Recommended Tools

Today, a few companies decide what you see, store what you do, and choose what you’re allowed to say. The tools recommended here are the way out: browsers, messaging apps, publishing platforms, and services that push back.

173 tools in 23 categoriesLeaving Google, Meta, Microsoft, or Apple? See the alternatives by what you’re replacing

Privacy

These tools guard what you do, like what you search or who reads your messages. Depending on the tool, that means encryption only you can open, or data that never leaves your device.

Free speech

These tools guard what you can say. Reach people without a company refereeing it, on a platform no single company can throw you off.

How we pick

We’re picky: for the private tools we want open-source code that outside auditors have checked; for the free-speech ones we want a clear shot at an audience with no censorship in the middle. Not every tool clears every bar, so we tell you where one falls short and why it still earns a place. And most cost nothing.