[HacktionLab] Alternatives to big tech for personal use?

Thu Jan 1 11:37:08 UTC 2026

As I understand it nextcloud doesn't have the doc editing built-in, it's more like dropbox, and if you want doc editing you add onlyoffice, or collabora (which they seem to have bundled up into "nextcloud office" now - https://nextcloud.com/office/).

They are all quite heavy on the hosting I think.

Another pathway would be something that feels halfway between a pad and a document suite, e.g. https://github.com/suitenumerique/docs built by french and german government - there is an initiative here to try and offer it as a service through a coop --> https://docs.coop/ (not sure where they are at with that though).

Cheers,

Nick

On Thursday, 1 January 2026 at 10:10, Mike Harris <mike at mbharris.co.uk> wrote:

> 
> 
> Hey all,
> 
> I'm very interested in this, not least because I've got a chunk of
> server upgrade work for XtreamLab to do this first quarter of 2026, and
> part of my desires is to get some office document editing replacement as
> something we can provide to our users as a service. I've tried to get
> OnlyOffice integrated with OwnCloud a couple of times and gave up, but
> I'm feeling pretty confident that this time I could do something.
> Perhaps NextCloud?
> 
> So, what could I use folks?
> 
> Also, if anyone on the list wants email or hosting stuff, then do let me
> know - https://xtreamlab.net - we're running the venerable RoundCube for
> webmail as well as the newer SnappyMail (previously RainLoop).
> 
> And also, I guess, if anyone's potentially up for working to build these
> services, then let's collaborate!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Mike.
> 
> On 31/12/2025 12:30, Garcon du Monde wrote:
> 
> > i already sent this recently so not sure if it was missed:
> > 
> > * https://degooglisons-internet.org/en/
> > 
> > i think there is everything you might want here, but there's also a
> > listing of alternatives for some additional services:
> > 
> > * https://alt.framasoft.org/en/
> > 
> > solidarity,
> > 
> > --gdm
> > 
> > On Sat, Dec 27, 2025 at 02:47:57PM +0000, brentc wrote:
> > 
> > > Thanks all!
> > > 
> > > Yes, riseup is good and generally well regarded. It doesn't do full cloud
> > > drive and online office suite though afaik.
> > > 
> > > I also want non-US for efficiency/sustainability (as well as more political
> > > reasons)- makes technical sense to use a UK/EU location if I'm based in that
> > > area.
> > > 
> > > Proton mail does seem ok, but I get the impression their politics are more
> > > libertarian than liberal? E.g. CEO making statements apparently a bit
> > > republican supporting. I'd be curious as to others' thoughts here? Tricky
> > > area. I would also need to figure out how to calm down their adverts for
> > > themselves on their UI.
> > > 
> > > Mailbox.org might be worth a spin.
> > > 
> > > Cheers
> > > 
> > > On 26/12/2025 17:58, Patrice Riemens wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Hi All,
> > > > 
> > > > Being on puscii, which is a very small, hackers run ISP, I do not use riseup, but many friends are - to their full satisfaction. It's a bit the 'Isp of records' ;-) in some demographies. That is is US- based with all the consequences does not seem to be a drawback. But if you are paranoid about anything US related (aren't we all? ;-) I always advise Sswitzerland-based protonmail - in conjunction with an own mailer, type Thunderbird (here's a piece of 'do as I say, not as I do advice ;-) Protonmail free has a rather limited storage.
> > > > 
> > > > Cheers to all & best wishes for a rather anxiogenous 2026!
> > > > p+2D!
> > > > 
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Chris Clemson" Chris.Clemson at GoGreenIT.net
> > > > To: hacktionlab at lists.aktivix.org
> > > > Sent: Friday, 26 December, 2025 15:23:55
> > > > Subject: Re: [HacktionLab] Alternatives to big tech for personal use?
> > > > 
> > > > Hi!
> > > > 
> > > > Have you tried https://riseup.net/?
> > > > 
> > > > I've not used it, but it has been around for a while.
> > > > 
> > > > There's a list of disroot-like services here, which might help:
> > > > https://alternativeto.net/software/disroot/
> > > > 
> > > > Let us know if you try any of them.
> > > > 
> > > > On 24/12/2025 11:03, brentc wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Hello
> > > > > 
> > > > > I'd love to find something like Google suite that isn't Google. I use
> > > > > alternatives for more activist stuff but keep coming back to Google
> > > > > for general use. Any (constructive) thoughts or pointers?
> > > > > 
> > > > > I guess looking for something in between weak activist offerings and
> > > > > big tech. If something like a non-profit non-US Mozilla offered an
> > > > > awesome product, that would be lovely, but I don't see it.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Specifically, for me, I need the typical 'personal productivity'
> > > > > services- email, todo lists, calendars, drive/docs/sheets with decent
> > > > > editing and features, and sharing (with people who don't have an
> > > > > account). I'd rather not use multiple services, want uptime and
> > > > > backups handled, and if it's green hosted and a non-profit oriented,
> > > > > bonus. It should probably be UK/EU region. I don't want to host my own
> > > > > stuff. I'll pay for the right thing. Honestly, for personal use, I
> > > > > probably want some balance of encryption/security with features,
> > > > > noting I'll have to trust the provider anyway.
> > > > > 
> > > > > I've tried disroot. It's quite good to be fair, but still limited
> > > > > feature-wise, and more worryingly, couldn't get issues sorted with
> > > > > support (which is a common thing with smaller outfits in my
> > > > > experience, that I don't want to deal with). I don't like protonmail.
> > > > > There's mailbox.org but tradeoffs are they're a company albeit seem
> > > > > alright, and their website gives me the creeps.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Maybe I ask for the currently impossible.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Thanks,
> > > > > 
> > > > > Brent
> > > > > 
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> 
> --
> Mike Harris
> +44 07811 781 893
> https://mbharris.co.uk - https://hacktionlab.org - https://xtreamlab.net
> 
> 
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