Amid all the chaos of the pandemic, some of my favorite tech companies are giving away and discounting their products. Now’s a good time to try some things out and take advantage of discounts. Know of any others? Please add in the comments. I’ll keep this updated as I see more.
- Focus@Will: Half off all plans
Focus@Will is a site with “personalized focus music to help you get stuff done when you’re stressed and under pressure.” Sounds like something we could all use right now. I just signed up for the one-week trial. They discounted all their plans. - Snagit: Extended free trial
I adore Snagit, the tool that lets you create screencaptures and screencasts in seconds. I use it at least 10 times a week.
They’re extending their free trials through the end of June, plus they put together this excellent guide to help people use their tools better while we’re all working remotely. - WebEx: Expanded free version
WebEx is an older, wiser Zoom alternative. They just expanded the free plan’s features to help remote workers. They also offer free months with paid plans. See pricing and features here. - LinkedIn: Free hiring/job search tools
LinkedIn is giving certain professionals (health care, essential services, etc.) and employers free tools for recruitment and job seeking. - Fabulingua: Free subscription to language tools
Fabulingua engages kids in fun stories to help them learn a second language. They suspended their subscription service and are giving everything away for free. - Coursera: Free online classes
Coursera has always had free courses for online learning, but they’ve expanded their offerings during the pandemic. - Udacity: Free online degree programs for laid off workers
Udacity has a bunch of courses that they call “Nanodegree programs.” If you’ve been laid off during the crisis, you can take the premium courses for free for one month. - LogMeIn/GoToMeeting: Free “Emergency Remote Work Kits”
I was all excited about the concept of LogMeIn’s Emergency Remote Work Kit, and I ran to sign up. It took some digging to find that it’s only for health care providers, educational institutions, municipalities and non-profits. But if you fall into that category, they will work with you to give you free limited-time licenses of the meeting, webinar, remote access and support solutions. - Microsoft Teams: Extended trial of the premium plan
Microsoft Teams already has a pretty good free version, but the premium level might be just the ticket to help your temporary remote workforce stay together. They extended the trial period to six months. - Amazon: Free audiobooks for kids
“For as long as schools are closed,” Audible says, “We’re open.” Kids can stream audiobooks for free during the crisis. - Xfinity: Free hotspots
Xfinity has wireless hotspots around the world for subscribers. Now they’re letting everyone access them for free wi-fi. - Free TV and Streaming Services
If you’re at home with little to do, entertainment companies want you to do nothing but watch tv. Here’s a huge list of streaming services (entertainment and fitness) that are offering longer free trials or just plain free programming.
