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The definitive list of Google products alternatives, videos, podcasts, articles and more
Like many people out there, I also use a lot of Google products. I got so used to Gmail, Google Analytics, YouTube, Google Translate, Google Maps, Google Drive, and even Google Earth that I wasn't even remotely thinking about using an alternative.
In some ways, it's just convenient. Google has some great free products, and they are well-known for a reason. But over the last few months, I've read a few articles that mention privacy issues related to Google and I started wondering, how will it look like to not use Google at all?
Given this, I've put together this list as something of a fun afternoon project for myself. I was curious to discover Google product alternatives, in-depth articles around it, interesting podcasts, books, and videos. I spent many hours curating this list of resources.
Sharing this article on social media, with your family and friends will be a great incentive for writing more lists like this.
Enjoy!
Tox is a free and secure software that allows you to connect with your team, friends, or family.
Its features include instant messaging, voice and video communication, screen sharing, file sharing, and group chats.
Free to use, encrypted, and with zero advertising, Tox is a secure solution for online communication.
If you're looking for a friendly blogging platform, you have to take a closer look at Ghost. It was created as an online publishing platform for bloggers and it is much simpler and more flexible than WordPress.
Ghost also comes with a built-in email newsletter feature. In addition, it's SEO friendly and way faster than WordPress.
LibreOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. The application comes with features like Writer for editing texts, Calc for spreadsheets, Impress for presentations, Draw for diagrams, Math for applying formulas, and Charts.
LibreOffice supports various formats, and it will boost your office efficiency on a day-to-day basis, for free.
Calligra is an open-source project that aims to deliver a comprehensive set of tools for document creation, data analysis, and presentation development. You can perform calculations, organize data, and create charts and graphs. It features a wide range of formulas and data manipulation tools.
Calligra allows you to design visually stunning presentations with slide templates, transition effects, and multimedia integration. Customize slide layouts for impactful presentations.
Signal is a popular chatting app with a high level of privacy and user security. It also comes with a timer that automatically deletes your messages.
Just like with Whatsapp, you can easily send text messages, create group chats, share files, and make video/voice calls. Signal is also free for use and comes with zero advertising.
Zoho Sheet is a spreadsheet editor application allowing a user to create charts and diagrams, analyze data, edit and share all these documents. You can also provide universal access to these files. It is recommended for small companies.
The app uses cloud-based storage that makes it possible to reach your docs everywhere anytime. Zoho Sheet supports formulas, and it can create graphics.
Sync lets you access and share all your files across multiple devices. With its robust security, you can ensure that only you have access to your data.
You can share access to any file with a link, and the receiver does not need a Sync account to see the information.
Get instant access to data from any platforms or devices using Seafile. One of its distinguishable features is that it combines a spreadsheet with cloud storage to make your life a lot easier!
Seafile is an open-source share solution designed for high reliability, performance and productivity. Sync, share and collaborate across devices and team. Besides, the AES 128 bit encryption works very well with Linux, Android, Windows and iOS. You can organize files in the form of folders too.
Wire is the most secure collaboration platform. It comes with end to end encryption, superior user experience, and allows integrations.
With Wire, you can increase your team's productivity by making communication and collaboration faster.
Wire allows you or your team to work from anywhere and securely communicate with people outside your organization. All in one single platform!
Threema is a chatting app for mobile devices with a similar interface to Whatsapp. With this tool, you can send images, text messages and GPS locations in the chat. It also syncs all your contact lists so that you can easily find users of the app.
Threema also puts security and privacy first, so you can chat with your friends, family, and team without having to worry about someone else reading your messages.
Discord is a free chat application, initially created for gamers. The platform gained popularity and is now used by different communities with different interests. It makes chatting easy even if it's mainly oriented towards video gaming.
It can be used to create servers, both public and private that allow you to chat with people via text, video, or voice. On Discord, you can find or create groups on a variety of topics, like self-improvement, productivity, cryptocurrency, and more.
Watch this video to understand the extent of how much Google can spy on you.
10 min
Here are some Google Chrome alternatives, along with Gmail and Google Drive alternatives.
5 min
If you want to stop using Google as your web search engine or browser, watch this video for alternatives.
8 min
This is another video with suggestions for Google App alternatives so you can phase your data away from the company.
6 min
Understanding how Google is building a monopoly is important. Watch this video to understand this so that you’re better informed.
9 min
Here’s another video listing alternatives to the infamous Google search engine.
14 min
In addition to the previous videos, here’s another video with 10 Google Search alternatives.
6 min
Listen to this TED Talk by Scott Galloway to understand how the biggest companies are manipulating us for their benefit.
19 min
This is a TEDx talk by journalist Andreas Ekström who has previously written a bestselling book about Google and its monopoly.
12 min
Hear from someone who actually replaced Google with other alternatives.
4 min
Here’s what happens when you block the biggest tech companies from accessing your data, money, or attention.
7 min
This podcast focuses on real stories about the dark side of the internet: hacking, breaching, cybercrime, and the Dark Web.
5 min
In this weekly podcast, the hosts Linus and Luke discuss the week’s most interesting tech stories.
8 min
Here’s another weekly podcast. This one focuses on ideas to help you become digitally invisible. If you’re new to them, begin with episodes 174-178.
4 min
Ethical.net is a not-for-profit building an online directory of ethical companies to use as alternatives.
PrivacyTools provides tools and snippets of knowledge to defend yourself against global mass surveillance.
Here’s a crowdsources directory of websites and softwares you can use as alternatives to big companies and services.
Framasoft has a free culture directory, a publishing house, and a blog that reports news about free culture.
Every wanted to know how much of your information can be accessed by the government and big data companies? Use this website to find out.
Edward Snowden is infamous in the online world. His book discusses how he exposed the US government’s mass surveillance system.
Hear from the Silicon Valley persona Jaron Lanier about why he doesn’t have any social media accounts.
Read this book to know more about the development of digital companies and how their business models have given birth to “surveillance capitalism."
An “Attention Merchant” is a company whose business model is to capture attention for the purpose of advertising. Read this book to understand how this works.
Sometimes investors don’t realize the damage they’re doing until it’s too late. Here’s a memoir from Roger McNamee — a venture capitalist who realized that the company he invested in, Facebook, was doing some serious damage.
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