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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

So... What Is
GitHub?

GitHub and open source in plain English, how to explore without feeling lost, and 10 of my favorite open-source projects to check out.

GitHub is the website where developers, and people who build with AI, host and share their code.

Open source means the code is public, so anyone can use it, see how it works or build on top of it. You don’t need to be technical to look around.

How To Explore It
  1. Go to github.com/trending. It shows what’s popular right now. You can filter by spoken language, programming language and date range (today, this week or this month).
  2. Stars are likes. The number next to a project is its star count. More stars usually means more people find it useful.
  3. Read the README. It’s the project’s home page and explains what it does and who it’s for.
  4. Check when it was last updated. Active projects have changes from the last few weeks. You can see this on the project’s main page.
  5. Ask Claude. Paste any GitHub link and ask: "What does this project do, and would it be useful for a [your job]?"
10 Projects Worth Checking Out

All popular, all actively maintained as of October 2026, and all useful even if you never write a line of code.

01

Ollama

github.com/ollama/ollama · 185,000+ stars

Download AI models (like Gemma, DeepSeek, Qwen and gpt-oss) and chat with them entirely on your own computer. Nothing leaves your machine, which is great for sensitive client info.

02

Open WebUI

github.com/open-webui/open-webui · 155,000+ stars

A ChatGPT-style chat window that runs on your computer. Pair it with Ollama for a private AI chat, and upload your own documents to ask questions about them.

03

Browser Use

github.com/browser-use/browser-use · 119,000+ stars

Lets an AI agent open a browser, click buttons, fill in forms and finish tasks on real websites. The README has examples you can follow without coding.

04

ComfyUI

github.com/Comfy-Org/ComfyUI · 140,000+ stars

The go-to open-source tool for AI images and video. You connect boxes on a visual canvas instead of writing code, and creators share ready-made workflows all over YouTube.

05

Whisper

github.com/openai/whisper · 110,000+ stars

OpenAI’s free speech-to-text model. Turns voice notes, interviews and meetings into transcripts in dozens of languages, right on your own computer.

06

n8n

github.com/n8n-io/n8n · 200,000+ stars

Connect hundreds of apps like Gmail, Slack, Notion and HubSpot into automations by dragging boxes and arrows, with built-in AI agent steps. Free to run yourself. It’s "fair-code" rather than fully open source, so check the license for business use.

07

Excalidraw

github.com/excalidraw/excalidraw · 130,000+ stars

A free whiteboard with a hand-drawn look for sketches, diagrams and brainstorming. No setup: just open excalidraw.com.

08

Stirling-PDF

github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF · 95,000+ stars

Dozens of PDF tools in one place. You can merge, split, compress, sign and redact PDFs, and pull text from scans. Runs on your own computer, so you stop uploading contracts to random PDF sites.

09

Immich

github.com/immich-app/immich · 115,000+ stars

Your own Google Photos. Automatic phone backup, face recognition and search, on a computer or server you control.

10

Mermaid

github.com/mermaid-js/mermaid · 90,000+ stars

Write a few lines of text and get a flowchart, timeline or org chart. GitHub, Notion and Obsidian display it automatically. Ask Claude: "Give me this as a Mermaid diagram."

Bonus For Claude Users

01

Anthropic’s Skills

github.com/anthropics/skills · 184,000+ stars

Anthropic’s own collection of example Skills for Claude. Each one is a readable instruction file, so it’s a great way to see how Skills work. New to Skills? Start here.

Stay Safe

Stick to projects with lots of stars, recent updates and a known maintainer. Be careful installing anything with few stars or little activity, and never paste passwords or API keys into a project you don’t trust.