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.
Office
Office software for documents, spreadsheets, notes and shared editing, from desktop suites to encrypted tools in your browser. What we want from ethical office software: open-source code, open file formats like ODF and no AI pushed on you by default.
Our top picks: LibreOffice, the free desktop office suite from The Document Foundation, a non-profit, which promises no forced AI. And CryptPad, end-to-end encrypted docs, sheets, forms and kanban boards in your browser, open source, from France’s XWiki, with free accounts.
Our guide to Google alternatives covers Google Docs and Drive too.
How we choose: we check every tool 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). Last checked on 13 October 2026.
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Collabora Online
Self-hosted online office suite built on LibreOffice by its largest team of developers
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Joplin
Open-source notes app with end-to-end encryption, sync via its EU cloud or your own server
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Framasoft
French non-profit running free, ad-free tools like Framaforms, funded by your donations
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Simplenote
Free, open-source notes app from Automattic; notes aren't encrypted on its servers
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Nuclino
Fast team wiki with a free plan, hosted on AWS in the EU, with an AI assistant built in
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ONLYOFFICE
Open-source office suite under AGPL from Latvia's Ascensio System, free desktop apps
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Apache OpenOffice
Free office suite from the Apache Foundation, updated rarely; LibreOffice moves faster
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Standard Notes
Audited, end-to-end encrypted notes app with a free plan, part of Proton since 2024
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Turtl
Encrypted, open-source notebook from a tiny team; one desktop release since 2019
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CryptPad
End-to-end encrypted docs, sheets, forms and kanban, open source, from France's XWiki
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Etherpad
Open-source real-time text editor to self-host, no telemetry, with 290 plugins
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LibreOffice
Free office suite from The Document Foundation, a non-profit, with no forced AI