• Falkon icon
  • Ladybird icon
  • LibreWolf icon
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  • +173

Europe’s Open-Source Solutions: Your Guide to Transparent, Independent and GDPR-Aligned Software.

EUFOSS9132EUFOSS9132178 appsUpdated
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This guide is designed for anyone looking to take greater control of their digital life by choosing open-source solutions developed and maintained within Europe. It highlights projects that promote transparency, reduce reliance on non-European tech ecosystems, and align with Europe’s strong commitment to privacy and data protection. The goal is to support digital autonomy in Europe while uplifting the local developers and communities who build trustworthy, user-centric software.

  1. EU OS icon
     Like

    Community-led Proof-of-Concept for a common free Operating System for the EU public sector.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    EU OS screenshot 1
  2. KDE Linux icon
     Like

    Free, open source Linux OS by KDE, focusing on safety, maintainability, and modern features, integrating KDE Plasma and apps for diverse home or enterprise use.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    KDE Linux screenshot 1
    KDE Linux screenshot 1
  3. Desktop-focused Linux system offering custom menus, multimedia codecs, browser plugins, native DVD playback, and integrated software manager with user-friendly tools.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Linux Mint 22.2 "Zara"
    Linux Mint screenshot 1
    Linux Mint screenshot 2
    +4
    Linux Mint screenshot 3
  4. Manjaro is a user-friendly Linux distribution based on the independently developed Arch operating system. Within the Linux community, Arch itself is renowned for being an exceptionally fast, powerful, and lightweight distribution that provides access to the very latest cutting...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Arch Linux
    Manjaro 19.0 Kyria (Xfce)
    Manjaro 17.0 Gellivara (KDE)
    Manjaro 17.0 Gellivara (I3)
    +5
    Manjaro 17.0 Gellivara (I3)
  5. NixOS icon
     Like

    NixOS is a GNU/Linux distribution that aims to improve the state of the art in system configuration management. In existing distributions, actions such as upgrades are dangerous: upgrading a package can cause other packages to break, upgrading an entire system is much less...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    NixOS screenshot 1
    NixOS screenshot 1
  6. openSUSE icon
     Like

    openSUSE is a free and Linux-based operating system for your PC, Laptop or Server.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    GNOME desktop in openSUSE Leap 15.2.
    KDE Plasma desktop in openSUSE Leap 15.2.
    XFCE desktop in openSUSE Leap 15.2.
  7. TUXEDO OS icon
     Like

    The tailor-made OS for your TUXEDO computer.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    TUXEDO OS screenshot 1
  8. Zorin OS icon
     Like

    Linux-based operating system with a customizable interface for Windows users, dual-boot support, WINE compatibility, pre-installed software, and easy setup.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Windows 10 layout
    MacOS layout
    Compact panel layout
    +2
    New theme colours

Productivity and Information-Management Tools

  1. Ark icon
     Like

    Ark is a program for viewing, extracting, creating and modifying archives. Ark can handle various archive formats such as tar, gzip, bzip2, zip, rar, 7zip, xz, rpm, cab and deb (support for certain archive formats depend on the appropriate command-line programs being installed).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
    • Windows
    Ark screenshot 1
    Ark screenshot 1
  2. Czkawka icon
     Like

    Czkawka is a simple, fast, written in Rust and easy to use app to remove unnecessary files from your computer.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    Czkawka screenshot 1
    Czkawka screenshot 1
    Czkawka screenshot 2
    +2
    Czkawka screenshot 3
  3. EUSurvey icon
     Like

    EUSurvey is supported by the European Commission to promote interoperability solutions for European public administrations. A hosted version is available free of charge to all EU citizens. Open-source, published under the EUPL licence.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
  4. Excalidraw is an open-source whiteboard tool that lets you easily sketch diagrams that have a hand-drawn feel to them. Available directly online as a web app and also through CodeSandbox to easily see how the code works, and the app is available for self-hosting.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    Excalidraw screenshot 1
    Excalidraw screenshot 1
    Excalidraw screenshot 2
    +1
    Excalidraw screenshot 3
  5. FFmpeg icon
     Like

    Cross-platform multimedia framework performing decoding, encoding, transcoding, muxing, demuxing, streaming, filtering, and playback for nearly all media formats.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Linux Mobile
    • Haiku
    FFmpeg screenshot 1
    FFmpeg screenshot 1
    FFmpeg screenshot 2
    +1
    FFmpeg screenshot 3
  6. HandBrake icon
     Like

    An open-source multithreaded video transcoder, HandBrake compresses and converts digital media, supporting MP4, MKV formats, and offers hardware-accelerated conversion.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    HandBrake screenshot 1
    HandBrake screenshot 1
    HandBrake screenshot 2
  7. JabRef icon
     Like

    Bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    JabRef screenshot 1
  8. Kan.bn icon
     Like

    Open source kanban platform with workspace members, board visibility controls, Trello import, card labelling, activity logs, and collaboration tools.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Kan.bn screenshot 1
  9. LimeSurvey (formerly PHPSurveyor) is an Open Source PHP web application to develop, publish and collect responses to online & offline surveys. Anonymous and Not-Anonymous survey, open and closed group of participant surveys, optional public registration for surveys.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Cloudron
    Dashboard
    Array Questions
    Multiple Options with Comments
    +6
    Masks: Date Questions
  10. Deck is a kanban style organization tool aimed at personal planning and project organization for teams integrated with Nextcloud.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
    Nextcloud Deck screenshot 1
    • Simple design: No mass of options, only the essentials. Works well on mobile of course.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Nextcloud Forms screenshot 1
  11. Once enabled, a new Tasks menu will appear in your Nextcloud apps menu. From there you can add and delete tasks, edit their title, description, start and due dates, reminder times, mark them as important, and add comments on them. Tasks can be shared between users.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Nextcloud
    Nextcloud Tasks screenshot 1
  12. Open source software offering project timelines, issue tracking, and document management with robust security and flexible management options.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Cloudron
    OpenProject screenshot 1
    OpenProject screenshot 1
    OpenProject screenshot 2
    +2
    OpenProject screenshot 3
  13. Small python-gtk application, which helps the user to merge or split pdf documents and rotate, crop and rearrange their pages using an interactive and intuitive graphical interface.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    Export selection only. Export each selected page to a file. Export all pages to files.
    Edit properties
    Edit properties. Ubuntu.
    +4
    Crop selected pages
  14. PeaZip icon
     Like

    PeaZip is free file archiver utility, based on Open Source technologies of 7-Zip, p7zip, FreeArc, PAQ, and PEA projects, for Linux, macOS and Windows.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    PeaZip
    Archive creation
    Archive extraction
    +4
    PeaZip on macOS
  15. ProjectLibre is a Java-based project management solution that gives Microsoft Project a run for its money. Offering a UI similar enough to ease the transition from Microsoft's market leader, ProjectLibre packs in calendars, resource tracking, task management, and...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    ProjectLibre screenshot 1
    ProjectLibre screenshot 1
  16. Redmine icon
     Like

    Redmine is a flexible project management web application. Written using Ruby on Rails framework, it is cross-platform and cross-database.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • MariaDB
    • Ruby
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • Cloudron
    • Ruby on Rails
    • PostgreSQL
    Issue List
    Spent Time
    Workflow
  17. Vikunja icon
     Like

    Think of Vikunja like the notebook you have with all your things to keep track of. But better.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Android
    • Debian
    • Fedora
    • Arch Linux
    • Docker
    • Nix Package Manager
    • FreeBSD
    • Kubernetes
    • Online
    Vikunja screenshot 1
    Vikunja screenshot 1
    Vikunja screenshot 2
    +3
    Vikunja screenshot 3
  18. Yakforms icon
     Like

    Yakforms is a free-as-in-free-speech software that allows you to easily create forms for your community. Whether you need a full-blown or a quick poll, Yakforms will fit your needs.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Yakforms screenshot 1
    Yakforms screenshot 1
    Yakforms screenshot 2
    +1
    Yakforms screenshot 3
  19. Wekan icon
     Like

    Open-source kanban board offering real-time collaboration, customizable labels, filtered views, cards, comments, member assignments, and self-hosting options.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Sandstorm
    • Snapcraft
    • Cloudron
    • Docker
    Wekan screenshot 1
    Wekan screenshot 1

Media Editors/Viewer

  1. Audacity icon
     Like

    Free open-source multi-track audio editor and recorder with 32-bit float processing. Supports many formats and plugins for Windows, macOS, Linux.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • AppImageHub
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    Audacity screenshot 1
    Audacity screenshot 1
    Audacity screenshot 2
    +6
    Audacity screenshot 3
  2. digiKam icon
     Like

    Advanced digital photo management software with features to organize, tag, compare, and process photo collections, supporting multiple formats including RAW.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Qt
    Image editor
    Light table
    Import from camera
    +10
    Tagging
  3. Flameshot icon
     Like

    Open-source screenshot tool with cross-platform support, customizable interface, built-in editing, CLI access, and direct Imgur uploads.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    Powerful, yet simple to use open-source screenshot software
    Free & open source screenshot software
    Highly customizable
    +4
    In-app screenshot editing
  4. Gwenview icon
     Like

    Fast image viewer with support for multiple formats, quick crop, rotate, lossless JPEG editing, drag-and-drop, thumbnail navigation, and slideshow mode.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    Gwenview screenshot 1
    Gwenview screenshot 1
    Gwenview screenshot 2
  5. Kdenlive icon
     Like

    Intuitive multi-track video editor with robust hardware-accelerated support; offers chroma key, color grading, and extensive audio/video format compatibility.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Logging
    Editing
    Audio
    +2
    Effects
  6. Krita icon
     Like

    A free, open-source painting program for professional artists offering customizable UI, 9 brush engines, layer support, and color management.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android Tablet
    • KDE Plasma
    • Epic Games Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • F-Droid
    • Steam
    • AppImage
    Krita screenshot 1
    Krita screenshot 1
    Krita screenshot 2
    +6
    Main Window
  7. Comprehensive software providing screen recording and live streaming on Mac, Windows, and Linux with powerful encoding support and unlimited scenes.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Steam
    • FreeBSD
    OBS Studio screenshot 1
    OBS Studio screenshot 1
    OBS Studio screenshot 2
    +8
    OBS Studio screenshot 3
  8. PicView icon
     Like

    PicView is a fast, free and fully customizable picture viewer for macOS and Windows 10/11. It supports virtually all image file types, including (animated) WEBP, (animated) GIF, SVG, AVIF, HEIC, PSD and many others.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    Minimalist dark theme
    An overview of the UI
    Change between dark or light theme and hide the UI
    +4
    View an image information window which will update as you browse through images. Set EXIF rating, optimize image and rename/move files.
  9. Cross-platform, free media player supports multimedia files, DVDs, streaming, offers hardware acceleration, 4K, lossless audio, and more.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Windows Mobile
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • HUAWEI AppGallery
    • iPad
    • AppImageHub
    • Apple Watch
    • Snapcraft
    • Google Chrome
    • Apple TV
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • F-Droid
    • Kindle Fire
    • Haiku
    • Android TV
    • OpenAPK
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
    • Xbox
    VLC Media Player screenshot 1
    VLC Media Player screenshot 1
    VLC Media Player screenshot 2
    +4
    VLC Media Player screenshot 3

Code and Text Editors

  1. Geany icon
     Like

    Geany is a powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    • Haiku
    Geany screenshot 1
    Geany screenshot 1
    Geany screenshot 2
    +5
    Geany screenshot 3
  2. IntelliJ IDEA is the JetBrains IDE for pro development in Java and Kotlin. Built for your comfort, it unlocks productivity, ensures quality code, supports cutting-edge tech, and protects your privacy.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    IntelliJ IDEA interface overview: the Project tool window (left) outlines the code structure and the Editor (right) is used to read, write, and explore the source code.
    Inspections help find probable bugs and dead code, detect performance issues, and improve the overall code structure by providing quick-fixes for any code that contains potential concerns.
    In the Search Everywhere window, you can search for files, actions, classes, symbols, settings, UI elements, and anything in Git, all from a single entry point.
    +1
    IntelliJ IDEA provides first-class support for leading frameworks with dedicated assistance for Jakarta EE, JPA, Reactor, Spring and Spring Boot, and other popular frameworks.
  3. Kate icon
     Like

    The Kate project develops two main products: KatePart, the advanced editor component which is used in numerous KDE applications requiring a text editing component, and Kate, a MDI text editor application.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1
    Kate screenshot 1
    Kate with an ATOM color scheme using some RegEx to find and replace.
  4. LyX icon
     Like

    LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents (WYSIWYM) and not simply their appearance (WYSIWYG). LyX combines the power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with the ease of use of a GUI.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Chrome OS
    LyX screenshot 1
    Inserting special mathematical symbols
    Template for Beamer a short presentation
    +3
    Documentation with table of contents panel
  5. Notepad++ icon
     Like

    Free open-source code editor and Notepad replacement supporting multiple languages, featuring high speed, low resource usage, privacy focus, and plugin extensibility.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
    Notepad++ screenshot 2
    +10
    TextFX plugin menu
  6. PyCharm icon
     Like

    IDE for Python and Django offering refactoring, code analysis, VCS integration, debugger, deployment, and more, with a Community Edition option.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    PyCharm screenshot 1
    PyCharm screenshot 1
  7. Texmaker icon
     Like

    Texmaker is a free LaTeX editor, that integrates many tools needed to develop documents with LaTeX, in just one application.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Haiku
    Texmaker on Linux
    Texmaker on MacOSX
    Texmaker on WIndows
  8. TeXstudio icon
     Like

    TeXstudio is an integrated environment for writing LaTeX documents. Our goal is to make writing LaTeX as easy and comfortable as possible. Therefore TeXstudio has numerous features like syntax-highlighting, integrated viewer, reference checking and various assistants.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Main interface (2024) on KDE desktop
    Inline Checking
    Error Highlighting
    +4
    example.tex on Mac
  9. Vim icon
     Like

    Advanced text editor with multiple modes, syntax highlighting, word completion, plugin support, built-in help, command-line tools, cross-platform and open source.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    Vim screenshot 1
    GVim with netrw+airlines+ctrlspace+xkb-switch+monokai theme+Source Pro font
    Plugin Gitgutter shows added lines as '+' and altere as '~'.
Page 3 of 4

*Loops and Pixelfed are Canadian, but they are the best FOSS alternatives to Instagram and Tiktok.

Comments

Alexandre Alapetite
2

Thanks for this list! A few more for consideration (which I am using myself):

2 replies
EUFOSS9132
Replying to @Alexandre Alapetite

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions!

I'll look into adding them as soon as I can.

EUFOSS9132
Replying to @Alexandre Alapetite

I've added all of your suggestions, with the exception of FileZilla and Ancestris.

I've seen reports of users installing the official FileZilla client and encountering malware or unwanted software, so I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending it to others.

As for Ancestris, I couldn't find a public link to its source code, so I can't verify that it meets the open-source criteria for this list. If you know where the source code is hosted, feel free to share the link. Until then, I won't be adding it to the list.

Pika Nogavicka
1

Koofr is also a great european cloud storage provider, very privacy oriented, and Bunny.net, they are both from Slovenia.

1 reply
EUFOSS9132
Replying to @Pika Nogavicka

Thank you for the suggestions! Koofr has now been added to the list.

The list is based on two criteria:

  1. The software must be open-source
  2. The software must be European

There are no exceptions to the first criteria. For the second one, exceptions may apply in certain cases. For example if the software is developed internationally (such as LibreWolf or VSCodium) or if no European alternatives exist (e.g. Pixelfed or Loops as alternatives to Instagram and TikTok).

For this reason, Bunny.net will not be added to the list, as the software is not open-source.

SleipnirTheHorse
0

Never knew Krita was European, do you know of any specifically German open source projects?

1 reply
EUFOSS9132
Replying to @SleipnirTheHorse

Yes, Krita is actually part of the KDE ecosystem, which is a German-based FOSS community. KDE is best known for the KDE Plasma desktop (Linux), but they also develop a huge collection of applications across many categories.

Some prominent KDE apps include Kdenlive (video editing), Okular (document viewer), Gwenview (image viewer), Dolphin (file manager) and many more. All FOSS and actively developed in Europe.

Germany in general has a very strong open-source scene.

European_AlternativeTo
0

Wow, I thought that I was the only person loving European open-source projects! Maybe we need to a collaborate? Just to help you, Infomaniak isn't that privacy focused: when you sign up, you (sometimes) have to make a selfie and give a lot of personal information... In general this list looks amazing and your username is awesome. Let's go Europe!

1 reply
EUFOSS9132
Replying to @European_AlternativeTo

Thanks! Always great to meet another person who cares about European FOSS projects

I’m definitely curious about collaboration. Did you have anything in mind? It could be anything from sharing resources, testing projects, contributing to open-source or even writing about European alternatives together.

And you’re absolutely right about Infomaniak: they’re not the most privacy-focused option out there. For me it’s a pragmatic choice right now - European jurisdiction, transparent, sustainable and very competitive pricing. I see them as a “good enough” step away from US hyperscalers, not a perfect privacy solution.