Free downloads of programs are loaded by the devil. Almost always they come with software pre-packaged in the installer: alternative browsers, search engines that hijack the one we use regularly (Who does not remember the dreaded and hated Delta Search?) Or applications that we have not asked for. It is a phenomenon known as crapware.

However, there are still some sites on the Internet where it is possible to get any program of daily use without exposing us to advertising and, what is more important, without trying to strain anything. In this article we reviewed nine crapware free web sites to download and install programs.

It is worth noting that we do not follow any specific order. We only give the recommendations that we have verified that they do not try to deceive the user and that they fulfill their mission.

Ninite

Ninite is ideal for clean installations of Windows, although it can be used at any time. Why do I say clean installations? Because it saves a lot of time and effort and, until Redmond does not choose to put a software repository to use instead of the Store, this is the option that remains if the official way does not convince you.

To use it all we have to do is enter the web. We will see a list of programs, where we will have to select the ones that interest us. There is everything from web browsers to administrative tools. Once we have done this we will download a single file that will install everything on our PC automatically. This way we avoid having to go to all the websites of each of these programs and get all their installers separately.

Softpedia

Softpedia, in addition to offering news about the world of software, is the largest hosting of programs on the web. It has more than 850,000 files in its database, of which hundreds are updated daily. So on the one hand you get to have programs clean and free of crapware, but also on the other hand you make sure you are as up to date as possible.

As a download web site has a fantastic reputation (the maximum according to URLVoid), in addition to having an easy-to-use interface that makes it easy to find and download programs of all types for different operating systems.

MajorGeeks

MajorGeeks may seem to have escaped the 90s of last century by design, but it has been a trustworthy site for 15 years. When something lasts so long and the public continues to sing its goodness, you know something is going well.

Your Top Freeware Picks list is a good site to start looking for free programs, although we recommend going crazy with the menu on the left and look for among all kinds of programs that can be useful.

FileHippo

FileHippo is a web well known by users of CCleaner (Piriform gives the opportunity to use it to download it), tool that we already recommend in our article about free tools to safely delete a hard disk. It has more than 20,000 active programs, organized in 16 categories that are distributed between Windows, Mac and Web.

The installers are free of crapware, but the user is offered the possibility of installing a download manager of FileHippo to manage them better. We do not recommend that you install it, but we do recommend a tool called Update Checker. This program scans your computer checking that what you have installed is up to date, pointing out what needs to be updated.

FilePuma

FilePuma and FileHippo share many things, beyond a very similar name. Both of them show a categorization system that is practically based, although that of the web in question is better organized and offers easier navigation.

FilePuma also has an update tool, which in this case is Update Detector.

Download Crew

Download Crew may have a website whose design is capable of producing headaches, but it is worth using because each program listed has a small informative description on its side. This description explains what the program does, why it is good, and what bugs it has.

We recommend you start exploring it through the Most Popular Downloads and Editor’s Choice sections. Here you can find programs for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS and Android.

FileHorse

FileHorse completes our services with animal names. We already had the hippopotamus and the puma, and now also the horse. Unlike other services we have talked about, it does not have a large repository of programs. Instead, this site focuses on storing only the best and most used ones making sure they will not incorporate crapware or viruses.

Snapfiles

Snapfiles does not have great features that differentiate it from other download sites. What is interesting is a section called Daily Freeware Pick, which is highlighted on the main page. If you enter it you can often come across useful tools in this section.

DonationCoder

DonationCoder prides itself on offering clean and free programs in exchange for donations. This is fine, but it has a catch that can be important: it only offers software created by them.

This implies that the repository is small and may not be for everyone, but many of them are useful and interesting. Worth a look, at least.