The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (2024)

> Around the Web

1,257

1257 people found this article helpful

Incredible sites you might not have known about

By

Stacy Fisher

The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (1)

Stacy Fisher

Technology Educator

  • Emporia State University

Stacy is a professional technology educator with over 25 years' experience. She has published hundreds of articles, co-authored a book, and has appeared on national and local TV.

Updated on September 6, 2023

In This Article

View All

In This Article

  • Search and Reference
  • Reading and Writing
  • Entertainment and Video
  • Shopping and Travel
  • Web Applications and Tools
  • Music and Multimedia
  • News and Information
  • Fun and Games
  • Productivity and New Media

There are millions upon millions of websites, but the ones we visit are probably the same ones we always visit. However, there are many amazingly useful sites that you might not know about that could soon become your new favorites.

These sites exist to save time and money, to help us search more effectively, to drill down into reference materials, and so much more.

Search and Reference

The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (2)

  • Wikibooks: A giant collection of online textbooks that anyone can edit.
  • HyperHistory: A visual timeline of 3,000 years of world history. Select a link to be taken to a whole new panorama of information.
  • TinEye: A reverse image search engine that lets you see where an image is being used on the web by running a visual search against a database of billions of images.
  • Digital History: For anyone who wants more information on U.S. history, this is the place to look. It has primary sources, quizzes, and more, all print-friendly.
  • Wayback Machine: Visit an archived version of a web page to access the page as it was when it was archived, even if things have changed since then.
The Best Research and Reference Websites

Reading and Writing

  • Project Gutenberg: A huge database of tens of thousands of free downloadable books (you can read them online, too).
  • ManyBooks: Tons of free Kindle books and books in other formats (and in dozens of languages) for your computer or eReader.
  • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): A fantastic array of hundreds of free resources for improving your writing. Includes an updated MLA style guide.
  • LibraryThing: Share what you're reading with millions of other users, and connect with people that read similar books.
  • Hemingway Editor: Have you ever been curious if your writing is too hard to read or could improve? Paste the text into this site to see the readability score and suggested edits.

Entertainment and Video

The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (3)

  • Freevee: Did you know Amazon Prime Video also has free, ad-supported movies? All you need is an Amazon account.
  • JustWatch: Ever wondered where a movie or TV show can be streamed the cheapest, or even free? Check out this site before you decide to purchase or rent a movie; you might be surprised where else it's available.
  • Zamzar: A file converter where you can upload any media file format and change it into another format absolutely free of charge and without installing any software.
  • Internet Movie Poster Awards: Get the first look at the very latest movie posters. Archives go back to 1912.
  • Animoto: Make a video using your own images and music, with professional looking effects.
  • Internet Movie Script Database: If you're looking for a movie script, IMSDb is where you need to be. It's a great way to get another point of view on your favorite film.
11 of Our Favorites Places to Watch Free Movies Online

Shopping and Travel

  • Woot: One of the best places to find deals on the web; everything from home and kitchen items to gadgets and technology-related products.
  • RetailMeNot: A coupon website that has coupons for both online and in-store products.
  • FlightAware: A free live flight tracker where you can view and track the activity of any private or commercial flight, as well as get printable airport information.
  • TrustedHouseSitters: Quit paying nightly rates when you need somewhere to stay during trips. This site lets you apply to stay in an unlimited number of homes all over the world for an affordable yearly fee, in exchange for watching the owner's home and oftentimes their animals.

Web Applications and Tools

  • Credit Karma: Free credit score monitor. Credit Karma is a great way to be on top of your credit and is one of the best money management apps.
  • Tripit: Forward confirmation emails to a special email address to automatically create a master itinerary for your trips.
  • Saltify.io: Share sensitive information through unique, password-protected and encrypted links that automatically expire after a set time.
  • amCharts: Free and customizable JavaScript charts, maps, and timelines. There are some delightful images here to use for your presentations or projects.
  • DWService: Run this remote access tool on a computer to access it from any web browser.
  • Mutual Backup: Keep your important files encrypted and backed up on a friend's computer for free.
  • Wormhole: Share large files and folders through your web browser with end-to-end encryption.

Music and Multimedia

The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (4)

  • iHeart: Find free streaming radio stations across the U.S. of any music you're interested in.
  • HypeMachine: Listen to the music that people are talking about on the web.
  • Gnoosic: Discover new music that you didn't even know you liked.
  • Miro: Free, open source video player that works with a huge variety of video file formats. Also lets you use torrents, convert files, and share files over your network.
  • Magnatune: A unique website of free streaming music, most of which is unique to this site.

News and Information

  • Upstract: This is the mother of news aggregators. Previously called Popurls, it's an awesome way to get quick information from a variety of popular online sources. On a single page are listings from Reddit, Google News, X (formerly Twitter), Digg, Vice, Medium, CNN, YouTube, and other sites.
  • BoingBoing: An exceedingly eclectic array of information gathered from all over the web.
  • Techmeme: One of the best places to get breaking technology news.
  • Drudge Report: Find news that's off the beaten track. It's usually one of the first places to break really big news items.
Best Online News Sites

Fun and Games

  • Paper Toys: Hundreds of free custom-designed paper models that you can print out and fold yourself.
  • Web Sudoku: Play Sudoku for free with literally thousands of different combinations.
  • Miniclip: Tons of cute animated games for kids and adults.
  • Wordle: Can you guess the five-letter word in six tries?
  • Escape Team: Experience escape rooms at home with these printable escape room games that are paired with a mobile app.
Best Websites for Playing Free Online Games

Productivity and New Media

  • Focusmate: Connect with other people over video who need an accountability partner to get something done.
  • Artful Agenda: An online calendar inspired by paper planners.
  • X: A mini-blogging application that you can use to journal your thoughts and ideas.
  • Netvibes: A start page for the web; you can personalize your Netvibes to your unique preferences.

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for letting us know!

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

Subscribe

Tell us why!

The 45 Most Useful Sites on the Web (2024)

FAQs

Which is the most useful website? ›

148+ Useful Websites on the Internet in 2024 (Bookmark this!)
  • Magical Eraser - Remove Unwanted Objects in Images in Seconds:
  • FlexClip - AI-Powered Online Video Editor.
  • PhotoRoom - Remove background from images automatically.
  • OpenPeeps - Customize Your Own Characters.
  • Hunter - Find Email ID of Anyone in any Company.
May 31, 2023

What is the most important website function? ›

Website Navigation

Intuitive navigation on a website helps you ensure that the visitors easily find the data/services or anything else they want. In technical terms, a clear and logical structure enhances user satisfaction and encourages them to stay longer on your site.

Which website is No 1? ›

Answer: google.com is the most visited website in the world in August 2024. Question: Which is the 2nd most visited website in the world?

What sites are the most reliable? ›

Websites with these domains (the URL ending) generally have reliable information:
  • org (a registered organisation)
  • edu (an educational institution)
  • gov (a government agency)
  • gov.au (an Australian government agency)
Aug 16, 2024

What is the most used search site? ›

Google is the most popular search engine in the world. Capturing nearly 92 percent of the search market, it's no wonder why SEO specialists seek out any available piece of information about Google's ranking algorithm. Google can search for news, images, videos and scholarly articles.

How do I trust all websites? ›

Google Chrome > Adding Trusted Sites

Click the Chrome Menu icon on the far right of the Address bar. Click on Settings, scroll to the bottom and click the Show Advanced Settings link. Click on Change proxy settings (under Network) Click the Security tab > Trusted Sites icon, then click Sites.

What search engine doesn t prioritize searches? ›

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo prides itself on being the search engine that does not track or personalize your searches and results. They even offer handy visual guides on Google tracking and filter bubbling. If you're an iOS user, you can set DuckDuckGo as the default search engine in Safari.

What website do people spend the most time on? ›

Most popular websites worldwide as of November 2023, by time per visit (in minutes. seconds)
CharacteristicTime per visit in minutes.seconds
Google.com21.1
Yahoo.com21.06
DuckDuckGo.com20.39
Twitter.com19.47
9 more rows
Feb 1, 2024

What are the two types of websites? ›

There are two fundamental types of websites: static websites and dynamic websites. The core difference between the two lies in the notion of whether the webpages are pre-rendered and hosted on the server, or whether the webpages are generated on the server in real-time upon user's request.

What is the most important function of a Web browser? ›

A web browser is a software that enables users to access and view content on the World Wide Web. Its primary function is to locate and retrieve web pages, images, videos, documents, and other files from servers and display them on the user's device. For instance, imagine you want to visit a website.

Which website is the most credible? ›

Generally, . edu and . gov websites are credible, but beware of sites that use these suffixes in an attempt to mislead. Nonprofit websites may also contain reliable information, but take some time to consider the organization's purpose and agenda to determine if it could be biased.

What website is worth the most? ›

Top 30 Website Sales Of All Time
RankWebsitePrice
1Twitter$44 B
2Slack$27.7 B
3LinkedIn$26.2 B
4Aquantive$6.33 B
28 more rows

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Terence Hammes MD

Last Updated:

Views: 6577

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (49 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Terence Hammes MD

Birthday: 1992-04-11

Address: Suite 408 9446 Mercy Mews, West Roxie, CT 04904

Phone: +50312511349175

Job: Product Consulting Liaison

Hobby: Jogging, Motor sports, Nordic skating, Jigsaw puzzles, Bird watching, Nordic skating, Sculpting

Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.