Ethical Alternatives & Resources
Tools, services and organisations that do less harm than the default choice, in 43 categories. We’re re-checking every entry against our checklist, one category at a time.
Design
Free, open-source design software for painting, photo editing, vector graphics and 3D. We look for tools run by foundations or volunteers and funded by donations, with no account to sign up for.
Our top picks: Blender, the 3D creation suite from the Amsterdam-based Blender Foundation, paid for by its Development Fund and donations. And Krita, a painting app made by artists in the KDE community; the trade-off is no cloud sync or real-time collaboration. For photos and vector work, GIMP and Inkscape are both volunteer-run and shipped new releases in 2026.
How we choose: every tool is checked against the 6 principles in our manifesto: who owns it and how it makes money, what it collects, how it treats people, honesty, openness and staying power. We last checked this list on 13 October 2026.
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Penpot
Open-source design and prototyping tool, free in the cloud or self-hosted; made in Madrid
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Krita
Free, open-source painting app made by artists, funded by its Development Fund and donations
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Inkscape
Free vector graphics editor, a Software Freedom Conservancy member project since 2007
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Blender
Free 3D creation suite from the Amsterdam-based Blender Foundation, funded by donations
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GIMP
Free image editor made by volunteers, with donations run through the nonprofit GNOME Foundation