Desktop

Ink

• Desktop
• Interactive Narrative

Create textual interactive narrative adventure games easily.

MediaBangPaintPro

• Desktop

Pure Data

• Coding
• Desktop
• Visual

Pure data is a visual programming tool to manipulate audio, images and videos. This is the free alternative to Max/MSP.

DragonBones

• Animation
• Desktop

Open-source animation tool for Mac and Windows

Audacity

• Audio
• Desktop

Audio editor with loads of effects.

UVI Workstation

• Desktop
• History
• Music

This free desktop app can make some interesting noises, and if you use the arpeggiator (ARP) then you can create almost ambient loops.

SoundPlant

• Audio
• Desktop
• Kids
• Music

Amazing tool to "play" a collection of samples whilst manipulating them.

Cyril

• Coding
• Desktop

Create audio visualisations with simple coding. Perfect for a VJ because audio-responsive code is built in.

Livecode

• App Making
• Coding
• Desktop

Fabulous tool to create mobile and desktop apps, like Powerpoint but with code.

VDMX

• Desktop
• Video

VJ mixing tool. Free to use, but $349 to save your work.

Wotja

• Ambient
• Audio
• Desktop
• Mobile
• Music

Amazing tool to generate ambient music.

Eyejack

• AR
• Desktop

An app with which to make AR (Mac)

Electric Zine Maker

• Desktop
• Kids
• Zine

Pay your own price for this great downloadable zine-making app. This has to be the winner of THE CRAZIEST APP ever. It's really good fun. 

Luna

• Coding
• Desktop
• Visual

Visual coding tool. Data-processing language.

UltraOutliner

• Desktop
• Interactive Narrative
• Story

Unusual Russian tool for designing interactive narratives or story plots. You enter characters, and locations and plot points, linking them together.

At the end, you can export as a .csv file. 

FireAlpaca

• Desktop
• Image

Wonderful image editor

Touch Designer

• Desktop

Orca

• Audio
• Coding
• Desktop

"Esoteric" generative music coding tool. Can be a challenge to set up, it works with midi, but is so intriguing to use.

PraxisLive

• Coding
• Desktop
• Visual

Visual creative coding.

Krita

• Desktop
• Image

Wonderful image editor

Inkscape

• Desktop
• Vector

Fabulous vector image editor.

Pencil 2D

• Animation
• Desktop

Lovely desktop animation tool with onion skinning.

Processing

• Coding
• Desktop

Loved by data scientists and artists, this editor lets you code fabulous things

Sunvox

• Audio
• Desktop
• Music
• Visual

Make music with visual flow diagram programming. Amazing.

OpenRNDR

• Desktop

A bit like Processing, a java-based creative coding enviroment

Sonic Pi

• Audio
• Coding
• Desktop
• Live Coding
• Music

Code music. Wonderful

OpenShot Video Editor

• Desktop
• Video

Free video editor

Isadora

• Audio
• Coding
• Desktop
• Projection Mapping
• Video
• Visual

Visual coding to create amazing visual effects and project mapping projects.

Runway

• AI
• Desktop
• Machine Learning

Machine Learning as an "easy to use" online service.

Spark AR

• AR
• Desktop

A desktop tool with which you can create 3D Augmented Reality apps that do face tracking and other cool AR features. You can create interactive patches using a visual flow language or code in Javascript.

Olive

• Desktop
• Video

Video Editor.

Storyboarder

• Desktop
• Movie

Brilliant storyboard tool. Plan your next movie.

Blurb

• Desktop
• Writing

Create a book, photobook, ebook etc

Open Refine

• Data
• Desktop

A tool to clean up your messy or disorganised data files.