What are the best free schematic tools out there?
The de facto standard (at least acc. to my impressions) is Eagle CAD. It is not open source, but there is a free non-commercial license availlaible. It is limited in PCB production (2 Layers, 10x16cm) and can handle only one schematic sheet.

I like it a lot.

A good open source alternative is Kicad. But I have not used it often enough to give good advice.