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Alternatives to Google Products – The Big List (2024)

By — 119 Comments
alternatives to Google

With growing concerns over online privacy and securing personal data, more people than ever are considering alternatives to Google products.

After all, Google’s business model essentially revolves around data collection and advertisements, both of which infringe on your privacy. More data means better (more targeted) ads and consequently, more revenue for Google. The company pulled in over $224 billion in ad revenue last year — and that number continues to climb higher.

But the word is getting out. A growing number of people are seeking alternatives to Google products that respect their privacy and data. Since you are reading this, we assume you are one of them.

Small steps to restoring your privacy

Before we dive in, a brief word of encouragement.

When beginning the journey of restoring digital privacy, some people get overwhelmed with all the work involved, and perhaps give up. Don’t let that be you. Understand that you don’t need to do everything right away. Instead, start small and go step by step at your own pace. With each step in the process, you get more security and control over your personal data, which is a small victory.

So don’t be overwhelmed and remember that there’s no “one size fits all” with this process. Even small changes, such as using a private search engine and a privacy-focused browser, are victories. So push on in your quest for more privacy and celebrate each step of the journey.

Note: The lists below are not necessarily in rank order. Choose the best products and services based on your own unique needs.

Google search alternatives

When it comes to privacy, using Google search is not a good idea. When you use their search engine, Google is recording your IP address, search terms, user agent, and often a unique identifier, which is stored in cookies.

Here are eight Google search alternatives to consider:

  1. Searx – A privacy-friendly and versatile metasearch engine that’s also open source.
  2. Brave Search – A new search engine from the Brave browser
  3. MetaGer – An open source metasearch engine with good features, based in Germany.
  4. Mojeek – The only true search engine (rather than metasearch engine) that has its own crawler and index (based in the UK).
  5. SwissCows – A zero-tracking private search engine based in Switzerland, hosted on secure Swiss infrastructure.
  6. Qwant – A private search engine based in France.
  7. DuckDuckGo – A private search engine based in the US.
  8. YaCy – A decentralized, open source, peer-to-peer search engine.
  9. Ecosia – The search engine that plants trees

Note: With the exception of Mojeek, all of the private search engines above are technically metasearch engines, since they source their results from other search engines, such as Bing and Google.

See our guide on the best private search engines for additional information.

Gmail alternatives

Gmail may be convenient and popular, but there are three major problems:

  1. Your inbox is used as a data collection tool. (Did you know Google tracks your purchasing history using the receipts in your inbox?)
  2. Rather than seeing just emails, your email inbox is also used for ads and marketing.
  3. The contents of your inbox are being shared with Google and other random third parties.

When you remain logged in to your Gmail account, Google can easily track your activities online as you browse different websites, which may be hosting Google Analytics or Google ads (Adsense).

Here are ten best alternatives to Gmail that do well in terms of privacy:

  1. ProtonMail – Best for strong encryption (33% off coupon)
  2. StartMail – Private email hosted in The Netherlands (50% off coupon)
  3. Mailfence – A secure and customizable email service
  4. Tutanota – Secure Email for Any Device
  5. Mailbox.org – Affordable private German email service
  6. Posteo – Reliable anonymous email service
  7. Runbox – Private email in Norway
  8. CounterMail – Swedish email with strong security features
  9. Kolab Now: Swiss email, compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI
  10. Soverin – Basic private email service

More information on these providers is available in the secure and private email services guide.

We also have a guide on the best Gmail alternatives.

Google Chrome alternatives

Google Chrome is a popular browser, but it’s also a data collection tool. Even major media outlets are starting to take notice, with the Washington Post stating that “Google’s web browser has become spy software” with 11,000 tracker cookies observed in a single week.

Google Chrome alternatives

Recently, Google has announced that it will ditch cookies in favor of a new tracking and data collection system called FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts). And as you would expect from the world’s largest advertising company, this new systems also comes with privacy problems.

Here are seven alternatives that offer more privacy while still being secure against hackers and other miscreants:

  1. Brave – Brave is a user-friendly, Chromium-based browser that is growing in popularity. It blocks trackers and ads by default while also implementing browser fingerprinting protection.
  2. Firefox browser – Firefox is a very customizable, open-source browser that is popular in privacy circles. There are also many different Firefox modifications and tweaks that will give you more privacy and security. Check out Firefox Focus for a strong mobile privacy option.
  3. Tor browser – A hardened and secured version of Firefox that runs on the Tor network by default. (It also does a good job against browser fingerprinting.)
  4. Ungoogled Chromium – Just as the name says, this is an open source version of Chromium that has been “ungoogled” and modified for more privacy.
  5. LibreWolf – A private and secure fork of Firefox
  6. Mullvad Browser – A privacy collaboration between Mullvad and Tor
  7. DuckDuckGo browser – A private macOS, iOS, and Android)
  8. Waterfox – Another private and secure fork of Firefox

Of course, there are other alternatives to Chrome. These include Safari (from Apple), Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi among others. But each of these comes with privacy drawbacks. More discussion on this topic can be found in the guide on secure and private browsers.

Google Authenticator alternatives

Google Authenticator makes it easy to use 2FA (two factor authentication) on sites and services that support it. But it only works on your smartphone, and doesn’t save backups of your authentication keys. If your mobile device is lost or stolen, regaining access to all your sites and services can be a real headache. There are a number of alternatives out there, including:

  1. Authy – The main competitor to Google Authenticator. Can back up your authentication keys making it much easier to recover after a problem. Includes versions for iOS, Android, and desktops and can sync your keys between all of them.
    google authenticator alternative
    There’s only one drawback to Authy for us privacy types – it is not open source.
  2. FreeOTP – A free and open source replacement for Google Authenticator on iOS and Android devices. Attractive and easy to use, but features are limited.
  3. AndOTP – Another free and open source authenticator with backup/restore capability. Only works on Android devices.

Other alternatives to Google Authenticator include the authenticator built into some password managers (LastPass, for example) and hardware security keys like the Yubikey line of products.

Google Drive alternatives

If you’re looking for a private, secure cloud storage option, you can check out these Google Drive alternatives:

  1. NordLocker – From the team behind NordVPN and also NordPass comes NordLocker. NordLocker is a hybrid encryption tool and secure cloud storage.
  2. Tresorit – Best secure cloud storage solution
  3. Sync.com – Based in Canada, Sync offers a secure, encrypted cloud storage solution for businesses and individuals.
  4. Nextcloud – Nextcloud is an open source, self-hosted file sharing and collaboration platform, based in Germany.
  5. MEGA – Based in New Zealand, MEGA offers very affordable plans and lots of secure cloud storage space.

There are many other well-known Google Drive alternatives like Dropbox, but they don’t score high marks in the privacy category.

Check out our roundup of the best cloud storage solutions for more info on these and others.

Google Calendar alternative

Here are some Google Calendar alternatives:

  1. Lightning Calendar – An open source calendar option developed by Mozilla. It is compatible with the Thunderbird email program and the Seamonkey software suite.
  2. Etar – An open source, basic calendar option for Android and iOS.

If you are looking for a solution that includes both email and calendar functionality, these providers offer that:

Google Docs / Sheets / Slides alternative

There are many solid Google Docs alternatives available. The largest offline document editing suite is, of course, Microsoft Office. As most people know, however, Microsoft is not the best company for privacy. Nonetheless, there are a few other good Google Docs alternatives:

  1. CryptPad – CryptPad is a privacy-focused alternative with strong encryption, and it’s free.
  2. Etherpad – A self-hosted collaborative online editor that’s also open source.
  3. Mailfence Documents – From the Mailfence team, this is a secure file sharing, storage, and collaboration tool.
  4. Zoho Docs – This is another good Google Docs alternative with a clean interface and good functionality, although it isn’t the best choice if privacy is your top priority.
  5. OnlyOffice – OnlyOffice feels a bit more restricted than some of the other options in terms of features.
  6. Cryptee – This is a privacy-focused platform for photo and document storage and editing. It’s open source and based in Estonia.
  7. LibreOffice (offline) – You can use LibreOffice which is free and open source.
  8. Apache OpenOffice (offline) – Another good open source office suite.

Google Photos alternative

Here are a few good Google Photos alternatives:

  1. Piwigo – Piwigo is a great option that you can self-host. It is also free and open source.
  2. Lychee – Lychee is another self-hosted, open source photo management platform.
  3. Cryptee – Mentioned already above, Cyrptee is also a great option for securely storing photos.
  4. PhotoPrism – is an open source photo app that can be self-hosted, or run on a private server.

YouTube alternatives

Unfortunately, YouTube alternatives can really be hit or miss, with most struggling to gain popularity.

  1. Odysee
  2. Rumble
  3. Vimeo
  4. Bitchute
  5. Peertube
  6. DTube
  7. Brighteon
  8. Bit.tube
  9. Dailymotion

Google Translate alternative

Here are a few Google translate alternatives I have come across:

  1. DeepL – DeepL is a solid Google Translate alternative that seems to give great results. Like Google Translate, DeepL allows you to post up to 5,000 characters at a time (but the pro version is unlimited). The user interface is good and there is also a built-in dictionary feature. Additionally, DeepL offers a Pro version that supports an unlimited number of characters. They also offer apps for Windows and Mac that are faster and easier to use than the web app.
    google translate alternative
  2. Linguee – Linguee does not allow you to post large blocks of text like DeepL. However, it will give you very accurate translations for single words or phrases, along with context examples.
  3. dict.cc – This Google Translate alternative seems to do a decent job on single-world lookups, but it also feels a bit outdated.

If you want to translate blocks of text, check out DeepL. If you want in-depth translations for single words or phrases, then Linguee is a good choice.

Note: Swisscows used to offer a good translation service that supported many languages, but that has been discontinued.

Google analytics alternative

For website admins, there are many reasons to use an alternative to Google analytics. Aside from privacy concerns, there are also faster and more user-friendly alternatives that will respect your visitors’ privacy.

  1. Clicky – A great alternative to Google Analytics that truncates and anonymizes visitor IP addresses by default. It is lightweight, user-friendly, and fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
  2. Matomo (formerly Piwik) – An open-source analytics platform that respects the privacy of visitors by anonymizing and truncating visitor IP addresses (if enabled by the website admin). It is also certified to respect user privacy.
  3. Fathom Analytics – An open source alternative to Google Analytics that’s available on Github here. It’s minimal, fast, and lightweight.
  4. Get Insights – Another privacy-focused analytics platform, with a full analytics suite. The front-end client is open source and available here.
  5. AT Internet – A France-based analytics provider that is fully GDPR compliant, with all data stored on French servers, and a good track record going back to 1996.

Many websites host Google Analytics because they run Google Adsense campaigns. Without Google Analytics, tracking the performance of these campaigns would be difficult. Nonetheless, there are definitely better options for privacy.

Google Maps alternative

A map alternative for PCs is OpenStreetMap.

A few Google Maps alternatives for mobile devices include:

  1. OsmAnd – a free and open-source mobile maps app for both Android and iOS (based on OpenStreetMap data).
  2. Maps (F Droid) – uses OpenStreetMap data (offline).
  3. MapHub – based on OpenStreeMap data and it does not collect locations or user IP addresses.
  4. Here WeGo – a free (ad supported) service that complies with GDPR privacy requirements for all users worldwide.

Note: Waze was a popular alternative to Google Maps until it was acquired by Google.

Google Play Store alternative

Currently the best Google Play Store alternative is to use F-Droid. As explained on the official site, F-Droid is an installable catalog of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform.

See the F-Droid website or the official GitHub page for more info. Other alternatives to the Google Play Store include:

  • Aptoide – An independent marketplace for Android apps.
  • APKMirror – This is a large library of APK files uploaded by different users (be careful).
  • Aurora Store – A fork of the Yalp Store.

Google Chrome OS alternative

Want to ditch the Chromebook and Chrome OS? Here are a few alternatives:

  1. Linux – Of course, Linux is arguably the best alternative, being a free, open-source operating system with lots of different flavors. Versions of Linux are available for virtually any computing platform. We’re talking supercomputers (all of the top 500 supercomputers run Linux), standard desktops, Chromebooks, even tiny single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi.
  2. Tails – Tails is a free, privacy-focused operating system based on Linux that routes all traffic through the Tor network.
  3. QubesOS – Recommended by Edward Snowden, free and open source.

The two operating systems most popular with the general public are Microsoft Windows and Apple’s operating system for MacBooks – Mac OS. Techies have voiced privacy concerns about Windows for many years. For various reasons, Windows has earned a bad reputation for protecting your privacy. Windows 10, the newest version of the product, is also the worst when it comes to violating user privacy.

While slightly better than Windows, Apple uses Mac OS to collect user data and has partnered with government agencies for surveillance.

Android alternatives

The biggest alternative to Android is iOS from Apple. But iOS is no big winner when it comes to privacy either. Here are a few Android OS alternatives that can really boost your mobile privacy:

  1. LineageOS – A free and open-source operating system for phones and tablets based on Android.
  2. Ubuntu Touch – A mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system.
  3. Plasma Mobile – An open source, Linux-based operating system with active development.
  4. Sailfish OS – Another open source, Linux-based mobile OS.
  5. Replicant – A fully free Android distribution with an emphasis on freedom, privacy, and security.
  6. /e/ – This is another open source project with a focus on privacy and security.
  7. Purism is addressing the issue of mobile phone privacy by bringing out their own phone, called the Librem 5.

Google Hangouts alternatives

Here are some Google Hangouts alternatives:

  1. Wire – A great all-around secure messenger, video, and chat app, but somewhat limited on the number of people who can chat together in a group conversation via voice or video.
  2. Signal – A good secure messenger platform from Open Whisper Systems.
  3. Telegram – A longtime secure messenger app, formerly based in Russia, now in Dubai.
  4. Element.io – A privacy-focused encrypted chat service that is also open source. Formerly known as riot.im.

To learn about these and other Google Hangouts alternatives that protect your privacy, check out our guide to the best secure messenger apps available.

Google Domains alternative

Google Domains is a domain registration service. Here are a few alternatives:

  1. Namecheap – I like Namecheap because all domain purchases now come with free WhoisGuard protection for life, which protects your contact information from third parties. Namecheap also accepts Bitcoin and offers domain registration, hosting, email, SSL certs, and a variety of other products.
  2. Njalla – Njalla is a privacy-focused domain registration service based in Nevis. They offer hosting options, too, and also accept cryptocurrency payments.
  3. OrangeWebsite – OrangeWebsite offers anonymous domain registration services and also accepts cryptocurrency payments, based in Iceland.

Other Google alternatives

Here more alternatives for various Google products:

Google forms alternative – JotForm is a free online form builder.

Google Keep alternative – Below are a few different Google Keep alternatives:

  • Standard Notes is a great alternative for a note-taking service. It is secure, encrypted, and free with apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android (web-based also available).
  • Joplin is another great option that is open source and works on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
  • Zoho Notebook from Zoho, with apps for desktop and mobile devices.
  • QOwnNotes is an open source file editor with Nextcloud integration.

Google Fonts alternative – Many websites load Google fonts through Google APIs, but that’s not necessary. One alternative to this is to use Font Squirrel, which has a large selection of both Google and non-Google fonts which are free to download and use.

Google Voice alternatives – JMP.chat (both free and paid), Line2 (paid)

G Suite alternative – Zoho is probably the best option

Google Firebase alternative – Kuzzle (free and open source)

Google Blogger alternatives – WordPress, Medium, and Ghost are all good options.

Want to continue on the journey of restoring your online privacy? Check out these guides:

This Alternatives to Google Products guide was last updated on April 26, 2024.

Avatar photo

About Alex Lekander

Alex Lekander is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of RestorePrivacy. With a passion for digital privacy and accessible information, he created RestorePrivacy in 2017 to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy, security, and related topics.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike

    Two open source, privacy-oriented keyboard apps, Floris Board and Open Board, have been discontinued. Two alternatives are Heliboard and Fossify’s keyboards. Both can also be downloaded on F-Droid.

    Heliboard – https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard

    Fossify – https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Keyboard

    Anysoft Keyboard hasn’t been updated since 2022. It isn’t listed as “discontinued” but it may as well be due to the length of time from its last update.

    Reply

    • name

      Thanks for this useful info, i’ve been using OpenBoard for years and didn’t notice it was discontinued, have switched to Heliboard now.

      Reply

  2. Mike

    I’ve just found out that Simple Mobile Tools (a suite of open source apps that can replace most of Android’s core applications) is no more. The head of the effort, Tibor Kaputa, sold his product to ZipApps that will, likely, add new features such as advertisements, subscriptions and probably convert the apps to proprietary.

    Thankfully, a developer with SMT has forked the apps before the purchase was finalized and has started a new project called Fossify. Most of the original SMT apps, save a calculator, are available on Google’s Play Store, F-Droid, or Fossify’s GitHub (links below).

    What is concerning is that Simple Mobile Tools’ website is still up and there’s nothing on it to indicate the suite of applications has been sold or discontinued. Also, there’s no announcement on the SMT Google Play Store page either.

    GitHub – https://github.com/FossifyOrg

    F-Droid – https://search.f-droid.org/?q=fossify&lang=en

    Google Play Store – https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=7297838378654322558

    Reply

  3. Mike

    In addition to Standard Notes and Joplin., NotesNook is an open source, end-to-end encrypted note taking app that can be used on iOS, Android, Linux, or Windows.

    https://notesnook.com/

    Reply

  4. Anonymous

    Add Graphene OS to mobile operating systems. Most secure mobile operating system in the world.
    Flash Graphene OS on a Pixel 8 or Pixel 9 (releasing Oct. 2024) (as of 2024). Google shines in hardware security and security research, but not privacy obviously.
    But don’t use mobile devices for most things anyway.
    Lookup Graykey and Cellebrite.
    Most android and apple phones are vulnerable. Only the latest pixel running graphene os is secure.
    If governments can do that, so could hackers.
    And I assume this blog is pro-civil rights.

    Add Whonix to Operating Systems.
    Qubes-Whonix would probably be the safest.
    Others are Fedora-Whonix, Mint-Whonix (new to linux) (with full-disk encryption).
    Linux Mint, Fedora linux, Arch linux, Gentoo (experts)
    OpenBSD

    Alternative front-ends for many big tech services:
    https://pussthecat.org/
    Add Invidious as a youtube alternative front-end.
    https://invidious.io/
    https://docs.invidious.io/instances/
    Some Tor onion site invidious instances:
    http://invidious.g4c3eya4clenolymqbpgwz3q3tawoxw56yhzk4vugqrl6dtu3ejvhjid.onion/feed/popular
    http://inv.nadekonw7plitnjuawu6ytjsl7jlglk2t6pyq6eftptmiv3dvqndwvyd.onion/feed/popular
    http://ng27owmagn5amdm7l5s3rsqxwscl5ynppnis5dqcasogkyxcfqn7psid.onion/

    Keep in mind that all apps on mobile operating systems whether its android or iOS or even graphene os… Apps are leaky as hell.
    Which is why just avoid mobile devices to begin with and don’t do anything security or privacy critical on any mobile device period. Desktops and laptops are more secure by design than mobile devices like smartphones, featurephones, and tablets. While AOSP has quite some security, GrapheneOS takes it even further.

    Especially if you use Tails, Whonix, Qubes.

    Reply

    • Mike

      I have heard very good things about Graphene and the other suggestions, like Invidious, are very good. Kudos!

      Reply

  6. PrivacyViking

    Might I recommend Bitwarden’s new authenticator app for that category?
    Open source like all their stuff, works great, no remote syncing, just on device.

    Reply

    • Mike

      UPDATE: I am using a better weather arrangement. I downloaded Breezy Weather (it’s a fork of Geometric Weather) from F-Droid, then set Accuweather as a bookmark on my browser (Brave). Appy Weather is good, but you have to pay to get additional features (like radar). This way, I can get weather reports and radar updates free of charge.

      https://github.com/breezy-weather/breezy-weather

      Reply

  8. Jack

    Another alternative to Google Authenticator that I would suggest is 2FAS. It is a free and open source app with an active community, and regular updates.

    Reply

  10. Q

    Wow. The YouTube alternatives are terrifying, we’re these investigated before suggesting? So many conspiracies (and I was being open minded).

    As much as this list is helpful in most other areas, I do not think I’ll be using or recommending this site again, for lack of integrity.

    I felt unsafe just checking them out, “exploring.” I’d almost rather that category wasn’t included.

    Reply

    • Avatar photoAlex Lekander

      I’m sorry to hear you felt unsafe looking at YouTube alternatives. The fact is that all of the people who have been banned on YouTube have gone to various YouTube alternatives, so it is a concentration of voices that are outside of the mainstream. That is just the nature of the situation. If you have any other YouTube alternatives you would like to recommend, feel free to list them here for inclusion.

      Reply

  11. Mike

    Two other other open source apps that are a very good alternative to Google Photos are:

    1) Stingle – It has built-in end-to-end encrypted backup and sync functionality for photos and videos.

    https://stingle.org/

    2) Photo Prism – This is a self-hostable platform that supports syncing along with a lot of other features. One draw back is its lack of end-to-end encryption, but it can be hosted on a server a user trusts.

    https://www.photoprism.app/

    Reply

  13. Rich

    I have a Galaxy A8 Tablet and a Samsung A15 phone. Unfortunately I am far from tech savvy. I’m trying to get Google free. Options PLEASE?
    BTW Thanks for what you have here.

    Reply

    • Mike

      @Rich there’s a whole host of options or alternatives listed above.

      Reply

        • Rich

          I get messages “You don’t have an app to open this” but it never says what app I need. is there an app to open anything?

        • Mike

          @Rich if your looking for more alternatives than what is listed above, I suggest using https://alternativeto.net/.

          It is a very good resource, including if you’re want to find out about other open source apps. I must admit to be lacking in knowledge to assist you with your issue.

  14. GUSTAV NORSTROM

    Alternatives to Google Products guide.

    Could you please update content to include even our new search engine?
    [www.smurf2000.com]
    It has PRIVACY and no cookies.
    More info per search answer.
    If you don’t find what you are looking for, just click the other nine search engines.
    [www.smurf2000.com] or [www.goodeveningexpress.com]

    It all started with me asking some good-looking girls – “Shall we build a new search engine?”
    It was early June 2023 – and a few hours ago it was finally ready. (13th of March 2024) Many thanks. GN.

    Reply

  15. lucky

    Why is Odysee.com not listed as a Youtube alternative?? It’s great! Also playeur.com, formerly Utreon.
    Also what happened to all the comments that used to be here?

    Reply

    • Sven Taylor

      Great point on Odysee, it’s now on the list.
      Regarding comments, we purged the oldest comments site-wide last year, as they often were discussing outdated information that was no longer relevant.

      Reply

      • luck

        Thanks for the answer. Only the “oldest” comments? The oldest ones I’m finding on any page are from mid-2023 and the oldest on most pages from Dec 2023 (on pages that have been around way longer than that). That’s not very old at all! Even if some comments had outdated info, the comment date itself is a hint of that, and many, many other old comments were useful. That’s a lot of helpful tips lost!

        Reply

        • Sven Taylor

          Ok I see why you’re confused. You need to simply go to the bottom of the comments and then click:
          “Older Comments”
          to see the older comments going back to January 2022 – the last two years are still available.

  17. Cynthia

    I am sold on gettimg off Google everything but need help. i have fdroid and new pipe. so in order can someone suggest what I should add…then remove. I hate gmail. i have a little money to put into this. i have a few kids and would like to have their emails changed. suggestion for an email I can have a small company email group 😝. I really need directed. thanks.

    Reply

  19. HD Streamz

    A well-liked streaming app called HD Streamz provides access to a broad range of live TV and radio stations from all over the world.it is simple to use  interface with access to a variety of media, such as sports, entertainment, and news. Multiple devices can stream high-definition content, providing customers with a easy entertainment alternative.

    Reply

  24. Jade Dragon

    CryptPad looks good, but it lacks a lot of features that instantly turned me off of it. Mainly formatting based. I’m a writer, and my works often have content I’m worried about getting into other people’s hands, but I do have some people I trust to “beta” my works and need to be able to collaborate with them in a way similar to Google Docs. Does anyone here have any good recommendations for Google Docs alternatives? Self-hosted would be awesome. Actually, NextCloud would be ideal, but I can’t figure out how to try out their editor before having to set up a drive, and the whole Collabora Office vs. NextCloud Office thing confuses me to no end. I can’t figure out if I have to pay for Collabora to use the editor or not. Any help with that would be awesome, too.

    Reply

  25. Snagburz

    Thanks!
    Now, what can I do when someone sends to a Whatsapp group a link to a form in Google Docs site, and I cannot just edit it from the browser. My OS offers me the Google Sheets app, but I do not want to download?

    Reply

    • Mike

      I wouldn’t unless you know the party and they told you before sending the link or file they would.

      Reply

  26. John Jr

    Thank you for this list, but what about Google News alternatives?

    Reply

    • BeeCee

      Presearch! How does this website exist without mentioning Presearch. Their decentralised search is good and you can easily swap it to DuckDuckGo is search slows. Plus it’s iOS app is a clone of Brave.

      Reply

  27. Morry

    Is Apple Mail private? iCloud? Is Safari safe? I am weaned off of Google 90% ( I use three anonymous emails) And why no mention of Google Analytics?…which i have now deleted from all my websites.

    Reply

    • Mike

      @Morry Safari is probably the best browser to use for iOS. Any others are, essentially, just Safari but with different features. I believe Apple has said that browsers are no longer required to use Safari’s rendering engine. If so, then I would use Brave.

      As far as Apple’s services I would suggest getting away from them ASAP. It has been revealed Apple is scanning people’s clouds even with their cloud turned off. I suggest using Proton’s suite of apps. They’re very good and you can probably get a good price as a new consumer. If not, I suggest Tutanota for email and Filen for cloud service and with that I mean pay to use them so you don’t become the product.

      Good luck!

      Reply

  30. Shane

    To go into alternatives to Google and not include Microsoft, or in the very least discuss why you have not, indicates a bias against the biggest alternative as well as the original in almost everything Google does, (except rely on selling personal data to make money).

    Reply

    • N

      Yeah Microsoft would never collect and sell user data, they’re a purely moral megacorporation. /s

      Reply

      • Vendetter

        No mention of Graphene OS, Session, Mullvad Browser or Brave Search.

        Reply

        • Zach

          I am very impressed with Mullvad VPN. I would definitely add it to the list!

  33. Courage

    Is it possible for the Restore Privacy team to do a report on web hosts for small business and solopreneurs? especially for changing APIs of known data collecting tools

    Reply

    • Mike

      @Courage if you look above there are 3 listed in the “Google Domains Alternatives” section. Among them is Njala that provides domain registration and hosting services. They seem fairly reasonably priced.

      https://njal.la/

      Reply

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