Free & open source · the full verdict

Paid apps vs free apps: what 12 Claude jurors decided

I put 4 paid apps on trial against their free, open-source twins, with 12 Claude jurors (student, freelancer, photographer, small business owner and more). The free apps lost 3 of 4. Here's every verdict, and how to set up all 4 free apps if you want to try them anyway.

Came from the Reel? You commented SWAP. Here is everything, with one-tap copy.

Before you start: Prices are the official monthly plans as of October 2026 (annual billing where that's the headline price). Star counts are from GitHub on October 7, 2026. The jury was 12 Claude personas voting independently; it's an opinion panel, not a benchmark.

All 4, step by step

AppFlowy instead of Notion · 7–5 GO FREE

The only case the free app won. AppFlowy is an open-source Notion alternative (77K ⭐, AGPL-3.0) with docs, databases and kanban boards. It runs locally, works offline and has desktop and phone apps, so there is no server to look after. Notion Plus is $12/month on annual billing.

You need

Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone or Android

Download the app for your device from the AppFlowy releases page or your app store.
Use it locally without an account, or sign in to sync between devices.
Import a Notion export (Settings → Import) to bring your pages over.

Tip: Juror (student): "Offline and free beats $12 a month."

Official docs →

Immich instead of Google Photos · 10–2 KEEP PAYING

Immich (116K ⭐) is a self-hosted Google Photos clone: automatic phone backup, face search, map and albums. The jury loved it but kept paying: you need your own always-on machine (an old PC or a NAS), plus backups of that machine. Google One 2TB is $9.99/month.

You need

An always-on computer or NAS with Docker
Enough disk for your library, plus a backup

Make a folder for Immich and download the official compose file and example env file.
Set UPLOAD_LOCATION in .env to the disk where photos should live.
Start it, open http://<your-server>:2283 and install the phone app.

Command

wget -O docker-compose.yml https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env
docker compose up -d

Tip: Juror (photographer): "Face search is worth $10. Server stress isn't."

Official docs →

Open WebUI + Ollama instead of ChatGPT Plus · 7–5 KEEP PAYING

Open WebUI (154K ⭐) gives you a ChatGPT-style chat window, and Ollama (182K ⭐) runs open AI models on your own computer: private and free. The jury kept paying because a laptop runs smaller models than ChatGPT's best ones. ChatGPT Plus is $20/month.

You need

A recent Mac or a PC with 16GB+ RAM
Python 3.11 for Open WebUI

Install Ollama from ollama.com and pull a model.
Install Open WebUI and start it.
Open http://localhost:8080 and pick your model.

Command

ollama run llama3.2
pip install open-webui
open-webui serve

Tip: Juror (freelancer): "Clients pay me for results, not server maintenance."

Official docs →

n8n instead of Zapier · 7–5 KEEP PAYING

n8n (207K ⭐) is a visual automation builder like Zapier, with unlimited runs when you host it yourself. The jury kept Zapier because a self-hosted automation has to stay online, and when it breaks, you fix it. Zapier Professional starts at $19.99/month (annual) for 750 tasks.

You need

Node.js 20+ to try it, or Docker to keep it running

Try it on your computer with npx (it stops when you close the terminal).
For real use, run it with Docker on an always-on machine or a small VPS.
Open http://localhost:5678 and build your first workflow.

Command

npx n8n

docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

Tip: Juror (small business owner): "Building servers sounds great till it breaks."

Official docs →

Tip: Free isn't free if you need a server. Start with the one that runs on your own laptop or phone (AppFlowy), and only self-host the others if you already have a home server or a cheap VPS.