December 29, 2025
Gaul or Google? Pick your fighter
Bye Bye Big Tech: How I Migrated to an Almost All-EU Stack (and Saved 500€/Year)
EU privacy swap saves cash—comments erupt over cost and lock‑in
TLDR: A user ditched Google for mostly EU tools, says Proton-led stack saves €500 a year. Comments split: budget hawks push free tiers and DIY servers, Google fans say Workspace is unbeatable value, and skeptics warn of Proton lock‑in—turning a privacy win into a cost vs convenience cage match.
An EU‑first tech makeover—Proton everything, Ecosia for searches, DeepL for translations, Vivaldi browser, Scaleway cloud, Superlist for tasks—claims a juicy €500/year saved. The crowd loved the privacy flex… until the comment section caught fire. First punch: wizzwizz4 slammed the “no Substack alternatives” line with “loads of alternatives,” dropping Hyvor Blogs and AlternativeTo receipts. Cue DIY memes and “just host it yourself” chants.
Then the budget brigade rolled in. AuthAuth said Proton’s paid tier bumps their bill from $0 to $15 a month and vowed to go free tier + cheap drawer PC for home hosting. Minimalist mgaunard went nuclear: “I Spend 0.” Meanwhile, Google loyalists like nocchedure argued the mid‑tier Workspace (€15) is hard to beat—2TB storage, fine‑grained email controls, and Gemini AI—basically “privacy vibes vs all‑in convenience” in one tidy bundle.
Lock‑in skeptics kavouras weren’t having the Proton monoculture, warning it’s just “new ecosystem, same trap,” and promoting mix‑and‑match: own domain, Bitwarden, Firefox forks. The laughs? People revived the author’s “MeisterTask is a kindergarten playground” dig, joked about an “EU passport for apps,” and clapped for tree‑planting searches. And yes, AI is still messy: the poster admits leaning on Gemini and Claude Code while waiting for Proton Meet to finish the puzzle.
Key Points
- •The author migrated to a mostly EU-based technology stack centered on Proton’s integrated suite.
- •Proton services (Mail, Calendar, Drive with docs/tables, Pass, VPN, Standard Notes) replaced Google Drive, Gmail, NordVPN, Notion, 1Password, and Authenticator.
- •For AI, the author uses Lumo AI for private queries and Mammouth for multi-model access (€10), including Mistral, Flux, Claude Code, and Gemini.
- •Browser/search/translation choices shifted to Vivaldi Technologies, Ecosia (with occasional Google), and DeepL; Grammarly remains for spell check.
- •Hosting moved to Scaleway; task management switched from Todoist (after a brief trial of MeisterTask) to Superlist; the change reportedly saves about €500 per year.