That the Google search engine has become one of the most essential Internet services is obvious. However, this fact does not apply only to its search engine. Thousands of users connect to Google Photos every day to back up memories, upload documents to Google Drive, and check email through Gmail. The dependency on Google services is very heavy in some cases.
Google’s business is in advertising. All the platforms that it offers apparently for free are designed to obtain information from the user. This data is then processed and used to target ads, making them much more effective. But is there an alternative to Google services? Of course yes. If you have considered leaving its applications aside and using other reliable solutions, in this article we will give you some suggestions. In addition, we tell you how you can completely delete your account.
The Best Alternatives To Google Apps
Before leaving all the applications of the Californian company aside, you must define what your motivation is when abandoning them. You may be concerned about cloud dependency and data loss in a supposed server crash. You may also not like depending on a single company to keep all your data safe. Not surprisingly, wanting to leave Google aside stems from growing concerns about privacy. Depending on what the main reason is, you will have to use one or the other alternatives.
Google Search Engine
We start with one of the most drastic changes. We refer to stopping using the Google search engine, a task that can be very difficult at first. However, it is possible if you opt for these options:
- DuckDuckGo
- bing
- Ecosia
- Qwant.
- Swisscows.
- SearchEncrypt.
- Start Page
Some alternatives come with interesting proposals. DuckDuckGo, for its part, does not track you and is private. Ecosia also draws attention, which plants trees as users search.
Google Docs
We must recognize that the Google office suite has some interesting advantages. Without going any further, its collaboration options between users are very powerful. However, if you are looking for alternatives, here are some:
- Microsoft-office
- Libre Office
- Only Office
- Free Office
- WPS office
- Calligra
- Office Suite
- Polaris office
- WordPerfect
- Zoho Workplace
In case you are looking for a universal and powerful solution, Microsoft Office is the most recommended. Of course, you will have to pay for a license or a subscription to use it. If privacy is what you want, use LibreOffice locally. The rest are good applications that we recommend you try to discover their strengths and weaknesses.
Google Chrome
Google’s browser is the most used in the world. According to NetMarketShare, by 2020 it had almost 70% market share. But it is not the only option you have at your disposal. And if you don’t believe it, take a look at the following list:
- brave
- Vivaldi
- firefox
- Safari
- Opera
- Tor Browser
- Avast Secure Browser
- TorchBrowser
- Maxthon Cloud Browser
- Microsoft Edge
- Epic
If you intend to use a more private browser, there are some names on the list that are highly recommended. Firefox is historically a browser committed to privacy. To this, we must add Brave, Tor Browser, or Epic. Other options are good alternatives to specific operating systems. Safari is a great option for macOS users, and Edge works well on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Google Drive
Cloud storage is a very competitive market. That means there are quite a few alternatives to Google Drive out there. Some are privacy-focused and others integrate with alternative office solutions.
- dropbox
- OneDrive
- pCloud
- resort
- sync.com
- Spider Oak One
- Box
- jottacloud
- Backblaze
- Mega
Dropbox is one of the veterans in this field. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only option either. OneDrive is ideal on Windows 10 and Windows 11 thanks to the integration. As it could not be otherwise, it is also the right choice if you have opted for Microsoft Office. While options like pCloud focus on privacy, Mega offers a lot of space for free.
Gmail
We come to one of the most personal services of all: email. If you decide to stop using Gmail, it means that you give up your address. Depending on whether you are already a user of another service or not, this could be a feasible possibility. In any case, here are some of the best alternatives to Gmail.
- ProtonMail
- Zoho Mail
- Outlook
- Yahoo! Email
- Hub Spot
- iCloud
ProtonMail is a private alternative to Gmail. Outlook is the option proposed by Microsoft. Yahoo! Mail is interesting because it offers a much larger amount of space than Google’s option. And like Safari, iCloudis the most integrated mail service with macOS. Do not forget that by creating an account in each of them you will get a new email address.
Google Keep
Google Keep is the place where many make notes. If you know the right tricks you can get a lot out of it. All in all, the alternatives to Google Notepad are many. To show a button:
- EverNote
- Todoist
- zenkit
- OneNote
- Microsoft To Do
- simplenote
- Remember The Milk
- Tello
- simplenote
- notion
- Standard Notes
As you can see, the selection also includes task applications that allow you to take notes. In this case, the final choice will depend on how you use Google Keep. From here a special mention for the Standard Notes end-to-end encryption option, for all of you who are concerned about your privacy.
How To Delete My Google Account Permanently
Deleting the Google account is the most drastic solution to completely forget about the company. Do it as follows:
- Go to Google My Account.
- Go to the Data and privacy section.
- Scroll to the bottom of the list of options and click Delete your Google account.
- Enter your password.
- Use the Download your data link to create a backup of your information.
- Check the two boxes that you will see at the bottom of the page.
- Click on Delete account.
