In light of the #buyFromEU movement several databases and websites emerged around the idea of buying European, and local first. Coming from different communities overviews of products and services can (for example) be found at the following websites:
- https://european-alternatives.eu/ : First comer. Dev can be found on mastodon for suggestions.
- Community based database, where you can make your own suggestions:
- https://buy-european.net/ subscribe to [email protected] to talk to the maker.
- https://codeberg.org/Made-in-EU/Made-in-EU
If you are using Firefox or Chrome (derivatives) you can be nudged to do better by using the open-source Go-European-Plugin:
- Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/go-european/
- Chrome: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/go-european/klmgadmgadfhjgomffmpamppmkajdloc
If you really want to start and go European in your personal- or business-life, there are already some starting points and infopics circulating.
Coming from a technical perspective and in an ideal world, open-source solutions are preferable over walled gardens. Chosing them would - in the long run- ensure that you can swap services more easily at any time. But we need to be realistic and acknowledge, that some people are just searching for easy drop in replacements and services.
Just as a starting point, this is an selection of alternatives for digital services. It is not exhaustive, neither really opinionated. It shows the highlights and source where to find other solutions.
A selection of digital alternatives (WIP)
This list is a selection of few digital alternatives if you decide to buyFromEU (and friendlies). Links to other lists are appended for further reading.
Browsing
- EU
- vivaldi.com → drop in replacement with mail, calender and feed reader.
- Considered friendly:
- firefox.com (now with data privacy issues, still a drop in replacement).
- librewolf.net (privacy friendly firefox fork).
- Further Infos
- https://european-alternatives.eu/category/web-browser
Searching
- EU
- European Search Index
- ecosia.de → drop in replacement.
- qwant.com → drop in replacement.
- searxng.org
- startpage.com (uses google in the background, still a drop in replacement).
- Considered friendly
- duckduckgo.com (uses bing in the background, still a drop in replacement).
- Further infos
e-Mail/Office suite (gmail/outlook)
- EU
- Considered friendly
- Further infos
e-Mail clients
- EU
- vivaldi Browser with, calender and feed reader.
- Considered friendly
- Further infos
Instant Messaging Apps
- EU
- Considered friendly:
- threema.com → drop-in replacement for WhatsApp
- signal.com → drop-in replacement for WhatsApp
- Further infos:
Team-level communications
- EU
- https://www.stackfield.com/
- https://www.stackhero.io/en/services/Mattermost/benefits → Mattermost hosted in Europe
- Considered friendly:
- matrix.org → open source software
- wire.com
- mattermost.com → open source software
- Further infos:
Passwordmanagers
- EU
- https://keepass.info/ → Keepass file can be opened with different Apps
- https://keepassxc.org/ → Keepass frontend
- https://github.com/PhilippC/keepass2android → Keepass frontend Android
- Considered friendly:
- https://strongboxsafe.com/ Keepass frontend macOS/iOS. Be aware, change of ownership in early 2025 might need reassesment.
- https://1password.com/
VPN providers
- EU
- Considered friendly:
Social media (obviously)
- EU
- https://joinmastodon.org/ → X replacement with individual server in EU
- join-lemmy.org → reddit replacement with individual server in EU
- piefed.social → reddit replacement with individual server in EU
- https://friendi.ca/ → facebook replacement with individual server in EU
- https://pixelfed.org/ → instagram replacement with individual server in EU
- https://loops.video/ → TikTok replacement
- https://joinpeertube.org/ → YouTube replacement with individual server in EU
- Considered friendly:
- Further infos:
Maps and navigation
- EU
- https://wego.here.com/
- https://en.mapy.cz/
- https://magicearth.com/
- https://tomtom.com/
- https://organicmaps.app/
- http://comaps.app/ (fork of organicmaps due to project lead differences)
- https://osmand.net/
- Considered friendly:
- Further infos:
Shopping
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Messaging:
I never understood the obsession to use Facebook Messenger in Denmark. First time someone asked me whether I “use messenger”, I said “Yes, three different ones” and the person was bewildered while I was confused.
This is an important area where everyone can start:
- Find an XMPP provider
- Install app, create account
- Move conversations over
- Delete Facebook account at some point
Free conversations from big tech, use something that does not depend on a single provider. Monopolies are bad, not just if they’re from the US. Try to use something from Europe that isn’t based on monopolies.
Here’s a flyer from the Digital Independence Day that has recently been proclaimed by the Chaos Computer Club and several other German organisations: https://shop.digitalcourage.de/files/xmpp-folder-engl-druck.pdf
Also, note that Signal has server plugged into a wall in the US. It definitely is better than WhatsApp in many ways, but that does not mean Trump could not do something to harm it.
He could just sent his goons to unplug the servers.
All email recommendations link to mailbox.org
Not by purpose. Might have messed up the syntax. Thanks for the catch!
Gonna check back tomorrow.
Edit: removed all links for now.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply it was on purpose. Just wanted to point it out.
Never mind. I removed all links, it was a total mess :-) . Gonna fix it tomorrow.
Maybe we could switch the link to the frontpage instead of the “categories” subpage? We added a ‘Search’ button on the front page as the main ‘entrance’ in order for people to more quickly find what they are looking for. Thanks for all your work for the movement!
