- The Microsoft Windows 11 stock apps are perfectly serviceable, but hardly market leaders.
- There are many third-party apps out there (free and paid) that can perform certain roles better.
- If you’re an advanced user or need more functions, you’ll need third-party apps.
If you’ve recently made the move or upgrade to Windows 11, you’re probably looking at a range of apps and wondering: “Are these the best there are?” No doubt, Microsoft’s stable of Windows 11 apps is perfect for getting the job done, but many users have their personal third-party favorites that are more familiar, do the job better, do more, or all three.
In this article, we’ll look at some great alternatives to those stock apps on Windows 11.
Best Windows 11 Stock App Alternatives
Let’s take a look at some different apps and what you can replace them with.
Web Browser
Internet Explorer was a popular target for criticism for many years due to its slow speed and glaring security flaws. In its place, Microsoft now offers Edge, which is better by leaps and bounds, but is not widely used.
Many users prefer to install Google Chrome, the type of browser Edge is based on (Chromium), and enjoy the Google ecosystem and functionality. You can also take a more privacy and security savvy approach and install Mozilla Firefox. A less resource-intensive browser can be found in Opera GX.
There are truly many alternatives to Edge.
Media Player
Movies & TV is the default app for all things music and video related. While this is perfectly serviceable, the app is limited by functionality. Do you need a media converter? Want to generate subtitles? Have obscure media formats? This is where the app will fall short.
VLC media player is in a league of its own for a reason. Not only does it offer functionality and customizations for the novice and pro alike, but it does this all for free.
A newer media player to the scene, Pot Player takes the performance and subtitle generation to the next level, and does so much faster. Again, this wonderful app is free, as are the skins you can install on it.
Picture Viewer
The app to view photos is aptly named Photos. It does this job very well, and even offers some limited editing tools to touch things up here and there. However, if you’re looking for a more advanced editing tool, then you can’t go wrong with Gimp, which is a Photoshop equivalent without any price tag attached.
If you find the app loading times a bit tedious, then you can opt for a more lightweight app, like Pictureflect, which has a free tier available. ImageGlass 9 is a similar alternative, but one that’s free to download and use.
Mail App
Microsoft Outlook on Windows 11 has rolled a number of organizational apps into one (Calendar, Mail, People), but doesn’t excel at any of them. Many users prefer to stick to the Google Workplace suite of apps for better performance and syncing ability. If you’re a Mozilla user, Thunderbird is also a fantastic Mail alternative.
If you just want the simplicity of the old Mail app on Windows, then a great open-source alternative is Mailspring. It’s free, but you can pay for more advanced features.
Video Editor
Microsoft Clipchamp is good for basic video editing, but locks some of its advanced features behind a monthly subscription. The good news is that countless apps are available to fill the void. Leaving aside Adobe Premiere, which is one of the best (albeit paid) editors on the market, DaVinci Resolve is a fantastic free alternative, allowing for high-res exporting and offering many advanced features.
