Cutting Google out of your life

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

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 (submit Issues & Pull Requests on the GitHub page):

• iOS app alternatives! I don't have an iOS device to find alternatives with. I would highly appreciate any help with this.
• Clean up/improve the Markdown.
• Provide more information on services with little info or where help requested! is shown.
• Suggest new services or provide info for removing existing services.
• Host a mirror or clone the repo. If you host a mirror, let me know and I can add it to the mirrors list.
• Anything else relating to any part of this guide, whether it's Google related or not.

When contributing, please try to follow the rules outlined in CONTRIBUTING.md.

Browser extensions

Name	Description
uBlock Origin	uBlock Origin is not an "ad blocker", it's a wide-spectrum content blocker with CPU and memory efficiency as a primary feature.
Privacy Badger	Privacy 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.
Decentraleyes	Protects you against tracking through "free", centralized, content delivery. It prevents a lot of requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries, and serves local files to keep sites from breaking. Complements regular content blockers.
HTTPS Everywhere	Many sites on the web offer some limited support for encryption over HTTPS, but make it difficult to use. For instance, they may default to unencrypted HTTP, or fill encrypted pages with links that go back to the unencrypted site. The HTTPS Everywhere extension fixes these problems by rewriting all requests to these sites to HTTPS.
Cookie AutoDelete	Control 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	Privacy, 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.
I don't care about cookies	This add-on will remove cookie warnings from almost all websites! You can report any website which still warns you about cookies: make a right click and choose 'Report a cookie warning' from the menu.
minerBlock	MinerBlock is an efficient browser extension that focuses on blocking browser-based cryptocurrency miners all over the web. This extension uses two different approaches to block miners. The first one is based on blocking requests/scripts loaded from a blacklist, this is the traditional approach adopted by most ad-blockers and other mining blockers. The other approach which makes MinerBlock more efficient against cryptojacking is detecting potential mining behavior inside loaded scripts and kills them immediately. This makes the extension able to block inline scripts as well as miners running through proxies. Source code available on GitHub.
Terms of Service; Didn't Read	“I have read and agree to the Terms” is the biggest lie on the web. We aim to fix that. “Terms of Service; Didn't Read” is a user rights initiative to rate and label website terms & privacy policies, from very good (class A) to very bad (class E). This extension informs you instantly of your rights online by showing an unintrusive icon in the toolbar. You can click on this icon to get summaries from the Terms of Service; Didn't Read initiative.
ClearURLS	This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when browse through the Internet.
Cloud Firewall	Block 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	CSS 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.
Disconnect	Visualize and block the otherwise invisible websites that track your search and browsing history.
Don't touch my tabs! (rel=noopener	Prevent tabs opened by a hyperlink from hijacking the previous tab by adding the rel=noopener attribute to all hyperlinks (excluding same-domain hyperlinks).
Firefox Multi-Account Containers	Firefox 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.
Google search link fix (also Yandex)	This extension prevents Google and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them. This is useful when copying links but it also helps privacy by preventing the search engines from recording your clicks.
HTTPZ	HTTPZ is meant to be unobtrusive and lightweight, it respects your privacy, and is free of trans fats. Additionally, it is very configurable, and should be slightly more secure than some of the alternatives out there, since it has a couple of built-in defenses against SSL-stripping attacks.
Link Cleaner	Clean URLs that are about to be visited: removes utm_* parameters; on item pages of aliexpress and amazon, removes tracking parameters; skip redirect pages of facebook, steam and reddit
Neat URL	Remove garbage from URLs.
Privacy-Oriented Origin Policy	Prevent Firefox from sending Origin headers when they are least likely to be necessary, to protect your privacy.
Skip Redirect	Some 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	Open 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.
uMatrix	Point & click to forbid/allow any class of requests made by your browser. Use it to block scripts, iframes, ads, facebook, etc.
TrackMeNot	An artware browser add-on to protect privacy in web-search. By issuing randomized queries to common search-engines, TrackMeNot obfuscates your search profile and registers your discontent with surreptitious tracking.

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. This means the company, not the server IP.
   • 5: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, USA
   • 9: Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway
   • 14: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain
   • What are 5-eyes, 9-eyes, and 14-eyes?

Web-based products

Search (Web & Images)

Name	Eyes	Description
DuckDuckGo	5-eyes	One of the best privacy-focused search engines. Domain is hosted in USA which could potentially be problematic for some.
Startpage	9-eyes	Another 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.me		Open-source (thanks for clarification u/Sheezdudeln) privacy search engine. Domain hosted in Germany.
MetaGer	14-eyes	MetaGer is the search engine project from the registered nonprofit organization SUMA E.V. in Germany.
Qwant	9-eyes	Major improvements since 2018's guide. would prefer better info other than an outdated reference
Swisscows		A 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.
Mojeek	5-eyes	Unlike 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.
Ekoru		Privacy focused search engine that also aims to clean up the oceans. Thanks @mynamesleon
Cyberd		Decentralized Google. A web 3 alternative for the Google search engine. In Beta testing mode. Uses IPFS and Tendermint consensus for security and economic incentives. Please see their ELI-5 FAQ for more info.
Infinity Search	5-eyes	Infinity 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.

YouTube

Name	Eyes	Description
PeerTube		Decentralized video hosting network. Still quite small, but is growing and has a dedicated community.
BitChute	5-eyes	Also 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)
DTube		Looks very similar to YouTube. Advertised as "first crypt-decentralized video-platform". Built on Steemit and IPFS.
Bit.tube		Appears to be a crypto-powered decentralized video sharing service. (thanks u/rudolf323)
Invidious		An 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).
Hooktube		A slightly better way to use actual YouTube. (Use as a "last resort")
LBRY		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.
US.TV		PeerTube instance hosted by Epik.com.

News

Name	Eyes	Description
Local newspaper		Support independent and qualitative journalism in your community.
AllSides		Unbiased news source (primarily for US politics). Thanks @jeanofthedead
Miniflux		Miniflux is a minimalist and opinionated feed reader. Completely open source, along with automatically removing pixel trackers.

Groups

Name	Eyes	Description

• Use other forum sites relating to specific topics. This is a very broad service.

Translate

Name	Eyes	Description
DeepL	14-eyes	DeepL 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

Google Ads/AdMob/AdSense

Name	Eyes	Description
CodeFund	5-eyes	Ethical advertising for technical audience.

Google Alerts

Name	Eyes	Description
F5Bot	5-eyes	Emails you when your selected keywords are mentioned on Reddit, Hacker News, or Lobsters.

G Suite (enterprise cloud)

Name	Eyes	Description
Zoho		Zoho was included in 2018's thread as well, and they've only improved since then. They offer a full enterprise business suite that can easily rival G Suite or MS Office 365. Better description wanted
Nextcloud		Nextcloud 18 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

Blogger/Sites

Name	Eyes	Description
Joomla		Self-hosted and open-source content management system (CMS).
Write.as		Self-advertised as privacy-focused.
WordPress self-hosted		The open-source version of WordPress. A very popular tool and a recognized name.
concrete5	5-eyes	Open-source CMS.
Noblogs	9-eyes	A privacy/security focused blogging platform.
Ghost		Open-source modern CMS. Boasts "over 19x faster than WordPress". Thanks @peterge1998
Bear	5-eyes	Free, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging. No javascript, no stylesheets, no trackers. Just your words. Thanks @FreddyMarsden

Analytics

Name	Eyes	Description
Matomo	9/14-eyes	(Matomo/parent company) - Open-source analytics platform. (thanks u/Newblik)
Fathom	5-eyes	Simple analytics for bloggers & businesses
Plausible	5-eyes	Open-source, privacy-focused web analytics.
GoatCounter	14-eyes	Simple web statistics. No tracking of personal data. Open-source and may be self-hosted. Free for non-commercial use; paid plans available.
Simple Analytics	9-eyes	Great analytics with privacy and simplicity in mind. Paid plans only (with free trials).
Toasted Analytics	5-eyes	Simple, privacy friendly analytics with event tracking. Paid only (with free trial)
Shynet		Shynet is a self-hosted analytics tool that doesn't make use of cookies. It is privacy focused and fully open-source. Thanks @woutfeys
Supabase		Supabase is an opensource alternative to Firebase. As of right now you can use their hosting plan for free as it's in alpha, or you can self host (note on self hosting). Thanks @woutfeys
GoAccess		An 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

Photos

Name	Eyes	Description
Photoprism		Self-hosted and open-source Personal Photo Management powered by Go and Google TensorFlow.
ownPhotos		Self-hosted and open-source Google Photos alternative.
Piwigo	9-eyes	(self-hosted) - Self-hosted and open-source cloud photo manager. You can also sign up for an "as a service" account.
JottaCloud	9-eyes	Norway based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Thanks @mynamesleon
Cryptee		Encrypted photo storage in a simple solution similar to Google Photos.

Calendar

Name	Eyes	Description
Lightning Calendar (Thunderbird)		Developed by Mozilla Foundation and open-source. Integrates into Thunderbird and SeaMonkey.
Tutanota Calendar	14-eyes	Developed by Tutanota. Free cross-platform encrypted calendar. Allows importing of other Calendar files. Can't be synced to other calendar software.
Fruux	14-eyes	Open-source calendar using "sabre/dav" (open-source 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.
Zoho		I mentioned Zoho above for G Suite, so here they are again.
EteSync		Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and open-source sync for your contacts, calendars and tasks.

Docs/Sheets/Slides (cloud)

Name	Eyes	Description
CryptPad	9-eyes	Open-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		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		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 Online	14-eyes	Self-hosted instance of LibreOffice that you can run in your browser. Thanks @flubberding
ONLYOFFICE		Open-source private cloud replacement for Google Docs'suite and Office 360. Also available as a self contained rich application.
Arcane Office		A 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)

Name	Eyes	Description
LibreOffice		Open-source offline document suites.
Apache OpenOffice		Open-source offline document suites.
LyX		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. Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier

Domains

Name	Eyes	Description
Njalla	14-eyes	Privacy-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)
Porkbun	5-eyes	Domain registration with free WHOIS privacy.

Drive

Name	Eyes	Description
ownCloud		Open-source and self-hosted. Provide your own storage.
Nextcloud		Also self-hosted. Spin-off of ownCloud. Also offers Calendar and Contacts (thanks @chribre)
Syncthing	9-eyes	An interesting take on cloud storage: decentralized. Peer-to-peer between only your devices. Software is open-source and available on GitHub.
Sia		Fully decentralized cloud storage.
Tresorit		Primarily meant for businesses, but offers a free version for individuals as well. (thanks u/xNick26)
Sync		End-to-end encrypted Google Drive/Dropbox replacement.
JottaCloud	9-eyes	Norway based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Thanks @mynamesleon
Armored	9-eyes	Nextcloud instance hosted by Epik.com. Paid plans with 30-day trial. Servers in a "secure bunker" in Norway. Supports other Nextcloud features such as Nextcloud Talk.
seafile		Open-source and self-hosted file sync&share solution.
Cozy Cloud	9-eyes	French based cloud storage provider with free and paid plans. Can also be self-hosted. Open-Source. And it also offers a collaborative notes editor.

Hangouts (text/video messaging)

Name	Eyes	Description
Signal	5-eyes	Whistleblower and privacy advocate Edward Snowden recommends Signal.
Tox		Tox 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".
Wire	5-eyes	Uses end-to-end encryption. Looks to be more of a corporate service with tiered plans.
Riot	5-eyes	Open-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. It is 100% free and open-source with no paid plans.
Threema		Swiss-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
Keybase	5-eyes	encrypted 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	5-eyes	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 (https://meet.jit.si) (5-eyes server)

• See this article for why I didn't include WhatsApp and why you should NOT use it (if someone has a better Outline link, that would be much appreciated).
• I have also removed Telegram. See Issue #29 from @arsv.

Gmail

Name	Eyes	Description
Protonmail		One of the top privacy-focused email providers. Servers are in Switzerland in an underground guarded bunker that they claim can "survive a nuclear attack".
Zoho Mail		Zoho comes back yet again with a mail solution.
Tutanota	14-eyes	Open-source. Also one of the top privacy-focused email providers. Located in Germany.
Posteo	14-eyes	Completely anonymous mail provider located in Germany.
mailbox.org	14-eyes	Paid email provider, also located in Germany.
Disroot	9-eyes	Decentralized email service.
StartMail	9-eyes	Operated by the same people who run StartPage.
SimpleLogin		Open-source, self-hosted, and privacy focused email forwarding service.
Migadu		Paid email provider, located in Switzerland. Focus on privacy.
FastMail	5-eyes	Paid email provider, located in Australia and US.
Runbox	9-eyes	Privacy focusued email provider. Thanks @petertorelli
nextCloud		Now also provides an email service (self-hosted). Thanks @je-vv
Anonymize.com Email		Paid secure email service provided by Epik.com.
Thexyz	5-eyes	Thexyz is a Canadian company offering privacy-conscious business email. Premium webmail costs USD $2.95 per month. Thanks @FreddyMarsden

• This is just for the Gmail service, not a client

Keep

Name	Eyes	Description
Joplin		Open-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		Encrypted 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.
Zoho Notebook		A notebook from Zoho. Also available on Android.
Turtl		Encrypted collaborative notebook with possibility of running your own server.
QOwnNotes		Open-source file editor with Markdown support. (thanks u/maqp2)
EteSync		Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and open-source sync for your contacts, calendars and tasks.
GitJournal		Your Markdown notes stores in any Git Repo. Available for both Android (Play Store) and iOS.

Play Music, Movies, & TV

Name	Eyes	Description
Jellyfin		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).
Funkwhale		Self-hosted, decentralized music service. Provide your own audio. (thanks u/DashEquals)
Airsonic		Self-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 Daemon		A "flexible, powerful, server-side application for playing music".
Popcorn Time		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 Player		Streaming music player that finds music from free sources automatically.

• I can no longer recommend Emby as they are no longer open-source.
• Thanks to u/eA8KESARaW6iqCpHsbE4 for suggesting Jellyfin and pointing out that Emby isn't open-source.

Fonts

Name	Eyes	Description
Open Font Library	5-eyes	Lots of Serif and Sans-Serif fonts that can be directly embedded into a website.
google webfonts helper	5-eyes	Hassle-free way for webmasters to self-host open-source Fonts from "Google Fonts"
Brick	9-eyes	Open source fonts that work in a very similar way to Google fonts. Most of the fonts render nicer than Google Fonts. Thanks @FreddyMarsden

Classroom

Name	Eyes	Description
Moodle		Self-hosted Classroom software for schools. Very powerful. Thanks @jankapunkt
ILIAS		Another self-hosted open source classroom software. Thanks again to @jankapunkt
Canvas		Paid service by Instructure. Also available as a self-hosted, open source option. To ensure privacy, use the self-hosted option.

Maps/Street View

Name	Eyes	Description
OpenStreetMap	9-eyes	Collaborative project to create a free, editable map of the world (from Wikipedia). Completely crowdsourced. Very strong alternative to Maps.
Qwant Maps		Maps from the makers of Qwant search engine. Thanks @mynamesleon
Benmaps		Another maps alternative based on OpenStreetMap. Thanks @dimqua
Mapillary	14-eyes	Crowdsourced street-level imagery built on top of OpenStreetMap. Open source. Includes map data generated with object recognition software. Coverage is lacking in many cities but can always be improved upon.

Transit

Name	Eyes	Description
Transportr		An 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

Name	Eyes	Description

Forms

Name	Eyes	Description
BlockSurvey		BlockSurvey 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

Operating systems

Android/Fuchsia

Name	Eyes	Description
Ubuntu Touch		Ubuntu, but for phones.
LineageOS	5-eyes	Open-source and based on Android, but without the crap.
SailfishOS		Help requested!
GrapheneOS		Previously known as CopperheadOS. It has now evolved into GrapheneOS
postmarketOS		Open-source mobile Linux OS. Can install different user interfaces such as Plasma Mobile. Thanks @okias
Replicant	5-eyes	Free Android distribution. Puts the emphasis on "freedom and privacy/security".

• You'll either need a rooted device with an unlocked bootloader, or a specific device depending on which OS you like.
• Please see Issue #55 for details on /e/.

Chrome OS

Name	Eyes	Description
Qubes OS		"A reasonably secure operating system", at least according to their website. Edward Snowden recommends it.
Subgraph OS		A desktop computing and communications platform that is designed to be resistant to network-borne exploit and malware attacks.
Tails		For the uber-paranoid. Runs live and the entire OS is routed through Tor right from boot. Built on Debian.
Knoppix		Another Live OS, runs from CD/DVD/USB. Can also be installed if desired.
Parrot OS		Debian-based and privacy focused. Fully sandboxed. (thanks u/Safe_Airport)
PureOS	5-eyes	The 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.
Any other form of Linux		Ubuntu; 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

Name	Eyes	Description
AsteroidOS	14-eyes	The cleanest (and only) open-source alternative for Wear OS. Make sure you buy a watch that supports it!

Android Auto

Name	Eyes	Description

Android TV

Name	Eyes	Description
Kodi		It'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		Free, open source media center OS. Kodi is pre-installed. Thanks to @g4rret and @lgiard for clarifying the difference between Kodi and OSMC!

Desktop apps

Chrome

Name	Eyes	Description
Ungoogled Chromium		Chromium (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.
Firefox		Built by Mozilla, "The Privacy Company". Huge extension library; great for privacy.
Waterfox	5-eyes	Based 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 apart of System1.
Vivaldi		Privacy-focused browser. Appears to be very customizable and feature-rich.
Tor Browser		Firefox-based browser routed through the onion network. Automatically has a few privacy extensions installed (such as HTTPS Everywhere). Be careful using it in public though, as it can look like a pretty suspicious piece of software. Available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android.

Earth

Name	Eyes	Description
KDE Marble		Strong 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)

Name	Eyes	Description
VSCodium		VSCodium is Visual Studio Code but without all the Microsoft telemetry and branding.
Vim		Open-source text editor. Thanks @moon-chilled
Emacs		Another open-source text editor. Thanks @moon-chilled
Atom		Atom is a free and open-source text and source code editor for macOS, Linux, and Microsoft Windows with support for plug-ins written in Node.js, and embedded Git Control, developed by GitHub. Atom is a desktop application built using web technologies. (From Wikipedia) Thanks @woutfeys

Mobile apps

Play Store

Name	Eyes	Description
F-Droid		Catalogue 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.
Aptoide		Marketplace for Android apps. Publishers/developers manage their own stores rather than a centralized market such as Google Play Store.
Yalp Store		Yalp downloads Play Store apps as APK files. Helpful if you want to stay away from the Play Store, but require an app that is only available there.
APKMirror		An 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.
Aurora Store		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 @RefexHD & @notpushkin
Fossdroid		Uses 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		Also uses the F-Droid repo but with a different UI.
APKGrabber		Fork of APKUpdater. Both are great tools for avoiding app stores (on Android).
Aurora Droid		Yet another F-Droid client, potentially has a few bugs (thanks u/OfficialJohnGL4)

• When searching for replacements, check the alternative stores (such as F-Droid) before checking the Play Store.

Chrome (Android)

Name	Eyes	Description
Fennec F-Droid		A 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		Privacy-focused/open-source build of Chromium with built-in ad blocking. (thanks u/SupremeLisper)

Calculator

Name	Eyes	Description
Simple Calculator		Also part of the SMT project. Available on F-Droid.
Calculator N+ or NCalc+		Open-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++		Open-source calculator packed with features. Thanks @ghost

Calendar

Name	Eyes	Description
Fruux (mobile app)		Same service from above provides an Android app.
Etar		Open-source material design Calendar that integrates with the Android Calendar API. If you have a CalDAV/CardDAV server, I recommend using DAVx5 to sync with it. Available from F-Droid. Also look at ICSx5, another WebDav/CalDav client that can integrate with calendar apps. Also available from F-Droid. Thanks @je-vv for ICSx5.

Camera

Name	Eyes	Description
Open Camera		Open source camera for Android. Thanks @je-vv

Clock

Name	Eyes	Description
Clock +		Open-source Alarm clock, timer, and stop watch.
Simple Alarm Clock		Exactly as it's name says; simple alarm clock yet adds many improvements over other apps. No dock mode or world clock.
Insane Alarm!		Developer 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.

Contacts

Name	Eyes	Description
Fruux (mobile app)		Fruux also provides a contacts app.
Simple Contacts		Open-source. Part of the Simple Mobile Tools project.
Open Contacts		Open source contacts. (thanks u/consentio)

Android Messages (specifically SMS/MMS, not IM)

Name	Eyes	Description
QKSMS		Open-source. Very clean and feature rich SMS app. Available on F-Droid.
Silence.im		Open-source and utilizes Signal's encryption protocol. Seamlessly works with SMS. End-to-end encryption with other Silence users. Available on F-Droid.
Signal		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. Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier for suggesting it be listing as SMS/MMS alternative.

Gboard (Google Keyboard)

Name	Eyes	Description
AnySoftKeyboard		Open-source keyboard. Available on F-Droid.
Hacker's Keyboard		Also open-source. Very useful for developers or sysadmins on the go.
kboard		Open-source. Has features for phrases, "lenny faces", macros and more. Note: Project appears to be abandoned.
Simple Keyboard		Open-source keyboard.
Indic Keyboard		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		New 100% FOSS keyboard, based on AOSP. Similar to "Simple Keyboard". Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier

Drive

Name	Eyes	Description
ownCloud Android		ownCloud Android client. Available on F-Droid.
Nextcloud Android		Nextcloud Android client. Available on F-Droid.
Syncthing Android		Wrapper 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

Name	Eyes	Description
Protonmail		Can be downloaded from the Play Store, but may work with one of the store replacements above (such as Yalp).
Tutanota	14-eyes	Client available from F-Droid.
Zoho Mail		Also on the Play Store but other stores may work too.
Disroot		Available from F-Droid.
Posteo	14-eyes	Any open-source mail client such as: K-9 Mail and FairEmail. Both are available on F-Droid.
Mailbox.org	14-eyes	Mailbox.org provides IMAP settings for Android/iOS and an iOS profile. Thanks @avasts Issue #45

Keep (or any stock note-taking app)

Name	Eyes	Description
Notepad		Open-source. Supports Markdown and HTML. Very clean and feature-rich. Offline only.
Joplin		Scroll 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 Notes		Encrypted note storage with loads of features.
Omni Notes		Very feature rich, open-source, material design notes app. Very active development. Available on F-Droid.
Carnet		I 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		Open-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		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.

Maps/Waze

Name	Eyes	Description
Maps		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		OpenStreetMap 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. It is available from F-Droid.
Transportr		Primarily European, this is an open-source public transport app. Thanks to @lgiard
Offi or Oeffi		Another recommendation from @lgiard, this app is also for public transport.

News

Name	Eyes	Description
Flym		Open-source Material Design RSS reader.
Feeder		Use good old-fashioned RSS feeds with Feeder

Photos

Name	Eyes	Description
Piwigo Android		You need to have Piwigo set up first.

Pay

Name	Eyes	Description

• Realistically, there most likely is not a privacy friendly alternative to Google Pay. Get a wallet with RFID protection and keep your cards with you.

YouTube

Name	Eyes	Description
NewPipe		Powerful open-source YouTube alternative. Supports audio only; background playback; picture-in-picture; no ads.
FreeTube		Open-source YouTube client that uses the Invidio.us API to serve content. Not on F-Droid, but you can download the APK from GitHub. (thanks u/wesaphzt)
YouTube Vanced		Please read the XDA post before deciding to use this.

Authenticator

Name	Eyes	Description
andOTP		Open-source 2FA app.
FreeOTP+		FreeOTP is no longer in development so this fork should be used instead as it is currently in development.
Aegis		Open-source 2FA for Android. Available on F-Droid.
Authenticator		iOS - Open-source 2FA for iOS. (thanks u/SomeoneWannaBe)
Tofu		iOS - Open-source 2FA for iOS.

Play Music/Play Movies & TV

Name	Eyes	Description
Audinaut		An open-source Airsonic client for Android.
MALP		An open-source Android client for MPD. Available on F-Droid.

Hangouts

Name	Eyes	Description
Keybase	5-eyes	encrypted 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	14-eyes	An 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.
Riot	5-eyes	Android app - The open-source Android client for Riot.
Jitsi Meet (F-Droid)		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 (https://meet.jit.si) (5-eyes server)

Duo (video calls)

Name	Eyes	Description
Jitsi Meet (F-Droid)		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 (https://meet.jit.si) (5-eyes server)

Assistant

Name	Eyes	Description
Mycroft Android		Android client for Mycroft. Must be built in IDE; no pre-built binaries are available.
Ara		Open-source virtual assistant for Android. Can replace Google Assistant (home button functionality) on most devices. Either uses the authors server by default, or you can run your own server. Thanks @FultonBrowne (author of Ara)

Play Services Framework

Name	Eyes	Description
microG		A 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

Name	Eyes	Description
Shade Launcher		Open-source Android launcher styled after the Google Pixel launcher. No F-Droid, but you can download the APK from GitHub.
ZimLX		Open-source launcher. Active development with lots of nice features.
Lawnchair		Another 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		Fast, open-source and small launcher. KISS mainly relies on an app-search-bar, which makes it very easy to open up apps quickly. Thanks @Glitchy-Tozier

Other

Name	Eyes	Description
Blokada		From the website: "If you want to efficiently block ads, trackers, malware, save on your data plan, speed up your device and protect your privacy with just one application, then Blokada is for you. It is free, secure and open source." Uses internal VPN on Android to block ads.
TrackerControl		From 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

Hardware

Nexus/Pixel

Name	Eyes	Description
This list		Shows compatibility for rooting Android devices.
Purism Librem 5	5-eyes	From the company that makes Purism laptops. Runs PureOS. Thanks @brandonnodnarb
PinePhone	5-eyes	From the company that makes the Pine A64 Single Board Computer. Runs a variety of mainline Linux OSs with UIs adapted for mobile.

Chromebook

Name	Eyes	Description
TUXEDO	14-eyes	Privacy-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 Laptops	5-eyes	Privacy-focused laptop running PureOS. Good designs and decent hardware.
Pinebook Pro		Mid-range Linux/FreeBSD alternative to Chromebook.

Chromecast

Name	Eyes	Description
Microsoft Wireless HDMI adapter	5-eyes	The 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

Name	Eyes	Description
Mycroft	5-eyes	Open-source virtual personal assistant. Can be run on a Raspberry Pi. (thanks u/Kentto7)
Home Assistant		Open-source home automation. (thanks u/bilange)

FitBit

Name	Eyes	Description

• Due to Google's recent acquisition of FitBit, it is recommended to avoid using FitBit. Instead, check out this list of smart watches supported by Asteroid OS (See Wear OS in Operating systems). Thanks @ribtoks

Useful links, tools, and advice

Resources

Everything you need to become a Privacy Wizard.

• Privacy Tools (thanks u/yieldingTemporarily)
• ethical.net (thanks u/yieldingTemporarily)
• AlternativeTo - Find alternatives for software. Used extensively to build this guide. Also check out Switching.software (thanks @mynamesleon)
• Framasoft - Lots of alternatives and software. Too many to fit into the list. Also check out this link. Thanks @NicolasPA
• r/Privacy wiki
• r/VPN - Read the sidebar and wiki to learn more about why you should consider using a VPN. I personally use Mullvad but do your own research before choosing.
• Four Methods to Create a Secure Password You'll Actually Remember
• How to Create a Strong Password (and Remember It)
• Use a password manager such as Bitwarden
• Set up multi-factor/two-factor authentication on as many accounts as you can
• Don't save passwords to your browser: Erase the entire password cache once you set up a password manager.
• Remove bloatware from Android (without root)
• What are 5-eyes, 9-eyes, and 14-eyes?
• Outline is an awesome tool for getting all the junk out of news articles (I've used it a few times in this guide already). Sometimes it can get around paywalls for "premium" news sites.
• What is Tor and should I use it?
• HTTP vs. HTTPS
• The EFF has an excellent guide on how to stay safe and secure online. It is incredibly useful and I suggest that everyone read through it.
• Click here and here for tips on disabling Windows 10 telemetry/data collection.
• Click here to sign up for DuckDuckGo's privacy newsletter, and here for more tips, articles, and blog posts from DuckDuckGo.
• Delete Facebook. Another guide can be found here.
• Why you should put tape over your webcam
• What is DNS and why should I change it? I think it's common sense to not use Google Public DNS; I use and recommend Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1. Use DNSPerf to see which one is fastest for you (Google ranks 4th and Cloudflare ranks 1st at time of writing this).
• What is GDPR? TechRadar and The Guardian
• Here is a really good guide for configuring a super secure Linux workstation (thanks u/aoeudhtns)
• A website to raise awareness of online privacy. Lot's of good tips in here (thanks u/brais33)
• Android Privacy Guide (thanks u/rightknobhead)
• Windows 10 Privacy Guide (thanks again u/rightknobhead)
• Check out Prism Break (thanks u/FrontierPsycho)
• Guide for Linux users on blocking everything Google at the network level. This can and probably will break other alternatives that rely on Google to serve content. Thanks u/wesaphzt
• u/wesaphzt also provided this, this, and this for hardening Firefox.
• Check out WindowsSpyBlocker and this tutorial for even more Windows 10 tips (thanks u/rudolf323)
• Virustotal let's you upload files and it scans it against multiple antivirus software at once. Very helpful for checking false negatives. Website uses Google Analytics.
• Did you read the wiki yet? Go do that.

Books

Title	Published	Author
Permanent Record		Edward Snowden
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now		Jaron Lanier
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism		Shoshana Zuboff
The Attention Merchants		Tim Wu
Zucked		Roger McNamee

Blog posts

Title	Published	Author
Google Chrome’s users take a back seat to its bottom line		Bennett Cyphers and Mitch Stoltz - EFF
Quitting Facebook & Google		J. Nathan Matias
How to fight back against Google AMP as a web user and a web developer		Marko Saric

News articles

Title	Published	Author
Google Can Survive Too Much Innovation. You Can't.		Robert Sher - Forbes
The truth about Google's famous '20% time' policy		Jillian D'Onfro - Business Insider
The Binge Breaker		Bianca Bosker - The Atlantic
How Malware Keeps Sneaking Past Google Play’s Defenses		Lily Hay Newman - WIRED
Forget Killer Robots — Bias Is the Real AI Danger		Will Knight - MIT Technology Review
Google managers kept blacklists of conservative employees and one manager considered holding 'trials,' a new lawsuit alleges		Julie Bort - Business Insider
A longtime Google engineer quits, saying the company is ’100% competitor-focused’ and ‘can no longer innovate’		Jillian D'Onfro - CNBC
Facebook and Google are doomed, George Soros says		Hamza Shaban - Washington Post
Google Isn't Listening, So Its Employees Are Suing		Kate Conger - Gizmodo
Google sees major claims of harassment and discrimination as lawsuits proceed		Sam Levin - The Guardian
How to stop Google from tracking everything you do online		Todd Haselton - CNBC
Google will always do evil		Jessica Conditt - Engadget
Google’s new ‘AI principles’ forbid its use in weapons and human rights violations		Devin Coldewey - TechCrunch
Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal		Ryan Gallagher - The Intercept
Google’s China plan isn’t just evil — it’s bad for business		Josh Rogin - Washington Post
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’		Daisuke Wakabayashi and Katie Benner - New York Times
A New Google+ Blunder Exposed Data From 52.5 Million Users		Lily Hay Newman - WIRED
Three Years of Misery Inside Google, the Happiest Company in Tech		Nitasha Tiku - WIRED
Google’s latest user-hostile design change makes ads and search results look identical		Natasha Lomas - TechCrunch
You Are Now Remotely Controlled		Shoshana Zuboff - New York Times

The lighter side

• Movies & TV:
  • Snowden (2016) - Based on the true story of Edward Snowden, the CIA/NSA/etc whistleblower. Directed by Oliver Stone.
  • Deep Web (2015) - Documentary (narrated by Keanu Reeves) about Ross Ulbricht aka. Dread Pirate Roberts and the infamous "Silk Road" dark market. Directed by Alex Winter.
  • The Great Hack (2019) - Documentary about the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Thanks @woutfeys
  • Mr. Robot - Hacker-drama starring Rami Malek. Producers hired actual hackers as consultants to ensure the show is as accurate as possible; real-world tools used in the show.
  • Silicon Valley - Satirical tech comedy about a compression startup struggling to take off in Silicon Valley, California.
• Podcasts:
  • Darknet Diaries (by Jack Rhysider) - Highlights real-life hackers and their stories. Covers privacy topics a fair bit.
  • The WAN Show (Linus Tech Tips) - Not specifically privacy, but they cover all sorts of tech news.
  • The Privacy, Security, & OSINT Show - "This weekly podcast presents ideas to help you become digitally invisible, stay secure from cyber threats, and make you a better online investigator."
  • Security Now! - "TechTV's Leo Laporte and I spend somewhat shy of two hours each week to discuss important issues of personal computer security." (Thanks u/Abaddon182)
• Other:
  • xkcd - They have comics for everything.
  • System32 Comics Instagram and Reddit - Comedic computer comics.

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!