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5 Free Open-Source Tools for Web Development (Easier)

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Ever burn half an hour on the classic “works on my machine” circus… only to find out your PHP version is different, your database isn’t quite the same, or file permissions are doing weird thing they do? Yep. Been there. It’s a slow leak on your focus.

I keep a small, trusty toolkit of free open-source tools for web development to sand down the daily annoyances: editing, version control, file transfer, local stacks, and reproducible environments. A popular DEV Community post groups Geany, GitKraken, FileZilla, XAMPP, and Docker as go-to picks for exactly this kind of workflow).

One caveat, and it really does matter. Not everything in that list is actually open source. GitKraken Desktop is listed as proprietary on the official Git GUI tools page at git-scm.com). And Docker Desktop comes with a subscription license, even though Docker Engine and Moby are open source). So I’m keeping the spirit of the list… while being picky about licensing.

Quick answer: the 5 free open‑source tools I’d start with

If you just want the shortlist and you want it clean:

  1. Geany, a lightweight editor/IDE that runs pretty much anywhere)
  2. Git + an open-source Git GUI such as gitk, git-gui, or another GPL/MIT GUI, so you’re not stuck “all CLI all day”)
  3. FileZilla Client for FTP/SFTP/FTPS transfers when you need them)
  4. XAMPP for a local Apache + MariaDB + PHP + Perl stack)
  5. Docker Engine + Docker Compose for consistent dev environments across machines)

Now the real question. When do these tools actually save you time, instead of becoming yet another thing to “set up properly someday”?

1) Geany, lightweight editing without the whole “IDE lifestyle”

Geany calls itself a “flyweight IDE,” and… yeah, fair. It’s a lightweight programmer’s text editor with enough IDE features to be useful, without feeling like you’re booting a spaceship just to change one CSS rule.

From the Geany project site:

  • It runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS
  • It’s translated into 40+ languages
  • It includes built-in support for 50+ programming languages
  • It’s licensed under GPL v2
  • Recent releases include Geany 2.1.0, announced in July 2025)

Why I reach for Geany in real projects

Geany tends to shine when:

You’re on a small server box or a lightweight desktop. Or you just want to open a folder, make three edits, and not wait for your fans to spin up.

It’s also great for bouncing between HTML/CSS/JS/PHP in one window, especially if Docker or XAMPP is doing the “heavy” lifting already.

Install Geany

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install geany

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install geany

Suggested image: “Geany editing a PHP file with sidebar file tree”
Alt text: Geany lightweight IDE editing PHP for web development on Linux

2) Git, plus an open‑source GUI so you can actually see what’s going on

The DEV Community list mentions GitKraken for visual Git workflows). And honestly, the idea is solid. A good commit graph and easy staging save you from dumb mistakes.

But if we’re staying strict about free open-source tools for web development, licensing is the line in the sand. GitKraken Desktop is proprietary, according to the official Git GUI client listing on git-scm.com).

So, what do you use instead?

  • Git’s built-in GUIs like gitk for history browsing and git-gui for staging/committing
  • Other open-source GUIs listed on page too, licenses vary and many are GPL/MIT (source)

Practical setup: install Git + gitk

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git gitk

Stuff I use constantly, like constantly:

git status
git add -p
git commit -m "Fix form validation edge case"
git log --oneline --decorate --graph --all

And when I want the visual timeline:

gitk --all

Why this helps web dev specifically

Web work is a hundred tiny changes. Template tweaks. API handlers. CSS regressions sneaking in when you swear you didn’t touch anything.

A visual history makes it easier to answer things like:

  • “When did this route start returning 500?”
  • “Which commit changed this config?”
  • “Did we merge the right branch?”

And yes, you will ask those questions. More than once.

3) FileZilla for file transfers, because sometimes you just have to

Let’s not pretend FTP and friends are gone forever. Sometimes you really do need to push a file to a server quickly. The DEV list even jokes FTP refuses to die, and recommends SFTP as the better move (source).

FileZilla stays popular because it’s simple and cross-platform. License-wise, FileZilla says it’s distributed under GNU GPL version 2 (source).

The safer default: SFTP, not FTP

If your host supports it, and most do, use:

  • SFTP over SSH instead of FTP
  • Key-based auth instead of passwords where possible

Example connection settings:

  • Protocol. SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
  • Host: example.com
  • Port: 22

Suggested image: “FileZilla SFTP site manager configuration”
Alt text: FileZilla open-source FTP client configured for SFTP web development deploy

4) XAMPP for a local PHP stack, fast feedback and fewer headaches

When you’re doing PHP-based web development like WordPress, Laravel, or custom apps, a local Apache/PHP/MariaDB setup is still one of the quickest feedback loops you can get.

Apache Friends describes XAMPP as a compilation of free software meant to make Apache plus MariaDB, PHP, and Perl easy to install, with distributions for Windows, Linux, and OS X (source). They also flag an important nuance: the compilation is published under GPL, but you should check the licenses of included components individually (source).

Typical XAMPP workflow I use

Run it locally. Click through the routes. Break the forms. Test file uploads. Make sure migrations do what you think they do.

Only then do I push or deploy. Not before.

On Linux, XAMPP is commonly controlled like this:

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start
sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop

Not glamorous. Still effective.

5) Docker Engine and Compose for “same setup, different laptops”

The DEV list frames Docker as “mini virtual operating systems,” meaning containers you can run on your machine, often with one command to bring a service up (source). Day to day, it feels like predictable environments and fewer dependency surprises. Which is the dream, right?

Docker Desktop vs Docker Engine, licensing reality check

Here’s the precise part:

  • Docker Desktop is licensed under the Docker Subscription Service Agreement (source)
  • Docker says Desktop is free for personal use, education, non-commercial open source projects, and small businesses with fewer than 250 employees and less than $10M annual revenue (source)
  • Docker explicitly notes the Docker and Moby open-source project licensing isn’t changing (source)

So yes, the open-source core is real. Desktop is where the commercial terms show up.

Docker also cited, via a 2021 press release, 55% of professional developers use Docker every day at work, referencing the Stack Overflow Survey 2021 (source). That’s a marketing-context stat, but it lines up with what most teams see in the wild.

A simple Docker Compose example (PHP + MariaDB)

This is the kind of snippet I keep around for client work:

# docker-compose.yml
services. Db. Image. Mariadb.11
    environment.
      MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD. Root
      MARIADB_DATABASE. App
    ports.
      - "3306.3306"
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql

  web. Image. Php.8.3-apache
    volumes.
      - ./src./var/www/html
    ports.
      - "8080:80"
    depends_on:
      - db

volumes:
  db_data:

Run it:

docker compose up -d

Now everybody can hit http.//localhost:8080 with the same PHP version and a clean DB. No more “wait, which PHP are you on?” messages in Slack at 9:12 a.m.

Suggested diagram. “Local dev workflow. Geany → Git → Docker/XAMPP → deploy via SFTP”
Alt text: Web development workflow using free open-source tools: Geany, Git, Docker, XAMPP, and FileZilla

How I’d combine these tools in a real workflow

If you want a setup that doesn’t fight you:

  • Edit in Geany. Fast startup, low drama.
  • Commit early with Git. Use the CLI, pull up gitk when you need clarity.
  • Run locally with XAMPP for the classic PHP stack, or Docker Compose when you want something reproducible.
  • Transfer with FileZilla over SFTP when you truly have to touch a server directly.
  • Repeat. And write the weird gotchas in README.md so Future You doesn’t hate Present You.

And if you’re building UI-heavy stuff, pair this with a component library. I’ve got a related roundup here: 10 free and open source UI component libraries.

Conclusion: keep it small, keep it sane, get your time back

The point of 5 free open-source tools for web development isn’t collecting apps like trading cards. It’s stopping the constant attention drain from setup problems you already solved once.

Try one change this week. Standardize your local environment with Docker Compose or XAMPP, then tighten up your Git habits. Even a basic git add -p routine helps more than people like to admit.

Got your own can’t-live-without-it free tool for web dev? Drop it in the comments. I’m always curious what other teams are actually using.

External references used.

  • DEV Community list (Geany, GitKraken, FileZilla, XAMPP, Docker). Https.//dev.to/web_dev-usman/5-free-open-source-tools-to-make-your-web-development-easier-24a
  • Geany licensing/features (GPLv2, platforms, language support). Https.//www.geany.org/
  • FileZilla license (GPLv2). Https.//filezilla-project.org/license.php
  • XAMPP licensing notes and stack components. Https.//www.apachefriends.org/about.html
  • Docker Desktop license terms + free-tier criteria. Https.//docs.docker.com/subscription/desktop-license/
  • Git GUI tools list (GitKraken proprietary listing). Https.//git-scm.com/tools/guis
  • Docker press release referencing Stack Overflow Survey 2021 stat: https://www.docker.com/press-release/docker-updates-product-subscriptions/

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