Communication & Social

Discord 🇺🇸 non-EU

Communities and voice chat, in a walled garden with a data appetite.

• Element Matrix spaces do communities, voice and video, across federated servers. 🇬🇧
• Revolt UK-built open-source Discord-alike, self-hostable. 🇬🇧
• Mumble Low-latency open-source voice chat, still unbeaten for gaming. 🇩🇪
• Nextcloud Talk Private group calls without an account on someone else's platform. 🇩🇪

Facebook 🇺🇸 non-EU

The original attention exchange.

• Mastodon Berlin non-profit; thousands of independent servers, one network. 🇩🇪
• Friendica Federated social network closest in shape to classic Facebook. 🇩🇪

Gmail 🇺🇸 non-EU

Google's free webmail, paid for with your inbox contents.

• Tuta End-to-end encrypted mail and calendar from Hanover; free tier available. 🇩🇪
• mailbox.org Berlin-run mail, calendar and office suite on green electricity. 🇩🇪
• Posteo One EUR per month, anonymous payment accepted, no ads, ever. 🇩🇪
• StartMail Dutch privacy mail from the makers of Startpage, with unlimited aliases. 🇳🇱

Instagram 🇺🇸 non-EU

Photos, then videos, then whatever keeps you scrolling.

• Mastodon Federated, image-capable and free of the algorithm — but text-first, so not a like-for-like Instagram. 🇩🇪
• Friendica Federated albums and real privacy controls, with a much smaller audience. 🇩🇪

LinkedIn 🇺🇸 non-EU

Your CV, plus motivational posts you did not ask for.

• XING The German-speaking professional network, run by New Work SE in Hamburg. 🇩🇪

Microsoft Teams 🇺🇸 non-EU

The chat app that arrived whether you asked for it or not.

• Element Matrix-based, federated, self-hostable, sovereign-ready. 🇬🇧
• Nextcloud Talk Chat, calls and screen sharing on infrastructure you control. 🇩🇪
• Stackfield German alternative combining chat, tasks and files. 🇩🇪
• alfaview Karlsruhe video conferencing built for large organisations. 🇩🇪

Outlook.com 🇺🇸 non-EU

Microsoft's consumer webmail, bundled into the Windows account.

• mailbox.org Drop-in IMAP/SMTP replacement with a full groupware suite. 🇩🇪
• Tuta Encrypted mailbox with its own apps on all platforms. 🇩🇪
• Infomaniak kMail Swiss mail with a generous free tier (outside the default EU scope). 🇨🇭
• Posteo Minimal, cheap, and audited German mail. 🇩🇪

Reddit 🇺🇸 non-EU

Forums, aggregated -- and now API-gated.

• Lemmy Federated link aggregator; subscribe across servers, no single owner. 🇩🇪

Slack 🇺🇸 non-EU

Workplace chat, owned by Salesforce, priced per person per month.

• Element London-based Matrix client used by the French and German governments. 🇬🇧
• Stackfield Munich team collaboration with end-to-end encryption, German servers. 🇩🇪
• Nextcloud Talk Chat and calls built into your own Nextcloud. 🇩🇪
• Twake French open-source Slack-style workspace. 🇫🇷

TikTok 🇨🇳 non-EU

Short video, long recommendation engine.

• PeerTube Framasoft's federated video platform. No algorithmic short-form feed — nothing in Europe has one. 🇫🇷
• Dailymotion French, Vivendi-owned, with a mobile short-video feed — but not TikTok's scale or recommendation engine. 🇫🇷

WhatsApp, Messenger & Telegram 🇺🇸🇦🇪 non-EU

Encrypted messages, unencrypted metadata, owned by Meta.

• Olvid French messenger with no server-side directory at all; certified by ANSSI. 🇫🇷
• Element Matrix messaging with encrypted DMs and no phone number required. 🇬🇧
• Delta Chat Chat over ordinary email; works with any mailbox, no new account. 🇩🇪
• Threema Swiss paid messenger, no phone number needed (outside the default EU scope). 🇨🇭

X (Twitter) 🇺🇸 non-EU

The town square, under new and volatile management.

• Mastodon Federated microblogging, German non-profit stewardship, no ads. 🇩🇪
• Friendica Talks to Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse. 🇩🇪

Zoom 🇺🇸 non-EU

The verb that ate video conferencing.

• Tixeo The only video conferencing tool certified and qualified by France's ANSSI. 🇫🇷
• alfaview German conferencing built for hundreds of simultaneous participants. 🇩🇪
• Livestorm Paris-built browser-based webinars and meetings. 🇫🇷
• Nextcloud Talk Meetings hosted on your own server, no accounts for guests. 🇩🇪