Own the software. Skip the setup.

How the Store works

Store, Collective and Cloud: The OPENCTRL Store is where you find free and open-source alternatives to the software you pay for. The OPENCTRL Collective is the developers building open-source Originals with OPENCTRL. OPENCTRL Cloud runs Originals for you, so you can skip the setup.
OPENCTRL Original vs Community: An OPENCTRL Original is built by OPENCTRL or its Collective. It's open source, free to self-host, and has its own free hosted tier: that's the “Deploy with OPENCTRL” button on its page. Every other listing is a Community app, run by its own developer or listed from its public repository. An OPENCTRL admin sets which apps are Originals.
OPENCTRL Cloud: You can always self-host an Original for free. Each Original also has a free hosted tier ($0), unlimited for now; small limits come later.One OPENCTRL Cloud subscription, $12/month, will cover every hosted Original with fair-use limits; it's coming soon and can't be bought yet. Each app's limits come from its own openctrl.json file and are shown on its page.
Every listing is reviewed: A person on the OPENCTRL team checks each submission for accuracy before it goes live: the links work, the pricing is disclosed, the description matches the software. That review is not a security audit.
“Use online” vs “Needs technical setup”: “Use online”, “Installable app”, “iPhone & iPad” and “Android” mean an admin checked a link where anyone can start using the app. “Needs technical setup” means the only listed way to use it is installing it on your own server, which takes some technical know-how. Apps you can use right away are shown first.
“Works with AI”: The app has an MCP server, so an AI assistant like Grok, Claude or ChatGPT can use it for you once you connect it. OPENCTRL runs an automated check on the address, and a person verifies it before the badge appears. The app's maker runs that server, not OPENCTRL. You can also connect your assistant to OPENCTRL itself at /api/mcp (no key needed) to search for alternatives.
Badges come from checked data: Free, Free plan, Open source and Community built come from the listing's stored details. Verified developer means the developer completed verification. OPENCTRL Original is set by an admin. Developers can't give themselves badges.
Verified Savings: An admin compares one of the app's plans to a genuinely comparable plan of the product it replaces, using that vendor's public pricing page, at the same number of users and on a monthly basis. Promotional rates and one-time-versus-subscription comparisons don't count. At 50% savings or more, the app earns the badge. The methodology is shown on the app's page.
“Pricing not verified”: We don't guess competitor prices. Until an admin has entered them from a source and dated the check, you'll see “Pricing not verified.”
Top Rated: Ranked by a weighted average of member ratings that pulls small samples toward the site-wide mean, so one 5-star rating can't outrank a hundred 4.8s. An app needs at least 3 ratings to appear.
Open-source listings: Some listings are added by OPENCTRL from a project's public repository. They credit the real maker, aren't affiliated with OPENCTRL, and can be claimed by the maintainers. Each week we check those repositories for license changes, and look on GitHub for new projects that call themselves an alternative to software we track. A person reviews every new listing.
Trending is counted, not curated: Trending ranks apps by saves (×3), launches (×2) and page views (×1) in the last 14 days. It only appears once there's real activity.
We're not affiliated: Product names like Typeform or Calendly describe what an app replaces. OPENCTRL isn't affiliated with or endorsed by those companies.
Free listings: Joining, browsing and listing an app on the OPENCTRL Store are free. There are no listing fees. Paid apps are bought on the developer's own site.