Privacy First List
These alternatives, often open-source and decentralized, provide similar functionalities to Big Tech software but with a strong emphasis on minimizing data collection and safeguarding user information. Reviewed every week Feel free to message me for questions
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Like this appHugging Face is now using these servers for its first potentially massive project: HuggingChat is intended to be the first true open-source alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
- AI Chatbot
- Free • Open Source
- Online
- iPhone
- iPad
- Mac
Like this appConversational point leveraging Mistral's models with educational, fun exploration, customization options, and unmatched latency across infrastructures.
- AI Chatbot
- Free Personal • Open Source
- Online
- Self-Hosted
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Like this appVenice is a private, permissionless generative AI app offering text, code, and image generation without storing user data.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Online
Like this appLeo is an AI-powered intelligent assistant, built right into the browser. Leo can answer questions, help accomplish tasks, and more.
- AI Chatbot
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Brave
- Android
- Android Tablet
- iPhone
- iPad
Like this appDuckDuckGo AI Chat is a free beta feature that allows you to have anonymous conversations with 3rd-party AI chat models. It currently supports Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku, Mistral AI’s Mixtral 8x7B, OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo, and Llama 3 70B (built with Meta Llama 3).
- AI Chatbot
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- DuckDuckGo
Like this appFully private LLM chatbot that runs entirely with a browser with no server needed. Supports Mistral and LLama 3.
- AI Chatbot
- Free • Open Source
- Online
- Self-Hosted
Browser
Like this appFast, secure browser with built-in ad block, privacy controls, and global tracking protections. Optimizes data, speed, and battery life.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey
Like this appThis project is an independent fork of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- AppImageHub
- Linux Mint
- Arch Linux
- Gentoo
- Flathub
- Fedora
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- OpenBSD
Like this appThe Mullvad Browser is a privacy-focused web browser developed in a collaboration between Mullvad VPN and the Tor Project. It’s designed to minimize tracking and fingerprinting. You could say it’s a Tor Browser to use without the Tor Network.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appThis is a privacy oriented and deblobbed web browser based on Mozilla Firefox technology. It enables many features upstreamed by the Tor Uplift project using preferences from the arkenfox-user.js project.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- F-Droid
Like this appCromite is a fork of Bromite (which practically got abandoned, as it has not been updated since December 2022)
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- Android Tablet
- F-Droid
- Android TV
Like this appFirefox Focus is the Mozilla-made browser that considers your privacy first and foremost. By default, it blocks ad-trackers and it helps keep things secure by providing easy ways to clear your browsing history, including passwords and cookies.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Like this appA free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite. Firefox is highly extensible, with thousands of third-party add-ons available.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- BSD
- iPad
- AppImageHub
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- Flatpak
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey
- Gecko
Like this appEnhance privacy with a secure, portable browser that hides your IP and encrypts connections on multiple platforms, maintaining anonymity.
- Web Browser
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- OpenBSD
Search Engine
Like this appBrave Search is built on top of a completely independent index, and doesn’t track users, their searches, or their clicks.
- Web Search Engine
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Online
- Tor
- Brave
Like this appThe world's most private search engine.
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- Tor
- Mozilla Firefox
- Android
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- iPhone
Like this appDuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine that has rich features, respects your privacy, and is built from free/open-source software.
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Microsoft Edge
- Vivaldi Browser
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- F-Droid
- Yandex.Browser
- Tor
- Opera
- Firefox
Like this appSearXNG is a free internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases. Users are neither tracked nor profiled.
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Open Source
- Linux
- Online
- Arch Linux
- Fedora
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Docker
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- Self-Hosted
Like this appPremium search engine where everything on the page matters.
- Web Search Engine
- Paid • Proprietary
- Online
- Safari
- Mozilla Firefox
- Android
- Android Tablet
- Mac
- iPhone
- iPad
Like this appQwant is a European web search engine, launched in July 2013 and operated from Paris. It is the only EU-based search engine with its own indexing engine. It claims not to employ user tracking and doesn't personalize search results in order to avoid trapping users in a filter...
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
Like this appMojeek, the alternative search engine that puts the people who use it first.
- Web Search Engine
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
Like this appMetaGer is an open source metasearch engine focused on protecting users' privacy. Based in Germany, and hosted as a cooperation between the German NGO 'SUMA-EV - Association for Free Access to Knowledge' and the University of Hannover, the system is built on 24...
- Web Search Engine
- Paid • Open Source
- Online
- Android
- F-Droid
- Tor
VPN
Like this appMullvad is a VPN service that helps keep your online activity, identity, and location private.
- VPN Service
- Paid • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- F-Droid
- WireGuard
- Qubes OS
- Tor
- OpenWrt
- Tomato
- IPFire
- pfSense
- OpenVPN
- DD-WRT
Like this appSwiss-based VPN that ensures online privacy with a high-speed network, advanced encryption, and no-logs policy, offering a free version. Supports multiple platforms and unblocks content worldwide.
- VPN Service
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Google Chrome
- F-Droid
- Android TV
- Fire TV
- Mozilla Firefox
- Flathub
- Flatpak
Like this appIVPN is a commercial VPN service focused on multihop VPN connections and that does not log any data relating to their customers activities.
- VPN Service
- Paid • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- F-Droid
- Tomato
- pfSense
- DD-WRT
Like this appWindscribe is a desktop application and browser extension that work together to block ads and trackers, restore access to blocked content and help you safeguard your privacy online.
- VPN Service
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Google Chrome
- F-Droid
- Opera
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
Email
Like this appSecure Swiss-based email with end-to-end encryption and zero third-party access. Available across devices, offering a free version to promote privacy.
- WebMail Provider
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Tor
Like this appEnd-to-end encrypted app for email, calendar, and contacts, requiring no personal data, with open source code and quantum-resistant security.
- WebMail Provider
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Flathub
- F-Droid
Like this appTake back your email privacy today with StartMail, encrypted email made easy. Secure email service protected by Dutch privacy laws to keep your data safe.
- WebMail Provider
- Paid • Proprietary
- Online
Like this appE-mail inbox, online office, cloud storage, and video conferencing. Business or personal plans. From 1 € /month (1.10 USD).
- WebMail Provider
- Paid • Proprietary
- Online
Like this appWeb- and IMAP-based email service. 2GB cost 1€/month. Information is hosted on encrypted hard drives. Electricity from renewable resources is used.
- WebMail Provider
- Paid • Proprietary
- Online
Like this appDisroot is a platform providing online services based on principles of freedom, privacy, federation and decentralization.
- WebMail Provider
- Free • Open Source
- Online
- F-Droid
Email Aliasing
Like this appOpen source solution to protect your personal email address. Generous free plan with uncapped bandwidth and infinite sends/replies, self-hostable, lot of powerful features, open roadmap, you can count on SimpleLogin to guard your email inbox.
- Anti-Spam Tool
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- F-Droid
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appOpen-source anonymous email forwarding, create unlimited email aliases for free.
- Disposable Email Service
- Freemium • Open Source
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- F-Droid
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Mozilla Firefox
Calendar
Like this appYour calendar is a record of your life. Proton Calendar helps keep it private.
- Calendar App
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- Tor
Like this appOrganize events with encrypted privacy, zero-knowledge and no tracking. Features include multi-device sync, multiple views, and offline support.
- Calendar App
- Freemium • Open Source
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- F-Droid
Password Manager
Like this appBitwarden is the easiest and safest way to store your logins and passwords across all of your devices (iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Windows, Mac, Linux, and more).
- Password Manager
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Apple Watch
- Snapcraft
- Microsoft Edge
- Vivaldi
- Google Chrome
- Flathub
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Tor Browser
- Safari
- F-Droid
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Flatpak
- Cloudron
- Opera
- Chocolatey
- Mono
- Brave
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appSecurely manage passwords across devices with auto-fill and vulnerability alerts, organizing passwords and notes for quick access and synchronization.
- Password Manager
- Paid • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Apple Watch
- Microsoft Edge
- Vivaldi
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- Yandex Browser
- Opera
- Brave
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appProton Pass keeps your passwords and identity secure with rigorous end-to-end encryption.
- Password Manager
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Google Chrome
- Flathub
- Safari
- F-Droid
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appKeePassXC is a modern, secure, and open-source password manager that stores and manages your most sensitive information.
- Password Manager
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- AppImageHub
- Snapcraft
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Flatpak
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey
- Mozilla Firefox
Like this appKeePassDX is a material design KeePass client for managing keys and passwords in an encrypted database for your Android device.
- Password Manager
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- F-Droid
Like this appSecurely stores passwords with Touch ID and YubiKey protection. Compatible with KeePass and Password Safe, offers military-grade security.
- Password Manager
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- iPhone
- iPad
You should definitely add Zen to the browsers! Execpt that, your list is very good!