There are many people out there who have decided to pursue the noble goal of a Techxodus. This means:
In some cases it's easy. For example, replace your browser with Firefox - it is free software, it can be configured to respect your privacy, and it is not made by a Big Tech company nor based on their product (i.e., Chromium). Or you can use Brave Search as your search engine - it does not track its users, and it is based on its own search index (unlike DuckDuckGo and Startpage, which mostly use the Bing and Google index, respectively).
In other cases, it's almost impossible. When it comes to mobile operating systems, there are only two options: iOS made by Apple (Big Tech, not private, not open source), and Android made by Google (Big Tech, even less private, only partially open source). Symbian or BlackBerry OS are long dead. GNU/Linux exists for phones (e.g. Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS) but is not generally available preinstalled and lacks the most important mobile apps, and is hence not yet suitable as a daily driver for 99% of people.
In some cases there might be alternatives, but they're simply inferior. OpenStreetMaps is alright, but it can't measure up to Google Maps. LibreOffice Calc is a decent product, but can't compete with Microsoft Excel.
Here, I am looking at cloud services, which includes file sync, PIM (addressbook, calendar, to-do list), as well as email hosting (which often integrates PIM services). The Big Three - Apple, Google, and Microsoft - really offer a complete package, where the individual services are working well together and offer a very convenient cloud service to users. I have set out to see whether a Techxodus is possible, and whether there is an email + file sync + PIM provider out there that ticks all the boxes: independence from Big Tech, no vendor lock-in, free and open source software, no politics, and great privacy, ideally by means of end-to-end encryption which would make it impossible for the service provider (or anyone else, like the police) to read the user data.
Click here to see an older version of this comparison with more information, up to date as of beginning 2022 but will not be updated anymore.
Use these checkboxes to filter the providers in the table below:
Source: eylenburg.github.io
Last updated: 29 November 2024
General information | File sync | Addressbook, Calendar & Tasks | Pricing (single user, annual price in EUR) (prices last updated in 2022) | |||||||||||||||||||
Mail storage | File storage | |||||||||||||||||||||
Product | Developer | Jurisdiction | Software license | Offered for self-hosting? | Data encrypted at rest? | End-to-end encryption? | WebDAV (or other APIfor integration in 3rd-party apps)? | Edit files in browser? | Share files & folders? | Two-way sync with Desktop?Windows, macOS, and Linux | Two-way sync with Android?Only Android considered as iOS does not allow third-party apps to have full file system access or background sync (and iCloud does not support two-way sync). | End-to-end encryption? | Has all three? | CardDAV & CalDAV support? | Zero access encryption? | IMAP support? | ≥5 GB | ≥15 GB | ≥100 GB | ≥1 TB | Comment | |
Apple iCloud | Apple Inc. Big Tech PRISM | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (limited, claimed)Opt-in "advanced data protection". Some features not available with E2EE, e.g. publicly sharing files or collaborating on iWork documents. File metadata and checksums are not E2EE. Encryption cannot be verified as apps are closed source. | No | Yes (Apple iWork)If E2EE files are accessed through a web browser, the server will receive the decryption key and store it for temporarily. | YesIf E2EE is enabled, can't share files to "anyone with a link". | No Linux support | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | free (5 GB) |
€12 (50 GB) |
€36 (200 GB) |
€120 (2 TB) |
Can be shared with up to 6 people | |
Aurora Files | Afterlogic Corp. | 🇺🇸 USA |
Free | Yes | Yes | Yes (limited)Unclear which featues stop working when their so-called "paranoid encryption" is activated. WebDAV (which is e.g. needed for sync on macOS, Linux and Android) by design can't work with E2EE; at most it will show the encrypted and hence useless files. OnlyOffice (for editing Office files) will either not work with E2EE or will decrypt the files. | WebDAV (not for E2EE files) | Yes (OnlyOffice)Files will be temporarily decrypted | Yes | macoS & Linux via 3rd party appssuch as GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi + ~€50 for 1 TB HDD) or ~€60 p.a. for cheap VPS (e.g. 1 TB at AlphaVPS) | ||||||||||
Baikal (self-hosted) |
fruux GmbH | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Free | Yes | depends on setup | No | Yes | Yes | Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi) or ~€12 p.a. for cheap VPS | |||||||||||||
Box | Box, Inc. | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | API | Yes (Microsoft Office Online) | Yes | Linux via 3rd party appssuch as GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | €108 (100 GB) |
€486 (unlimited)only available for Team subscription with 3 users minimum |
Unlimited plan shows price for 3 users (minimum amount). | ||||||||
Dropbox | Dropbox, Inc. | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | API | Yes (Microsoft Office Online) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | €120 (2 TB) |
Family plan also available. | |||||||||
ecloud / Murena1 |
e. |
🇫🇷 France |
Free | Yes | Yes | No | WebDAV | Yes (OnlyOffice) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | €20 (20 GB) |
€60 (128 GB) |
€130 (1 TB) |
Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi + ~€50 for 1 TB HDD) or ~€60 p.a. for cheap VPS (e.g. 1 TB at AlphaVPS) | ||
Etesync | Etesync Ltd. | 🇬🇧 UK |
Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via EteSync Bridge) | Hosted by EteSync developers: €21 p.a.; Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi) or ~€12 p.a. for cheap VPS |
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Fastmail | Fastmail Pty Ltd | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | WebDAV (and FTP) | No (but can manage files in browser) | No (only team members) | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes, but tasks missing on website | Yes | No | Yes | €44 (30 GB)additional 10 GB for files |
€160 (100 GB)additional 200 GB for emails |
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Filen | Filen Cloud Dienste UG | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Clients are free or source available | No | Yes | Yes | No (not compatible with E2EE) | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes | Yes | No | €12 (100 GB) |
€90 (2 TB) |
Lifetime purchase options also available. | ||||||||
fruux | fruux GmbH | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Free for syncing two devices, otherwise €40 p.a. | |||||||||||||
Google One Google Drive & GMail etc. |
Alphabet Inc. Big Tech PRISM Evil | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | API | Yes (Google Docs Editors) | Yes | Linux via 3rd party appssuch as insync, FreeFileSync, or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes, except tasks (own API) | No | Yes | free (15 GB) |
€20 (100 GB) |
€100 (2 TB) |
Can be shared with up to 6 people | ||
GMX/ |
United Internet AG | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Proprietary | No | In transit only | No | WebDAV (and FTP) | Yes (GMX Online Office)based on LibreOffice | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes, but tasks missing on website | Yes | No | Yes | free (65 GB) |
€24 (100 GB)additional 65 GB for emails |
€179 (1 TB)additional 65 GB for emails |
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Icedrive | ID Cloud Services Ltd. | 🇬🇧 UK |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (limited)optional "encrypted folder" with limited features, e.g. no WebDAV | WebDAV (not for E2EE files) | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | €22 (150 GB) |
€50 (1 TB) |
Lifetime purchase options also available. | ||||||||
Infomaniak kDrive & Workspace |
Infomaniak Network SA | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Clients are free | No | Yes | No | WebDAV | Yes (Infomaniak Office)based on OnlyOffice | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | free (20 GB) |
€60 (2 TB) |
Family plan also available | |||
Internxt Drive | Internxt Universal Technologies SL | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (not compatible with E2EE) | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes | Yes | No | €42 (100 GB) |
€108 (2 TB) |
Lifetime purchase options also available. | ||||||||
Kolab Now | Apheleia IT AG | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Free | Yes | In transit only | No | WebDAV | Yes (Collabora Office) | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | €120 (5 GB)only email (without files, calendar etc.) for €57 p.a. |
€142 (15 GB) |
€385 (100 GB) |
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Linshare | Linagora | 🇫🇷 France |
Free | Yes | "coming soon" | No | No | Yes (OnlyOffice) | Yes | "coming soon" | No | €36 (250 GB) |
€120 (2 TB) |
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Mailbox.org | Heinlein Hosting GmbH | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Mostly free (mostly based on Open-Xchange) | No alternative: Open-Xchange |
Yes | Yes (limited)Option to encrypt/decrypt files with PGP in the browser, but no further integration (e.g. can't open in OX Documents, WebDAV sync will simply transfer the encrypted files) | WebDAV | Yes (OX Documents) | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (needs PGP support in client)To use encrypted mail (zero access encryption), the user will need to decrypt them on the local device, e.g. using Thunderbird, or the OpenKeychain app on Android | €36 (10 GB) |
€46 (15 GB) |
€121 (100 GB)also includes 10 GB mail storage |
€538 (1 TB)also includes 25 GB mail storage |
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Mailfence | Contact |
🇧🇪 Belgium |
Proprietary | No | "coming soon" | No | WebDAV | Yes (Contact |
Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | No tasks | Yes | No, but offers OpenPGP in browserSee here | Yes | €30 (5 GB)also includes 12 GB for files |
€90 (20 GB)also includes 24 GB for files |
max. 70 GB (€300) | |||
Mega | Mega Ltd. | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Proprietary but source available (clients) | No | Yes | Yes | API, also WebDAV server via MegaCMD | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes | Yes | Yesusing the official app or 3rd party apps such as FolderSync or AutoSync | €50 (400 GB) |
€100 (2 TB) |
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Microsoft 365 OneDrive & Outlook.com |
Microsoft Corp. Big Tech PRISM | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | API | Yes (Microsoft Office Online) | Yes | Linux via 3rd party appssuch as insync, FreeFileSync, or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Uses MS Exchange instead | No | Yes | free (15 GB) |
€24 (100 GB) |
€69 (1 TB)Mail storage also upgraded from 15 GB to 50 GB |
Family plan also available. 1 TB plan includes Microsoft Office Online. | ||
Nextcloud (various hosters) |
Nextcloud GmbH | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Free | Yes | Yes | Yes (limited)optional "encrypted folder" with limited features, e.g. no access in browser | WebDAV (not for E2EE files) | Yes (Nextcloud Officebased on Collabora Office and othersOnlyOffice, Collabora Office, Hancom Office, Microsoft Office Online) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes |
Hetzner Storage Share: Ionos Managed Nextcloud: Hosting.de Managed Nextcloud: Owncube (single user): |
€56 €72 €59 €15 |
€56 €108 €119 €50 |
Can be shared by multiple users. Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi + ~€50 for 1 TB HDD) or ~€60 p.a. for cheap VPS (e.g. 1 TB at AlphaVPS) | ||||
Nordlocker | Nordsec Ltd. | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (claimed)encryption cannot be verified as apps are closed source | No (not compatible with E2EE) | No (but can manage files in browser) | No (only with other Nordlocker users) | No Linux support | No | €34 (500 GB) |
€85 (2 TB) |
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pCloud | pCloud AG | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (limited) (claimed)optional "encrypted folder" with limited features, e.g. no sync or sharing; encryption cannot be verified as apps are closed source | API | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes (except E2EE files) | Yes (except E2EE files) | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | €50 (500 GB) |
€100 (2 TB) |
Family plan and lifetime purchase options also available. | ||||||||
Posteo | Posteo e.K. Non-Corporate | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Free | No | Yes | Yes (temporarily decrypted)The data will be temporarily decrypted whenever modifications are made, e.g. in the browser or via an app using CalDAV | Yes, but tasks missing on website | Yes | Yes | Yes | €21 (5 GB) |
€51 (15 GB) |
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Proton | Proton Technologies AG | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Clients are free | No | Yes | Yes | No (not compatible with E2EE) | Some (Proton Docs)Only supports word processing but no spreadsheets or presentations | Yes | Linux via 3rd party appssuch as rsync (experimental)Sync | No | Yes | No tasks | No | Yes | Desktop onlyWindows, macOS, Linux (via ProtonMail Bridge) | €42 (15 GB) |
€96 (500 GB) |
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Radicale (self-hosted) |
Kozea Community Non-Corporate Non-Profit | 🇫🇷 France |
Free | Yes | depends on setup | No | Yes | Yes | Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi) or ~€12 p.a. for cheap VPS | |||||||||||||
Runbox | Runbox Solutions As | 🇳🇴 Norway |
Free | No | In transit only | No | FTP | No (but can manage files in browser) | No | via 3rd party appssuch as FreeFileSync or GoodSync | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | No tasks | Yes | No | Yes | €30 (10 GB)additional 1 GB for files |
€40 (25 GB)additional 2 GB for files |
€825 (100 GB)additional 50 GB for emails |
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Seafile (various hosters) |
Seafile Ltd. | 🇨🇳 China |
Free | Yes | Yes | Yes (limited)optional "encrypted libraries" with limited features, e.g. no WebDAV; furthermore, if encrypted libraries are accessed through a web browser, the server will receive the password and store it for one hour. | WebDAV (not for E2EE files) & API | Yes (OnlyOffice or Collabora Office)If E2EE files are accessed through a web browser, the server will receive the decryption key and store it temporarily. | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync |
Single user prices: Luckycloud: YourSecureCloud: |
€86 €96 |
€426 €600 |
Self-hosted cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi + ~€50 for 1 TB HDD) or ~€60 p.a. for cheap VPS (e.g. 1 TB at AlphaVPS) | |||||||
StartMail | StartMail B.V. | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | Neither calendar nor tasks | No | Yes (temporarily decrypted)emails are temporarily decrypted when accessing them, e.g. via browser or an IMAP client | Yes | €53 (10 GB) |
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Sync.com | Sync.com, Inc. | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (claimed)encryption cannot be verified as apps are closed source | No (not compatible with E2EE) | Yes (Microsoft Office Online)Files will be temporarily decrypted | Yes | No Linux support | No | €85 (2 TB) |
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Syncthing (P2P sync) |
Syncthing Foundation Non-Corporate Non-Profit | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
Free | Yes | depends on setupAlways encrypted in transit. By default Syncthing syncs files directly between device without using a server. It is up to you whether you encrypt your devices's storage or not. | n/a (serverless) | n/a (serverless) but possibleYou could set up one always-on device as a "server" which then makes the files available via WebDAV like a normal cloud server | No | No | Yes (even on Unix)Official supported are: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonflyBSD, Illumos, and Solaris | Yes | Serverless sync possible with DecSync | Self-hosted server cost: either hardware upfront costs (~€50 for RaspPi + ~€50 for 1 TB HDD) or ~€60 p.a. for cheap VPS (e.g. 1 TB at AlphaVPS) | |||||||||
Tresorit | Tresorit AG | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Proprietary | No | Yes | Yes (claimed)encryption cannot be verified as apps are closed source | No (not compatible with E2EE) | No (but can manage files in browser) | Yes | Yes | No | €100 (500 GB) |
€240 (2.5 TB) |
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Tuta | Tutao GmbH | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Clients are free | No | Yes | Yes | No tasks | No | Yes | No | €36 (11 GB) |
€132 (101 GB) |
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Wölkli1 Cloud & |
oriented.net LLC | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
Free | No | Yes | No | WebDAV | Yes (OnlyOffice or Collabora Office) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (needs PGP support in client)To use encrypted mail (zero access encryption), the user will need to decrypt them on the local device, e.g. using Thunderbird, or the OpenKeychain app on Android | €206 (5 GB) |
€401 (200 GB) |
Family plan also offered. Cloud and Mail have to be purchased separately. | |||
Yahoo Mail | Yahoo, Inc. PRISM | 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | In transit only | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | free (1 TB) |
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Yandex Disk & |
Yandex N.V. | 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇷🇺 Russia |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | WebDAV | Yes (Microsoft Office Online) | Yes | Yes | via 3rd party appssuch as FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | free (unlimited) |
€18 (100 GB) |
€89 (1 TB) |
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Zoho Workspace |
Zoho Corp. | 🇮🇳 India 🇺🇸 USA |
Proprietary | No | Yes | No | API | Yes (Zoho Office) | Yes | Yes | Notheoretically possible via 3rd party tools using Zoho's API but currently not supported by either FolderSync or AutoSync | No | Yes | Yes, except tasks | No | Yes | €117 (30 GB)Minimum 3 users who will get 30 GB each. |
€117 (100 GB)Minimum 3 users who can share 100 GB. |
€223 (1 TB)Minimum 3 users who can share 1 TB. |
Prices shown are for three users (team plans). |
There are multiple possibilities. Below I have set up five strategies how to manage your cloud setup.
All these companies offer the whole spectrum of sync and cloud services - files, mail, and PIM. You'll have to assume that your data will be sold to advertisers and made available to the US government, you will be locked into the ecosystem with no easy way to export all of your data, and you will be forced to use a proprietary operating system, but if you're fine with all of that everything will "just work" and be well integrated with each other.
If you're using a Mac and an iPhone, going with iCloud is an obvious choice. For example, all cloud apps except iCloud are forbidden to run in the background on iOS, so if you set up an automatic camera upload it will only work when you leave the app open and screen on - except for iCloud uploads which are allowed to happen in background. Apple now offers "Advanced Data Protection", which claims to apply end-to-end encryption to all of your data except for mail, contacts and calendars. So they are actually not a bad choice! The main downside is that you can't use iCloud with an operating system that respects your privacy (e.g. Linux or degoogled Android). And of course that nothing is open source so you need to trust Apple to not have a backdoor anywhere.
If you need Microsoft Office you might as well use the 1 TB OneDrive you get for free with it (besides, I have to admit that Microsoft's family subscription is great value for money, especially if you buy it for half price from Amazon).
The only one that doesn't really make sense is the Google ecosystem; they neither have the best products nor the best prices, and they are arguably the most evil of the three Big Tech companies.
These companies claim to respect your privacy, not scan your data, and not sell your data to advertisers. That's probably good enough for most people who don't want to be spied on and don't want to support the Big Tech monopolists, but also don't really need end-to-end encryption or protect their data from the government. Keep in mind that these companies can claim to not read your data, but there's nothing technically stopping them from it. If you do need or want that extra protection to keep your data safe from anyone's eyes, then you need to either get end-to-end encryption for all your services or you need to self-host at home.
Sadly, there is only one provider out there that offers a combination of mail hosting, calendar/contacts, and file cloud with all items fully end-to-end encrypted. That one provider is Proton Technologies. Unfortunately, while ProtonMail is a great and mature product, the other offerings (ProtonCalendar and ProtonDrive) are still rather immature.
For encrypted mail there are many options, so you can choose whatever you like. ProtonMail is often recommended as the best one, but there are many other good ones. For encrypted calendars and contacts, the only good option is EteSync. Posteo is an interesting alternative to both ProtonMail and EteSync, because it supports zero access encryption for not only email, but also contacts and calendars. Finally, there are several files clouds with end-to-end encryption, but only Mega and Filen have open source clients and support Linux. Of the two, Mega is the slightly superior choice as it has an API to integrate with other applications (e.g. FolderSync support for Android), and you can even set up WebDAV if you want.
Self-hosting means taking full control of your data. Keep in mind that you should ideally self-host at home, on your own server. Renting a VPS might be easier, but in the end your hoster can still read your data if they really want to (or are forced by the government). However, self-hosting also has a number of downsides: software updates going wrong, home Internet going down, hardware problems, taking care of backups, ...
Syncthing and DecSync are serverless and can directly sync between different devices as long as they are online at the same time. You can leave a synched computer at home running all the time (or rent a VPS, but with the same privacy concerns mentioned above) which would essentially act as a "server" with which your other devices can sync whenever they're online. Email is not part of this solution; you could host your own mail server or just use one of the other providers.