The CLIC study has developed compact, high gradient and energy efficient acceleration units as building blocks for a high energy linear collider for high-energy physics. Many of these components are now available in industry. These properties promise cost effective solutions for small linear accelerators in a variety of applications. The CLIC study actively promoted and supported such spin-off developments from the beginning. The applications include beam manipulation and diagnostic in research linacs such as FEL light sources, compact Compton-scattering x-ray sources, medical linacs for cancer treatment and compact neutron sources for material investigations. is contribution will introduce the x-band technologies developed and discuss examples of its use in some of the applications.