#alternatives directory

Please note, this document is a work-in-progress. It will be updated often to keep up to date and provide as many alternatives as possible.

Why?

YouTube recently enforced a new AI-powered age-estimation and age-verification policy. The AI will look at user watch history, and attempt to guess if the user is an adult. Any user the AI deems as a non-adult will have their account locked down into teen mode unless the user can prove they are an adult via credit card or government ID.

This directory is intended to provide feasible alternatives for various platorms that are implementing similar policies that may put user's privacy and security at risk. Alternatives on this list must not have similar AI-powered age-estimation and age-verification policies, must be free or reasonably priced, and must not push AI. Some may have generative AI features, but as long as it is not actively pushing AI on users, they will be considered. Further notes for consideration will be labelled under each item as necessary.

All of the following sites have implemented or plan to implement similar policies, and should be avoided if at all possible

YouTube

Google (including Chrome, Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc)

TikTok

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Whatsapp)

Twitter/X

Bluesky (only in the UK)

Spotify

Reddit

Discord (only in the UK)

Dailymotion

Xbox (only in the UK)

Twitch (only in the UK)

Quick Reference Guide

These symbols are used to quickly communicate some basic information about the alternatives on this list.

💝 - Free, or its paid tier is unnecessary

📵 - Not recommended for moblie

✒️- No AI features

🌐 - Website, no download required

🍎 - Has an app for iOS

🤖 - Has an app for Android

🍏 - Has a download for macOS

🪟 - Has a download for Windows

🐧 - Has a download for Linux

🛡️- Adblocker Recommended

Links to individual alternatives lists

General Recommendations

YouTube Alternatives

Chrome Browser Alternatives

Google Search Engine Alternatives

Gmail Alternatives

Google Play Store Alternatives

Google Suite Alternatives

Google Docs Alternatives

Google Slides Alternatives

Google Sheets Alternatives

Google Translate Alternatives

Google Drive Alternatives

Google Maps Alternatives

Spotify/Music Alternatives

Kindle/Audible Alternatives

Discord Alternatives

Whatsapp Alternatives

Twitter/X/Bluesky Alternatives

Reddit Alternatives

Instagram Alternatives

TikTok Alternatives

YouTube Downloaders

PreserveTube 💝✒️🌐

A separate website where you can view archives of YouTube channels and videos. Keep in mind the process of archiving videos does provide YouTube with traffic, similar to a downloader. However, once a video is archived, it is stored completely separately from YouTube and no longer gives them any traffic. It's not a full, true alternative, but it's pretty good.

Twitch 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟

A livestreaming platform often used by YouTubers in conjunction with their YouTube channel. You can opt to pay for a subscription to a creator you love if you want to support them, but following is free.

PeerTube 💝✒️🌐

A decentralized video-sharing project that allows individuals to host their own instances, which can operate independently, while still being able to view videos across other instances.

Vimeo 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟

A video-sharing platform. A great recommendation for workspaces or to share work related videos, or for schools to share educational content. With a free account, you can upload 500 MB worth of video per week, and 5 GB maximum.

Glomble 💝✒️🌐

A video-sharing platform with an old-internet feel.

BitView 💝✒️🌐

Similar to Glomble, old-internet feeling video-sharing website.

VidLii 💝✒️🌐

Another old-internet-style video-sharing website. Be careful, some users have reported encountering upsetting or disturbing content while browsing, but I haven't encountered any issues yet. I've found a lot of my favorite songs on VidLii, some seemingly by official (if old and abandoned) accounts!

BitChute 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Alternative streaming website, easier to navigate than BitView or Glomble.

Vanillo 💝✒️🌐

Still in beta, Vanillo is a video-sharing platform that navigates similarly to YouTube. It is very easy to navigate.

Bilibili 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟

Chinese video sharing website. Good for anything where you don't necessarily need things in your native tongue (ex, yoga or music), or if you speak a Chinese language.

Niconico 💝🌐🍎🤖

Japanese video sharing website. Good for anything where you don't necessarily need things in your native tongue (ex, yoga or music), or if you speak Japanese.

Tubi TV 💝🌐🍎🤖

Free streaming website with a variety of movies and TV shows.

PlutoTV 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Free streaming website with a variety of movies and TV shows.

PlexTV 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Streaming website with a variety of movies and TV shows, some free, some paid.

Dropout ✒️🌐🍎🤖

Streaming service created by Dropout (formerly College Humor). Currently, you can get 20% off your first year, bringing the price down to $56 for a year's subscription. Dropout series are primarily comedy (Game Changer, Make Some Noise, etc).

Nebula ✒️🌐🍎🤖

Streaming service created by many YouTubers in response to YouTube censorship. Great place for video essays, but there is a lot of stuff on the platform. Right now, a one-year subscription to Nebula is only $60! Additionally, you can browse Nebula to see if your favorite creator is on the platform without even signing up!

CryptPad Document 💝✒️🌐

Open-source collaboration suite with a strong emphasis on privacy. Most instances have this word processor. Allows for real-time collaboration.

GMX Online Office 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Free, online word processor. The free GMX account comes with 2 GB of storage, and it does not appear that you can do real-time collaboration with this tool, but you are able to edit things via their email website or app.

Zoho Writer 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Free online word processor. Not as privacy-focused as some options, but it does allow for real-time collaboration.

Nextcloud Write 💝🌐

You can choose a provider from the link, but you should get at least 2 GB of cloud storage. There is both a simple note-taking tool, and a more advanced word processor. No real-time collaboration, unfortunately.

SSuite 💝🌐

Stored locally, but accessible online or via downloaded software, depending on which you choose. Does not allow for real-time collaboration. There are several word processors.

LibreOffice Writer 💝📵✒️🍏🪟🐧

Free, open-source word processor, similar to Microsoft Word. It does need to be downloaded to a computer, so it is not feasible for real-time collaboration.

Apache OpenOffice Writer 💝📵✒️🍏🪟🐧

Free, open-source word processor, similar to Microsoft Word. It does need to be downloaded to a computer, so it is not feasible for real-time collaboration.

Ellipsus 💝✒️🌐

Free, online writing collaboration website. Founded in/based in Germany, and vocally opposed to generative AI. It is only in the browser, and from my experience, the mobile navigation is pretty good.

Proton Docs 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟

Free, online writing website and app (accessible via the Proton Drive app).

Etherpad 💝✒️🌐

An open-source project with many public instances you can use. Etherpad is more of a notetaking tool than a full word processor, but it allows for real-time collaboration.

Obsidian 💝🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Notetaking tool that allows you to organize many small notes in "vaults". Obsidian is stored locally, not on cloud.

HackMD 💝🌐

Notetaking tool that allows for cloud storage and real-time collaboration. It has formatting options for tables diagrams, and other useful tools. Allows for three collaborators on the free tier.

Writty 💝🌐🍏

Notetaking webapp with local document storage (no real-time collaboration). Additional features are available with the macOS app ($13 one-time purchase), but it can be used in the browser on any device.

Bean 💝📵✒️🍏

Word processor for macOS, with no real time collaboration.

Growly Write 💝📵✒️🍏

Word processor for macOS, with no real time collaboration.

Jarte 💝📵✒️🪟

Word processor for Windows, with no real time collaboration.

AbleWord 💝📵✒️🪟

Word processor for Windows, with no real time collaboration. Also can be used for PDF editing.

Please note, while many of these options use end-to-end encryption, that tends to only work between emails of the same email service. To maximize privacy, it's ideal to get an account on more than one of these options, and send sensitive information between emails of the same email service. Additionally, for particularly sensitive information, consider a secure messaging app rather than email.

Tuta Mail 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Tuta is a German company with a strong focus on privacy. Note that on the free version, after 6 months of inactivity, your account will be deleted.

Proton Mail 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Proton is a non-profit company based in Switzerland with a strong focus on privacy. Note that on the free version, after 12 months of inactivity, your account will be deleted. You will need to verify with another email or a phone number for your Proton account to work properly. Proton does have AI, but it is not pushed on users.

Mailfence 💝🌐🍎🤖

A company based in Belgium with a strong focus on privacy. Note that on the free version, after 7 months of inactivity, your account will be suspended. After an additional 5 months, it will be deleted. You will need to verify with another email for your Mailfence account to work properly.

Thunderbird 💝🌐🤖🍏🪟🐧

An open-source email service that's operated by a subsidary of Mozilla.

GMX Mail 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

A German-based email service. Note that on the free version, after 6 months of inactivity, it will be permanently deactivated.

Fastmail ✒️🌐🍎🤖

An email service based in Australia and the US, with pricing starting at $6/month/person. Paying by year or for a duo or family plan reduces the cost per month per person. It is not necessarily regarded as extremely privacy-forward, but it's reasonably priced.

CryptPad Sheet 💝✒️🌐

Open-source collaboration suite with a strong emphasis on privacy. Most instances have this spreadsheet software. Allows for real-time collaboration.

GMX Online Office 💝✒️🌐🍎🤖

Free, online spreadsheet editor. The free GMX account comes with 2 GB of storage, and it does not appear that you can do real-time collaboration with this tool, but you are able to edit things via their email website or app.

Zoho Sheet 💝🌐🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Free online spreadsheet software. Not as privacy-focused as some options, but it does allow for real-time collaboration.

Nextcloud Spreadsheet 💝🌐

You can choose a provider from the link, but you should get at least 2 GB of cloud storage. The spreadsheet software feels intuitive and complete. No real-time collaboration, unfortunately.

SSuite 💝🌐

Stored locally, but accessible online or via downloaded software, depending on which you choose. Does not allow for real-time collaboration. There are several spreadsheet options.

LibreOffice Calc 💝📵✒️🍏🪟🐧

Free, open-source spreadsheet tool, similar to Microsoft Excel. It does need to be downloaded to a computer, so it is not feasible for real-time collaboration.

Apache OpenOffice Calc 💝📵✒️🍏🪟🐧

Free, open-source spreadsheet tool, similar to Microsoft Excel. It does need to be downloaded to a computer, so it is not feasible for real-time collaboration.

IronCalc 💝✒️🌐

Free, open-source, online spreadsheet tool. I don't believe it supports real-time collaboration, but it does allow you to share a copy of a workbook via a link.

Rows 💝✒️🌐

The free tier is a bit limited, but allows you to have up to 3 guests edit a spreadsheet.

DuckDuckGo 💝🌐

An American-based search engine that gets its own results. Many search engines are essentially a reskin of Google or Bing (usually with added privacy features) that piggyback off of their results. DuckDuckGo gets its own results and focuses on user privacy.

Qwant 💝🌐

A privacy-focused French-based search engine that usually gives results similar to Bing's. Qwant is essentially a reskin of Bing with added privacy features.

Brave 💝🌐

A privacy-focused search engine that gets its own results. Previously, it used Bing's results, but not currently. Be advised that Brave supports cryptocurrency.

Ecosia 💝🌐

Privacy-wise, this browser is on the same level as the mainstream browsers, and it uses their results. However, they use their profits to plant trees and help the environment, and are pretty transparent with where their money goes, regularly sharing financial reports. As a bonus, they tell you which search engine sourced the results if you click the "⋮" button.

Internet Archive 💝✒️🌐

A non-profit website that serves as a massive online library, with thousands of books, videos, songs, audiobooks, podcasts, images, video games, and more. It can be difficult to navigate at times, but is overall a great option for information and entertainment. There are many YouTube videos on the Archive as well, and watching directly from there does not give YouTube traffic. As for the Wayback Machine, current consensus seems to be that YouTube only receives traffic during the initial archiving process, not later visits.

ProtonVPN 💝✒️🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Proton is a non-profit company based in Switzerland with a strong focus on privacy. They have a VPN, which, while it does have a paid tier, is a great free option for a VPN.

uBlock Origin 💝✒️🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

A good adblocker is an important part of navigating the web. uBlock Origin is a browser extension that is generally regarded as a great option, but it is not accessible on Chrome, and may also be inaccessible on other chromium based browsers.

Privacy Badger 💝✒️🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Another browser extension specifically designed to block trackers, specifically designed to be user friendly. It requires virtually no knowledge to use.

AlternativeTo 💝🌐

A website designed to help you discover and compare alternatives to various platforms and websites. If there's something you'd like to know alternatives to that isn't covered by this directory, it's probably on AlternativeTo.

Firefox 💝🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

The primary non-chromium browser. Makes it very easy to sync all of your passwords, bookmarks, and extensions when switching from Chrome, and the Firefox Color extension is easy to use to for visual customization.

Waterfox 💝✒️🍏🪟🐧

A fork of Firefox, it uses the same bare bones from FireFox and puts extra emphasis on privacy.

LibreWolf 💝✒️🍏🪟🐧

Another fork of Firefox, it uses the same bare bones from Firefox and puts extra emphasis on privacy. It automatically includes uBlock Origin.

DuckDuckGo 💝🍎🤖🍏🪟

DuckDuckGo is primarily known as a privacy-focused search engine, but they do have a browser as well. It is a chromium-based browser.

Mullvad 💝✒️🍏🪟🐧

An extremely privacy-focused browser that does not collect any data. The company is based in Sweden. They also have a VPN (which is suggested to be used in conjunction with the broswer) with a fixed-rate cost. It is a chromium-based browser.

Brave 💝🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

Another privacy-focused open-source browser that automatically blocks third-party ads. They also have a search engine, as well. It is a chromium-based browser. Be advised that Brave supports cryptocurrency.

Vivaldi 💝✒️🍎🤖🍏🪟🐧

A privacy-focused chromium-based browser that includes an adblocker, tracker blocker, and hides cookie messages. It also has ProtonVPN built in.

Orion 💝✒️🍎🍏

A privacy-focused alternative to Safari. It automatically includes an adblocker and tracker blocker, and has compatability with Chrome and FireFox extensions.

Tor 💝✒️🤖🍏🪟🐧

The most privacy-centered browser out there. The history page on their website sums up this browser better than I ever could.