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Awesome

Cutting Google out of your life

I don't have anything to hide, but I don't have anything to show you either.

Updated License

GitHub stars GitHub issues GitHub pull requests

Index

  1. Contributing
  2. Browser extensions
  3. Replacements/alternatives
    1. Disclaimer
    2. Web-based products
    3. Operating systems
    4. Desktop applications
    5. Mobile applications
    6. Hardware
  4. Useful links, tools, and advice
    1. Resources
    2. Books
    3. Blog posts
    4. News articles
  5. The lighter side
  6. Closing remarks

Contributing

If you want to help out with the project, here are some ideas:

When contributing, follow the rules outlined in CONTRIBUTING.md.

Browser extensions

Make sure to enable HTTPS-Only mode for your browser.

NameDescription
uBlock Origin Mozilla Add-onuBlock Origin is not an "ad blocker", it's a wide-spectrum content blocker with CPU and memory efficiency as a primary feature.
Privacy Badger Mozilla Add-onPrivacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers. Instead of keeping lists of what to block, Privacy Badger learns by watching which domains appear to be tracking you as you browse the Web.
Cookie AutoDelete Mozilla Add-onControl your cookies! This WebExtension is inspired by Self Destructing Cookies. When a tab closes, any cookies not being used are automatically deleted. Whitelist the ones you trust while deleting the rest. Support for Container Tabs.
DDG Privacy Essentials Mozilla Add-onPrivacy, simplified. Our add-on provides the privacy essentials you need to seamlessly take control of your personal information, no matter where the internet takes you: tracker blocking, smarter encryption, DuckDuckGo private search, and more.
Cloud Firewall Mozilla Add-onBlock connections to pages and web resources hosted in major cloud services if the user wishes to do so. Supports blocking Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Cloudflare.
CSS Exfil Protection Mozilla Add-onCSS Exfil is a method attackers can use to steal data from web pages using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This plugin sanitizes and blocks any CSS rules which may be designed to steal data.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers Mozilla Add-onFirefox Multi-Account Containers lets you keep parts of your online life separated into color-coded tabs that preserve your privacy. Cookies are separated by container, allowing you to use the web with multiple identities or accounts simultaneously.
Skip Redirect Mozilla Add-onSome web pages use intermediary pages before redirecting to a final page. This add-on tries to extract the final url from the intermediary url and goes there straight away if successful.
Temporary Containers Mozilla Add-onOpen tabs, websites, and links in automatically managed disposable containers. Containers isolate data websites store (cookies, storage, and more) from each other, enhancing your privacy and security while you browse.
Redirect AMP to HTML Mozilla Add-onThis web extension enables users to choose to opt-out of using Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and choose to use the standard web instead.
Port Authority Mozilla Add-onBlocks websites from using javascript to port scan your computer/network and dynamically blocks all LexisNexis endpoints from running their invasive data collection scripts. Website, Source Code
I Still Don't Care About Cookies Mozilla Add-onA fork of "I Don't Care About Cookies" created after the original was acquired by Avast. Source code
CanvasBlocker Mozilla Add-onRemoves fingerprint tracking from JavaScript APIs and WebGL. It is open-source.
user.jsThis is not an extension, instead it is a Firefox user.js config file. This file is a template which aims to provide as much privacy and enhanced security as possible, and to reduce tracking and fingerprinting as much as possible - while minimizing any loss of functionality and breakage (but it will happen).

Replacements/alternatives

Disclaimer

  1. Only privacy/security focused alternatives will be suggested.
  2. Many replacements are based off this Wikipedia article (List of Google products)
  3. Products from companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Amazon, etc. will not be recommended unless there is a very good reason to. This includes companies/apps/services they own.
  4. Controversial services will have a disclaimer attached if needed.
  5. 5-eyes, 9-eyes, and 14-eyes services will be listed and marked as such. Both the location the company is registered and the server IP are taken into consideration.
EyesCountries
5Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, USA
9Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway
14Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain

Web-based products

Back to top

Search (Web & Images)

NameEyesDescription
Search Engine Party<br/>Repo<br/>An open-source comparison table of popular search engines. It was made by a former team member at PrivacyGuides, though is not affiliated with the site.
DuckDuckGo5-eyesOne of the best privacy-focused search engines. Domain is hosted in USA which could potentially be problematic for some.
Startpage9-eyesAnother privacy search engine that claims to not track any of your data. They operate servers in both USA and Europe. Note: Startpage was recently acquired. See Issue #12. Thanks @pydo, @ThijsRay, and @DatAres37. Also see this comment in Issue #99 from @danarel on Startpage.
searx<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source (thanks for clarification u/Sheezdudeln) privacy search engine. Domain hosted in Germany.
MetaGer14-eyesMetaGer is the search engine project from the registered nonprofit organization SUMA E.V. in Germany.
Qwant9-eyesA privacy-respecting search engine. Note: Qwant may not be available in all countries; see Issue #408 for more information.
SwisscowsA Swiss search engine that offers a unique search experience for the web, images, videos, music, and more. They are currently funding a mail service. Read through their datacenter about page, it's really interesting.
Mojeek5-eyesUnlike other privacy search engines which act as a "middle man" between you and Google/Bing/Yahoo, Mojeek has their own crawler and index. The results aren't as complete as some of the others, but it is still impressive and they are actively building their index to include more results with better accuracy.
EkoruPrivacy focused search engine that also aims to clean up the oceans. Thanks @mynamesleon
Cyberd<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsDecentralized Google. A web 3 alternative for the Google search engine. In Beta testing mode. Uses IPFS and Tendermint consensus for security and economic incentives. Visit their ELI-5 FAQ for more info.
Infinity Search<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesInfinity Search is a privacy metasearch engine that does not log any information about its users. In terms of privacy, it works the same way as DuckDuckGo. It is free to use and is funded by non-tracking advertisements and affiliate links. It is also completely open-source.
Runnaroo5-eyes"Runnaroo was built from the ground up to provide an all around better search experience." Thanks @codingepaduli

YouTube

NameEyesDescription
PeerTubeDecentralized, federated video hosting network. Still quite small, but is growing and has a dedicated community. Although there is no central database/server, all the separate instances can still talk to one another. This allows for data exchange and a way to view anyone's videos while only associating with one instance. Thanks @kdkasad for clarifying federation.
BitChute5-eyesAlso P2P, but not decentralized. Due to it being proprietary, if BitChute goes down then the whole thing goes down (unlike PeerTube). (thanks u/up-sky-7)
DTubeLooks very similar to YouTube. Advertised as "first crypt-decentralized video-platform". Built on Steemit and IPFS.
Invidious<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source front-end alternative to YouTube. Seems to work pretty well from my experience so far, and it hasn't triggered anything on my adblocker/privacy extensions. Also offers downloads in many formats for videos (including .vtt subtitles).
LBRY<br/>Repo<br/>A decentralized platform for distributing and supporting creators's work. It aims to be Open, Community driven "digital marketplace". It can be used in a similar way to YouTube: browsing, subscribing to channels, there is a mechanism to send "tips" to creators. Looks up videos based on a blockchain and is open-source and uncensored. It already has some "larger" creators like Minutephysics, Veritasium, Barnacules and Lunduke.
FreeTube<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source desktop YouTube client that uses the Invidio.us API to serve content.
youtube-local<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source browser-based client for watching Youtube anonymously and with greater page performance. Non-video requests can be routed through Tor. Optionally the videos can be routed through Tor as well. Can be used without Javascript. No server software installation required. Uses self-hosted subscriptions and playlists.
Piped<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source front-end alternative to YouTube. Uses NewPipeExtractor behind the scenes.

News

NameEyesDescription
Local newspaperSupport independent and qualitative journalism in your community.
AllSidesUnbiased news source (primarily for US politics). Thanks @jeanofthedead
Miniflux<br/>Repo<br/>Miniflux is a minimalist and opinionated feed reader. Completely open-source, along with automatically removing pixel trackers.

Groups

NameEyesDescription
Sympa<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSympa is an open-source mailing list manager. It provides advanced features with a rich and secure web interface.
GNU MailmanMailman is free software for managing electronic mail discussion and e-newsletter lists. Mailman is integrated with the web, making it easy for users to manage their accounts and for list owners to administer their lists. Mailman supports built-in archiving, automatic bounce processing, content filtering, digest delivery, spam filters, and more.
Discourse<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesDiscourse is the 100% open-source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. Use it as a mailing list, discussion forum, or long-form chat room.
Groups.io5-eyesa privacy focused email list system that does not track you, nor your members. It is not open source. Data is hosted on one central server but the server is encrypted. It has modern email group features such as a wiki, integrations, and RSS import support.

Translate

NameEyesDescription
DeepL14-eyesDeepL is an artifical intelligence translation service. Please keep in mind DeepL tracks the text you translate unless you purchase Pro. See sections 4 & 5 of their privacy policy for more information. Thanks u/TheCy-FiJuggernaut
Apertium<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA free, open-source translation system.
LibreTranslate<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA free and open-source machine-translation API which can be self-hosted.
Lingva Translate<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesAlternative front-end for Google Translate. Operates similar to NewPipe or Invidious, Lingva "scrapes through GTranslate and retrieves the translation without using any Google-related service, preventing them from tracking".

Google Ads/AdMob/AdSense

NameEyesDescription
EthicalAds<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA developer-focused, privacy-obsessed ad network from the fine folks at Read the Docs. Source code can be found on GitHub.

Google Alerts

NameEyesDescription
F5Bot5-eyesEmails you when your selected keywords are mentioned on Reddit, Hacker News, or Lobsters.

G Suite (enterprise cloud)

NameEyesDescription
NextcloudNextcloud 19 now has Community Document Server and ONLYOFFICE apps integrated which allows self-hosted instances of docs/sheets/slides. Users are able to edit documents in real time. Thanks @k3tan172 and @plutocrat
Open-XchangeA secure hosted email and productivity platform, designed for providers of all sizes to offer their customers email, calendar, storage, encryption and more.
Sandstorm<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source self-hosted web hosting platform for a wide set of web applications, including Etherpad (collaborative text editing), Radicale (calendar), Lychee (image hosting), Wekan (Kanban)

Google Workflow

NameEyesDescription
Activepieces<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen source no-code business and process automation tool. For example, you can set up a flow to receive Slack messages whenever a new Trello card is added.

Blogger/Sites

NameEyesDescription
Joomla<br/>Repo<br/>Self-hosted and open-source content management system (CMS).
WriteFreely<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source platform for building a writing space on the web.
Write.asFree & paid hosting for WriteFreely, which is developed by the folks at Write.as.
WordPress self-hosted<br/>Repo<br/>The open-source version of WordPress. A very popular tool and a recognized name.
concrete5<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesOpen-source CMS.
Noblogs9-eyesA privacy/security focused blogging platform.
Ghost<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source modern CMS. Boasts "over 19x faster than WordPress". Thanks @peterge1998
Bear5-eyesFree, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging. No javascript, no stylesheets, no trackers. Just your words.
Haven<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFLOSS private blogging platform. Easy to self-host (standard rails app, ships with AWS and Raspberry Pi deployment scripts. AWS is not required). Access restricted to accounts which you create and hand out. Good for private blogs but not for commercial/public blogging. Built-in feed reader.

Analytics

NameEyesDescription
Matomo<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars9/14-eyes(Matomo/parent company) - Open-source analytics platform. (thanks u/Newblik)
Fathom5-eyesSimple analytics for bloggers & businesses
Plausible<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesOpen-source, privacy-focused web analytics.
GoatCounter<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars14-eyesSimple web statistics. No tracking of personal data. open-source and may be self-hosted. Free for non-commercial use; paid plans available.
Simple Analytics9-eyesGreat analytics with privacy and simplicity in mind. Paid plans only (with free trials).
Alpina Web Analytics5-eyesSimple, privacy-focused analytics with event tracking, real-time dashboard and filters. No cookie or localstorage usage. Servers in EU. Free and paid plans available.
Shynet<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsShynet is a self-hosted analytics tool that doesn't make use of cookies. It is privacy focused and fully open-source. Thanks @woutfeys
Supabase<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSupabase is an opensource alternative to Firebase. You can host for free on their platform, or you can self host. Thanks @woutfeys
GoAccess<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source web server analysis tool. Installs on your web server (ideally), but works just as well if you download your logs someplace else. Interactive; cursor around in the report and see what's going on. Can generate HTML reports. Can also generate realtime interactive HTML reports if you run it in server mode. Lightweight, only requires UTF-8 support and ncurses (ncursesw, if you want a UTF-8 enabled console). Available in the default package repositories of multiple Linux distros. Thanks @virtadpt
Offen<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source and self-hosted, Offen is a fair and lightweight web analytics alternative that treats operators and users as equal parties.
Umami<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA simple, easy to use, open-source/self-hosted web analytics solution.
Kindmetrics<br/>Repo<br/>5/14-eyesAn open-source analytics tool. Landing page and company is based in Sweden, CDN in EU, Servers on Digitalocean (USA) datacenter in Germany.
UXWizzSelf-hosted alternative to Google Analytics, similar to Matomo but cheaper for premium features. Includes user segments, heatmaps, session recordings and A/B testing.
Piwik PRO5-eyesAn analytics suite with a focus on user privacy and data security.
Panelbear14-eyesPrivacy-focused analytics + web performance monitoring.
HockeyStack5-eyesOffers cookieless tracking and no PII collected.
Swetrix<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars14-eyesPrivacy-focused, cookieless and selfhostable alternative to Google Analytics.

Photos

NameEyesDescription
Photoprism<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSelf-hosted and open-source Personal Photo Management powered by Go and Google TensorFlow.
LibrePhotos<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA self-hosted open source photo management service. A fork of Ownphotos which has been discontinued in favor of LibrePhotos.
Piwigo<br/>Repo<br/>9-eyesSelf-hosted and open-source cloud photo manager. You can also sign up for an "as a service" account.
JottaCloud9-eyesNorway based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Thanks @mynamesleon
CrypteeEncrypted photo storage in a simple solution similar to Google Photos.
PhotoStructureSelf-hosted photo and video manager. Cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux, Docker). Scales to millions of assets, with automatic organization, auto-transcoding, and advanced de-duplication.
Lychee<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source self-hosted photo-management tool that includes built-in support for videos. Thanks @m0yP
ente<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesA paid, cloud-based, open-source photo storage app with a focus on security and privacy. Apps are available for iOS, Android, web and desktop.
Photoview<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSelf-hosted and open-source Personal Photo Management with options for face grouping, albums, sharing, automatic thumbnail generation, and map pins.
Lomorage<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsEnables people to backup photos / videos from any devices to their own self-hosted server, and intelligently manages these personal assets via AI. Run the Lomorage server at your home, download mobile client to save the memories, and enjoy the moments.

Calendar

NameEyesDescription
Lightning Calendar (Thunderbird)<br/>Repo<br/>Developed by Mozilla Foundation and open-source. Integrates into Thunderbird and SeaMonkey.
ProtonCalendarDeveloped by ProtonMail. Free plan only supports 1 calendar. Allows importing of other calendar files. Has an Android app.
Tutanota Calendar14-eyesDeveloped by Tutanota. Free cross-platform encrypted calendar. Allows importing of other Calendar files. Can't be synced to other calendar software.
Fruux<br/>Repo<br/>14-eyesOpen-source calendar using "sabre/dav" (FOSS WebDAV, CardDAV, and CalDAV). They mention privacy quite a bit on their site. Very large number of features, and supports nearly every device: Windows, iOS, Linux, Android, BlackBerry, SailFish, and also a webapp for browsers.
Baïkala lightweight CalDAV+CardDAV server. It offers an extensive web interface with easy management of users, address books and calendars. It is fast and simple to install and only needs a basic php capable server. The data can be stored in a MySQL or a SQLite database. Thanks @mahdi1234
NextcloudNextcloud also offers a calendar solution using CalDAV and CardDAV. Thanks @mahdi1234 for pointing this out.
RadicaleSelf-hosted calendar server written in Python. WebUI for desktop, CalDav/CardDav for mobile sync. Can use a reverse proxy with Nginx for HTTPS.
Mailfence Calendar14-eyesSupports vCal/iCal import, export and can be accessed by using CalDAV. Users can share their calendars with group members and can also create polls.

Docs/Sheets/Slides (cloud)

NameEyesDescription
CryptPad<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars9-eyesOpen-source "zero knowledge" collaborative cloud editor. They offer Rich Text, Code, Presentation, Sheet (beta), Poll, Kanban, Whiteboard, and CryptDrive. 100% Client side encryption. Tons of useful features.
Etherpad<br/>Repo<br/>Self-hosted collaborative editor. Does not use the browser. Not the greatest interface, but it's open-source and you have full control over who can see your data.
Cryptee<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source and privacy focused photo and document storage/editing. Based in Estonia, so your files are outside the reach of any 14-eyes country. They don't even require an email address to sign up.
LibreOffice Online14-eyesSelf-hosted instance of LibreOffice that you can run in your browser. Thanks @flubberding
ONLYOFFICE<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source private cloud replacement for Google Docs'suite and Office 360. Also available as a self contained rich application.
Arcane OfficeA decentralized office suite with high-security and zero-knowledge on your data. With Arcane Office, you have maximum control on your personal stuff. Full-featured online document and spreadsheet editor. Secure storage to save your photos. All free for personal use. Thanks @taraletti

Docs/Sheets/Slides (offline)

NameEyesDescription
LibreOffice<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source offline document suites.
LyX<br/>Repo<br/>It's an open-source (and offline) document processor using TeX/LaTeX. It's different than Docs or Word but amazing, once you get used to it.
ONLYOFFICE<br/>Repo<br/>Offline version of ONLYOFFICE, an open-source private cloud replacement for Google Docs suite and Office 360. Also available as a self contained rich application. Thanks @PalmoliveDev
CrypteeOffline version of Cryptee for web. Runs as a progressive web app. Works most modern phone browsers (Chrome, Opera or Firefox on Android; Safari on iOS). Also works in desktop browsers that support PWA (the website lists that only Chrome works, but others will work too.
Calligra<br/>Repo<br/>Calligra Suite is an office and graphic art suite by KDE. It is available for desktop PCs, tablet computers, and smartphones. It contains applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, vector graphics, and editing databases. (Free and open-source Software)

Domains

NameEyesDescription
Njalla14-eyesPrivacy-focused domain registration. Competitive pricing and a large list of available domain extensions. They also offer VPS hosting. Built by people who built The Pirate Bay among others. (thanks u/brais33 and u/HumbleBasis6). Note: some users may have issues with them legally owning your domain.
OrangewebsiteAn Iceland-based freedom of speech web hosting provider. They never actually ask for your name, at least when you pay in Bitcoin.

Public DNS

NameEyesDescription
LibreDNS14-eyesA public encrypted DNS service that people can use to maintain the secrecy of their DNS traffic, but also circumvent censorship. It already supports DNS over HTTPS & DNS over TLS. They also operate a number of open-source projects

Drive

NameEyesDescription
ownCloud<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source and self-hosted. Provide your own storage.
NextcloudAlso self-hosted. Spin-off of ownCloud. Also offers Calendar and Contacts (thanks @chribre)
Syncthing<br/>Repo<br/>9-eyesAn open-source continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, whether it is shared with some third party, and how it's transmitted over the internet.
SiaFully decentralized cloud storage.
TresoritPrimarily meant for businesses, but offers a free version for individuals as well. Thanks u/xNick26
Sync5-eyesEnd-to-end encrypted Google Drive/Dropbox replacement.
JottaCloud9-eyesNorway based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Thanks @mynamesleon
seafile<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source and self-hosted file sync&share solution.
Cozy Cloud<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars9-eyesFrench based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Can also be self-hosted and is open-source. And it also offers a collaborative notes editor.
Mailfence Documents14-eyesDocuments can be accessed using WebDAV or edited online. Users can drag and drop files in folders and categorize them with tags.
Filecloud Community EditionPowerful, secure Dropbox-like enterprise class file sharing and sync solution for home or business.
DiodeFor individuals and organizations who want to safeguard their digital sovereignty. It is a high security, end-to-end encrypted solution for file sharing, collaboration, and backup that prioritizes security and confidentiality.

Hangouts (text/video messaging)

NameEyesDescription
Signal<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesOpen-source secure messaging. Whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden recommends Signal.
ToxTox is unique as it uses P2P technology to ensure the network never goes down, as long as there are users to keep it alive. They specifically say on the website "Tox has no central servers that can be raided, shut down, or forced to turn over data".
Wire5-eyesUses end-to-end encryption. Looks to be more of a corporate service with tiered plans.
Element<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesOpen-source privacy-focused chat service with end-to-end encryption. They offer webapps, desktop apps, iOS, and Android (Play Store and F-Droid). Uses the "Matrix" protocol for decentralized communication.
ThreemaSwiss-based GDPR-compliant instant messenger. Has apps for both iOS and Android. Unlike Signal, no phone number is required (nor is an email) to sign up. End-to-end encrypted. Thanks to @nathanvogel
Keybase5-eyesEncrypted chat like Signal with features like Slack. Does not require a phone number to sign up. Also has file storage. Note: Keybase was acquired by Zoom, Inc. in May 2020 (Keybase blog, Zoom blog). Thanks @notpushkin & @multimob.
Jitsi<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesJitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
Jami5-eyesAudio / Video Calls, Conferences, Messaging app with peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted communications.
Mumble<br/>Repo<br/>A free, open-source, low latency, high quality voice chat application.
Session<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source. It is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that removes sensitive metadata collection. No phone number required to create an account.

Gmail (mail service)

NameEyesDescription
Forward Email<br/>Repo<br/>A free and open-source email forwarding service focused on a user's right to privacy.
ProtonmailOne of the top privacy-focused email providers. Servers are in Switzerland in an underground guarded bunker that they claim can "survive a nuclear attack". Privacy note: Visit Issue #258 for info on ProtonMail privacy & integrity concerns.
Tutanota<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars14-eyesOpen-source and one one of the top rated privacy-focused email providers. Located in Germany.
Posteo14-eyesCompletely anonymous mail provider located in Germany.
mailbox.org14-eyesPaid email provider, also located in Germany.
Disroot9-eyesDecentralized email service.
StartMail9-eyesOperated by the same people who run StartPage.
SimpleLogin<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source, self-hosted, and privacy focused email forwarding service.
Migadu9-eyesPaid email provider, run from Switzerland with servers in France. Focus on privacy.
Fastmail5-eyesPaid email provider, located in Australia and US.
Runbox9-eyesPrivacy focusued email provider. Thanks @petertorelli
NextCloud<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsNextcloud provides a webmail interface that can be used to access email from various providers. Thanks @je-vv
Thexyz5-eyesThexyz is a Canadian company offering privacy-conscious business email. Premium webmail costs USD $2.95 per month.
Mailfence14-eyesA secure and private email provider much like Protonmail and Tutanota. There are no google analytics nor hidden cookies. There are options to pay anonymously via cryptocurrency. It features a wide array of collaboration tools, such as groups, calendar, contacts, documents with editing space. Offers free, paid, and freemium plans. Can pay with cryptocurrency and has a warrant canary. Thanks @resto1231
Anonaddy<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars9-eyesOpen-source Anonymous forwarding email service. Forwarded email can be encrypted (OpenPGP) to prevent Google from reading it. Accepts cryptocurrencies (including Monero).
Mail-in-a-Box<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source self-hosted easy-to-deploy mail server in a box.

Keep

NameEyesDescription
Joplin<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source notes/todo app. Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Also offers a terminal version. It can import Evernote .enex files if you use that. It can also sync with Nextcloud (mentioned above).
Standard Notes<br/>F-DroidEncrypted note storage with loads of features. Offers a web app as well as downloads for most operating systems. Has a paid plan, but the free tier has many useful features as well.
TurtlEncrypted collaborative notebook with possibility of running your own server.
QOwnNotes<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source file editor with Markdown support. (thanks u/maqp2)
GitJournalYour Markdown notes stores in any Git Repo. Available for both Android (Play Store) and iOS.
Nextcloud NotesA distraction free notes taking app for Nextcloud. It provides categories for better organization and supports formatting using Markdown syntax. Notes are saved as files in your Nextcloud, so you can view and edit them with every Nextcloud client.
TiddlyWiki<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source personal note-taking system that can run in the browser as a single HTML file or as a NodeJS application. It can be stored locally on a hard drive or removable drive, self-hosted on one's own server, or use various web-based storage options.
NotesnookA truly zero-knowledge note taking app, encrypted using XChaChaPoly1305-IETF & Argon2. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and has browser extensions too. It is not self-hostable and follows a freemium model.

Play Music, Movies, & TV

NameEyesDescription
Jellyfin<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source alternative to the Play media services. You do need to provide your own content, however. In active development with frequent updates (to the source, that is).
FunkwhaleSelf-hosted, decentralized music service. Provide your own audio. (thanks u/DashEquals)
Airsonic<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSelf-hosted open-source media streamer. Has features for transcoding audio on-the-fly for "virtually any audio format". You can also set bandwidth limits if you need to. Looks very powerful.
Music Player DaemonA "flexible, powerful, server-side application for playing music".
Popcorn Time<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source software for desktop and mobile that let you easily stream movie/TV torrents. Be careful if your country or ISP has policies against torrenting, a VPN is recommended. Thanks @je-vv
Nuclear Music PlayerStreaming music player that finds music from free sources automatically.
Tribler<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source peer-to-peer file sharing that provides a "Youtube"-like streaming experience. Tribler uses Tor-like onion routing to protect the privacy of its users.
Ampache<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source and self-hosted web based media manager and media server. API available to allow usage on various platforms. On-the-fly transcoding available. Supports both music and video.

Fonts

NameEyesDescription
Open Font Library5-eyesLots of Serif and Sans-Serif fonts that can be directly embedded into a website.
google webfonts helper<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesHassle-free way for webmasters to self-host open-source fonts from Google Fonts
Fontsource<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesSelf-host Open Source fonts in neatly bundled NPM packages.

Classroom

NameEyesDescription
Moodle<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsSelf-hosted open-source Classroom software for schools. Very powerful. Thanks @jankapunkt
ILIAS<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAnother self-hosted open-source classroom software. Thanks again to @jankapunkt
Canvas<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsPaid service by Instructure. Also available as a self-hosted, open-source option. To ensure privacy, use the self-hosted option.

Maps/Street View

NameEyesDescription
OpenStreetMap9-eyesCollaborative project to create a free, editable map of the world (from Wikipedia). Completely crowdsourced. Very strong alternative to Maps.
Qwant MapsMaps from the makers of Qwant search engine. Thanks @mynamesleon
BenmapsAnother maps alternative based on OpenStreetMap. Thanks @dimqua

Transit

NameEyesDescription
Transportr<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source Transit app on Android that takes information from several providers (e.g Deutsche Bahn in Germany) and enables you to use them in the app. Visualises the routes on an online OpenStreetMap map. Works in most of Western-Europe, as well as the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the UAE and Ghana. Beware: most information-providers only have beta or alpha support, it may be a good idea to keep a second app as a fallback option

Trends

No known alternatives.

Forms

NameEyesDescription
BlockSurveyBlockSurvey enables digital rights (identity and data ownership) to users using Blockstack's blockchain. Users truly own their data with BlockSurvey. All your data is protected using your key and only you can access it. There are no trackers, cookies, or fingerprints on the forms of data providers. Thanks @compressstudio

AppSheet

NameEyesDescription
Budibase<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars9-eyesBudibase is an open-source low-code platform that helps IT professionals create internal apps in minutes. Users can deploy Budibase on their existing infrastructure, using Docker, Kubernetes, and Digital Ocean.

Bulk Services

NameEyesDescription
EteSync<br/>Repo<br/>For Calendar & Keep. Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and open-source sync for your contacts, calendars, tasks and notes.

Operating systems

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Android/Fuchsia

NameEyesDescription
Ubuntu TouchUbuntu, but for phones.
LineageOS<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesOpen-source and based on Android, but without the crap.
SailfishOS<br/>Repo<br/>Privacy-focused mobile OS by Jolla with a proprietary UI and Android compatibility layer on top of an open-source Mer GNU/Linux base.
CopperheadOS<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesSecure Android built for encrypted and secure phones by a privacy focused company. Paid product that combines the best-in-class hardening and privacy protections from various projects.
GrapheneOS<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source Android-based OS with an emphasis on security and privacy. Features advanced hardening and privacy protections throughout the system.
postmarketOS<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source mobile Linux OS. Can install different user interfaces such as Plasma Mobile. Thanks @okias
Replicant5-eyesFree Android distribution. Puts the emphasis on "freedom and privacy/security".
CalyxOS<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source Android-based OS with an emphasis on security and privacy. Provides good combination of privacy and security together with usability. Optional support for MicroG.
DivestOS<br/>Repo<br/>DivestOS is an alternative Android ROM with enhanced privacy and security along with support for many older devices. It is an unofficial soft fork of LineageOS. Website also available through Tor.

Chrome OS

NameEyesDescription
GalliumOS"A fast and lightweight Linux distro for ChromeOS devices". Based on Xubuntu.
Qubes OS"A reasonably secure operating system", at least according to their website. Edward Snowden recommends it.
Subgraph OSA desktop computing and communications platform that is designed to be resistant to network-borne exploit and malware attacks.
TailsFor the uber-paranoid. Runs live and the entire OS is routed through Tor right from boot. Built on Debian.
KnoppixAnother Live OS, runs from CD/DVD/USB. Can also be installed if desired.
Parrot OSDebian-based and privacy focused. Fully sandboxed. (thanks u/Safe_Airport)
PureOS5-eyesThe OS of Purism Laptops (mentioned in the Hardware section). Very clean UI. Editor note: I could not get this working on a UEFI Dell laptop. The group behind PureOS does not provide any UEFI support.
GhostBSD<br/>Repo<br/>This is a secure open-source OS based on FreeBSD, preconfigured to be a sane desktop environment for all users.
Any other form of LinuxUbuntu; Debian; Mint; Fedora; Arch or Manjaro (Manjaro is objectively much easier to get running than Arch); Trisquel; Gentoo; Alpine (thanks u/privacyfreak555); etc etc etc

Wear OS

NameEyesDescription
AsteroidOS<br/>Repo<br/>14-eyesThe cleanest (and only) open-source alternative for Wear OS. Make sure you buy a watch that supports it!

Android Auto

No known alternatives.

Android TV

NameEyesDescription
KodiIt's incredibly powerful and backed by one of the strongest communities around. Tons of plugins to do nearly anything you want. Software installs on nearly any platform.
OSMC<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFree, open-source media center OS. Kodi is pre-installed. Thanks to @g4rret and @lgiard for clarifying the difference between Kodi and OSMC!

Desktop apps

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Chrome

NameEyesDescription
Ungoogled Chromium<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsChromium (which Chrome and countless other browsers are built on top of) is one of the cleanest and light-weight browsers available. This version cuts out all the Google crap.
FirefoxBuilt by Mozilla, "The Privacy Company". Huge extension library; great for privacy.
VivaldiPrivacy-focused browser. Appears to be very customizable and feature-rich.
Tor BrowserFirefox-based browser routed through the Tor network. Automatically has a few privacy extensions installed (such as HTTPS Everywhere). Read this article for more info on how it works and the benefits of using Tor. Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.
Librewolf<br/>Repo<br/>Librewolf is a fork of Firefox, with improved privacy defaults. Similarly to Waterfox, Librewolf is based on Firefox and intends to improve privacy by default. Many privacy enthusiasts have recommended it as a more effective privacy browser than other Firefox forks.
Waterfox5-eyesBased on Firefox, but 64-bit only with an emphasis on speed and privacy. Has a "classic" version built off older Firefox for legacy extension support and also an "alpha" version built off Quantum. It doesn't collect any telemetry and also removes Pocket from the alpha release. Project is run by Alex Kontos and is constantly in active development. Looks very clean and fast. Android versions are in the works too. UPDATE: @Nudin pointed out in Issue #85 that Waterfox is now a part of System1.
Mullvad Browser<br/>Repo<br/>Firefox-based, a collaboration between Mullvad and The Tor Project. Similar to Tor Browser in privacy and security, without the use of the Tor network.

Earth

NameEyesDescription
KDE MarbleStrong alternative for G Earth. Currently only on Linux, but is being ported to other platforms. Thanks to @PopeRigby

Android Studio (not specifically for Android development, just in general)

NameEyesDescription
VSCodiumVSCodium is Visual Studio Code but without all the Microsoft telemetry and branding.
Vim<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source text editor. Thanks @moon-chilled
Emacs<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAnother open-source text editor. Thanks @moon-chilled

Mobile apps

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Play Store

NameEyesDescription
F-DroidCatalogue of FOSS apps for Android. Easy to install and keeps track of updates. Also has a browser version if you don't want to install the app.
Aurora Store<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Aurora Store is simply a fork of the Yalp Store no longer a fork of Yalp, but is now its own project (see their readme). Update: Removed note on using microG as Aurora Store does not use it. Thanks @notpushkin
APKMirrorAn online library of user-uploaded APK files. Helpful if you need a specific older version of an app or don't want to download it through Google Play.
FossdroidUses the same library as F-Droid, but with a modern UI similar to that of the Play Store and the ability to view apps by popularity.
G-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Also uses the F-Droid repo but with a different UI.
APKGrabber<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFork of APKUpdater. Both are great tools for avoiding app stores (on Android).
Aurora DroidYet another F-Droid client, potentially has a few bugs (thanks u/OfficialJohnGL4)

Chrome (Android)

NameEyesDescription
Fennec F-Droid<br/>F-DroidA privacy-focused version of Firefox Android available on F-Droid. It's focused on removing any proprietary bits found in official Mozilla's builds. (thanks u/SupremeLisper)
Bromite<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsPrivacy-focused/open-source build of Chromium with built-in ad blocking. (thanks u/SupremeLisper)
Privacy Browser<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>An open-source Android web browser focused on user privacy. It is released under the GPLv3+ license.
Mull<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>A Firefox for Android fork compiled from source, with proprietary blobs removed, and many security/privacy changes made using an altered arkenfox/user.js

Calculator

NameEyesDescription
Simple Calculator<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAlso part of the SMT project. Available on F-Droid.
Calculator N+ or NCalc+<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source feature-rich calculator. App itself is no longer in development, but the developer does encourage pull requests. I've used it frequently and it works great. Not on F-Droid, but a 3rd party play store can probably find it; or the APK's are available as releases on GitHub. You can also compile from source.
Calculator++<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source calculator packed with features. Thanks @ghost

Calendar

NameEyesDescription
DAVx⁵<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>DAVx⁵ is an open-source CalDAV/CardDAV suite and sync app for Android.
ICSx⁵<br/>F-DroidICSx⁵ is an Android app to subscribe to remote (“Webcal”) or local iCalendar files (like time tables of your school/university or event files of your sports team). Thanks @je-vv
Fruux (mobile app)Same service from above provides an Android app.
Etar<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source material design Calendar that integrates with the Android Calendar API. Can integrate with CalDAV/CardDAV servers.
Simple Calendar<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source. Part of the Simple Mobile Tools project.

Camera

NameEyesDescription
Open Camera<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source camera for Android. Thanks @je-vv

Clock

NameEyesDescription
Clock +<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source Alarm clock, timer, and stop watch.
Simple Alarm Clock<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsExactly as it's name says; simple alarm clock yet adds many improvements over other apps. No dock mode or world clock.
Insane Alarm!<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsDeveloper states that he had "spent a night out with the boys and drank a bit too much but needed to be up in the morning". So, he made the loudest alarm clock possible based off an emergency alarm from when he was in the military. This app doesn't mess around, use it wisely.
Alarmio<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source simple alarm clock that implements many useful features while following regular design standards to ensure that it is quick and intuitive to use.

Contacts

NameEyesDescription
Fruux (mobile app)Fruux also provides a contacts app.
Simple Contacts<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source. Part of the Simple Mobile Tools project.
Open Contacts<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source contacts. (thanks u/consentio)

Android Messages (specifically SMS/MMS, not IM)

NameEyesDescription
Signal<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source. Signal possesses SMS/MMS capabilities on Android. Using it as your default SMS app has the advantage of having your SMS and your online-messaging-service integrated within one app. Doing so will also show stats within the app of how many messages you send are encrypted, and offers to send invites to your contacts.<br/><br/>Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier for suggesting it be listing as SMS/MMS alternative.

Gboard (Google Keyboard)

NameEyesDescription
AnySoftKeyboard<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source keyboard. Available on F-Droid.
Hacker's Keyboard'<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAlso open-source. Very useful for developers or sysadmins on the go.
kboard<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source. Has features for phrases, "lenny faces", macros and more. Note: Project appears to be abandoned.
Simple Keyboard<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source keyboard.
Indic Keyboard<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source keyboard that supports many languages that other keyboards sometimes don't support. Not on F-Droid, but can be built from source or possibly through a Play Store alternative.
OpenBoard<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsNew 100% FOSS keyboard, based on AOSP. Similar to "Simple Keyboard".
FlorisBoard<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source keyboard aimed at providing you with an easy way to type while respecting your privacy (this project is currently in alpha stage).
8VIM<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source. A "text editor inside a keyboard, drawing it's inspiration from 8pen and Vim."

Drive

NameEyesDescription
ownCloud Android<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsownCloud Android client. Available on F-Droid.
Nextcloud Android<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsNextcloud Android client. Available on F-Droid.
Syncthing Android<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsWrapper of Syncthing for Android. Available on F-Droid. Also consider Syncthing-Fork which uses a native Android UI rather than the default web UI.

Gmail (smartphone app)

NameEyesDescription
ProtonmailCan be downloaded from the Play Store, but may work with one of the store replacements above (such as Yalp).
Tutanota<br/>F-Droid14-eyesClient available from F-Droid.
Disroot<br/>F-DroidAvailable from F-Droid.
K-9 Mail<br/>F-DroidAvailable on F-Droid.
FairEmail<br/>F-DroidAvailable on F-Droid. You can (optionally) pay a 1-time fee to unlock some premium features (and support the developer).
DeltaChat<br/>F-DroidAn email app with a chat-based UI and privacy support with autocrypt.
Mailbox.org14-eyesMailbox.org provides IMAP settings for Android/iOS and an iOS profile. Thanks @avasts Issue #45

Keep (or any stock note-taking app)

NameEyesDescription
Notepad<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source. Supports Markdown and HTML. Very clean and feature-rich. Offline only.
Joplin<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsScroll down on the GitHub page until you reach the Android download links. No F-Droid repo, but you can download the APK directly instead of using the Play Store.
Standard NotesEncrypted note storage with loads of features.
Omni Notes<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsVery feature rich, open-source, material design notes app. Very active development. Available on F-Droid.
Carnet<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsI had some trouble finding info on this one. Looks like it has pretty seamless/painless ownCloud and NextCloud integration. Also available on F-Droid.
Markor<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source notes/to-do app for Android. Supports Markdown editing. Available on F-Droid. App is 100% offline, as stated on the GitHub README.
Orgzly<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source. Notes are stored in the plain-text Org mode format. Supports searching, metadata, and manual sync with Dropbox or local directory, which can be synced using e.g. Syncthing.
Notally<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA beautiful, light and minimalistic notes app with no trackers, ads or analytics of any kind.
Nextcloud Notes for Android<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn android client for Nextcloud Notes App.
Notesnook (mobile)A truly zero-knowledge note taking app, encrypted using XChaChaPoly1305-IETF & Argon2. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and has browser extensions too. It is not self-hostable and follows a freemium model. Downloads are available on Google Play and the iOS App Store.

Maps/Waze

NameEyesDescription
Maps<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source navigation app based on MAPS.ME. Searching for addresses doesn't always work and finding businesses can be a slight hassle, but overall one of the better apps I've used.
OsmAnd<br/>F-DroidOpenStreetMap for Android. (thanks u/masao77). As OsmAnd is primarily crowdsourced, many regions may not be totally accurate. If you would like to help improve OpenStreetMap and OsmAnd, check out StreetComplete (available from F-Droid.
Transportr<br/>Repo<br/>Primarily European, this is an open-source public transport app. Thanks to @lgiard
Öffi (Offi)<br/>F-DroidÖffi is a public transport Android app (also shows delays and replacement bus service for more and more transport authorities in Europe and beyond) - similar to Transportr
Organic Maps<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn Android & iOS offline maps app for travelers, tourists, hikers, and cyclists based on top of crowd-sourced OpenStreetMap data.

News

NameEyesDescription
Flym<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source Material Design RSS reader.
Feeder<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Use good old-fashioned RSS feeds with Feeder

Photos

NameEyesDescription
Piwigo Android<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsYou need to have Piwigo set up first.
Stingle Photos5-eyesA convenient, easy to use Gallery/Camera application with Backup and Sync functionality for your photos and videos which seamlessly provides strong security, privacy and encryption. All photos and videos are encrypted prior to being stored and backed up, so they are secure at rest, in transit and on cloud storage.
ente<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesA simple, end-to-end encrypted, open-source photo storage service with a focus on security and privacy. Apps are available for iOS, Android, web and desktop.

Pay

No known alternatives.

YouTube

NameEyesDescription
NewPipe<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsPowerful open-source YouTube alternative. Supports audio only; background playback; picture-in-picture; no ads.
ReVanced<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsReVanced started when Vanced was forced to shut down. Their Patcher tool is able to create patches for many apps with very little maintenance.

Authenticator

NameEyesDescription
andOTP<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source 2FA app.
FreeOTP+<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFreeOTP is no longer in development so this fork should be used instead as it is currently in development.
Aegis<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source 2FA for Android. Available on F-Droid.
Authenticator<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsiOS - Open-source 2FA for iOS. (thanks u/SomeoneWannaBe)
Tofu<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsiOS - Open-source 2FA for iOS.
Raivo OTP<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars(iOS) A native, lightweight and secure one-time-password (OTP) client built for iOS.

Play Music/Play Movies & TV

NameEyesDescription
Audinaut<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAn open-source Airsonic client for Android.
MALP<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>An open-source Android client for MPD. Available on F-Droid.
Shuttle+<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source local music player for Android. Available on F-Droid or by direct download.
Pulse Music<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA music player app to complement your offline music collection with playlist support, theme options, multiple now playing screen, quick play shortcuts, QS tiles, sleep timer and lot of useful customisations.

Hangouts

NameEyesDescription
Keybase5-eyesEncrypted chat like Signal with features like Slack. Does not require a phone number to sign up. Also has file storage. Note: Keybase was acquired by Zoom, Inc. in May 2020 (Keybase blog, Zoom blog). Thanks @notpushkin & @multimob.
Conversations<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars14-eyesAn open-source Android Jabber/XMPP client. It's a paid app on Google Play, but you can also build it from source for free if you want to.
Element<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo stars5-eyesAndroid app - The open-source Android client for Element.
Jitsi Meet (F-Droid)<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Jitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
Jami<br/>F-Droid5-eyesAudio / Video Calls, Conferences, Messaging app with peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted communications.
Mumla (client for Mumble)<br/>F-DroidThird-party Android client for Mumble.
Briar<br/>Repo<br/>An open-source app which supports Peer-to-Peer encrypted messaging. No phone number required for signing up. If the internet’s down, Briar can sync via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, keeping the information flowing in a crisis. If the internet’s up, Briar can sync via the Tor network, protecting users and their relationships from surveillance. Can install through a third-party F-Droid repo.
Session<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source. It is an end-to-end encrypted messenger that removes sensitive metadata collection. No phone number required to create an account. Can be downloaded from the Play Store or as an APK file from GitHub. Also has apps for iOS and Desktop.

Duo (video calls)

NameEyesDescription
Jitsi Meet (F-Droid)<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>Jitsi is an open-source secure video conferencing platform. No account is needed to use it, simply enter a Room Name to join or host a meeting. The host is able to kick rogue users from the call. Works directly in your browser, with apps available for iOS and Android. It is not necessary to self-host, but self-hosting is an option for those who wish to. Very low latency and easy to set up. A free public server is available at meet.jit.si. (5-eyes server)
Jami<br/>F-Droid5-eyesAudio / Video Calls, Conferences, Messaging app with peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted communications.

Assistant

NameEyesDescription
Mycroft Android<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAndroid client for Mycroft. Must be built in IDE; no pre-built binaries are available.
Ara<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source virtual assistant for Android. Can replace Google Assistant (home button functionality) on most devices. Either uses the author's server by default, or you can run your own server. Thanks @FultonBrowne (author of Ara)

Play Services Framework

NameEyesDescription
microGA re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries. It allows to use more precise navigation (which is proprietary in standard Android ROMs) and optionally receive push messages (requires connection to Google's servers, but also supports routing this connection through Tor). Thanks @notpushkin

Android home screen launchers

NameEyesDescription
Shade Launcher<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source Android launcher styled after the Google Pixel launcher. Available to download from an alternative F-Droid, APK Mirror, or GitHub Releases.
Omega<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsOpen-source launcher. Active development with lots of nice features. Downloads available from GitHub. Previously known as ZimLX which has since been replaced by Omega.
Lawnchair<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsAnother open-source launcher, also built to look similar to Google's launcher (it is built off AOSP Launcher3). Available from F-Droid and also APKMirror. (thanks u/droidonomy)
KISS Launcher<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFast, open-source and small launcher. KISS mainly relies on an app-search-bar, which makes it very easy to open up apps quickly.
Unlauncher<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsA clean, simple Android launcher with a very minimalist design. Forked from Slim Launcher.

Other

NameEyesDescription
Nebulo<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFrom GitHub README: "Nebulo is a free, open-source, no-root, light-weight dns-over-https, dns-over-tls, and dns-over-http-over-quic client for Android with emphasis on privacy and security. Nebulo is fast, highly-customizable, ad-free, efficient on the battery, contains zero analytics / tracking.
RethinkDNS + Firewall<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFrom the website: "Rethink DNS + Firewall is the easiest way to monitor app activity, circumvent Internet censorship, block ads and trackers on your Android device."
TrackerControl<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>GitHub Repo starsFrom the GitHub README: Allows users to monitor and control the widespread, ongoing, hidden data collection in mobile apps about user behaviour ("tracking"). To detect tracking, TrackerControl checks all network traffic against the Disconnect blocklist, used and trusted by the Mozilla Firefox browser. Thanks @E5dZEUpc3BKaJrHnQVZd5zE

Bulk apps

NameEyesDescription
EteSync<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>For Calendar & Contacts. Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and open-source sync for your contacts, calendars, tasks and notes.
EteSync (Notes)<br/>F-Droid<br/>Repo<br/>For Keep. Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and open-source sync for your contacts, calendars, tasks and notes.

Hardware

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Nexus/Pixel

NameEyesDescription
Purism Librem 55-eyesFrom the company that makes Purism laptops. Runs PureOS. Thanks @brandonnodnarb
PinePhone5-eyesFrom the company that makes the Pine A64 Single Board Computer. Runs a variety of mainline Linux OSs with UIs adapted for mobile.

Chromebook

NameEyesDescription
TUXEDO14-eyesPrivacy-focused laptop maker out of Germany. Tech specs are very competent and can easily compete with other modern systems. Fully Linux compatible. They also offer desktops. (thanks u/itsec_ho)
Purism Laptops5-eyesPrivacy-focused laptop running PureOS. Good designs and decent hardware.
Pinebook ProMid-range Linux/FreeBSD alternative to Chromebook.
SlimbookA Spanish laptop manufacturer which makes Linux native laptops.

Chromecast

NameEyesDescription
Microsoft Wireless HDMI adapter5-eyesThe only reason I'm recommending this Microsoft product is because there is no possible way for it to extract any data and ship it off to Microsoft. If anyone is able to find proof that it can, I will remove it.

Google Home

NameEyesDescription
Mycroft<br/>Repo<br/>5-eyesOpen-source virtual personal assistant. Can be run on a Raspberry Pi. (thanks u/Kentto7)
Home Assistant<br/>Repo<br/>Open-source home automation. (thanks u/bilange)

FitBit

No known alternatives.

Useful links, tools, and advice

Resources

Everything you need to become a privacy wizard. This section has two subsections: The first has links with self-explanatory titles, the second has more detailed descriptions.

Subsection 1

Subsection 2

Books

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TitlePublishedAuthor
Permanent RecordPublishedEdward Snowden
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right NowPublishedJaron Lanier
The Age of Surveillance CapitalismPublishedShoshana Zuboff
The Attention MerchantsPublishedTim Wu
ZuckedPublishedRoger McNamee
Privacy Is PowerPublishedCarissa Véliz
Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain EconomyPublishedGeorge Gilder

Blog posts

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TitlePublishedAuthor
Google Chrome’s users take a back seat to its bottom linePublishedBennett Cyphers and Mitch Stoltz - EFF
Quitting Facebook & GooglePublishedJ. Nathan Matias
How to fight back against Google AMP as a web user and a web developerPublishedMarko Saric

News articles

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TitlePublishedAuthor
Google Can Survive Too Much Innovation. You Can't.PublishedRobert Sher - Forbes
The truth about Google's famous '20% time' policyPublishedJillian D'Onfro - Business Insider
The Binge BreakerPublishedBianca Bosker - The Atlantic
How Malware Keeps Sneaking Past Google Play’s DefensesPublishedLily Hay Newman - WIRED
Forget Killer Robots — Bias Is the Real AI DangerPublishedWill Knight - MIT Technology Review
Google managers kept blacklists of conservative employees and one manager considered holding 'trials,' a new lawsuit allegesPublishedJulie Bort - Business Insider
A longtime Google engineer quits, saying the company is ’100% competitor-focused’ and ‘can no longer innovate’PublishedJillian D'Onfro - CNBC
Facebook and Google are doomed, George Soros saysPublishedHamza Shaban - Washington Post
Google Isn't Listening, So Its Employees Are SuingPublishedKate Conger - Gizmodo
Google sees major claims of harassment and discrimination as lawsuits proceedPublishedSam Levin - The Guardian
How to stop Google from tracking everything you do onlinePublishedTodd Haselton - CNBC
Google will always do evilPublishedJessica Conditt - Engadget
Google’s new ‘AI principles’ forbid its use in weapons and human rights violationsPublishedDevin Coldewey - TechCrunch
Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents RevealPublishedRyan Gallagher - The Intercept
Google’s China plan isn’t just evil — it’s bad for businessPublishedJosh Rogin - Washington Post
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’PublishedDaisuke Wakabayashi and Katie Benner - New York Times
A New Google+ Blunder Exposed Data From 52.5 Million UsersPublishedLily Hay Newman - WIRED
Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in TechPublishedNitasha Tiku - WIRED
Google’s latest user-hostile design change makes ads and search results look identicalPublishedNatasha Lomas - TechCrunch
You Are Now Remotely ControlledPublishedShoshana Zuboff - New York Times

The lighter side

Closing remarks

It's a shame that Google, with their immense resources, power, and influence, don't see the benefits of helping people secure themselves online. Instead, they force people like us to scour the web for alternatives and convince our friends and family to do the same, while they sell off our data to the highest bidder.

Hopefully this guide can serve as a starting point for those new to privacy, or be a good refresher for the experts.

Good luck and stay safe!

Stargazers over time

Stargazers over time

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA 4.0).

For a full legal text of the license, visit Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.