Building a directory of sustainable Big Tech Alternatives

#External

Sustainable Big Tech Alternatives on SustySubs.net

This site showcases sustainable and ethical alternatives to Big Tech and explains why it’s worth making the switch.

How the idea came about and what sets it apart from other directories

I had been toying with the idea of freeing myself from Big Tech as much as possible for some time. For a long time, I simply lacked an overview of which alternatives were available to me. If I was going to go to the trouble of switching to another provider, it should at least meet certain criteria. During my research, I found that there was no source that provided me with exactly this information.

There are great directories like european-alternatives.eu, which focuses on European alternatives, or alternativeto.net, which lists all possible alternatives. However, I felt that none of them focused on sustainable alternatives.

Being based in Europe is not in itself a guarantee of a sustainable, inclusive product. One of many examples is Spotify from Sweden. Spotify is known for low compensation for artists, the spread of AI-generated music, and data privacy issues. I also wanted to distance myself from this platform.

So, I created and published my own directory that also highlights alternatives to Spotify and similar tech giants.

How the database is populated

The directory is still a work in progress. Filling the list is time-consuming. I could certainly just insert AI-generated entries, but that wouldn’t meet my quality standards and probably wouldn’t add much value, as AI is easily influenced by marketing buzzwords and might include products that are just good at greenwashing. So, I do the research manually. I’ve set myself a goal of one category per week. Once I can’t think of any more relevant categories, I’ll start revising existing entries.

For each alternative, I gather features that support the product’s sustainability: Is privacy protected? Is there transparency through open-source/open-data? Is the infrastructure powered by renewable energy, and so on?

Is the website monetized?

As described, filling and maintaining the database takes a lot of time. Nevertheless, I currently have no plans to monetize the website in any way, except for a donation link in the footer, which hopefully will cover the server costs and maybe buy me a coffee or two. Right now, I enjoy engaging with the topic (even privately). I don’t need financial compensation for it.