About this site

Looking for the best freeware?  Then you have come to the right place.

Our primary function here is to help you select the best freeware product for your particular needs.

The best freeware programs are as good as or better than their commercial counterparts but finding the most appropriate program can be challenging.

Sure, there are dozens of freeware download sites on the web but few of these actually help you select the best.

That's what we do here. No, downloads, just honest advice and useful guidance.

It's honest because this is a community based site staffed by volunteers and we have no commercial affiliations.

How to use this site

Let's say you want a free firewall.  That's not a problem as there are over thirty available

The real problem is which one you should choose to meet your needs.

At this site it's easy; just go to our review of free firewalls. There you will recommendations for average users and advanced users as well. And although there are no downloads on this site we provide links where you can download the product you want.

To find our firewall reviews and recommendations just type in "firewall" into the search box that appears at the top right of every page. Alternatively select the "Security" category from the home page and then select "Firewalls" from the list of security products presented to you.

Once you've found the firewalls review page you'll be quickly able to find the product you want.  Furthermore you will know that what you have selected is the best available.

Site history and origin:  "The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities" 

This community base site is operated by Ian "Gizmo" Richards with the able assistance of over 60 volunteer site editors.

Until July 2008 Gizmo was the editor of "Support Alert", a  highly regarded monthly technical newsletter that was distributed to over 150,000 subscribers. He currently is Senior Editor at Windows Secrets newsletter which has a circulation in excess of 400,000.

This site is an evolutionary development of an earlier site where Gizmo created and maintained a highly popular list of the "46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities."   Over time that list grew well beyond 46 and reached the point where it could not be maintained by one person. 

The current wiki-style site relies on the contribution of dozens of volunteer editors who edit and moderate suggestions from thousands of site visitors.  As a result the range of software covered is ever increasing and quality of the reviews ever improving.

In a real sense this site has become the Wikipedia® for Freeware.

Gizmo can be contacted using the site contact form.

Individual editors may be contacted by clicking on their names that appear on their review pages. Note that only registered site users can contact individual editors.