Trade war intensifies—5 European tech alternatives to consider

As international tensions flare and a looming trade war threatens geopolitical stability, Europe is at a crossroads. The escalating friction between global superpowers, prompts a reassessment of technological dependencies. With concerns over digital sovereignty, data privacy, and economic leverage growing, many Europeans are beginning to question the dominance of American and digital services in their daily lives. Could this be the moment when Europe turns inward, embracing homegrown alternatives in a bid to secure greater autonomy?

From AI assistants to email providers and navigation apps, Europe has capable alternatives to U.S. tech giants, yet many of these remain in the shadows of Silicon Valley’s household names. As governments discuss stricter regulations on foreign tech and consumers grow wary of their data being harvested by non-European companies, now might be the time to consider switching to European digital services. European-made alternatives exist for AI chatbots, social media, or cloud storage, offering robust, privacy-focused, and competitive options. Here’s a look at some of the top contenders.

1. AI assistant: Mistral AI’s Le Chat

Since the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT, we have all come to familiarize with it and with similar AI assistants. As you may know, not only Open AI, but most of the most advanced AI models, such as Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini come from the US. In addition, the Chinese DeepSeek has also gained popularity. The trade war in the AI domain intensifies, as China, US, and the EU plan hundreds of dollars in spending. 

A valid, European alternative to them is the recently launched Le Chat AI assistant by the French company Mistral AI. The assistant offers features such as project tracking, document summarization, and real-time information sourcing. This model is extremely fast, as it can process 1,000 words per second. Moreover, compared to its competitors, it also boasts robust multilingual capability. The platform's Mistral Large model demonstrates fluency in five languages: French, English, German, Spanish, and Italian. 

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2. Email service: Proton Mail and Mailbox

Either for professional or personal purposes, Gmail and Outlook are the most chosen email service providers. They both come as part of a broader workspace, including Calendar and video meeting tools. 

If you are looking to switch to a  European email provider, Proton Mail might be the option you have been looking for. The Swiss email service, developed by CERN scientists, has users’ privacy at their core. Data is encrypted, meaning that Proton can never access your information, and servers are located in Switzerland. Both free and paid account options are available. 

If you are looking for an email provider offering more services, you can consider mailbox.org. The German company offers a webmail service, a calendar, and a video call service. There are different plan options–the cheapest one costs €1 per month–offering more features and storage space. Moreover, mailbox data centers are fully powered by green energy. 

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3. Social media: Mastodon and BeReal

Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and its rebranding into X, many users have started leaving the platform, even more following Donald Trump's re-election as president of the United States. There has also been harsh criticism towards Meta, which operates Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. 

One of the alternatives users resorted to is Mastodon, a microblogging platform similar to X. It features a decentralized network of servers. Although being an open-source platform, meaning that anyone can contribute to its development from anywhere, many Mastodon servers are hosted and operated in Europe. 

The French social network BeReal is centered around picture sharing. Users get a notification every day, calling them to share snapshots of their daily life in a randomly selected two-minute window. BeReal strives to promote authentic user content, shying away from the polished and perfect photos promoted on other apps. 

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4. Translation software: DeepL

Google Translate still remains the most used tool to translate text from one language to another, offering the possibility to do so in tens of languages. In case you don’t know, there is a German alternative you could consider. 

DeepL is an online translation service offering remarkable translation capabilities. Although it doesn’t support as many languages as Google Translate, new ones are constantly added. DeepL can be used both on desktop and mobile devices, and offers both free and paid account options. 

5. Maps: HERE WeGo

How do you find your way to places? Likely using Google Maps, or if you are an Apple iOS user, through Maps. While driving, Waze is another popular option, having users signalling accidents and traffic jams. 

There is a Dutch alternative to these apps: HERE WeGo. This app offers navigation for walking, car, and public transport and is available for Android and iOS users. It is free and, similarly to its most known competitors, offers different map options, including satellite view. 

Looking for more? 

Many more alternatives are available for any of the other digital services you use daily, from cloud storage to payment service providers. If you are looking for more, you can look at European Alternatives, a website that provides a wide array of alternatives to the most used digital services. 

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