It’s been fun Google, but it’s time to say goodbye.
Have you noticed?
Google’s entire business model is based on you surrendering to their corporate surveillance. That’s it. All they do is repackage mass corporate surveillance into convenient, free, trendy applications that suck up all your data. Your private data helps Google dominate the online advertising market.
You are the product.
The other key issue to consider here is that Google is tracking and recording your activity in order to build a user profile, which can be used for various purposes. Google has many ways to track your activity, even if you are not logged into a Google account:
- Tracking through Google Adsense (all those annoying banner ads you see on most websites also function as tracking)
- Tracking through YouTube and other Google-owned platforms and products
- Tracking through websites that use Google Analytics (most websites use Google analytics – but not Restore Privacy)
All the data that Google collects about you is usually monetized through targeted advertising (Google is now the largest advertising company in the world). Your data may also be provided to government authorities (Google has been cooperating with governments for mass surveillance since 2009).
In other words, Google is working to track your every move online, even if you are working hard to avoid it.
The solution to this problem basically entails:
- Deleting your Google accounts and data
- Avoiding Google products and using alternatives (this guide)
- Using good privacy tools, such as a private browser and a good VPN service, which will help protect your data from third parties
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 a few Google search alternatives:
- Searx – A very privacy-friendly and versatile metasearch engine.
- Qwant – A private search engine based in France.
- Metager – A private search engine based in Germany.
- DuckDuckGo – This is a great privacy-friendly Google alternative that doesn’t utilize tracking or targeted ads. They also have a zero-sharing policy with other features, but they do record search terms.
- StartPage – StartPage gives you Google search results, but without the tracking.
Check out the private search engine guide for additional information.
Gmail alternatives
Gmail is one of the worst products you can use if you’re concerned about privacy. Everything you do through Gmail is collected by the parent company – every email, attachment, and image… Using Gmail gives Google an intimate view of your private life and personal contacts.
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).
There are many different privacy email options; here are five great choices:
- Mailfence – Based in Belgium – 500 MB free; 20 GB Pro
- Tutanota – Based in Germany – 1 GB free; 10 GB Pro
- Mailbox.org – Based in Germany – 2 GB storage
- Protonmail – Based in Switzerland – 500 MB free; 5 GB Pro
- Runbox – Based on Norway – 30 day free trial; 1 GB – 25 GB (paid plans)
You can try any of the options above to find the best Gmail alternative for your situation.
Some providers, such as Mailfence and Tutanota offer completely free accounts up to a certain storage limit.
Chrome alternatives
Google Chrome is a popular browser, but it’s recording and tracking everything you do.
If you are a Chrome user, you may want to consider these alternatives instead:
- Firefox browser – This is a free, open-source internet browser that’s quite popular. You can also use a variety of privacy add-ons that can block ads and tracking (but beware of browser fingerprinting).
- Tor browser – This is simply a hardened, privacy-friendly version of Firefox. You won’t need any add-ons or extensions because it’s already configured for privacy and security. That being said, it may be overkill for most users, because it will break many of the websites you visit (thanks to NoScript).
- Brave browser – Brave is a good browser with built-in privacy protections and ad blocking. However, it is also based on Chromium and is affected by the WebRTC leak issue.
- Ungoogled Chromium – Available on Github, this makes “modifications to Google Chromium for removing Google integration and enhancing privacy, control, and transparency.”
Check out the Firefox privacy guide, which explains different privacy and security modifications you can make with Firefox.
Google Drive alternatives
If you’re looking for a secure cloud storage option, you can check out these Google drive alternatives. They are more secure and better for protecting your privacy and data.
- TeamDrive – This is a business-oriented cloud backup and file synchronization option based in Germany.
- Tresorit – This is a user-friendly cloud storage option based in Switzerland. They offer client-side encryption, but also utilize Microsoft Windows servers, which is one drawback.
- Nextcloud – Nextcloud is an open source, self-hosted file share and communication platform. They are based in Germany.
- Sync.com – Based in Canada, Sync.com offers a secure, encrypted cloud storage solution for businesses and individuals.
Google Calendar alternative
The best Google Calendar alternative seems to be Etar, which is open source, simple, and respects your privacy.
Another good option is the aCalendar from TAPIRapps. This appears to be another good option that respects your privacy and it also has some good features. Check it out on the official site here.
Two other Google Calendar alternatives are Kin and Fruxx. However, if you read through the privacy policies, it looks like Etar or aCalendar would be the better options. This is because both Kin and Fruux collect user/calendar data.
Some secure email providers also offer calendar options, such as Mailfence Calendar for example.
Google Docs alternative
There are many solid Google Docs alternatives available. The largest offline document editing suite is, of course, Microsoft Office. However, it is not recommended because… Microsoft and privacy. Nonetheless, there are a few other good Google Docs alternatives:
- LibreOffice – You can use LibreOffice on Linux, Mac OS, Windows, Android and iOS. It is also free and open source.
- CryptPad – CryptPad is a privacy-focused alternative with strong encryption and it’s free.
- Zoho Docs – This is another good Google Docs alternative with a clean interface and good functionality. You may be able to create an account through Zoho.eu, which should have better privacy protections due to GDPR laws.
- OnlyOffice – OnlyOffice feels a bit more restricted than some of the other options in terms of features, but it remains a decent alternative.
- Nuclino – Another Google Docs alternative is Nuclino. Nuclino has tiered subscription plans depending on your needs.
Google Photos alternative
Here are a few good Google Photos alternatives:
- Shoebox – Shoebox has both a free and Pro plan. It appears to be a good Google Photos alternative without any ads. The Shoebox app is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
- Piwigo – Piwigo is another great option that you can self-host. It is also free and open source.
Google Plus
Does anyone actually use Google Plus? I honestly don’t know.
But if so, here are three social media alternatives:
Of course, Facebook will not be recommended because it is a data-collection and surveillance service.
Google translate alternative
There are three Google translate alternatives I have come across:
- 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.
- Lingue – Linguee does not allow you to post large blocks of text like DeepL. However, Linguee will give you very accurate translations for single words or phrases, along with context examples.
- 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 the best choice.
YouTube alternatives
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be many popular YouTube alternatives, but here are a few alternatives:
- Vimeo
- Dailymotion
- Bitchute
- Hooktube
Hooktube – Hooktube is basically a YouTube proxy, which allows you to unblock YouTube videos, download videos, and get around YouTube censorship restrictions (unless YouTube deletes the video completely). This also helps to keep your data from Google.
How to use Hooktube: Just replace the domain in any YT link with hooktube.com and you get a light-weight page that loads YouTube’s media files (mp4, webm, etc) directly into your browser’s native media player. https://youtube.com/watch?v=S6bOkFLrsAc becomes https://hooktube.com/watch?v=S6bOkFLrsAc, etc. Supported parameters: start, end, loop (1 for on), speed (range: 0.01 to 4), autoplay (0 for off, default is 1).
And lastly, you can also check out the unblock YouTube guide for additional solutions.
Google analytics alternative
If you’re running a website, it’s important to see which content people like the most, so you can give your readers what they want. Otherwise publishing articles is like throwing darts blindfolded at a wall. Unfortunately, Google Analytics goes overboard with the tracking. Here are a few alternatives:
- Matomo (formerly Piwik) is a great open-source analytics program that respects the privacy of visitors by anonymizing and truncating visitor IP addresses. It’s the only analytics service that is certified to respect user privacy (and the only analytics used on this site).
- Fathom Analytics is an open source alternative to Google Analytics that’s available on Github here.
- Clicky is another alternative, but it does not have the built-in privacy protections of Matomo.
- Countly is an open-source analytics option that can also be self-hosted.
Many websites host Google Analytics because they run Google Adsense campaigns. Without Google Analytics, tracking performance of these campaigns would be difficult. Nonetheless, this is still bad for privacy.
Google Maps alternative
A map alternative for PCs is OpenStreetMap.
A few Google Maps alternatives for mobile devices include:
- OsmAnd is a free and open-source mobile maps app for both Android and iOS (based on OpenStreetMap data).
- Maps (F Droid) uses OpenStreetMap data (offline).
- Here WeGo provides good mapping solutions for both PCs and mobile devices with their app.
- Maps.Me is another option that is free on both Android and iOS, but there is a fair amount of data collection with this alternative, as explained in their privacy policy.
- MapHub is also based on OpenStreeMap data and it does not collect locations or user IP addresses.
Google Play Store alternative
Currently the best Google Play Store alternative is to use F-Droid and then go through the Yalp store.
As explained on the official site, F-Droid is an installable catalog of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform.
After you have installed F-Droid, you can then download the Yalp store APK, which allows you to download apps from the Google Play Store directly as APK files.
You can learn more about Yalp and download it from the F-Droid website here. (See also the official GitHub page here for more info.)
Google Chrome operating system alternative
Want to ditch the Chromebook and Chrome OS? Here are a few alternatives:
- Linux – Of course, Linux is arguably the best alternative, being a free, open-source operating system with lots of different flavors. With some adjustments, Linux Ubuntu can be run on Chromebooks.
- Tails – Tails is a free, privacy-focused operating system based on Linux that routes all traffic through the Tor network.
- QubesOS – Recommended by Snowden, free, and also open source.
Of course, the other two big operating system alternatives are Windows and Apple’s operating system for MacBooks – Mac OS. Windows – particularly Windows 10 – is a very bad option for privacy. While slightly better, Apple also collects user data and has partnered with the NSA for surveillance.
Android alternatives
The biggest alternative to Android is iOS from Apple. But we’ll just skip over that for reasons already mentioned. Here are a few Android OS alternatives:
- LineageOS – A free and open-source operating system for phones and tablets based on Android.
- CopperheadOS – The CopperheadOS project seems to have recently imploded, but it was previously a great alternative.
Purism is also working on a privacy-focused mobile phone called the Librem 5. It met the crowdfunding goals but it’s not clear when it will be available.
Other Google alternatives
Based on user feedback and additional research for this guide update, here are a few more Google alternatives to consider:
Google forms alternative – JotForm is a free online form builder.
Google Keep alternative – Here are two 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.
Google Fonts alternative – Many websites load Google fonts through Google APIs. 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 alternative – JMP.chat (both free and paid)
Google Firebase alternative – Kuzzle (free and open source)
Do you care about your privacy?
Most people looking for Google alternatives have woken up to the fact that Google is awful for privacy because they collect as much of your private data as possible.
But what about your internet service provider?
In the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, internet service providers are also recording your online activity. This information can be legally sold to third parties (in the US), or saved in government databases to be potentially used against you (UK, US, and Australia).
Aside from government surveillance agencies, there are many other third parties that are quietly tracking your online activity, such as Facebook.
One of the best tools for keeping your data out of the hands of third parties is to use a virtual private network. This will encrypt and anonymize your online activity, while also hiding your true IP address and location. Check out the best VPN guide for the latest recommendations and test results.
The privacy tools guide discusses other solutions as well.
Do you have any other tips or suggestions for Google alternatives?
Feel free to drop a comment below. This guide will be regularly updated to reflect the latest information and user feedback.
Based on the response to my suggestion that Etar-Calendar’s maintainers provide some user documentation, I think it is simply an alternative client for the Google Calendar service. It doesn’t sound like one can point it at some other calendaring server without significant additional effort.
You forgot Firefox Focus 🙂 blocks a whole load of junk by default!
You’re missing Fastmail, who provide very standards-based and security-focused e-mail, contacts, and calendaring. I’m a satisfied multi-year customer.
Dear Sven,
It should be noted that the default configuration of Mozilla Firefox has moved towards a surveillance platform following the acquisition of Pocket and a shift towards an advertising-based funding model.
Currently it is necessary to make significant modifications to the default settings through the about:config dialog to avoid dozens of outbound “privacy”-violating connections, many of which are now CloudFlare endpoints:
https://gist.github.com/haasn/69e19fc2fe0e25f3cff5
Moreover, “Safe Browsing” is cryptically enabled by default, sharing the user’s activity with Google.
Well, this Mozilla engineer says user activity is no longer shared with Google via the “safe browsing” settings. This issue is also discussed more in my Firefox privacy guide.
You should include Safari in the list of browsers, at least for Mac users. Apple has a long history of privacy controls in Safari that other browsers don’t have or only added much later. For example, I think Safari is still the only major browser to ship with third-party cookies turned off as a default. It has cross-site tracking prevention, configurable default search provider, granular permissions asked for use of the camera, microphone, and location, and optional per-site settings for some of those things. Plus, the upcoming macOS Mojave will include a version of Safari with fingerprinting prevention.
Hi Doug, I agree that Apple does some things right in regards to privacy. However, it still has a troubling history of “hoarding” users’ browsing history – even when using private browsing mode. And these are only the cases we know about.
Good list. To add a few more:
Google docs alternative that is free and encrypted:
https://cryptpad.fr/
Google play alternative, the most complete that I know. Permits to install older versions of apps:
http://www.aptoide.com/
I found an other website about removing gafam called De-google-ify Internet (https://degooglisons-internet.org/).
They also provide FOSS alternatives to google products.
I see my website is found by the search engines that don’t use Google search results. Google can also help you not find things.
Hubic as Google Drive alternative 25 GB on start up to 50GB
Dear Sven,
Thank you for the post. It is an interesting list of products and activities.
Please also consider Kolab Now (https://kolabnow.com) as an open source/Free software alternative to
* Gmail
* Google calendar
* Google docs
Kolab Now has 30 days free trial, it has 2GB included in the price and, as mentioned above, it is open source and Free software.
Sincerely
Mads
Hi Mads, thanks for sharing that information. A secure email guide is soon forthcoming and it will include Kolab Now.
I’m current using Kolab and can’t recommend enouth.
The have calendar, email, contacts, notes, and file keeping for a fair price.
The only downside is that they still don’t suport 2 way auth. But outside that, still great service.
Hey Sven, fantastic round-up. Thanks for the thorough research!
For your email security and privacy article, please consider my new app https://zinc.email/
The system allows you to send & receive email without sharing your real email address. It can track who leaks your contact info and let’s you *unshare* your email address from anyone.
Again thanks for the great article. Looking forward to the next one.
A nice chrome alternative is missing: Ungoogled Chromium
“Modifications to Google Chromium for removing Google integration and enhancing privacy, control, and transparency”
https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium
There’s an error in the article. Searx is NOT a single site but search aggregation software that anyone can run on their server. There are over 70 user-run servers to choose from (or the two randomizers listed can be used):
https://github.com/asciimoo/searx/wiki/Searx-instances
Correct, Searx is technically a metasearch engine – just updated the wording.
Hello Sven, and thanks for building this list.
I am cofounder of Countly, an open source product analytics platform for web, mobile and desktop. You can download it via Github (https://github.com/countly/countly-server) and run on your own machines, thus you don’t have to share any visitor information with 3rd parties. Countly is also plugin based, runs on Nodejs + MongoDB and has a really slick and intuitive UI.
You may also build your own Countly on Digital Ocean, using this 1-click installer: https://do.count.ly
PS: How about turning this list into a Github repo so others can also comment and contribute?
Hi Gorkem – thanks for the info. I’ll have Countly added here soon. Good idea on the Github repo.
You can also generate it using one of github-awesome-list templates. That will help get picked up by others easily.
Google Translate replacement: https://www.deepl.com/translator
We use https://goaccess.io instead of analytics. It’s real-time and open source, works awesomely.
For a Google Keep alternative, check out Standard Notes.
https://standardnotes.org
Open source, encrypted, and cross platform 🙂
Seconded, I love this software.
Shameless plug: at LINAGORA where I currently work, we are developing OpenPaaS, an open source collaborative platform and alternative to Google Suite and Co. At its core, OpenPaaS is made of an email server, James, and many other open source components (in one package, it offers an alternative to Gmail, to Google Calendar, etc). Do not hesitate to check it out: https://open-paas.org.
Any suggestions for using an alternative to Google Slide Show Sharing system…
I have been using it for my alternative news channel called, Digileakcanada.weebly.com
I can download and archive the slide shows to my own hard drive in case they disappear on line.
I like the slide format to layout my news research and share with others. Your suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers, Ken
If you want to replace notes, this is great: https://standardnotes.org
Given you seem to care about performance in your reviews you might wanna consider mentioning and testing WireGuard in your VPN guide.
Another suggestion I have is mention alternatives to Android such as LineageOS + microG, CopperheadOS, SailfishOS, postmarketOS, etc.
I see you go on about logging policy; you can only verify such via auditing. Its their word against yours. Its snake oil.
As a final note I found it very entertaining how you were going on about 14 eyes in the ProtonVPN review. If you require that kind of anonymity, don’t use a VPN; use something like Tor in a VM. VPNs as mentioned here are meant to avoid things such as copyright infringement witch hunts or region locks.
WireGuard is under heavy development and is not recommended in its current state.
The Tor browser is an interesting project, but the Tor network comes with many drawbacks including horrible speeds, malicious exit nodes, and the fact that it has been compromised and exploited according to some reports – see here.
Hi Sven, very interesting article.
Your contact form seems to be down, is there some other way to contact you privately?
Hi Rune, indeed the form appears to be broken – thanks for the heads up. The contact page has been updated with additional contact details.
Update: contact form has been fixed.
Hello everyone!
Q: Is Apple REALLY safer ?
Joe
Why do you mind being the product tho?
An alternative view would be that it cost us nothing to have google launch worldwide projects.
Alternative to Google Voice: jmp.chat
Hello,
I would add an alternative to google firebase : https://kuzzle.io/ (Google’s mobile platform to develop apps ).
Many thanks for this article.
I cunningly outflank Google’s date collection by never doing anything interesting.
For OpenStreetMap, you forgot another great app: OsmAnd. Especially on Android, it works great. On iOS, only basic functionality works.
JotForm (https://www.jotform.com) is a good alternative for Google forms. It also allows importing forms from existing ones.
It all comes down to the efficience/anonymity ratio you want to acheive
Don’t forget about Sync.com – A Google Drive alternative that includes end to end encryption and privacy protection, and they have a totally free tier.
Hi, I’m running a website, MapHub (https://maphub.net/) which aims to be an alternative to Google My Maps, based on OpenStreetMap data. It does not collect any kind of location data and IP addresses are not stored. If you think it’d fit the list, feel free to include it.
I’d like to add airvpn.org to the list of recommended services. Many features similar to IVPN as mentioned in one comment, reliable in the 4 years I’ve been using, EU-based, accepts cryptos, insists on no tracking, many servers around the world, etc. 54€/year.
Don’t forget the famous DNS service 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 provided by Google.
Great point, Krouaton, Google DNS alternatives will definitely be provided with the next update to this guide (soon).
Dns 1.1.1.1
Does anyone know a good alternative to Google Keep and Chromecast?
1.1.1.1 is run by CloudFlare, and 9.9.9.9 by Quad9/IBM.
There’s also EteSync (www.etesync.com) for contact/calendar sync. It’s secure, end-to-end encrypted and open source, so a much better alternative than what suggested there.
Hi Sven, great article but would be good to mention Google Photos alternatives too. Did you try Yogile? They are based in Europe and do have a transparent Privacy Policy.
Hi Aleks, I haven’t looked into Google Photos alternatives yet, but I will for the next update to this guide.
Check out Shoebox (shoeboxapp.com). No ads, reasonable privacy policy, no ownership if your data.
Hey Sven,
Have you checked out d.tube (https://d.tube/) instead of youtube? It is awesome because it also works with a new technology called IPFS which makes censoring even harder than on regular internet. I think something like that will be the future for people with a free mind to exchange their ideas.
Hi Kantoku, thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out.
Google provides a centralized way to access all its applications. Unfortunately, this will not be achieved if different other sites are used instead. However, I am very optimistic about these alternatives.
There are multiples alternatives open source libre solutions of google products made by french “Framasoft” association : https://framasoft.org/
And for youtube there is peertube : https://joinpeertube.org/en/home/
Thank you for putting together this list!
Personally I have been pouring development time into another self-hosted OS alternative to Google Analytics as I feel there is a drastic need for more options in that space.
OpenWebAnalytics seems like a relic from a previous era. Matomo (formerly Piwik) is great, but not as simple as I think it could be.
That’s why we’re building Fathom Analytics.
– Self hosted
– Open-source (MIT licensed)
– Opinionated
We want to keep things as simple as possible while still providing you the information you need about your site, so you can make smarter decisions about your design and content.
Either way, keep on fighting the good fight!
Hi Danny, thanks for the heads up about Fathom Analytics – just added it to the guide.
How about zoho sven?
I didn’t include it because it’s based in the US (California to be exact).
What about zoho.eu?
Could I just ask please for a source behind the idea that “Google Chrome is a popular browser, but it’s recording and tracking everything you do”?
Hi Kieren, I just added an image to the Chrome section that illustrates a few of the privacy issues.
Hi Sven, good list, but it’s leaving out most of their commercial products (e.g. AdWords). As a business it would be great to find a workable alternative that is more privacy friendly – I know it seems a bit of a contradiction, but has anyone looked into responsible advertising?
Hi Chris, good question. I’ll check that out for the next update to this guide.
Hey,
I think it’s worth mentioning Runbox for email and Jottacloud for storage, maybe?
Thanks.
Hi Mike D, agreed on Runbox – just added it to the list. I’ll check out Jottacloud as well (also based in Norway).
Also recommend Posteo as an e-mail service provider alternative (I use it personally and it’s great).
They advertise themselves as privacy conscious, secure and operating sustainably.
Agreed – that’s another great service. I’ll have a list of secure email providers coming out soon and Posteo will be included.
I’m not willing to pay, what’s the alternative that can offer big storage like Google Drive/Gmail combo?
I’m not too sure about free cloud storage, but as a general rule…
“When something is free, you are the product.” -Google
great list, but your still on Android. Do you have a list of alternative mobile os
Thanks for this list.
For Youtube alternative I think it’s important to mention PeerTube
https://joinpeertube.org/
It’s a federated peer to peer solution based on free software.
Not in v1 yet its already used by some conference like the last State Of The Map in France:
https://peertube.openstreetmap.fr/
It’s a very useful article. Thank you.
There is a French alternative to Google Drive with Cozy : https://cozy.io
You’re missing SpiderOak One which is an alternative to Google Drive. It’s encrypted (though proprietary).
And also based in the US.
Mega.nz too
I want to add one more gmail alternative, invmail.io
Sven, do you know about anything Ecosia.org ?
Not much, to be honest. From their site:
Did you try Shazzle Mail, it’s a free encrypted mail service, they don’t store mails in servers, works like messaging applications.
Thanks for the tip, BM.
I’ve noticed you recommend MAPS.ME, I would strongly disagree.
Even though their map are based on OpenStreetMap, they collect quite a bit of personal data, as it is stated in their Privacy Policy.
I would suggest Maps, which downloads the map you need from OpenStreetMap.
Wow, you are right about MAPS.ME and their privacy policy. I’m updating this guide now…
Thanks Josh.
Something you might want to mention (or know) is that the “MAPS” link to f-droid is just maps.me without the tracking stuff, provided by the same lovely people. both (f-droid or gplay versions) are based on OSM
Better alternative would be OsmAnd https://osmand.net/
FOSS, Available on F-Droid
Hello. I’ve been using Mailfence and OpenMailbox for years now and like them both. I’ve just discovered Mail2Tor recently and I like it and it’s easy to setup with no phone number required. I don’t know how much storage it has or how long before they delete inactive accounts. You need to have Tor to use Mail2Tor & can also email non-Tor email providers too.
http://mail2tor2zyjdctd.onion/
An alternative SWISS web search provider:
https://swisscows.com/about
Not keen on the layout…but…
Yep, I’m just about to publish a guide on privacy search engines, which includes Swisscows.
Hello Sven, brilliant website and one worth putting around! Please remember to tell all who are signing up for a Protonmail account to sign up for the protonmail.ch account and NOT the protonmail.com account, as this could be compromised in the future in the USA.
Please see Protonmail’s own review on this matter:
https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/what-is-the-difference-between-protonmail-com-and-protonmail-ch/
Hi Tim, thanks for the feedback.
Hello…. I was looking for an alternative to Google photos..?? Any suggestions??
Hi Jedi, I don’t use any of these services, but there are some alternatives listed here that may be worth considering.
Hi,
after read your review about Proton VPN I’m more suspicious about Proton mail, all other alternatives from the 14 eye countries, is this important for a mail service?
Well it might depend on your situation, but I consider many of these providers in Europe to be good. I like Tutanota and Mailfence. And if you really want more privacy, you should just skip email altogether and go with a secure messaging with end-to-end encryption.
I’ve been using StartPage for years. I noticed shortly after the name change that the search results became much more limited, and has become progressively worse in more recent months. It’s now so bad that often times a search returns zero results, while google has plenty of valid hits. It’s to the point I deem StartPage useless. I’m curious, is this something ixquick is doing on purpose, or has Goggle figured out a way to limit results queried by 3rd party search engines as a way to force people back into the fold?
Yes, I have also noticed this with StartPage lately. I have no idea as to why, but searx.me seems to still be working well.
Hi Sven and markiteight,
Getting no results is highly unusual, so I’m wondering if something is amiss. You should alert the tech team: Support@StartPage.com
Note that as you scroll to the bottom of a search results page and click to see more search results, additional pages of options will display. So you may see 2 pages available initially, but as you click to new pages, more options should appear if there are more results available.
Hope this helps!
Hi Liz, thanks for the info.
Hello,
I am looking at e-mail alternatives and am confused about android integration on many services. It seems most of the secure e-mail services (such as mailfence which I had considered) are intended to be used with activesync which seems counter productive to me to use a secure service but access it through a Microsoft interface. Maybe I am missing something? I was hoping you could weigh in on this.
Also is the reason companies such as kolab and hushmail not on your recommendations because of their jurisdiction?
I had tried tutanota already but was a bit disappointed with the very slow speed and limited functions such as a poor search feature.
Thanks for the help.
Hi Jarrod, the list is not exhaustive, I just added a few providers that looked good, but I’ll work on a secure email guide in the coming months. I haven’t looked into the activesync issue to be honest. I think if you really want more security and privacy, an encrypted messaging app would be a better option than email. I like Wire and Keybase.
I use Threma for some years now. Very satisfied.
Hey Sven.
For e-mail services, what about Tutanota or SCRYPTmail?
Hi James, I like Tutanota, they’re also listed on the privacy tools page.
Hello Sven,
Thanks for that creating resotreprivacy. Great job!
I was reading about StartPage, which is now my default web search engine and I found that they also have a secure e-mail service called StartMail https://www.startmail.com
Maybe You will decide to add this one to Gmail alternatives.
Regards
Thanks Seweryn, I’ll check it out for the next update to this guide.
Hello,
I’m searchin for an app to sync my contacts, crossplatform (Mac, iOS, Android), any idea ? Thx
Not sure, but some email providers also offer ways to secure and sync contacts.
Kolab Now might be what @muhyidin is looking for? Not sure, but it is Swiss based, open and free software and it syncs stuff… https://kolabnow.com/
@Sven Thank you, I like many of your suggestions and you explain things well!
I recommend using Nextcloud which is not just for sharing files but also has an excellent Calendar-App which you can synchronize via CalDav and Contacts-App which you can synchronize with CardDav.
To sync it with Android you can use DAVDroid which is free.
Why is Aptoid listed as a good Playstore alternative? That site requires people to use their app to download stuff, and their app requires access to Camera, Contacts, and Location. There is absolutely no justifiable reason for that kind of app to access those things!
Hi John, yep, looks like you are correct. It seems F-Droid is the only decent option from a privacy perspective at this point. I’ve removed Aptoid from the list.
an another email provider, RunBox which has calendar and contacts sync utility.
Very cool company.
Hello Sven!
What would be a good Google Calendar alternative?
Thanks
Hi James, here are a few options.
Basically it is a choice between:
1. Etar
2. aCalendar
3. Kin (somewhat acceptable privacy policy)
4. fruux (not a very privacy-friendly privacy policy)
I initially though mostly of calendar back-ups as with Google Calendar when I asked the question, but on the second though, calendar back-up is not privacy-friendly by design =)
Thanks for this. I added a new section on Google Calendar alternatives.
After analyzing aCalendar a bit, it seems to have a lot of adds, which is not very nice. It does have a nice design though =)
One more calendar to mention is Simple Calendar, which is open-source, has import/export to .ics file feature, CalDAV sync and event type setting.
Overall, I’d recommend it over Etar as well.
Mailfence which is mentioned under mail also offers Calendar, Contacts and Documents tools all integrated in a suite, making it an alternative for Google Calendar, Google Docs,… More info about the calendar here: https://blog.mailfence.com/secure-online-mailfence-calendar/
Great article, finally cutting out google on my phone and it feels good. Hopped on protonmail and searchx.
What about Playstore alternatives?
Hi John, good point. I’ll research that question and add it to the next article update.
1. F-DROID –> Only Open-Souce contents available
2. Via F-DROID you can download YALP Store which is Google PlayStore without the need to login with your Google-Account
Thanks for the recommendation! First I tried Amazon, but I couldn’t get their app to work. Then I tried apkmirror and Fdroid, but their selections were just too small. They didn’t have any of the apps I use on a daily basis. Then I tried Aptoid, but their app was too invasive. It wanted access to Camera, Contacts, and Location! So far, Yalp is what I’ve been looking for. Thank you!
As Duderino suggested above, if you install F-Droid, and then got install Yalp Store, this basically removes the need for Google Play.
The only drawback I see is that you wouldn’t be able to buy apps, however there is a workaround that as well.
Speaking of users that only use free apps this is a golden mine, as you can really remove Google account completely.
Yes this appears to be the best option. I just added it to the list.
Yalp only omits the google play store UI. You are still using the play store when you download the apk from there.
So, it is not really an “alternative”.
Same for hottube.
For Chrome alternatives I highly recommend epic privacy browser, its open source and based off chromium, has its own privacy based search engine because “It dosen’t trust any other search engine,” built in proxy anti – tracking addons, disables all the data collecting and more, speeds are good, particularly if you do decide to use duck duck go instead of epicsearch.in (their search engine), if you want chrome without data collection (which you get anyway, even if you turn off all the addons), and you want privacy, I recommend epic. [link]
Hi Sven!
What’s your thoughts on Puffin browser?
Thanks!
Hi Gary, I have not heard of or tried out Puffin browser. As a general rule I like to stick with FireFox, however, for both mobile and desktop.
Hello Sven! Am very new to your site (brilliant BTW) and have a question re FireFox. When you say you like to stick to FF, which one do you mean? Seems to be various versions kicking around, e.g. FF Quantum, WaterFox, etc. (I’m on a Mac running macOS 10.12.6.) Thanks in advance!
Hi George, I just mean whatever is the latest version of the standard Firefox browser. The latest version as of now is Firefox Quantum.
The real question is if there is an alternative for Google Services. I mean for Android, there is Aptoide to use instead of Google Play Store but most of the Apps won’t work if you don’t have Google Services installed on your device. 🙁
There is a very time-expensive way.
It’s called Xposed Framework. I used it quite successfull on my Galaxy S4 several years ago. With that you can install a Google Service replacement. Also you can install several location services for GPS etc.
According to the developer you don’t even need to root your device for this.
Unfortunately I don’t know what’s the status of Xposed Framework these days.
What you really need for many apps to work without Google Play Services is an operating system with signature spoofing, such as microG: https://lineage.microg.org/ . The Xposed Frame work is still alive and well, and has a version for Android Nougat and Oreo, as shown here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
What you really need for many apps to work without Google Play Services is an operating system with signature spoofing, such as microG: https://lineage.microg.org/ . The Xposed Frame work is still alive and well, and has a version for Android Nougat and Oreo, as shown here https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
Hello Sven,
Any thought on Synch.com for No-Knowledge cloud storage? They are based in Toronto which could be a drawback since Canada is part of five eyes. Then again Synch.com claims they do not have your key. They are a less expensive alternative to Tresorit.
I will probably get one of them, there doesn’t seem to be a perfect solution.
Hi TPaige, I haven’t looked into this area too closely, but will hopefully get a guide out after doing some research and testing the different providers.
Thank you in advance for the research. I’m sure there is something to this No-Knowledge approach like where is the key? What is the key? What happens if all of the uploads and downloads happens through the browser? Is it still Zero Knowledge and end to end encryption? There are quite a few questions to look into.
TPaige
How about ProtonMail as an alternative to Gmail?
Yep – also a good alternative.
Thank you for this article. It has been really educational
Happy to help, Nicolas.
Sven, here is one you need to add to the video section.
an alternative to youtube is “hooktube”.
Just copy the URL & replace it the youtube.com part with “hooktube.com” & it’ll do the same thing.
Of course, if you’re using something by a youtube content provider like VEVO (I imagine other major providers too), then it won’t work
Hi Richard, good suggestion – I have added it to the list.
Stop tracking me
Google doesn’t listen 🙂
Hi,
is Opera also considered as an Google alternative or it is near as good/secure/private as Firefox?
Cheers for that
Hi Tomtom, it is indeed an alternative, but not one that I would use. When I analyzed Opera’s Privacy Policy I found they collect vast amounts of user data – just like Google. Their “free VPN” is also not so good – see here.
A map alternative for PCs (Waze is only Android/iOS AFAIK) is openstreetmap.org. It’s more basic than Google Maps, but still.
Thanks Trond! It has been added to the list.
Didn’t Google acquire Waze?
Thanks for that information – you are correct. I removed it from the list.
OpenStreetMaps is also available for Android. The app is called OSMand