- [Brave Search](https://search.brave.com) - A privacy respecting search engine with its own index, which doesn't rely on search engines like Google or Bing.
- [Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) - Open Source, independent browser. It needs some [hardening](https://privacytools.io/browsers/#addons) and [tweaking](https://privacytools.io/browsers/#about_config) to achieve great privacy.
> Controversial option: [Brave](https://brave.com/) - Android/iOS. [Read more info on this related discussion](https://libredd.it/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/gytwmd/brave_browser_privacytoolsio_and_the_negativity/) and [the Wikipedia page](https://wikiless.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser)#Controversies).
- [Bromite WebView](https://www.bromite.org/system_web_view) - Bromite WebView is a version of Android System WebView with support for ad blocking and enhanced privacy.
- [WebView Switcher](https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/bromitewebview) - A tool for installing Bromite WebView on android 10+
- [Google Photos Takeout Helper](https://github.com/TheLastGimbus/GooglePhotosTakeoutHelper) - Script that organizes the Google Takeout messy archive into one big chronological folder. Use this script to get out of Google Photos :).
- [Photoprism](https://photoprism.app) - Feature rich server-based application for browsing, organizing and sharing your personal photo collection. The most similar to Google Photos.
- [Photoview](https://photoview.github.io/) - Photo gallery for self-hosted personal servers with Facial Recognition.
- [Photostructure](https://photostructure.com/) - Self-hosted photo library that makes browsing and sharing a lifetime of memories delightful.
- [LibrePhotos](https://github.com/LibrePhotos/librephotos) - Active [OwnPhotos](https://github.com/hooram/ownphotos) fork. Self hosted alternative to Google Photos.
- [Nextcloud](https://nextcloud.com/) - The open source self-hosted productivity platform that keeps you in control. It has a [*Photos*](https://github.com/nextcloud/photos) plugin to help you organize and visualize your photos.
- [Nextcloud](https://nextcloud.com/) - The open source self-hosted productivity platform that keeps you in control.
- [Seafile](https://www.seafile.com/en/home/) - High performance file syncing and sharing. It includes a Wiki, WYSIWYG editing and other knowledge management features.
**Other useful tools**
- [Cryptomator](https://cryptomator.org) - Cryptomator encrypts your data quickly and easily. Afterwards you upload them protected to your favorite cloud service.
- [Syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) - Continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes.
- [Rclone](https://rclone.org/) - Rclone is a command line program to manage files on cloud storage. It is a feature rich alternative to cloud vendors' web storage interfaces and like the tools listed above enables encryption for encrypting files in the cloud.
- [Cryptomator](https://cryptomator.org/) - Cryptomator encrypts your data quickly and easily. Afterwards you upload them protected to your favorite cloud service.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid using apps that won't let you export your keys **easily**.
- Authy
- Google Authenticator
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/check.png"></img> Instead use
- [Aegis](https://getaegis.app/) - A free, secure and open source app for Android to manage your 2-step verification tokens. Supports variety of imports from other apps (Google Authenticator, Authy etc.), vault encryption and exporting keys (plaintext or encrypted).
- [andOTP](https://github.com/andOTP/andOTP) - Open source two-factor authentication for Android.
- [FreeOTPPlus](https://github.com/helloworld1/FreeOTPPlus) - Enhanced fork of FreeOTP-Android providing a feature-rich 2FA authenticator.
- [Croc](https://github.com/schollz/croc) - Easily and securely send things from one computer to another.
- [Dat-cp](https://github.com/tom-james-watson/dat-cp) - Copy files between hosts on a network using the peer-to-peer Dat network.
- [QRcp](https://github.com/claudiodangelis/qrcp) - Transfer files over wifi from your computer to your mobile device by scanning a QR code without leaving the terminal.
- [Snapdrop](https://snapdrop.net/) - A Progressive Web App for local file sharing inspired by Apple's Airdrop.
- [Paperless-ng](https://github.com/jonaswinkler/paperless-ng) - A supercharged version of paperless: scan, index and archive all your physical documents.
- [OnionShare](https://github.com/micahflee/onionshare) - An open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share files, host websites, and chat with friends using the Tor network.
- [Sharik](https://github.com/marchellodev/sharik) - Sharik works with Wi-Fi connection or Tethering (Wi-Fi Hotspot). No internet connection needed. Available for Android, iOS, Linux, MacOS & Windows.
- [Open Street Map (OSM)](https://www.openstreetmap.org/) - OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world.
- [OSMAnd](https://osmand.net/) - Android/iOS Navigation app using OSM. It is a feature-rich app with all you expect.
- [Nextcloud Phonetrack](https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/phonetrack) - Nextcloud app to track location history with an [Android app](https://gitlab.com/eneiluj/phonetrack-android) ([other apps also supported](https://gitlab.com/eneiluj/phonetrack-oc/-/wikis/userdoc#logging-methods)). Supports caching positions offline and sending them to the server in batches. The first-party app has good battery saving options.
- [OwnTracks](https://owntracks.org/) - Location tracking for displaying the current location only (limited location history functionality).
- [Traccar](https://www.traccar.org/) - Location tracking software made for dedicated GPS logging devices.
- [Lingva](https://github.com/TheDavidDelta/lingva-translate) - Alternative front-end for Google Translate. [Demo](https://lingva.ml/).
- [Simplytranslate](https://git.sr.ht/~metalune/simplytranslate_web) - Alternative front-end for Google Translate and LibreTranslate. [Demo](https://translate.metalune.xyz/).
- [FlorisBoard](https://github.com/florisboard/florisboard) - FlorisBoard is a free and open-source keyboard for Android 6.0+ devices. It aims at being modern, user-friendly and customizable while fully respecting your privacy. Currently in early-beta state.
- [Indic Keyboard](https://gitlab.com/indicproject/indic-keyboard) - Indic Keyboard is a versatile keyboard for Android users who wish to use Indic and Indian languages to type messages, compose emails and generally prefer to use them in addition to English on their phone.
- [FossDroid](https://fossdroid.com/) - Fossdroid's aim is to promote free and open source apps on the Android platform: newest, trendiest and the most popular ones.
- [Aurora Store](https://auroraoss.com/download/#aurora-store) - Aurora Store is an open-source alternative Google Play Store frontend client with privacy and modern design in mind.
- [Simple Dialer](https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Dialer) - A lightweight app for handling your calls, no matter where are you. Comes with a handy call log for easy call initiation.
- [Koler](https://github.com/Chooloo/koler) - Uniquely stylized phone app with customizable features.
Preinstalled file manager apps and third party launchers found on the play store. They may contain ads/trackers and may ask for unnecessary permissions.
- [Simple File Manager](https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-File-Manager) - A simple file manager for browsing and editing files and directories.
- [Amaze File Manager](https://github.com/TeamAmaze/AmazeFileManager) - Simple and attractive Material Design file manager for Android.
- [Material Files](https://github.com/zhanghai/MaterialFiles) - An open source Material Design file manager, for Android 5.0+.
- [Persepolis Download Manager](https://github.com/persepolisdm/persepolis) - Persepolis is a download manager & a GUI for Aria2. It's written in Python. Persepolis is a sample of free and open source software. It's developed for GNU/Linux distributions, BSDs, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows.
- [uGet Download Manager](https://ugetdm.com/) - uGet is a lightweight yet powerful Open Source download manager for GNU/Linux developed with GTK+, which also comes packaged as a portable Windows app. It is also available for Android.
- [Motrix](https://github.com/agalwood/Motrix) - A full-featured download manager.
- [FireDM](https://github.com/firedm/FireDM) - FireDM is a python open source (Internet Download Manager) with multi-connections, high speed engine, it downloads general files and videos from youtube and tons of other streaming websites. It is availabe for Linux & Windows.
- [Xtreme Download Manager](https://github.com/subhra74/xdm) - Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) is a powerful tool to increase download speeds up to 500%, save streaming videos from YouTube, DailyMotion, Facebook, Vimeo, Google Video and 1000+ other websites, resume broken/dead downloads, schedule and convert downloads.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Don't use Instagram (or at least the official client). Instagram is a very privacy-invasive app with biased results and feeds based on user profiles, it is also used as a manipulation tool and has a lot of censorship going against free speech. Lastly, it has an addictive and toxic UI design.
- [Barinsta](https://codeberg.org/avalos/barinsta) - Android instagram alternative client with enhanced privacy features (Your requests will be sent to instagram).
- [Bibliogram](https://bibliogram.art/) - Watch Instagram's public profile in a friendlier page that loads faster, gives downloadable images, eliminates ads and doesn't urge you to sign up.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Don't use YouTube (or at least the official client). YouTube is very privacy invasive, it generates a very accurate profile based on your interests. Also it is a [radicalization tool](https://www.pcmag.com/news/does-youtubes-algorithm-lead-to-radicalization) which shows [biased content to users](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1908.08313.pdf) in order to get more engagement and to get them to watch more and more content creating an [addiction](https://medium.com/dataseries/how-youtube-is-addictive-259d5c575883). It never shows you [alternative opinions](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1908.08313.pdf) to your ideology/bias. YouTube censors a lot. YouTube collects a LOT of your data: interests, free time, ideology, likes, dislikes, music taste, etc.
- [SimpleerTube](https://simpleertube.metalune.xyz/) - A simple frontend for PeerTube with SepiaSearch [Source](https://git.sr.ht/~metalune/simpleweb_peertube).
- [SkyTube](https://github.com/SkyTubeTeam/SkyTube) - Alternative Android YouTube app. No account needed, privacy respecting, no ads.
- [FreeTube](https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube) - FreeTube is an open source desktop YouTube player built with privacy in mind. (Uses Local RSS API or Invidious for backend).
- [youtube-local](https://github.com/user234683/youtube-local) - Browser-based client for watching YouTube anonymously and with greater page performance.
- [yt-local](https://git.sr.ht/~heckyel/yt-local) - (Fork of youtube-local) Browser-based client for watching YouTube anonymously without forcing JavaScript.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid using Twitter official app / website. It tracks users and creates user profiles based on what they follow, retweet and like. Twitter harms and violates user privacy with their policies.
> **Federated social networks**: A federated social network isn't a single website like Twitter or Facebook, it's a network of thousands of communities operated by different organizations and individuals that provide a seamless social media experience.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Try to avoid using Reddit or at least avoid their official clients as they are plenty of trackers, ads and share unnecessary user data with their servers.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid using platforms as Twitch, Patreon, YouTube as they are very privacy-invasive with your viewers (and you!). Instead, you can try using some self-hosted platforms that do take care of everyone's privacy.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Read more about the issue with Wikipedia on the [Wikiless manifesto](https://codeberg.org/orenom/wikiless#why-i-should-use-wikiless-instead-of-wikipedia).
- [Wikiless](https://wikiless.org/) - A free open source alternative Wikipedia front-end focused on privacy [Source Code](https://codeberg.org/orenom/wikiless).
- [Imgin](https://imgin.voidnet.tech/) - A minimalist, tor-friendly, read-only Imgur proxy insipired by software like Invidious, Nitter, and Bibliogram.
- [Twake](https://twake.app/) - Work in a team faster. Twake covers all of your organizational needs through a single platform.
- [RocketChat](https://rocket.chat/) - Control your communication, manage your data, and have your own collaboration platform to improve team productivity.
- [Nextcloud Talk](https://nextcloud.com/talk/) - Keep conversations private with Nextcloud Talk.
No single point of control or failure. A decentralized network operated by different servers from different volunteers around the globe. You choose where your data stays or you can self-host your own server. Somewhat more complex protocols (because of federation between servers) and some extra metadata is added to the messages (without compromising privacy).
- [Matrix (Protocol)](https://matrix.org/) - An open network for secure, decentralized communication.
- [Element](https://element.io/) - All-in-one secure chat app for teams, friends and organisations. Keeps conversations in your control, safe from data-mining and ads. End-to-end encryption.
- [Jabber / XMPP (Protocol)](https://xmpp.org/) - The universal and open messaging standard. Tried and tested. Independent. Privacy-focused. E2E encrypted.
- [Conversations](https://conversations.im/) - Jabber/XMPP client for Android 4.0+ smartphones that has been optimized to provide a unique mobile experience.
The service is in charge of running the servers that allow users to communicate. Single point of failure and control, but still 100% safe and trustworthy if the protocols and code are open and audited.
- [Threema](https://threema.ch/en) - The messenger that puts security and privacy first. Pay once, chat forever. No collection of user data. Open Source client.
- [Signal](https://signal.org/) - Extreme focus on privacy, combined with all of the features you expect. Strong encryption by design. 100% Open Source.
- [Molly](https://github.com/mollyim/mollyim-android) - Signal-compatible fork client with some security enhancements.
- [Status](https://status.im/) - Status is a secure messaging app, crypto wallet, and Web3 browser built with state of the art technology.
No servers involved. Everything goes directly from one peer to the other peer. No point of failure or control. The features are reduced because of the lack of server, messaging can be slower. Best option for critical chats.
- [Berty](https://berty.tech/) - Not released yet. The privacy-first messaging app that works with or without internet access, cellular data or trust in the network.
- [Telegram](https://telegram.org/) - Not fully open source. No E2E encryption by default on chats.
- [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com/) - Secure Email. Based in Switzerland. [Read this article over Climate activist arrest](https://protonmail.com/blog/climate-activist-arrest/).
- [Mail-in-a-box](https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox) - Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box.
- [Docker mail server](https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver) - A fullstack but simple mail server (SMTP, IMAP, LDAP, Antispam, Antivirus, etc.) using Docker.
With email aliases, you can finally create a different identity for each website. Defend against spams, phishing and data breach. You can choose self-hosting any of the following options or you can also use their own platform as a service.
- [Google Keep Exporter](https://github.com/vHanda/google-keep-exporter) - Convert your Google Keep notes into a standard markdown + YAML header format.
- [Jitsi Meet](https://meet.jit.si/) - More secure, more flexible, and completely free video conferencing. **No account needed, no installation needed**.
- [RustDesk](https://rustdesk.com/) - Open-source remote desktop client software, written in Rust. Works out of the box, full control of your data, with no concerns about security.
- [screego](https://screego.net/) - Screen sharing for developers.
- [Remmina](https://remmina.org/) - Remote access screen and file sharing to your desktop (RDP).
- [UltraVNC](https://www.uvnc.com/) - UltraVNC is a powerful, easy to use and free - remote pc access softwares - that can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Your health is a **very** important piece of your **private data** and you should care **a lot** about it. Also, health related data is among the most coveted. Please don't use apps from Google, Fitbit, Huawei, Xiaomi or any company that seeks the gathering of your personal data.
If you need an app for **menstrual cycle tracking** please don't use any apps like Clue, Period Tracker, etc. Those cute pink apps are greedy for your menstrual cycle and intimate life data and will sell it for sure, protect your private life. Check the list below and you will find nice alternatives.
- [wger](https://wger.de/en/software/features) - A free, open source, self-hosted web application that manages your exercises, workouts and nutrition.
- [Fitotrack](https://codeberg.org/jannis/FitoTrack) - A privacy oriented fitness tracker for Android.
- [OpenFoodFacts](https://world.openfoodfacts.org/) - Open Food Facts is a food products database made by everyone, for everyone. You can use it to make better food choices.
- [Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org/) - Jellyfin is the volunteer-built media solution that puts you in control of your media. Stream to any device from your own server, with no strings attached.
- [Dim](https://github.com/Dusk-Labs/dim) - Dim is a self-hosted media manager. With minimal setup, Dim will organize and beautify your media collections, letting you access and play them anytime from anywhere.
> These clients, although will have less tracking, still DO NOT protect your privacy at all as you will still be streaming from Spotify servers from you own **premium (paid, identified)** account.
- [Antennapod](https://antennapod.org/) - The Open Podcast Player.
## Operating Systems
### Android
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Try to avoid using Google Android or any Android that has been modified and tuned by any manufacturer such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, etc. Android is an Open Source project - [AOSP - Android Open Source Project]() - and it has many versions that will respect the user privacy and data and won't share it with private servers from manufacturers or service providers.
> Although all of these Operating Systems are Android, app compatibility may not be perfect due to a lack of GMS (Google Mobile Services) which some apps require. You can check how well apps work with microg (a free and open source alternative to GMS) or no GMS at all with [Plexus](https://plexus.techlore.tech/) where the community can report how well android apps perform in those environments.
- [GrapheneOS](https://grapheneos.org/) - GrapheneOS is an open source privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility.
- [CalyxOS](https://calyxos.org/) - CalyxOS lets you have your cake and eat it too, with "Privacy by Design".
- [LineageOS](https://lineageos.org/) - A free and open-source operating system for various devices, based on the Android mobile platform.
- [Replicant](https://www.replicant.us/) - A free software mobile operating system putting the emphasis on freedom and privacy/security.
#### Based on Linux
- [UBPorts](https://www.ubports.com/) - Ubuntu Touch is the touch-friendly mobile version of Ubuntu.
- [postmarketOS](https://postmarketos.org/) - Touch optimised and pre-configured version of Alpine Linux.
- [PureOS](https://www.pureos.net/) - Operating system developed by purism for the Librem 5.
- [Plasma Mobile](https://www.plasma-mobile.org/) - Plasma, in your pocket. Privacy-respecting, open source and secure phone ecosystem.
- [mobian](https://mobian-project.org/) - Debian for mobile.
### Smart TV
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Don't use Android TV, LG WebOS or any other privacy-invasive common TV OS that comes preinstalled with your TV.
- [Kodi](https://kodi.tv/) - It is an entertainment hub that brings all your digital media together into a beautiful and user friendly package. It is 100% free and open source, very customisable and runs on a wide variety of devices.
- [Jellyfin](https://jellyfin.org/) - Jellyfin is the volunteer-built media solution that puts you in control of your media. Stream to any device from your own server, with no strings attached.
- [OSMC](https://osmc.tv/) - OSMC is a free and open source media center built for the people, by the people.
- [RaspberryCast](https://github.com/vincelwt/RaspberryCast) - Transform your Raspberry Pi into a streaming device. Cast videos from mobile devices or computers to your TV.
- [GNU/Linux](https://www.linux.com/what-is-linux/) - GNU/Linux is a family of mostly free and open source Operating Systems mostly developed by the community. If you don't know where to start, [Linux Mint (Cinnamon)](https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=281) is a beginner friendly distribution. If you want to try it out without installing it to your computer, you can use a [Live USB Stick](https://www.fosslinux.com/274/how-to-create-linux-mint-live-usb-drive-on-windows.htm). If you want to install Linux but keep your current operating System, you can set up [dual boot](https://averagelinuxuser.com/dualboot-linux-windows/).
- [ReactOS](https://reactos.org/) - ReactOS is an operating system able to run Windows software, Windows drivers that looks-like Windows and is free and open source.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid any analytics service that comes from Google, Facebook, Microsoft or any private service. These kind of analytics hurt user privacy.
- [DoomCaptcha](https://github.com/vivirenremoto/doomcaptcha) - Captchas don't have to be boring [READ THE DISCLAIMER ON PROJECT'S WEBSITE](https://vivirenremoto.github.io/doomcaptcha/).
- [Fawkes](https://github.com/Shawn-Shan/fawkes) - privacy preserving tool against facial recognition systems.
- [CloakMe](https://github.com/pluja/CloakMe) - Web interface for Fawkes algorithm.
- [ImageScrubber](https://github.com/everestpipkin/image-scrubber) - A friendly browser-based tool for anonymizing photographs taken at protests ([hosted version provided by everestpipkin](https://everestpipkin.github.io/image-scrubber/)).
- [Stegcloak](https://stegcloak.surge.sh/) - Hide secrets with invisible characters in plain text securely using passwords ([repo](https://github.com/kurolabs/stegcloak)).
- [Bitcoin](https://bitcoin.org) - Bitcoin is not anonymous nor private. Bitcoin is traceable, transparent and pseudonymous. You need to be really careful when using Bitcoin so you don't leave any traces that can later be used against you to harm your privacy. [See aantonop's video](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=JN1Bowgcle8).
- [GnuCash](https://gnucash.org/) - GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid using any exchange portfolio tracking or any app like Blockfolio as they **do not** respect your privacy in any way.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/check.png"></img> Instead use Rotki, an awesome, feature-rich and open source app:
- [Rotki](https://github.com/rotki/rotki) - An awesome portfolio tracking, analytics, accounting and tax reporting application that protects your privacy.
- [CondensationDB](https://condensationdb.com/) - Condensation is an open-source zero trust, distributed database enabling to build modern applications while ensuring data ownership and security.
- [Beekeeper Studio](https://www.beekeeperstudio.io) - Open Source SQL Editor and Database Manager with a privacy commitment in their mission statement.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/forbidden.png"></img> Avoid using privative IDEs that are full of trackers and telemetry.
<imgwidth="16"src="misc/check.png"></img> Instead use
- [Neovim](https://neovim.io/) - Hyperextensible Vim-based text editor.
- [VSCodium](https://vscodium.com/) - Free/Libre Open Source Software Binaries of VSCode. Vscode source code is open source (MIT-licensed), but the product available for download (Visual Studio Code) is licensed under [this not-FLOSS license](https://code.visualstudio.com/license) and contains telemetry/tracking.
- [Hetty](https://github.com/dstotijn/hetty) - Hetty is an HTTP toolkit for security research. It aims to be an open-source alternative to Burp Suite Pro.
