People On Reddit Are Sharing Their Favorite “Underground” Websites — Here Are The Best Ones

Listen, I’m no dinosaur when it comes to technology and using the internet, but I know I’m likely not using any of the tech I own to its fullest potential. All those fancy photo settings on the iPhone? Couldn’t tell you a thing about them. And I know I have a Cloud… somewhere… In any case, when I came across a Reddit post asking other users to drop their favorite “powerfully useful underground website” in the comments, I clicked through so fast.

The results were surprisingly good.

The OP — who moderates a subreddit dedicated to collecting powerful online sites — shared a few personal faves, and commenters piled on with even more. Some skew a little techy, but so many of these sites are helpful, entertaining, and honestly kind of wholesome.

Here are some of the gems that really stood out, in case you’re looking to make your life easier in some little online way:

• Gutenberg.org — This site is home to more than 70,000 ebooks available to download completely free. You can find a ton of classics, like Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, and Anne of Green Gables. There are all manner of famous essays, plays, poetry collections, so much more. I wish I’d known about this when buying a million books for my literature courses in college.
• Remove.bg — A free background remover for images. It really works! If you pay for a subscription, you can customize the size and resolution of the final image.
• Mynoise.net — If you like working with background noise, you have to check out this site. You can play background tracks that sound like a calm office or an airplane cabin (normal enough). You could opt for rain on a tin roof or a crackling fireplace. They also have medieval village and “nocturnal garden” tracks to enhance your reading experience. They have everything from binaural beats to sleep sounds, white noise to Gregorian chants.
• Khan Academy — This resource came up so many times in this post, as well as another Reddit thread about the best educational apps to put on kids’ tablets. The site hosts countless videos and practice lessons in every imaginable subject, for every grade level. High schooler needs a little support in pre-calc? Fourth grader needs to build out their vocab? There’s truly something to help every student.
• TuneFind — This search engine helps you identify the songs played in any movie or TV show, and even in some video games. You can narrow it down to any season, episode number, or specific scene. It’s perfect for those “omg this will drive me nuts until I remember” moments.
• Thistothat.com — Perhaps the most hilarious and wholesome website I’ve ever been on, this platform exists purely to make glue recommendations. If you need to glue one thing to another thing (for example, something ceramic to something wooden) and aren’t sure what adhesive to use, well, here you go.
• Pixlr.com — A free image editor that allows you to play with light, shadows, saturation, crops, and all the basics. Photopea is another option that came up in the thread.
• Kanopy.com — Users say it’s basically Netflix, but free. All you need to access it is a library card or a university-affiliated email address. The comments say it’s a great place to find foreign films, documentaries, and classic or arthouse movies.
• Libbyapp.com — If you haven’t tried Libby, you must! Input your local library card info and boom, now you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free.
• Pluto.tv — You’re probably aware of this one, but just in case you aren’t (and are trying to cut down on streaming costs), here you go. Pluto has tons of free movies and TV shows, like genuinely good ones. Yes, there are ads, but commercials never killed us before.
• Google Scholar — Again, not exactly an unheard-of website, but underutilized? Definitely! In a world where everyone is “doing their own research” by reading blogs and following influencers who just confirm what they already think, here you can access real scientific studies (often for free) with just a few clicks.
• Radiogarden — Ever wondered what’s playing on the radio in Tivoli, Italy, or Amman, Jordan? Radiogarden lets you spin a 3D globe and listen in to what online FM stations there are playing live. Not only is it just plain fun, but it would be cool to click on cities you’ve traveled to before to hear what it’s like to be there again.
• Librivox.org — Download free public domain audiobooks to your heart’s content. Commenters say the quality of the narrators varies widely, but other users who rely on audiobooks said they still appreciated the resource.
• Explore.org — Watch livestreams from wildlife cams from around the world. You can search by region or animal, or scroll through the master list of all active streams and see which animals are doing the coolest things at the moment. Because yes, sometimes you do need just to watch a grizzly bear stand in a river for a few minutes.

What are your favorite “underground” websites? Personally, I can’t wait to watch the baby pandas play on their swing when I need a brain break.