Media & Entertainment

Amazon Kindle 🇺🇸 non-EU

E-books you licence rather than own.

• tolino German bookseller alliance's reader; open EPUB, buy from any member shop. 🇩🇪
• Vivlio French e-reader and store backed by independent booksellers. 🇫🇷
• Legimi Polish subscription with its own hardware. 🇵🇱

Amazon Prime Video 🇺🇸 non-EU

The streaming service bundled with your parcels.

• Filmin Independent European cinema without the upsell carousel. 🇪🇸
• MUBI One curated film a day, plus a deep library. 🇬🇧
• Viaplay Nordic originals, films and live sport. 🇸🇪
• Pathe Thuis Dutch video-on-demand rental from the cinema chain. 🇳🇱

Apple Music / Amazon Music 🇺🇸 non-EU

Streaming bundled into a hardware ecosystem.

• Deezer Paris streaming, and the first to pilot artist-centric royalties. 🇫🇷
• Qobuz French hi-res audio streaming and purchase, best-in-class sound quality. 🇫🇷
• IDAGIO Berlin service built properly for classical music. 🇩🇪
• Spotify Stockholm-built and still the largest European tech consumer product. 🇸🇪

Apple Podcasts & Pocket Casts 🇺🇸 non-EU

Podcasting is an open standard. The apps need not be.

• Podimo Copenhagen. Subscription podcasts and audiobooks. 🇩🇰
• Acast Stockholm. The largest independent podcast company in the world. 🇸🇪
• Deezer Paris. Music and podcasts together. 🇫🇷
• Spotify Stockholm — the biggest podcast platform is, unusually, already European. 🇸🇪

Audible 🇺🇸 non-EU

Amazon's audiobook monopoly, with DRM attached.

• Storytel Swedish audiobook subscription, strong across Europe. 🇸🇪
• BookBeat Bonnier's Swedish audiobook service with flexible hour plans. 🇸🇪
• Nextory Swedish audio and e-book subscription with family profiles. 🇸🇪
• Legimi Polish e-book and audiobook subscription, huge Central European catalogue. 🇵🇱

Fender & Gibson 🇺🇸 non-EU

The two American guitar names.

• Höfner Bavarian since 1887, and it built the Beatles bass. 🇩🇪
• Warwick Markneukirchen. Basses made in Germany from certified timber. 🇩🇪
• Framus Same Vogtland factory, guitars since 1946. 🇩🇪
• Duesenberg Hanover. Art-deco electrics with a following. 🇩🇪

Google Photos 🇺🇸 non-EU

Face recognition on your family album, hosted abroad.

• PhotoPrism German self-hosted AI photo library; recognition runs on your own machine. 🇩🇪
• Nextcloud Photos Photo backup from your phone into storage you own. 🇩🇪
• Cryptee Estonian encrypted photo and document vault. 🇪🇪
• Filen Encrypted photo backup with automatic camera upload. 🇩🇪

Netflix, Disney+ & Max 🇺🇸 non-EU

Streaming's incumbent, now with adverts.

• MUBI London-based curated arthouse cinema, hand-picked rather than algorithmic. 🇬🇧
• ARTE Free, ad-free European culture, documentaries and drama. 🇫🇷
• Filmin Spanish independent and European film streaming. 🇪🇸
• Viaplay Nordic streaming with strong Scandinavian originals and sport. 🇸🇪

PlayStation, Xbox & Nintendo 🇯🇵🇺🇸 non-EU

Three companies, two countries, no European entry at all.

No European alternative

Steam 🇺🇸 non-EU

PC gaming's storefront, and its DRM.

• GOG CD Projekt's Warsaw store: DRM-free, the games are actually yours. 🇵🇱
• Gamesplanet UK/German reseller with legitimate keys — which mostly still need Steam. 🇬🇧
• Instant Gaming French retailer, often much cheaper — but the keys still activate in Steam. 🇫🇷
• Green Man Gaming London official reseller. Cheaper, though most keys still activate in Steam. 🇬🇧

Twitch & Kick 🇺🇸🇦🇺 non-EU

Live video went one way and nothing European followed.

No European alternative

YouTube 🇺🇸 non-EU

The world's video archive, with an ad break in the middle.

• PeerTube Federated, self-hostable video; instances share load via peer-to-peer. 🇫🇷
• Dailymotion France's long-running video platform, owned by Vivendi. 🇫🇷