List of portable software

For the purposes of this list, a portable application is software that can be used from portable storage devices such as USB flash drives, digital audio players, PDAs^[1] or external hard drives. To be considered for inclusion, an application must be executable on multiple computers from removable storage without installation, and without writing settings or data onto a computer's non-removable storage. This includes modified portable versions of non-portable applications.

Bundles

• AccessApps
• Ceedo
• MojoPac
• LiberKey
• PortableApps.com
• U3
• WebLaminarTools
• WinPenPack

Launchers

• Appetizer (Dock application)
• ASuite
• Launchy
• OpenDisc
• PStart
• RocketDock
• SyMenu

Development

Scripting languages

• Portable Python
• Portable NSIS Version
• Portable AutoIt
• Portable AutoHotkey (for portability download the zip file from autohotkey.com)
• Portable Perl (Strawberry Perl Portable Version)

Compilers

• MinGW
• Tiny C Compiler

IDEs

• Alice IDE
• Portable Eclipse
• Portable Code::Blocks (needs MinGW installed, which is portable too)
• Portable Dev-C++
• Hackety Hack, which is an educational version of Ruby, can be installed on pendrive
• JCreator (not entirely portable, because it leaves some settings on the host computer)
• SharpDevelop Portable

Setup creators

• Nullsoft Scriptable Install System Portable (PortableApps.com format)

Visual mapping/productivity tools

• XMIND

Graphics

3D modeling and rendering

• Anim8or – Free 3D modeling and animating software.
• Blender:
  • BlenderPortable
  • Blender Pocket
  • XBlender^[2]
• K-3D

Animation

• Anim8or
• Blender
• Pivot Stickfigure Animator
• K-3D

Graphic editors

• ArtRage
• Artweaver
• Dia
• EVE
• Fotografix
• GIMP:
  • GIMP Portable VS 2008 is the Gimp portable version of Gimp on Windows platforms (Windows XP, Vista, NT Server 2003, NT Server 2008)
  • Portable Gimp – for Mac OS X
  • X-Gimp
  • X-GimpShop
• Inkscape:
  • X-Inkscape
  • Portable Inkscape – for Mac OS X
• IrfanView
• Pixia
• Tux Paint

Icon editors

• @icon sushi
• IcoFX
• GIMP – Supports reading and writing Windows ICO files.
• IrfanView – Supports converting graphic file formats into Windows ICO files.

Viewers

• FastStone Image Viewer: supports screen capture, multiple pix into a single PDF
• Irfanview
• XnView

Document-based

Office and publishing

• Abiword
• AllMyNotes Organizer
• Atlantis Word Processor
• Jarte
• LibreOffice
• OpenOffice.org
• Scribus
• StarOffice

Editors

• AkelPad – for portability, select Save Settings to INI File from Registry Tab in Settings dialog
• EmEditor Professional – for portability, select Import and Export on Tools menu
• Geany
• Metapad – for portability in version 3.6 onwards, at first run use the /m switch or create a blank text file called metapad.ini in the same directory as the executable.
• Notepad++
• Notepad2
• NoteTab Light
• Programmer's Notepad
• PSPad – for portable use choose CAB archive
• Q10
• SciTE – for portability, set SciTE_HOME environment variable
• Sublime Text
• TED Notepad – for portability; create tednpad.ini file
• Textpad
• UltraEdit
• VEDIT – for portability, check "Install onto removable USB drive" checkbox on the first setup dialog
• Vim

Personal notes

• Personal Knowbase – note organizer. For portability, select the removable drive letter as "Destination" during installation. Free Trial.

Educational

• Celestia
• GCompris
• Maxima
• Stellarium
• Calibre

Games

• AssaultCube
• Cave Story
• Dwarf Fortress
• Frets on Fire
• Kerbal Space Program
• Minecraft
• PokerTH
• Secret Maryo Chronicles
• Tile World
• Warzone 2100

Emulators

• Atari800 – Atari 5200 emulator
• DOSBox – MS-DOS emulator
• FCE Ultra – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator
• Jnes – NES emulator
• Kawaks – Capcom's CP System and CP System II and SNK's Neo-Geo arcade emulator
• MAME – Multiple Arcade Machine emulator:
  • MAMEUI32
• VisualBoyAdvance – Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance emulator
• ZSNES – Super NES emulator

Plug-in emulators

• JoyToKey – Gamepad emulator

Internet

Web browsers

• Avant
• Chromium
• Google Chrome Portable
• Firefox Portable
• Internet Explorer
• Lunascape
• Maxthon Browser
• Netscape Navigator
• Opera
• Operator YAPO
• Pocket K-Meleon
• QtWeb
• Qupzilla
• SeaMonkey
• SRWare Iron Portable
• Sleipnir
• XeroBank Browser

Email clients

• Mail – for Mac OS X
• Mozilla Thunderbird Portable
• Modest
• Pegasus Mail
• Pine
• Opera (has integrated Email client)
• SeaMonkey
• sylpheed get the zip version
• The Bat! Voyager

Instant messaging

• Adium – for Mac OS X
• aMSN
• Google Talk
• Portable iChat – for Mac OS X
• Miranda IM
• Monal
• Pidgin Portable (formerly Gaim Portable)
• Psi Portable
• Skype
• Trillian Anywhere
• Yahoo! Messenger

FTP clients

• WinSCP
• FileZilla
• Portable Cyberduck
• SmartFTP
• FlashFXP

Download managers

• Wget
• HTTrack
• Free Download Manager – Note: installation required to create portable version.
• Opera (Integrated Download Manager)

P2P file sharing

• BitComet – Note: needs msxml.
• BitTornado – Note: needs msxml.
• Emule
• Opera (integrated torrent client)
• μTorrent – Latest version runs independently
• Halite
• FrostWire
• Limewire Portable
• qBittorrent Portable
• Vuze Portable

IRC

• ChatZilla Note: Requires a Mozilla based browser, e.g. SeaMonkey, or Firefox.
• Miranda IM
• mIRC Note: There is a U3 version of mIRC that can be installed on U3 drives. The original application is portable, leaving behind only the license key in the registry. (This may not be true with the newer versions that are vista-compatible, as their default user data area was changed to the user's application data folder.) Since v3.1, it can be started from a command line using the -portable switch to use settings, DLLs, and license keys that are stored in the same folder as mirc.exe.
• Nettalk
• Pidgin (formerly Gaim)
• Opera (Integrated Irc client)
• XChat
• Portable X-Chat Aqua – for Mac OS X

RSS, Atom readers

• RSSOwl Note: needs Java runtime environment.
• Opera (Integrated RSS/Atom client)

Telnet, SSH clients

• portaPuTTY
• WinSCP Portable Edition – SFTP/SCP/FTP client, remote file manager, GUI—see WinSCP.

Podcast managers

• Juice

Anonymity/Anti-censorship

• Tor Browser Bundle

Local wikis

• EverNote (freeware and commercial versions)
• Wikidpad
• TiddlyWiki (Use a web browser on a local file. No network required.)
• DokuWiki (freeware version available complete with Apache)

Miscellaneous

• Ahnenblatt multilingual Genealogy software
• Moka5 LivePC Engine (Portable VMware). Note: Dynamically loads and unloads network drivers and requires administrator rights.
• Mojopac portable chopped down copy of windows. Requires administrator rights.

Multimedia

File converters

• Any Video Converter
• Audiograbber
• CDex
• FormatFactory
• fre:ac
• MediaCoder
• TMPGEnc
• XMedia Recode

CD/DVD burning

• DVDStyler
• DeepBurner Portable Edition
• InfraRecorder
• Portable ImgBurn

Editors

• Portable Audacity – for Windows and Mac OS X
• Audiobook Cutter Free Edition
• mp3DirectCut
• GoldWave
• VirtualDub

Audio/MIDI sequencer

• Reaper has a .bat file for a USB stick installation

Players

• RealPlayer
• FLV player
• Media Player Classic
• foobar2000 – only supports xp and forward
• MPlayer
• SMPlayer – download the 7zip version which is portable
• Songbird
• K-Multimedia Player – use zip version to make it portable
• The Core Pocket Media Player
• VLC Media Player
• Winamp

Recorders

• Streamripper
• StationRipper

Video capture

• VirtualDub

Networking

HTTP servers

• HFS
• Node.js
• XAMPP

Miscellaneous

• Netcat
• Proxomitron – Filtering Web Proxy
• Xming
• Wireshark
• RealVNC

Remote desktop

• RealVNC
• TeamViewer
• TightVNC
• UltraVNC

Other tools

Web editors

• Portable Nvu and KompoZer – for Mac OS X and Windows.
• OpenOffice.org Portable – Complete office suite, which includes HTML editor.
• SeaMonkey

Calendar management

• Portable Sunbird – for Mac OS X, and Windows
• Portable iCal – for Mac OS X

File management

• Directory Opus by selecting the USB/U3 export option
• Servant Salamander 1.52
• Total Commander
• X-file X-file for Windows 98SE/2K or later
• XYplorer

File archivers/extractors

• 7-Zip
• Filzip
• PeaZip, for Linux and Windows
• WinRAR, Portable version for Windows, still requires having a license for a regular version of WinRAR. The version number for WinRAR Unplugged is 3.8.0.1, while the latest WinRAR for Windows version is 4.11

PDF tools

Readers

• Foxit Reader
• STDU Viewer
• Sumatra PDF
• PDF-XChange Viewer

Writers

• Portable OpenOffice.org – for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X

Security and encryption

Password management

• KeePass Portable
• Password Safe

Anti-spyware/malware

• CWShredder
• HijackThis
• SUPERAntiSpyware

Antivirus

• ClamWin Portable
• GMER
• Sophos Anti Rootkit Tool

Steganography

• OpenPuff

Real-time disk/volume Encryption

• FreeOTFE / FreeOTFE Explorer

System maintenance

Optimization and cleaning

• Advanced SystemCare
• CCleaner

Storage management

Visual maps of free space and biggest files and folders on hard drive.

• WinDirStat
• Defraggler

System information

• CPU-Z – CPU and memory hardware details – clock and FSB speeds, SPD, OS version.
• AIDA32 – freeware system information, diagnostics, and auditing program
• Speccy – System information tool.

Partition/file recovery

• PhotoRec
• TestDisk
• Recuva – has U3 variant.

See also

• Portable Application
• List of LiveDistros
• Live USB
• Portable application creators
• VMware ThinApp, a virtualization suite (with the ability to make portable programs)
• Windows To Go

References