Alternatives to American Services
🔗 Other Resources
- BuyCanadian - Services & Apps: A community-curated list of Canadian software and digital services.
- Made in Canada: A directory focused on Canadian-made technology and platforms.
- European Alternatives: A comprehensive index of European software and services promoting digital sovereignty.
🛡️ Grading System
- 🟢 Green: Non-US Headquarters, non-US hosting, and minimal to no US technical dependencies.
- 🟡 Yellow: Non-US Headquarters, but relies on US-based infrastructure (e.g., AWS, GCP) or has significant US dependencies.
🏗️ Infrastructure & Development
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codeberg | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Bunny.net | Slovenia 🇸🇮 | 🟢 | - |
| Hetzner | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Rebel | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Mythic Beasts | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | 🟢 | - |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): GitHub, GitLab (US), Bitbucket, Cloudflare, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Fastly, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace / Google Domains.
💬 Communication & Collaboration
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket.Chat | Brazil 🇧🇷 | 🟢 | - |
| Wire | Switzerland 🇨🇭 / Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Proton Mail | Switzerland 🇨🇭 | 🟢 | - |
| Tuta | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Threema | Switzerland 🇨🇭 | 🟢 | - |
| Element | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | 🟢 | - |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Slack, Microsoft Teams, Mattermost, Zulip, Discord, WhatsApp, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail.
📱 Social Media
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixelfed | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Loops | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Mastodon | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), Snapchat, Threads.
🌐 Web Browsers
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shift | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Owned by Redbrick |
| Vivaldi | Norway 🇳🇴 | 🟢 | - |
| Opera | Norway 🇳🇴 | 🟢 | Majority owned by Kunlun Tech (China) |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Brave.
🔐 Productivity & Privacy
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Password | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Sync | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Proton Pass | Switzerland 🇨🇭 | 🟢 | - |
| NordPass | Lithuania 🇱🇹 | 🟢 | - |
| Nextcloud | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Bitwarden, Dashlane, LastPass, iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, Box.
🤖 Artificial Intelligence & Search
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral AI | France 🇫🇷 | 🟢 | - |
| DeepL | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| DeepSeek | China 🇨🇳 | 🟢 | - |
| Kimi | China 🇨🇳 | 🟢 | - |
| Qwant | France 🇫🇷 | 🟡 | Relies on Microsoft Bing search index |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini/Search), Microsoft (Bing/Translator).
🎵 Entertainment & Media
| Service | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CBC Gem | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Publicly owned (CBC) |
| Crave | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Owned by Bell Media |
| Kobo | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Owned by Rakuten (Japan) |
| GOG | Poland 🇵🇱 | 🟢 | Owned by CD Projekt; DRM-free gaming |
| PeerTube | France 🇫🇷 | 🟢 | - |
| Spotify | Sweden 🇸🇪 | 🟡 | Relies heavily on US Google Cloud (GCP) |
| Deezer | France 🇫🇷 | 🟡 | Partial dependency on US Cloud infra |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu, Max, Vimeo, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Steam, Epic Games Store.
🚗 Automotive
| Brand | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| BMW | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Toyota | Japan 🇯🇵 | 🟢 | - |
| Volvo | Sweden 🇸🇪 | 🟢 | Parent company Geely is based in China |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Tesla, Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, RAM, Jeep, Lincoln, Cadillac.
🍔 Fast Food & Dining
| Brand | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&W Canada | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Operates independently of US A&W |
| Harvey’s | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Pizza Pizza | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Mary Brown’s | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Swiss Chalet | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| New York Fries | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Founded in Brantford, ON |
| Osmow’s | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Thai Express | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Booster Juice | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Hero Certified Burgers | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Mr. Sub | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Pizza Nova | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| The Burger’s Priest | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Tim Hortons | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟡 | Owned by RBI (significant US operations) |
| LEON | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | 🟢 | - |
| Greggs | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | 🟢 | - |
| Quick | Belgium 🇧🇪 | 🟢 | - |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King, Dunkin’, KFC, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, Chipotle, Five Guys, Shake Shack, Chick-fil-A, Popeyes (RBI/US-founded), Taco Bell.
💻 Hardware & Electronics
| Brand | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo | China 🇨🇳 | 🟢 | World’s largest PC vendor |
| ASUS | Taiwan 🇹🇼 | 🟢 | - |
| Acer | Taiwan 🇹🇼 | 🟢 | - |
| MSI | Taiwan 🇹🇼 | 🟢 | - |
| BenQ | Taiwan 🇹🇼 | 🟢 | - |
| Samsung | South Korea 🇰🇷 | 🟢 | - |
| LG | South Korea 🇰🇷 | 🟢 | - |
| Framework | US-based 🇺🇸 | 🟡 | Included for repairability/openness (US-based) |
WARNING
Avoid (US-Based): Apple, Dell, HP, Microsoft (Surface), Razer, NVIDIA, Intel, AMD.
👕 Clothing & Apparel
| Brand | HQ | Sovereignty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lululemon | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | - |
| Arc’teryx | Canada 🇨🇦 | 🟢 | Owned by Amer Sports (Finnish/Chinese) |
| H&M | Sweden 🇸🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Zara | Spain 🇪🇸 | 🟢 | - |
| Adidas | Germany 🇩🇪 | 🟢 | - |
| Uniqlo | Japan 🇯🇵 | 🟢 | - |