It is impossible for me to live without Google eco-system (or Apple’s or Meta’s). However, I make progress every month / years, by using alternatives to Google products. Here, I list some of the alternatives that I use. Just because I use an alternative, it doesn’t mean I moved away from Google version. For example, I use ProtonMail, but still use GMail. The difference is that I use ProtonMail heavily and use GMail wherever necessary, such as with certain clients.
If you want to know more about the de-google movement check out the wiki.
You have no idea how much info is collected by Google in order to make money for themselves. I still use gmail, mainly to collaborate with clients who prefers gmail, google calendar, etc.
For all other reasons, I use the following three email providers…
Proton Mail: Family and friends stuff goes here. Some banks and cards too. I use it even for some clients who don’t mind using a non-gmail account. Proton Mail offers protonmail.com, proton.me and pm.me domains as well. However, only one can be used as primary to send replies. Others can be used to just receive emails.
Duck.com Email: It’s from DDG (DuckDuckGo). Mainly used to generate disposable email addresses for newsletters and other areas by using random addresses like random-character-or-number@duck.com. Very useful on multiple occasions.
Riseup.net Email: You Know Why! If you don’t, here is the official info… Riseup provides online communication tools for people and groups working on liberatory social change. We are a project to create democratic alternatives and practice self-determination by controlling our own secure means of communications.
Currently, riseup.net emails are free but invite based. If you need one, you know whom to contact. Btw, I may be contacted by my first name on any of the above three email providers.
Calendar
I switched to Proton Calendar and never regretted it. As with e-mail, I still use Google Calendar for clients who may not want to use an alternative.
Search
I left Google search in 2020. It was the most hardest and time-consuming. I use Duckduckgo now. The results are mostly different from what I would get from Google search engine. Still Duckduckgo gets the job done most of the time.
Hosting
Google Cloud Engine is used to host this site and most of my domains’ DNS. No plans to leave this for now.
Like GMail, I can’t get rid of WhatsApp forever. However, I have switched to Signal and I highly recommend it for everyone who doesn’t want to be watched over.
Google Chrome
While I might get a Chromebook soon for portability, I’d like to stay away from Google Chrome as much as possible. Primarily, I use DuckDuckGo browser (and Firefox occasionally).
WishList
The following are in my to-do list that I might switch eventually…
- ASOP based OS such as Calyx OS or Graphene OS.
- Google Sheets to Libre Office or something else.
Resources
Internet is full of resources to de-google yourself. Here are some of the resources that are constantly updated…
- https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/
- https://github.com/tycrek/degoogle
As mentioned in the first paragraph, it is almost impossible to de-google oneself. For example, I regularly watch YouTube where I have a premium membership for years. However, as I make progress by moving away from Google, I feel a little more freedom on the internet. I will keep updating this post as I switch away from Google!
If you have any question on your specific usecase where you can’t de-google, you may post it in the amazing Reddit community.