# Moving Away From Big Tech *10 August 2025* ![A graphic representing a big tech corporation, inspired by Lester beale](big-tech-3x2.webp) ***(and, hopefully, saving some money)*** Recently, I realised how much I was spending each month on the online services that have accumulated over time. I've always been interested in tech, so maybe, I was spending more than most, I don't know, but it was definitely getting out of hand. The process of looking at what services I was paying for made me realise quite how much of my data is held in the servers of mega-corporations, many of which are outside the EU's tighter privacy regulations. Something I wanted to change. I hope to be able to retire at some point in the next few years so reducing my monthly outgoings seems like a sensible move, before my income drops. I'm going to update this post as I make changes. Updated: 17 August 2025. ## The services I was using at the start of 2025 - **1password** - password manager service - **Apple Photos** - iPhone storage - **Backblaze** - Online backup - **Capture One** - I love Capture One, but I'm not doing any serious photography, so it's not essential. - **Evernote** - Note-taking app. I've been paying for EN since 2008, but it's become more bloated and far more buggy than it used to be. I've also never been that comfortable with my data being saved in a proprietary format. - **Google Calendar** - Is it free? - **Google Drive** - Is it free? - **Gmail** - Technically free, but not really. - **Grammarly** - I was using Grammarly for writing associated with documentary work. - **Lebara** - Good, affordable, mobile phone service - **Squarespace** - Website - **Todoist** - To-do list, which I mainly use for work. It's excellent, but unnecessary for my home needs. In total, that was costing about £600 / year (some services are charged in Dollars, so the cost changes). In addition, between us my wife and I are paying for Broadband, Netflix, and Channel 4+. That all adds up to a fair chunk of change. The biggest change was going to be moving away Gmail where my email has sat for at least 20 years, probably more. I didn't want to move it more than once, so I've taken some time looking at the options. I finally settled on [Posteo](https://posteo.de/en), (based in Germany) I'll explain why in a separate post, but they seem a balance between security, privacy, and price. I'm now going through the tedious task of moving my, seemingly, 100's of accounts and subscriptions from Gmail to Posteo. ## Where I am in August 2025 - **1password** - ($72.00 / year) We are both so embedded with 1password I can't think of moving at the moment. - **Apple Photos storage** - I'd like to find an alternative, but Apple storage is only 99 cents / month. I can only think finding service that's going to work on the iPhone is going to be janky to implement. - **Backblaze** - ($118.80 / year) I'm really conflicted. I see the logic but I'd like to find a cheaper EU hosted alternative. - **darktable** - (free) An open-source, Lightroom/Capture One alternative. I'm very new to it, its fine. There's a steep learning curve and it's not pretty. - **[Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/)** - (free) An open-source note-taking app, using simple Markdown files, which sync through iCloud. If I move away from iCloud, I'd need to find an alternative sync service, which is where Apple hold all the cards. Syncing to and from the iPhone is not straightforward. - **Obsidian Publish** - ($96/year) for this website. A paid add-on to Obsidian. I like the service for a very simple site, but it feels a little expensive compared to the competition. - **Posteo** - (€12 / year) email and calendar. All good so far. - **Google Drive** - ($15.00 / year) I'm looking for alternatives. If you have suggestions, let me know. - **Lebara** - Mobile phone and data. - **TickTick** - (free-version) To-do list. I'm using this for my personal to-dos. I'll stop paying for Todoist when I stop work. The current total is about £285 / month (with two exchange rates to take into account, the exact figure is constantly changing), less than half I was paying at the start of the year. Squarespace and Grammarly are the two biggest savings. Backblaze is the largest potential saving, but I'm aware if were to lose any data, $119 would seem a small price to pay to get it back. If you have any thoughts or recommendations, please let me know. *(Profound apologies to [Lester Beall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Beall) for ripping off another of his amazing designs.)* Nigel <br> > [!Comments] > As yet, I don't have any way to accept comments directly on the blog. Feel free to [email me](mailto:[email protected]) and I'll post your comment below. > > If you want to email in confidence, that's also perfectly fine - just make it clear in the email.