAI systems often rely on interpreting human input. When users provide ambiguous, incomplete or erroneous information, the AI may misunderstand their intent or produce low-quality outputs.Input errors often reflect a mismatch between user expectations and system understanding. Addressing these gracefully is essential to maintain trust and ensure smooth interaction.How to use this patternHandle typos with grace: Use spell-checking or fuzzy matching to auto-correct common input errors when confidence is high (e.g., >80%), and subtly surface corrections (“Showing results for…”).Ask clarifying questions: When input is too vague or has multiple interpretations, prompt the user to provide missing context. In Conversation Design, these types of errors occur when the intent is defined but the entity is not clear. Know more about entity and intent. E.g., ChatGPT when given low-context prompts like “What’s the capital?”, it asks follow-up questions rather than guessing.Support quick correction: Make it easy for users to edit or override your interpretation. E.g., ChatGPT displays an edit button beside submitted prompts, enabling users to revise their input17. Design for AI system error statesGenAI outputs are inherently probabilistic and subject to errors ranging from hallucinations and bias to contextual misalignments.Unlike traditional systems, GenAI error states are hard to predict. Designing for these states requires transparency, recovery mechanisms and user agency. A well-designed error state can help users understand AI system boundaries and regain control.A Confusion matrix helps analyse AI system errors and provides insight into how well the model is performing by showing the counts of - True positives (correctly identifying a positive case) - False positives (incorrectly identifying a positive case) - True negatives (correctly identifying a negative case)- False negatives (failing to identify a negative case)Scenarios of AI errors and failure statesSystem failure (wrong output)False positives or false negatives occur due to poor data, biases or model hallucinations. E.g., Citibank financial fraud system displays a message “Unusual transaction. Your card is blocked. If it was you, please verify your identity”System limitation errors (no output)True negatives occur due to untrained use cases or gaps in knowledge. E.g., when an ODQA system is given a user input outside the trained dataset, throws the following error “Sorry, we don’t have enough information. Please try a different query!”Contextual errors (misunderstood output)True positives that confuse users due to poor explanations or conflicts with user expectations comes under contextual errors. E.g., when user logs in from a new device, gets locked out. AI responds: “Your login attempt was flagged for suspicious activity”How to use this patternCommunicate AI errors for various scenarios: Use phrases like “This may not be accurate”, “This seems like…” or surface confidence levels to help calibrate trust.Use pattern convey model confidence for low confidence outputs.Offer error recovery: Incase of System failure or Contextual errors, provide clear paths to override, retry or escalate the issue. E.g., Use way forwards like “Try a different query,” or “Let me refine that.” or “Contact Support”.Enable user feedback: Make it easy to report hallucinations or incorrect outputs. Read more about pattern 19. Design to capture user feedback.18. Design to capture user feedbackReal-world alignment needs direct user feedback to improve the model and thus the product. As people interact with AI systems, their behaviours shape and influence the outputs they receive in the future. Thus, creating a continuous feedback loop where both the system and user behaviour adapt over time. E.g., ChatGPT uses Reaction buttons and Comment boxes to collect user feedback.How to use this patternAccount for implicit feedback: Capture user actions such as skips, dismissals, edits, or interaction frequency. These passive signals provide valuable behavioral cues that can tune recommendations or surface patterns of disinterest.Ask for explicit feedback: Collect direct user input through thumbs-up/down, NPS rating widgets or quick surveys after actions. Use this to improve both model behavior and product fit.Communicate how feedback is used: Let users know how their feedback shapes future experiences. This increases trust and encourages ongoing contribution.19. Design for model evaluationRobust GenAI models require continuous evaluation during training as well as post-deployment. Evaluation ensures the model performs as intended, identify errors and hallucinations and aligns with user goals especially in high-stakes domains.How to use this patternThere are three key evaluation methods to improve ML systems.LLM based evaluations (LLM-as-a-judge) A separate language model acts as an automated judge. It can grade responses, explain its reasoning and assign labels like helpful/harmful or correct/incorrect.E.g., Amazon Bedrock uses the LLM-as-a-Judge approach to evaluate AI model outputs.A separate trusted LLM, like Claude 3 or Amazon Titan, automatically reviews and rates responses based on helpfulness, accuracy, relevance, and safety. For instance, two AI-generated replies to the same prompt are compared, and the judge model selects the better one.This automation reduces evaluation costs by up to 98% and speeds up model selection without relying on slow, expensive human reviews.Enable code-based evaluations: For structured tasks, use test suites or known outputs to validate model performance, especially for data processing, generation, or retrieval.Capture human evaluation: Integrate real-time UI mechanisms for users to label outputs as helpful, harmful, incorrect, or unclear. Read more about it in pattern 19. Design to capture user feedbackA hybrid approach of LLM-as-a-judge and human evaluation drastically boost accuracy to 99%.20. Design for AI guardrailsDesign for AI guardrails means building practises and principles in GenAI models to minimise harm, misinformation, toxic behaviour and biases. It is a critical consideration toProtect users and children from harmful language, made-up facts, biases or false information.Build trust and adoption: When users know the system avoids hate speech and misinformation, they feel safer and show willingness to use it often.Ethical compliance: New rules like the EU AI act demand safe AI design. Teams must meet these standards to stay legal and socially responsible.How to use this patternAnalyse and guide user inputs: If a prompt could lead to unsafe or sensitive content, guide users towards safer interactions. E.g., when Miko robot comes across profanity, it answers“I am not allowed to entertain such language”Filter outputs and moderate content: Use real-time moderation to detect and filter potentially harmful AI outputs, blocking or reframing them before they’re shown to the user. E.g., show a note like: “This response was modified to follow our safety guidelines.Use pro-active warnings: Subtly notify users when they approach sensitive or high stakes information. E.g., “This is informational advice and not a substitute for medical guidance.”Create strong user feedback: Make it easy for users to report unsafe, biased or hallucinated outputs to directly improve the AI over time through active learning loops. E.g., Instagram provides in-app option for users to report harm, bias or misinformation.Cross-validate critical information: For high-stakes domains (like healthcare, law, finance), back up AI-generated outputs with trusted databases to catch hallucinations. Refer pattern 10, Provide data sources.21. Communicate data privacy and controlsThis pattern ensures GenAI applications clearly convey how user data is collected, stored, processed and protected.GenAI systems often rely on sensitive, contextual, or behavioral data. Mishandling this data can lead to user distrust, legal risk or unintended misuse. Clear communication around privacy safeguards helps users feel safe, respected and in control. E.g., Slack AI clearly communicates that customer data remains owned and controlled by the customer and is not used to train Slack’s or any third-party AI modelsHow to use this patternShow transparency: When a GenAI feature accesses user data, display explanation of what’s being accessed and why.Design opt-in and opt-out flows: Allow users to easily toggle data sharing preferences.Enable data review and deletion: Allow users to view, download or delete their data history giving them ongoing control.ConclusionThese GenAI UX patterns are a starting point and represent the outcome of months of research, shaped directly and indirectly with insights from notable designers, researchers, and technologists across leading tech companies and the broader AI communites across Medium and Linkedin. I have done my best to cite and acknowledge contributors along the way but I’m sure I’ve missed many. If you see something that should be credited or expanded, please reach out.Moreover, these patterns are meant to grow and evolve as we learn more about creating AI that’s trustworthy and puts people first. If you’re a designer, researcher, or builder working with AI, take these patterns, challenge them, remix them and contribute your own. Also, please let me know in comments about your suggestions. If you would like to collaborate with me to further refine this, please reach out to me.20+ GenAI UX patterns, examples and implementation tactics was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It's a mobile world, but we have not fully abandoned the desktop. The real work (and a lot of the play) of computing requires a full personal computing system, and to get the most out of that, you need software.Software can be expensive, but free programs have been a mainstay of the desktop experience for decades, and today's offerings are pretty powerful. Software developers can adopt an ad-based model, donation-ware to keep things afloat, or a shareware/freemium model that charges for extra features.Something to always watch for: Crapware installers. To make ends meet, many creators of otherwise great free software, or the services that offer the programs for download, bundle in things you don't want. Worse, the installation routine obfuscates the steps, so you provide the unwanted program tacit permission to be installed. For more about how to spot and avoid this problem, see How to Rid a New PC of Crapware.A pro tip: Only download desktop software from the maker of the software directly. It's not foolproof—after all, developers want to eat, too—but it helps.Other Criteria:The software must be available directly from the developer/creator/original publisher.The software should (typically) have a Windows-based download—no browser extensions here, because we're not all on the same browser. However, we've included web-based apps that are as good, or better, than most downloadable programs.If the software is on a tiered sales model, the free version cannot be trial-ware. It has to have at least a free-for-life option.Preferably the program had an update in the last year or two.The program should have little or no advertising to support it.Software for productivity is what this list is about; there are plenty of other places to find free PC games.For more free software, check out The 100 Best iPhone Apps and The 100 Best Android Apps.Did we miss any free programs you can't live without? Let us know in the comments. Best Free Audio-Editing Software Audacity 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, LinuxOpen-source Audacity can record and edit audio files on more tracks than you can imagine. It then outputs exactly what you need. It is perfect for noobs and pros alike and works on any desktop OS. Audacity review Best Free Simple Video Editor CapCut 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, webWhile it seems like most video editing today takes place on phones, at least one mobile video editor has jumped to the desktop: ByteDance’s CapCut is on Windows; it's even in the Microsoft Store. In our review of the mobile version, we found it to be fast, easy, and powerful. CapCut review Best Free Advanced Video Editing DaVinci Resolve 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, LinuxHow on earth does Blackmagic Design make DaVinci Resolve so capable as a video editor yet still offer a free version? The hope is that as users get better at making videos, they’ll buy the full suite for the extras, even if it costs $395. Meanwhile, the free version can handle almost any 8-bit format up to 3,840 by 2,160 pixels for editing, color correction, VFX, motion graphics, and audio. DaVinci Resolve review Best Free Video Converter Handbrake 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxNo one would call HandBrake simple, but few video transcoders—software that converts almost any video format into another video format—can compete when it comes to power and comprehensiveness. It's been around for over two decades and remains open-source. Best Free Cartooning Tool Pencil2D Windows, macOS, LinuxOpen-source and multiplatform, the Pencil 2D Animation tool is what it sounds like: a way to quickly create two-dimensional animations by penciling in each frame. The site is full of video tutorials to help you get the gist. Best Free Video Editing Shotcut 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxWhile it lacks the slick interface found in most other video editors, Shotcut's got lot of power. It offers a phenomenal number of features and gets frequent improvement updates. Just don't expect it to feel like an Adobe product. Best Free Game-Recording/Streaming Software Streamlabs OBS Windows, Web, iOS, AndroidStream your video game sessions with Logitech's Streamlabs Desktop directly to YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook. You can switch between gameplay and your webcam, so you can show your face as you make commentary. There may be a learning curve, but you can find plenty of help online. Best Free Video Player VLC Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidThe premier way to watch just about any video, no matter the clip's weird codec. VLC media player can auto-rotate smartphone videos taken at the wrong orientation and resume playback from where you left off during a previous session. Seriously, VLC plays back anything on all desktop platforms, and it guarantees no ads, tracking, or spyware. (For more, read How to Play DVDs and Blu-ray Discs in Windows.) Best Free Messaging Software Discord 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStationMillions of people worldwide use Discord for text, voice chatting, and video chatting—mainly while kicking one another's arses in online games or watching gameplay streams on Twitch or Caffeine. You can spend a fee (starting at $2.99 per month) to go premium for better video and audio quality and to upload larger files. Discord review Best Free Secure Messaging Signal Private Messenger 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidPCMag’s Editors’ Choice Award winner for secure messaging (for mobile or desktop) is Signal, which you may recall from a recent high-level scandal. It does it all: group chat, voice chat, and video chat, all with mandatory end-to-end encryption. You need Android or iOS to register to use Signal, which requires the mobile app, but it also works on your desktop OSes. Perhaps best of all, it’s owned by a nonprofit with no incentive to sell your data.  Signal Private Messenger review Best Free Remote Access TeamViewer 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, Android, ChromeOSPCMag's top pick for software that can control other computers is TeamViewer, which is only free for personal use. That version has everything you need: desktop sharing, file transfers, and chat with remote users. The setup couldn't be easier. Take control of a remote PC over an internet connection with the app, or use a browser with the TeamViewer extension. Just keep in mind that remote-access tools can be abused, so don't turn one on unless you're on the phone with the person you're allowing access to. And make sure to turn them off after you're done. TeamViewer review Best Free Friends and Family Messaging WhatsApp 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, AndroidIf you want to avoid the giant corporations that run messaging services, maybe WhatsApp (which is owned by Meta) isn’t for you. But it is a massive service with a loyal user base, an easy-to-use interface, and self-destructing messages and images. It even uses the Signal protocol, so the folks at Meta can’t read what you send. But then again, you could just use Signal. Still, you might opt for WhatsApp if you have an existing platoon of friends and family using it. WhatsApp review Best Free Freeform Drawing Adobe Fresco 4.5 Excellent Windows, iOSYou may think of Adobe Fresco—the company’s painting app—as strictly for mobile devices. But it is also available for Windows, whether you use it in tablet mode or not. The free version has its limits, but overall makes the feeling of drawing on a screen as close as you can get to doing so on paper. Adobe Fresco review Best Free AI ChatGPT 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidDoes ChatGPT hallucinate and make mistakes? You better believe it. But it's still the most advanced and mature generative AI available today, especially considering you can do a lot with it for free (like get unlimited access to the GPT-4o mini, the fastest model offered by parent company OpenAI). It'll generate text and images (a limited amount per day) and even let you use the Deep Research function five times per month. You can do quite a bit without an account, but signing up unlocks features like saved chat history. And if you don't want to use it on the web, you can download ChatGPT apps for the operating systems above.For more, read our full review and note this disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. ChatGPT review Best Free Painting Software Krita Windows, macOS, LinuxKrita is a powerful, full-fledged painting tool for digital artists. It does come with a bit of a learning curve, but the nonexistent price tag and the vibrant community behind it make it more than worth digging into, especially if you’ve got artistic skills but no desire to pick up paint and brushes IRL. Best Free Desktop Publishing Tool Scribus Windows, macOS, LinuxScribus is the open-source equivalent of Adobe InDesign for desktop publishing, or as close as you can get to it, with a history that goes back almost a quarter century. It has built-in color separation, color management, and a lot more—including its own wiki for documentation. Best Free World-Building Tool Shaxpir Windows, macOSPronounced like the playwright, Shaxpir is essentially a simplistic version of our top-rated Scrivener, with an “everyone” free tier that is very useful. For no charge, you get the full manuscript builder, world-building notebook, progress tracker, offline use, and cloud backup. Still, pros might consider the $7.99-a-month subscription with extra features a bargain after the 30-day trial. Best Free Screenwriting Tool Trelby Windows, LinuxDo you fancy yourself a budding screenwriter but lack the funds for high-end tools like Final Draft? Trelby does a fine job of helping you format scripts correctly, remember character names, and import and export to formats used in Hollywood. Best Free Android Emulation BlueStacks 5 Windows, macOSFor a hot second, Windows 11 had an Android simulator that could play apps from the Amazon store, but that got shut down. The next best option is BlueStacks, which only takes up about 5GB of space and can access the Google Play Store. The emulator will help you map your mouse and keyboard to work with Android games. For more info, read Ways to Run Android Apps on Your PC for Free. Best Free Social Photo Sharing Instagram (for Windows Phone) 3.0 Good Windows, WebSocial media apps don’t have to just be on your phone. Like TikTok, you can get to the 'Gram on your desktop with this app found on the Windows Store. It’ll show you all the amazing images shared by people and brands you follow, as well as the Reels they generate. Best Free Maps Software Google Earth Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, AndroidAs if high-end software that lets you virtually fly across the globe isn't cool enough, Google Earth Pro for the desktop is totally free. It includes advanced features such as high-resolution printing, distance measuring, and global guided tours. Although it also comes in web and mobile versions, the desktop version is the only one that lets you view satellite images of the moon and Mars. Plus, it has star maps and will even let you go back in time. Best Free Writing Tool yWriter 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidThe highly structured interface of yWriter can help anyone, from budding to experienced novelists, get a real handle on their story and its characters. The program is full of stats on what you have written, providing you with a data-driven writing experience. It doesn't have the depth of Scrivener, but it's free (or you can make a donation). yWriter review Best Free Media Center Plex TV Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Smart TVs, media hubs, NAS devicesIf you don't know or care what a media server is, but you just want to stream your videos and music collection around the house, Plex could work well for you. Install it on all your devices, point it at some media, and those audio and video files become available on everything—even remotely. For more, read How to Set Up a Plex Server, How to Share Your Plex Libraries, How to Organize Your Plex Media Library, and The Expert's Guide to Managing Your Plex Server. Best Free File Viewer and Converter Faststone Image Viewer Windows onlyView, manage, and compare your images with this fast and intuitive freebie. FastStone Image Viewer supports a wide range of image formats, including unprocessed raw files from specific digital camera manufacturers. (For more, read What Are Raw Camera Files and Why Should You Use Them?.) It also has companion apps for screenshots and photo resizing. Best Free Photoshop Replacement GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) 3.5 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxGIMP is a stalwart of the open-source world. It's a full-featured Photoshop alternative with all the functions—including layers, filters, masking, and plug-ins—that image editors need. It may lack the polish and AI extras you get with Adobe’s product, but GIMP more than makes up for that by being really, truly free. You can get it for Windows in the Microsoft Store. GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) review Best Free Graphics Software (Vector Editing) Inkscape 3.0 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxAdobe Illustrator is the high bar of vector image editing, but it has a premium price to match. You can still get cross-platform Scalable Vector Graphic image creation with the free Inkscape. You'll have to work a little harder to learn it, but it may be exactly what a talented (but cash-strapped or subscription-shy) artist needs. Best Free Graphics Software (Bitmap Editing) Paint.net WindowsIs Paint.net a perfect replacement for Photoshop? Nothing is as powerful as Adobe's program, but at this price—free—Paint.net comes close. For any minor (and even some major) picture manipulation, it's fast, comprehensive, and easy to use. Best Free PDF Reader Foxit PDF Reader Windows, macOSJust about any browser can read a PDF. But Foxit PDF Reader is free, not just for reading but also for annotation and collaboration on files. The program allows you to send signed and edited PDF files to friends or coworkers and works seamlessly with the Foxit PDF Editor on mobile platforms. For more, read How to Convert PDFs to Word Documents and Image Files. Best Free Grammar Help Grammarly 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, AndroidIf you use the internet, you’ve probably heard of Grammarly—the ads are everywhere. The free version provides plenty of insights and suggestions to improve all the words you put on the screen in almost any program. And, yes, it really can up your writing game. Grammarly review Best Cross-Platform Note Taker Joplin 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, AndroidOur review of Joplin calls it "the ideal note-taking app for users who value simplicity.” It lacks some advanced features, but the open-source tool works on all major platforms to do what you need most: store unlimited notes. You only pay if you want to get into sharing and collaboration. It even has a web clipper browser extension for grabbing notes as you traverse the internet. Joplin review Best Free Kanban Project Management Kanri Windows, macOS, LinuxIf you do any kind of projects or organizing that involve index cards, then you have probably embraced the Kanban board approach. Kanri is a great, free way to Kanban your desktop without signing in or creating an account—it doesn't even need you to be online. As a bonus, it can import boards from big-name products like Trello. Best Free Office Suite LibreOffice 3.0 Good Windows, macOS, LinuxThere aren't many free office suites, and only one is a free, open-source download available for the major desktop operating systems. LibreOffice could be a bit more polished, lacks collaboration features, and sports an overstuffed toolbar interface that might remind you of Microsoft Office a decade ago. But it's powerful nevertheless, and it easily converts and imports files from other systems. It comes with a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet component (Calc), a presentation program (Impress), a vector drawing program (Draw), and even a full database (Base) and math-formula editor (Math). LibreOffice review Best Free Note-Taking App Microsoft OneNote 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, WebOnce just a part of Microsoft Office, the sublime OneNote has become a free, standalone powerhouse for note-taking across all the major operating systems. It still works with Office, syncs data across all platforms, and has full online access via Office.com, with storage on OneDrive. That's why it's our Editors' Choice pick for note storage. Microsoft OneNote review Best Free Browser Firefox 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidThe venerable browser Firefox remains highly customizable and strong on security, privacy, and performance. It stays cutting-edge without the backing of Big Tech—in fact, the Firefox website brags that its parent, Mozilla, has been "billionaire-free for 20+ years." Mozilla also owns Pocket, so you can easily use Firefox to save what you see online to that read-it-later service. For more, read Which Browser Is Best? and Top Firefox Tips. Best Free Text Editor Notepad++ WindowsNotepad++ is nothing like the anemic Notepad that Windows users grew used to over the decades. This free download has tabs, color-coded nesting text, WYSIWYG printing, and support for macros. It's a must for hand-coders or any writer who wants a minimalist interface. Best Power-User Note Taker Obsidian 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidObsidian’s got a learning curve, but once mastered, it's the best note-taker for power users. The free version is available for personal use—it lacks only support and sync options, but you can get around the sync by storing your Obsidian Vault in a spot where a cloud service backs it up. Obsidian review Best Free Doc Viewer and Annotator Okular Windows, LinuxIf you seek a free and full-fledged PDF editor, Okular can do the job (on Windows—it's in the Microsoft Store—and Linux). It boasts annotations and highlights, even digital signature support. It will also read many other formats, including ePub books, comics formats, and many types of images. Best To-Do List for Everyone Todoist 5.0 Outstanding Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, WebThis is our favorite to-do list app, ever. We give the paid version a full five-star review, but even the free version is fantastic. The Todoist interface is simple perfection on all platforms—even wearables and via email (where you can turn messages into tasks). The free version gives you five projects with five collaborators on each (working across 300 possible tasks), supports uploads of 5MB files, and keeps a one-week active history. Todoist review Best Programming Environment Visual Studio Code Windows, macOS, Linux, webNeed to write some code? Use VS Code from Microsoft. It has everything you’d want in a coding environment, from plug-ins to great organization. And it's easy to get started with this program, even though you have to do a little setup to tweak it to perfection. Best Free Antivirus Avast One Basic 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidOur Editors' Choice award winner for free antivirus this year is Avast One Basic. It's a top scorer against malware in lab tests, and it did great in our hands-on tests, too. It offers more free protection than ever. Avast One Basic review Best Free Secure Browser Bitwarden 4.0 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidDo you want to stop the trackers watching you online dead? Going incognito on a standard browser isn't enough. You need to use a full-on privacy browser, one that blocks cookies and prevents the fingerprinting of your whole browser and computer. Brave is one of a slew of them with a rating for strong protection from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For details, read The Best Private Browsers. Bitwarden review Best Free Desktop Authenticator Ente Auth Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, webWhen it comes to multi-factor authentication, the downside to most authenticator apps is that they're mobile-only. If you don't have your phone close by when asked for the code, you're out of luck. So, it's very nice to have a desktop MFA authenticator. Authy had one but killed it. Ente Auth is here to take up the slack. Set up your MFA logins with it on the phone or tablet, and all the codes sync with the desktop versions. Plus, it's always previewing your next code, so you don't have to wait, and it lets you share codes with a team. Best Free Password Manager Proton Pass 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, multiple browser extensionsProton already has a great reputation. Its Proton Pass offers the most outstanding password management of the year while charging you nothing. It includes email alias options, dark web monitoring, and password hygiene (it'll tell you when you have reused or weak passwords that need updating, pronto), all while managing an unlimited number of passwords and credentials. You can pay for extra features like credit card storage and data breach monitoring. For more, read our guide to The Best Free Password Managers. Proton Pass review Best Clipping with Annotations ClipClip WindowsClipClip holds multiple copied items in the clipboard, lets you extract text from images to paste, syncs on cloud services, allows history searches, and even does on-the-fly translation. It also allows for full-screen and video captures, plus edits and annotations. Best Synchronization of Clipboards Recuva 3.5 Good WindowsThe clipboard has come a long way, but you can take it further with a tool like Ditto. It’ll not only show you everything you’ve copied, but also handle searches, allow multiple ways to select, and keep the contents of multiple computers’ clipboards synchronized. Best Free Local Search Tool Everything 3.0 Good WindowsEverything has been around a long while and continues plugging along to help people find the things on their PC that built-in search can’t seem to fathom. It can even look inside files, though it won’t index them. If you name files and folders carefully, it will bring you results fast. Best Free Backup and Synchronization Software IDrive 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidIDrive is a PCMag Editors' Choice award winner for cloud storage and file sharing. You get 10GB free from IDrive to back up files from all your devices, an upgrade from the original 5GB. If that's enough capacity for you, you'll find this service more than up to your needs. It'll even back up your photos and videos from Facebook. Bonus: At this price tier, you don't have to give the company a credit card. IDrive review Best Media Viewer and Annotator IrfanView WindowsIrfanView has been letting people view, edit, and organize media and more on Windows for well over a quarter century now. The current version supports Vista all the way up to 11. The list of file format types you can click on, view, and annotate instantly is long, and the program's ease of use is legendary. And it's utterly free for personal use. Best Free Screen Capture Editor Gemoo Snap Windows, macOSWhen it comes to screengrabs, if the Snipping Tool in Windows doesn’t do it for you, Gemoo Snap is an excellent alternative. It's available for the desktop (including on macOS) or just as a Chrome extension if you only capture web pages. You can snap a screen, then annotate it, share it, pull out text, or even “beautify” it with edits and new backgrounds. Best Free File Compression for Archives NanaZip WindowsA lot of people adore the 7-zip archiving software. NanaZip is a fork of the original code, meant to make the archive experience feel more native to Windows 10 and 11 by working right in the context menu of File Explorer. Best Free File Manager for Windows OneCommander WindowsIf you find the Windows 10 and 11 way of dealing with files—via the built-in File Explorer—a chore, consider an upgrade to a third-party file manager. OneCommander has all the extras you'd want, including tab support, file previews, dual-pane browsing, dark and light themes, and a lot more. Best of all: It's fast. And free for home use. Best Free File Recovery and Deletion Recuva 3.5 Good WindowsRecuva (say it out loud) is a must for any techie's tool belt: It's the key to helping recover a lost file. It's easy to understand, but note: Recuva should really be installed before you lose a file. It's a portable application, too, so you have the option to run it from a USB thumb drive. Best for Screen Video Capture ScreenPal 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Android, iOSWant to capture more than a still image? ScreenPal (previously called Screencast-O-Matic) will do it. The free-to-use-forever tier will take still shots, up to 15 minutes of video of your screen (with a watermark), and share to social, plus store as much as you want online. The mobile apps will sync your captured files. We gave it an Editors' Choice award. You can pay $48 a year if you want unlimited full-screen video recording sans watermarks. ScreenPal review Best Free Power Screen Grabber ShareX WindowsWhat ShareX lacks in sexiness it makes up for in power, offering just about every option one could wish for in capturing a Windows screen (including video screen recording and GIF exports). It supports image effects add-ons such as backgrounds and borders, optical character recognition, and pre-set actions for processing captures just the way you like them. Best Free Screen Capture Microsoft Snip WindowsEven those with modest screen-capture needs would say the old Snipping Tool in Windows was...lacking. The new version of Snipping Tool merges it with the Windows Snip & Sketch, which was itself an evolutionary leap. Now it's more revolutionary, as it can also capture things like video and voice. Plus, you can annotate a screengrab. For more, read The Best Screen Capture Apps. Best Free Simple File Backup SyncBackFree WindowsSyncBack dates way back and still rocks at synchronizing backups. That includes the free version, which can copy files in both directions to make a restore as easy as a backup. Best Free Social Media Software TikTok Windows Windows, Web, iOS, AndroidYou probably think of TikTok as a mobile-only phenomenon. However, not only can you access the video wonderland on the desktop at TikTok.com, but there's also a well-done app for it right in the Windows Store. TikTok for Windows won't work with your webcam, but you can use it to upload videos you edit to perfection with desktop video tools. It's all free but has ads for support—just like on the mobile version, they show up looking like videos you might want to see. Best Free File Transfer Program Teracopy Windows, macOS, AndroidSure, Windows itself copies files between folders and drives just fine. But TeraCopy can take over that job and do it faster, and its interface for making copies is better-looking. Plus, it provides more information and feedback, and it can even recover from transfer errors. Best Free VPN Proton VPN (Windows) 5.0 Outstanding Windows, ChromeOS, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidYou probably should pay for a VPN, but you can save cash with a tool like the PCMag Editors' Choice award winner ProtonVPN, albeit with a few restrictions. It's not just our pick for the best free VPN; it's our best VPN overall. With the free ProtonVPN, your bandwidth is not limited, and the focus is mainly on keeping you secure. For more, read The Best Free VPNs. Proton VPN (Windows) review Best Free Video Conferencing Zoom Workplace 4.5 Excellent Windows, macOS, Linux, web, iOS, AndroidWant to host an online meeting for you and 100 of your closest friends? Zoom Workplace will let them all in for free, with a 40-minute time limit. They can join from any device, even a smartphone. Competitively priced premium plans with additional features are also available. Zoom is a PCMag Editors' Choice award winner for communications (with end-to-end encryption) and productivity (even the free version has team chat and whiteboards). Also, check out our top Zoom tips. Zoom Workplace review