[Last Updated: January 14, 2008]

As the internet continues to develop and everything slowly moves online, it is becoming more important to be aware of some of the great web-based applications available to you, many of which are completely free.

What is a web-based application? It is an application that allows users to access their information through a web browser from any computer.

What are the advantages of web-based applications? There are several reasons to use web-based applications over software stored on your hard drive. The first, and possibly most important, is the advantage of storing your information on the companies servers. If something happens to your computer, you won’t lose your bookmarks, e-mail, or whatever you are storing online. The second advantage is the ability to access your information from any computer without requiring the use of a network. You can view your information from work or a friends house just as easily as at home. A third important reason is companies can update the application with the distribution and installation of software updates without the users even knowing and having to do anything.

In the below list, you’ll notice a lot of services from Google, Yahoo, and even Microsoft. These three companies seem to realize that everything will be web-based in the future, and have positioned themselves to fill that need. You’ll want to be careful which you pick, because picking one will likely cause you to use that companies other services instead of their competitors, as many of them work together and they will all be interlinked eventually.

Note: This post intentionally only includes web-based applications.  If you are looking for actual software, please see my post Best of: Free Software.

Here is a list of some of the best web-based applications available currently, broken down into category for your convenience:

- Bookmarking -

- Calendar -

- Charting and Diagram -

- Communication -

- Contact Manager -

- Domain Manager -

- E-mail -

- Feed Reader -

- File Storage -

- Image Editing -

- Information Managers -

- Mapping Services -

- Office Applications -

*Note: See a list of Microsoft Office competitors broken down into categories here*

- Password Manager -

- Personal Homepage -

- Task Managers -

- Video -

If you can think of a web-based application (program that doesn’t require download) that is missing from this list, and you find it useful, please comment below with a link and I’ll update the list. This includes ones that don’t fit into the above categories!