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Software Alternatives

A few alternatives for some common daily services (Google, Microsoft & Apple products)

I will simply just be listing things here. If you'd like more in-depth recommendations based on your needs, you may privately DM me on my discord at @zko. I will also put the things I personally use in bold.

Email Services

Instead of iCloud Mail or Gmail, use:

  • a self-hosted mail (not really recommended for people new to self-hosting)
  • Proton Mail

Drive Services

Instead of Google Drive, iCloud, or OneDrive, use:

  • Proton Drive
  • opt for a flash drive or local storage instead

Document Editors & Notetaking Services

Instead of Google Docs, use:

Operating Systems

Instead of Windows, macOS, or ChromeOS, use:

Linux is just an umbrella term for a huge family of operating systems, from which I'd typically recommend something like Pop!_OS, Mint, or CachyOS to beginners. There are plenty of tutorials you can find on YouTube to use these operating systems on your PC, as well as massive wikis and communities online to help with any issues you may encounter.

Search Engines

Instead of Google, use:

Web Browsers

Instead of Google Chrome, Safari, or Microsoft Edge, use:

Password Managers

Instead of Google, Apple, or Windows password management features, use:

Those are my current recommendations. I will add or remove things from this list if necessary.

Here are also some resources I've found that provide their own recommendations, as well as more in-depth explanations as to why deviating from big tech such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple is so important. Generally, I would say that even if you don't care about the moral implications of the things these companies have done, switching is still in your best interest. All of these programs provide an overall better user experience than their big tech counterparts and are free (with the exception of Proton Mail if you choose to pay for premium, which is not necessary), so you will be spending significantly less money. I encourage you to take these recommendations into account and DM me if you have any questions, as I've said previously.

Cool site with Microsoft alternatives and resources regarding why Microsoft should be avoided. The site name and logo are a KMFDM reference for my KMFDM fans out there.