Finding useful websites can be tough. There are well over a billion sites on the web, and a good number of them are totally useless. Some of the most useful websites are quite popular, so you probably already know of them. But there are many other useful websites beyond the ones you may be familiar with.

Fortunately, we've done the work of searching for you. Check out these top useful websites that each offer something worth checking out.

1. Student.com

Student.com 2021

If you're looking for cheap accommodations as an international student, this website helps you search for a place to stay near the college, university, or neighborhood of your choice. The site covers hundreds of cities and doesn't charge for the service.

2. Innerbody

Inner Body 2021

Among other resources, this site offers an interactive guide to human anatomy. It's an easy way to study the human body's various systems and segments, perhaps to teach students in school. The site also offers help with testing, health products, and telemedicine.

3. CleanPNG

CleanPNG 2021

This website provides free high-quality PNG images without backgrounds. The millions of PNGs on offer work for brochures, banners, websites, and more. The website provides unlimited free downloads with no registration or other hoops to jump through.

It's much more convenient than making a PNG transparent on your own.

4. Pixlr

With Pixlr, you can edit pictures right in your browser, without Photoshop or GIMP. It's an easy-to-use tool that doesn’t require installation, and is free unless you need more features. You can work in your favorite browser or download the app on your phone to edit pictures without any complicated tools.

5. Pixabay

Pixabay 2021

Sites like Shutterstock are too expensive for most casual users; Pixabay is a much more suitable option. It offers over two million royalty-free images, illustrations, videos, and vector graphics to download at no charge.

It's a handy website for anyone who wants to dabble in basic designing or needs a freely available stock image for a project.

6. Privnote

Privnote useful websites

With Privnote, you can send a note that self-destructs after it's read. This is great when you need something more private than an email to send sensitive information.

It offers a few options that let you set when the message will delete, add a password for more protection, and receive an email to confirm the message was destroyed.

7. Skyscanner

Skyscanner 2021

Who doesn't want to save money when traveling? Skyscanner is a must-know website when booking a flight, as it helps you find the best deals based on a variety of criteria. It's much faster than checking every airline individually.

Apart from flights, it also shows deals on hotels and car rentals.

8. Spotahome

Spotahome 2021

This useful website offers a service for anyone looking to rent an apartment or home for a mid to long-term time period. Spotahome has real people check the properties personally, with a virtual video tour of the entire apartment as well as HD pictures of the properties.

Currently, it covers a variety of cities across Europe, making it good for students and backpackers in that area.

9. Down for Everyone or Just Me

Down for Everyone Site

When you're having trouble accessing a website, it could be an issue on your end or a problem with the website itself. This site makes it easy to find out. Just enter a website URL, and you'll see if this tool has trouble accessing it. If it does, you'll know the problem isn't just happening to you.

For convenience, you can enter the short URL downfor.io to visit this site without typing its full name.

10. Bachelorstudies

Bachelor Studies Website

This website finds a Bachelor’s program or degree according to your preference of country, language, cost, time commitment, and much more. It also gives lists of newly added programs, plus top destinations to study in your home country.

Using the banner at the top of the page, you can access similar sites for advanced degrees.

11. Ninite

Ninite Download Apps

Ninite is a must-know site when setting up a new Windows computer. On its homepage, you'll find dozens of popular apps. Check all the ones you want to install and hit the download button at the bottom, then Ninite will download one file that installs them all for you.

You don't have to click through a bunch of installation boxes or worry about toolbars or other junk—Ninite takes care of it for you. For a Mac equivalent, try macapps.link.

12. Lucidchart

The Lucidchart webs pace allows you to manually create precise diagrams and charts.

Here's an easy-to-use website that converts your data into a neat diagram. It's a great way to make flowcharts, task flows, and even wireframes.

You don't need to install any software; simply work right on the website. The free plan lets you create up to three documents and allows for collaboration with your team or colleagues using any device. You can upgrade if you need more functionality.

13. Eat This Much

Eat This Much

Eat This Much is an automatic diet planner. Enter how many calories you want to eat and how many meals to spread them across, and the service will help you create a diet plan. It includes weekly emails for what to buy at the grocery store, cooking instructions, and updated stats as you go along.

It supports various diets, like vegetarian and paleo, and aims to help you avoid worrying about what to eat at mealtimes.

14. JustWatch

JustWatch 2020

JustWatch is essential for anyone who loves movies and TV shows. Its most useful function is seeing where a movie or TV show is currently available to stream, allowing you to compare prices for rentals. This also helps you make sure you don't pay for something you can watch on an existing subscription.

Otherwise, it's great for getting recommendations on what to watch and keeping a master watchlist.

15. HowLongToBeat

HLTB 2020 Screenshot

Video games can take a long time to complete, so you might want to check the time commitment for a game before you start one. HowLongToBeat makes that easy—just search for a game and you'll see how long it takes for different playstyles, based on submitted data from other players.

You can also register for an account to manage the games in your library. This lets you keep track of your backlog, completed titles, and more.

16. Diffchecker

Diffchecker 2020 Update

Diffchecker is a handy way to find out what someone else changed in your document. Paste two sets of text (or upload a pair of images, PDFs, or Excel files) and you can see what's different between them.

In case you love the service, there's a paid desktop version with more features.

17. Dillinger

Dillinger 2021

Dillinger is an online Markdown editor that's also mobile-friendly. The service lets you save to and import from cloud services. When you're done, you can export your work to HTML or even as a PDF. It also supports autosave, dragging and dropping images, and more handy features.

It's a great tool anytime you need a clean writing app but don't want to install anything. In case you're not familiar yet, read our introduction to Markdown to understand why it's so handy.

18. Fast.com

Fast.com 2020 Screenshot

Curious about the speed of your current network connection? Open up Fast.com (powered by Netflix) and you'll quickly see the speed of your current connection. It works for mobile hotspots, your home, or any other network you want to check.

There are other sites for this task, but Fast is clean and easy to enter into an address bar on any device.

19. Dictation.io

Dictation.io lets you dictate your emails and documents in Google Chrome using any language you speak. It accurately transcribes speech to text in real-time and supports smileys, paragraphs, and even punctuation using voice commands.

It's a helpful site to rely on if you can talk faster than you type.

20. FlightStats

Flight Stats 2020 Screenshot

Whether you're a globetrotter, student, businessman, or concerned parent, this site allows you to track any flight. Just enter the flight number and you'll see the real-time location and status of the journey.

You can check even more details after a flight concludes, though the free plan is limited to only a few days' worth of data.

21. Every Time Zone

Every Time Zone 2020 Screenshot

Figuring out time zone differences is a huge pain. This site makes it easy by showing the current time in major time zones across the world. Click and drag the top bar to see what your local time translates to in various time zones.

If you sign up for a free account, you can further customize the site to your needs, such as picking the time zones relevant to you.

22. PDF Escape

PDF Escape 2020

This online PDF editor lets you easily tweak a PDF without any extra software. Available options include annotating the file and filling out fields in a PDF.

It works in all major browsers and doesn't charge unless you want to use the desktop version or work with huge files.

23. Infogram

This website lets you create stunning infographics as well as charts, reports, and social media visuals. It's a modern and sleek editor that helps you present information in an interesting way.

24. AlternativeTo

AlternativeTo 2020

Ever find an app that you want to use, but it's too expensive or doesn't work on your platform of choice? Or perhaps you're looking to replace one of your favorite apps that was recently discontinued? In these cases, AlternativeTo can help.

Simply input an app or program, and the site will suggest similar alternatives. You'll find both free and paid options.

25. Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet 2021

There's no shortage of ways to video call people for free online, but most of them require signing up for an account and are thus cumbersome. Jitsi Meet is different, and should thus be on your radar as an essential website for all online meetings.

Simply come up with a room name, send the link to your friends, and everyone can join without signing up or paying. It's as easy as online meetings get, yet is surprisingly still a mostly unknown site.

26. Random.org

Random.org Dice

Next time you need to run a random event like rolling a die, flipping a coin, or picking a random number between two values, use this handy website. It lets you perform several types of randomness, making it handy if you lose pieces for a board game or similar.

The site prides itself on using true randomness, instead of the pseudo-random methods commonly used elsewhere. If you're curious about how computers generate random values, check out our explanation of RNG in gaming.

27. Squoosh

Squoosh Site

Next time you need to compress an image, you don't have to open an image editor and do it yourself. Instead, try Squoosh, which offers a simple web interface for reducing the size of images.

Just drop an image onto the interface, and it will open the editor. There's a menu on each side that lets you choose the form of compression on the image, along with additional options depending on your choice.

This split editing setup allows you to leave the left side as the Original Image while you make changes on the right side. As you work, your changes will update, and you can drag the middle line to preview how the image will look.

The site will also show you the new size of your image as you make edits, plus the percentage change in size from the original file. It's a sleek and useful place to downsize images without extra software.

28. Namechk

Namechk Site

If you're thinking about changing your username on various internet services, you should consult the useful site Namechk first. It lets you enter any username, then shows the services where that name is still available.

This way, you'll know whether a new handle will work on all sites. You don't want to change your username on half of the services you use, then find that it's already in use on some others!

29. ManualsLib

ManualsLib Samsung

Chances are that you don't keep the manuals for every device you own. That can become a problem if you run into an issue with your device and need to consult the instructions for something.

Thankfully, even if you've thrown away your copy of the manual, ManualsLib is an excellent resource for finding instruction manuals online. Just input your device name and model to search for manuals. In addition to computers and phones, you'll find manuals for vacuum cleaners, appliances, stereo systems, and more.

30. CloudConvert

CloudConvert 2021

You'll likely need to convert a file to a different format at some point. When you do, head to the useful website CloudConvert. This makes it easy to change any file to pretty much any other format.

When you upload or drag a file to its interface, you can choose which format to convert to. The site is smart, so it only shows formats that make sense given the original file. Conversions are quick and simple; you can do 25 per day for free.

The Most Useful Websites You Should Know About

There's a little something for everyone on this list of useful websites. Next time you need to complete a specific task, there's probably a powerful website that can help. It's wild to see all the handy services hiding a little deeper on the internet.

Other collections of websites can help brighten up your day, so there's a lot more to explore if you're interested.