Privacy Resources
To empower you with the knowledge and tools of privacy, I've compiled a comprehensive list of privacy tools and resources. This curated list is a result of extensive research and will continue to expand as I invest more time studying and updating it. By sharing this list, I hope to set you on a path of protecting and defending your online privacy. I also encourage you to do your own research and explore tools that best suit your needs.
Table of Contents
Proton Mail - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Switzerland.
Tuta - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Germany.
Mailfence - Supports end-to-end encryption. Closed source. Free & paid plans. Based in Belgium.
mailbox - Supports end-to-end encryption. Closed source. Paid plans only. Based in Germany.
Email Aliases
SimpleLogin - Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Switzerland. *(Purchased by Proton in 2022).
addy.io - Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Europe.
DuckDuckGo Email Protection - Closed source. Free. Based in USA.
VPNS
Proton VPN - Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Switzerland.
Mullvad VPN - Open source. Paid plans only. Based in Sweden.
IVPN - Open source. Paid plans only. Based in Gibraltar.
Messengers
Signal - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Centralized. Free. Based in USA.
Session - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Decentralized. Free. Based in Switzerland. *(Previously based in Australia).
SimpleX Chat - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Decentralized. Free. Based in UK.
Delta Chat - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Decentralized. Free. Based in Germany.
Briar - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Decentralized. Free. Base unknown.
Threema - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Centralized. Need to pay a one-time fee of $5.99. Based in Switzerland. *(Change of ownership as of January 2026).
Password Managers
Bitwarden - Supports end-to-end encryption. Cloud based storage. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in USA.
Proton Pass - Supports end-to-end encryption. Cloud based storage. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Switzerland.
KeePassXC - Supports end-to-end encryption. Offline storage. Open source. Free. Based in Germany.
1Password - Supports end-to-end encryption. Cloud based storage. Closed source. Paid plans only. Based in Canada.
Password Generators
Desktop Browsers
Mullvad Browser - Open source. Free. Firefox-based.
LibreWolf - Open source. Free. Firefox-based.
Tor Browser - Open source. Free. Firefox-based.
Brave - Open source. Free. Chromium-based.
DuckDuckGo - Partially open source. Free. Blink-based for Windows, WebKit-based for Mac.
Zen - Open source. Free. Firefox-based.
Waterfox - Open source. Free. Firefox-based.
Vivaldi - Closed source. Free. Chromium-based.
Helium (Beta) - Open source. Free. Chromium-based.
Firefox - Open source. Free. *Read about Mozilla's Terms of Service controversy here.
Search Engines
SearXNG - Free. Open source. Mixes queries with searches on other platforms. Base unknown.
DuckDuckGo - Free. Closed source. Uses Bing search engine. Based in USA.
Mojeek - Free. Closed source. Uses their own search engine. Based in UK.
Brave Search - Free. Code status unknown. Uses their own search engine. Based in USA.
Qwant - Free. Closed source. Uses Bing search engine. Based in France.
Startpage - Free. Closed source. Uses Google search engine. Based in the Netherlands.
Stract - Free. Open source. Uses their own index. Based in Denmark.
PriEco - Free. Open Source. Uses Google, Bing, and Brave search engines. Base unknown.
Swisscows - Free. Closed source. Uses Bing search engine. Based in Switzerland.
Word Processors
Proton Docs - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free (part of Proton Drive). Based in Switzerland.
Cryptee - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Estonia.
CryptPad - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in France.
LibreOffice - Does NOT support end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Based in Germany.
Etherpad - Does NOT support end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Base unknown.
Note-Taking Applications
Cryptee - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Estonia.
Standard Notes - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in USA. *(Bought by Proton in April 2024).
Notesnook - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Pakistan.
Joplin - Supports end-to-end encryption, but not on by default. Open source. Free. Based in France.
Beaver Notes - Stores notes locally on device. Open source. Free. Base unknown.
Obsidian - Support end-to-end encryption (for Obsidian Sync). Stores notes locally on device. Closed source. Free & paid plans. Based in Canada.
Logseq - Supports end-to-end encryption (for Logseq Sync). Stores notes locally on device. Open source. Free. Based in USA.
Hand write your notes
Video Conferencing
Jami - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Based in Canada.
Jitsi Meet - Supports end-to-end encryption, but not on by default. Open source. Free. Based in USA.
MiroTalk - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Based in Europe.
RSS Readers
NetNewsWire - Free. Open source. Available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users only. Based in USA.
Feeder - Free. Open source. Available for Android users only. Based in Sweden.
Encryption Software
Cryptomator - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free & paid plans. Based in Germany.
Picocrypt - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Based in Canada. *Code is archived as of September 7, 2025
VeraCrypt - Supports end-to-end encryption. Open source. Free. Based in France.
App Discovery Sites
AlternativeTo - "a crowd-sourced and free site that helps you find better apps and services."
OpenAlternative - "A curated collection of the best open source alternatives to everyday SaaS products."
opensourcealternatives.org - "Find free and open source alternatives to tools that don’t respect you."
European Alternatives - "We help you find European alternatives for digital service and products, like cloud services and SaaS products."
OSS Gallery - "A crowdsourced list of the best open-source projects on the internet."
Other Tools and Resources
Have I Been Pwned? - A website that lists data breaches
Tails - "a portable operating system that protects against surveillance and censorship."
Whonix - "As handy as an app - delivering maximum anonymity and security."
Distrochooser - "This test will help you choose a suitable Linux distribution."
Cover Your Tracks - "See how trackers view your browser"
PrivacyTests.org - "Open-source tests of web browser privacy."
ip.me - "What’s my public IP address?"
JustDeleteMe - "A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services."
FreeTube - "The Private YouTube Client"
uBlock Origin - "An efficient blocker for Chromium and Firefox. Fast and lean."
Permission Slip - "One app to take back control of your data"
Internet Society Digital Footprint Course - Online course about digital footprints presented by the Internet Society.
Redact - "The only platform that allows you to automatically clean up your old posts from services like Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Discord, and more, all in one place."
Privacy Checkup - "How well do you protect your privacy?"
Surveillance Watch - "an interactive map revealing the intricate connections between surveillance companies, their funding sources and affiliations."
Street Level Surveillance - "EFF’s Street-Level Surveillance project shines a light on the surveillance technologies that law enforcement agencies routinely deploy in our communities."
deflock - "Investigate Flock in Your Community"
Have I Been Flocked? - Find out if you have Flock has data on your license plate.
NetBlocks - "Open, secure and reliable connectivity is essential for rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of association. Now we can measure network connectivity at internet scale."
Privacy Knowledge Bases
Privacy Organizations
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
European Digital Rights (EDRi)
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Terms To Know
What is end-to-end encryption and how does it work?
Centralized vs Decentralized Applications