Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of FOSS alternatives to various proprietary packages.


Sr. Num.	Proprietary package name	Recommended free package	Purpose

1	Matlab	Octave, Scilab	Numerical computations, engineering, signal processing
2	Mathematica/Maple	Sage, Maxima	Mathematics, Engineering (symbolic, exact/precise arithmetic)
3	Cadence pSpice	ngspice	Engineering (Electrical, Electronics, Embedded systems)
4	Microsoft office	WPS Office/Kingsoft and Open-office/LibreOffice	Office applications
5	Ansys	OpenFOAM	CFD
6	Ansys	GMesh	Meshing
7	OrCAD	ESIM	Simulation, circuit design
8	Turbo C	gcc	C-program
9	Photoshop	Gimp	Image editing software
10	Maya, 3ds max	Blender	3D modeling, rendering and animation software
11	Microsoft Office/MathWord	Latex	Technical documentation
12	Microsoft Windows	GNU/Linux	All purposes
13	Pro/E	BRL-CAD	Engineering (CAD)
14	ChemDraw	Jmol Application, GChemPaint, Avogadro	Drawing and Viewing Chemical structures
15	Pro/E	BRL-CAD	CAD in Mechanical/ Civil/ Chemical/ Aerospace
16	MASM	NASM, FASM	Engineering (Electronics, Computer Science)
17	MS OFFICE Plotting tools	Xmgrace, Xfig, Gnuplot	Drawing figures, plots, flow diagrams
18	Code composer Studio, IAR Workbench	GNU Binutils	Assembler, Compilers for micro controllers and DSP Processors (MSP, VC33, etc)
19	VxWORKS	RTLinux, RTAI	Real-time operating System for Desktop and Embedded Systems
20	KEIL 8051	SDCC	GCC SDCC compiler for 8051 controlers
21	Synopsis-CosmosSE, Mentor-Icstudio, Cadence-Virtuoso	Xcircuit	Schematic design
22	Mentor-ICstation, Cadence-Virtuoso	Magic	Used for chip Layout design
23	Modelsim	ghdl, freehdl	VHDL compiler
24	AutoCad	KiCad, FreeCad	CAD system
25	Eagle	FreeCad	Circuit and PCB design
26	S-Plus, SPSS, Strata	R	Statistics
27	Aspen Plus, PRO/II	DWSIM	Chemical Process Simulator, Modeling language for modeling
28	COMSOL Multiphysics	OpenModelica	Simulating, optimizing and analyzing complex dynamic systems
29	Screenflow, Sony Vegas Pro, Final Cut Pro	Openshot, Avidemux, Cinelerra, Pitivi	Video editing

List compiled with inputs from FOSSEE and Spoken Tutorial teams of IIT Bombay and from AICTE.

Please send belur[at]iitb.ac.in an email for further suggestions and changes/corrections. Thank you, Madhu