Where the Money Goes
The average 25-person tech company spends on tools they barely use. The biggest culprits are communication, design, and project management tools — all categories with excellent free alternatives.
We analysed 59 proprietary SaaS tools and found open-source alternatives for every single one. The potential savings for a 25-person team switching everything: over $15,000/year.
The Easiest Switches
Not every migration is equal. Here are the tools where switching to open-source is genuinely low-risk:
- Zoom → Jitsi Meet — works in the browser, no account needed, unlimited meetings
- Figma → Penpot — browser-based, real-time collaboration, SVG-native
- Notion → AppFlowy — local-first, offline support, zero per-user cost
- Trello → WeKan — identical kanban interface, self-hosted in 20 minutes
A Practical Migration Playbook
Don't try to switch everything at once. The teams that succeed follow this sequence:
- Week 1: Switch one low-risk tool (start with Zoom or Jitsi — zero downtime, browser-based)
- Month 1: Once your team is comfortable, migrate the next tool
- Quarter 1: Evaluate which remaining tools are worth keeping paid