100 Best Applications for Ubuntu in 2023

To make the best use of any operating system, having the right applications tailored to your needs is crucial. For Ubuntu users, the wide range of free and open-source software makes finding those applications easy. In this comprehensive guide, we cover the 100 top applications across categories – from browsers and productivity tools to media, finance and more – that power users should have on their Ubuntu 22.04 LTS systems and beyond.

browsers

Whether browsing for work or leisure, a fast and customizable browser is essential on Ubuntu. Here are our top 4 picks:

Google Chrome remains the top choice for many as a fast, full-featured browser that syncs seamlessly across devices and operating systems. Install via:

$ sudo apt install google-chrome-stable

Firefox, particularly the open-source Mozilla Firefox, is the default on many distros and offers a host of customizations via extensions. It also gets updated security features first before other browsers.

Vivaldi is the highly configurable and innovative browser from Jon von Tetzchner, the former Opera co-founder and CEO. Unique features like note taking, stacking tabs and a command line interface appeal to power users.

Brave blocks ads and trackers natively for faster, more private browsing while rewarding sites you enable ads on with BAT cryptocurrency in line with its blockchain focus. BAT can then be tipped to creators or cashed out.

Productivity Software

Ubuntu readily replaces the Microsoft Office suite with a host of excellent free and open-source alternatives that cover documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more.

For business and academic writing, Latex with the TexStudio editor provides professional typesetting with a steep learning curve. An easier option is LibreOffice’s Writer word processor – equally capable for most document needs like reports and letters with full MS Office compatibility.

For spreadsheets, LibreOffice Calc duplicates the core Excel feature set including macros while Gnumeric specializes in large data sets and financial/statistical analysis.

Slides and visual presentation needs are competently handled by LibreOffice Impress and Calligra Stage while concepts and diagrams are better visualized through Dia diagramming and flow-charting tool.

WPS Office continues to be the closest proprietary clone of Microsoft Office in terms of interface and 95 percent + compatibility with the latest DOC/XLS/PPT formats.

For note-taking, Any.do and Boostnote provide intuitive apps while CherryTree and Basket offer extensive hierarchy based notetaking.

Media Applications

When it comes to playing and managing multimedia on Ubuntu, we have picked the very best based on essentials like format support, technology and customizations.

For versatile media playing with extensive format/codec support, both VLC media player and MPV are excellent options though MPV has better hardware optimization and runs videos smoothly even at 4K and higher resolutions.

Audio enthusiasts would appreciate the Music player daemon (MPD) based players like Aqualung for gapless playback and advanced features including crossfading, replay gain and audio scrobbling.

Clementine music player also has robust format support, internet radio and integrated services like Spotify streaming alongwith an easy-to-use interface.

For radio lovers worldwide, Shortwave and its directory of over 25000 stations brings superior access. Being built on Electron, integration with desktop notifications, media keys and sleep timers is seamless.

Plex Media Server readily turns your Ubuntu desktop/home server into THE media management hub and streaming station accessible from phones, tablets and smart TVs thanks to ubiquitous Plex client apps. Automated scraping of media metadata and assets is a standout feature.

Kodi continues to amaze as a top notch home theater software while also transforming touch devices like tablets into rich media centers with its Kodi Skin customizations. The base Kodi setup alongwith carefully curated plug-ins provide the smart multimedia living room experience.

Utilities and Tools

For improving productivity and taking control of your desktop, Ubuntu offers these utilities:

Filezilla remains a robust FTP, SFTP and FTPS client for fast and reliable file transfers from/to remote servers. Its support for resuming broken transfers sets it apart.

Synaptic package manager provides advanced package management with powerful search tools on all enabled repositories. Best option for power users over Ubuntu Software app.

Stacer system optimizer visually tunes up Ubuntu by managing startup apps, cleaning caches, uninstalling bloatware and monitoring system resources seamlessly thanks to an intuitive interface.

Albert lightning fast desktop searcher instantly calls up apps, documents and bookmarks as you type. Highly customizable hotkeys, actions and results make daily tasks easier. Development ongoing for latest Ubuntu 22.04+ versions.

Krusader doubles up as an advanced twin file manager á la Midnight Commander with efficient keyboard shortcuts and extensive customizations that boost user productivity manifold when working with files extensively.

Software Development

For programmers and developers, Ubuntu augments the traditional Linux power with these rich applications:

PyCharm community edition takes coding in Python to new levels with excellent code completion, multiple debugger options, rich code inspections and Google‘s material theme UI.

JetBrains IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA ultimate have robust Java enterprise editions. Eclipse Java IDE and NetBeans are also capable alternatives.

Github‘s open-source Atom text editor brings IDE-like capabilities for web development using HTML/CSS/JavaScript with live previews, GitHub/Git integration and a wealth of free packages and themes that enhance the coding experience.

MySQL remains a popular relational database server for Linux web apps and PHPMyAdmin web-based client allows convenient administration and querying with an intuitive GUI.