5 Software Tools That Replace Expensive Hardware

The home office accessory market thrives on selling you physical solutions to problems that software can solve for free. Before dropping money on a gadget, check whether an app already does the same thing. Here are five cases where software replaces hardware you were about to buy.

1. Virtual Second Monitor (Replaces a Physical Monitor)

Hardware it replaces: A second monitor ($200-$400)

If you have a tablet — iPad, Android tablet, even an old one — you already own a second monitor. Apple's Sidecar feature turns any iPad into a wireless second display for your Mac with zero additional software. On Windows, Duet Display ($10/year) or SpaceDesk (free) does the same with any tablet.

The experience isn't identical to a real monitor. The screen is smaller, wireless latency is slightly noticeable, and the resolution depends on your tablet. But for the specific use case of keeping Slack, email, or a reference document visible while you work on your primary screen, a tablet-as-monitor is 80% as good as a physical second monitor at 0% of the cost.

Even more extreme: apps like Luna Display and the built-in macOS Universal Control let you use an entirely separate Mac as a secondary display — useful if you have an old MacBook sitting in a drawer.

2. Phone Scanner Apps (Replace a Document Scanner)

Hardware it replaces: A document scanner ($100-$300)

Modern phone cameras are 12-50 megapixels with computational photography and machine learning-based image processing. Apps like Apple's built-in Notes scanner (swipe up on new note, tap camera, select "Scan Documents"), Adobe Scan (free), or Microsoft Lens (free) use your phone's camera to scan documents with automatic edge detection, perspective correction, and OCR text recognition.

The results are indistinguishable from a flatbed scanner for typical office documents. The scans are straight, properly cropped, and exported as searchable PDFs. Unless you're scanning hundreds of pages daily or need archival-quality reproduction, your phone is a better scanner than most hardware scanners because it's always with you.

3. Teleprompter Apps (Replace a Physical Teleprompter)

Hardware it replaces: A teleprompter rig ($80-$250)

If you record videos, present to camera, or give speeches at your desk, teleprompter apps scroll your script on-screen at an adjustable speed. On a computer, PromptSmart (free basic version) and Teleprompter Premium (free, browser-based) overlay scrolling text on your screen so you can read while looking at the camera.

For a more professional setup, place your script on a tablet positioned just above or below your webcam. The slight eye movement between camera lens and script is imperceptible to viewers. This replaces a beam-splitter teleprompter that projects text onto a transparent screen in front of the camera — a specialized piece of equipment that most content creators don't need.

4. Noise Cancellation Software (Replaces a Noise-Canceling Microphone)

Hardware it replaces: A noise-canceling microphone or acoustic treatment ($100-$500)

Krisp (free for limited use, $8/month for unlimited) and NVIDIA Broadcast (free, requires NVIDIA GPU) use AI to remove background noise from your microphone input in real-time. Dog barking, construction noise, keyboard clicking, other people talking — the software strips it all out and sends only your voice to the call.

The results are remarkable. These tools are more effective than a directional microphone at rejecting noise because they operate on the audio signal itself rather than relying on physical sound rejection. You can use a $20 USB microphone with Krisp and sound better than someone using a $200 condenser mic in a noisy room without software noise cancellation.

Zoom and Microsoft Teams also have built-in noise suppression settings that accomplish a similar (though less aggressive) effect. Check your conferencing app's audio settings before installing third-party software.

5. Virtual Webcam Software (Replaces Studio Background Equipment)

Hardware it replaces: A green screen, backdrop, or room decoration ($50-$200)

Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet all support virtual backgrounds natively. But dedicated virtual webcam apps like OBS Studio (free) with the Background Removal plugin, mmhmm (free tier available), and XSplit VCam ($8/month) go further. They offer:

• Precise background blur with adjustable intensity
• Background replacement with any image or video
• Picture-in-picture layouts (your face overlaid on a presentation)
• Skin smoothing and color correction
• Custom framing and cropping

OBS Studio deserves special mention because it's completely free, open source, and incredibly powerful. Beyond background removal, it can composite multiple camera angles, add text overlays, adjust color grading, and output the result as a virtual webcam that works in any video conferencing app. It replaces several hundred dollars of video production hardware.

When Hardware Is Still Worth It

Software solutions have limits. A tablet-as-monitor can't replace a 27-inch display for design work. A phone scanner can't handle a 500-page document efficiently. Noise cancellation software occasionally glitches and cuts your voice along with the noise.

The rule of thumb: try the software solution first. If it does 80% of what you need, skip the hardware purchase. If you find yourself fighting the software's limitations daily, that's when the hardware investment is justified — because you've proven the need rather than assumed it.

The money you save by not buying hardware you don't need can go toward the hardware you actually do need — a better chair, a better monitor, or a faster computer.

---

As an Amazon Associate, BestElectronicsReviewed earns from qualifying purchases.