Escape
One swap at a time. Pick the thing you touch most, replace it, come back next week. Nobody here expects you to move to Linux this afternoon.
Instead of Gmail
Proton Mail
End-to-end encrypted mailbox with its own apps. Free tier exists; the paid tier is a few dollars a month.
20 minutes
Instead of WhatsApp
Signal
Looks and behaves like the thing you already use, which is the entire point. Uses your phone number as the identifier.
5 minutes
Instead of Chrome
Firefox
Imports your bookmarks and saved passwords on first run. Hardened builds exist if you want to go further.
10 minutes
Instead of Microsoft Office
LibreOffice
Opens and saves the formats you already have. Full suite, no subscription, no account, no sign-in.
15 minutes
Instead of Google Analytics
Matomo
Self-host it and the numbers stay on your server. This one is for site owners, not readers.
An afternoon
Instead of Your smartphone
A phone that only makes calls
The most drastic swap on this page, and the only one people describe afterwards as a relief.
A weekend, and some grief