Recommended

Tools we actually recommend

A short, opinionated list of pro-consumer, privacy-respecting tools — the sort of thing this blog exists to defend. No sponsored placements, no filler.

Disclosure: some links here may be or may become affiliate links, marked affiliate, meaning we could earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing about what makes this list: we only recommend things we would use — and do use — without one. See our editorial standards.

Privacy & your data

The AI industry treats your input as free training data. These push back.

Proton affiliate
Encrypted email, VPN, drive and calendar from a privacy-first Swiss outfit. Our own inbox.
Mullvad VPN
Flat €5/month, no account email, no upsells, no dark patterns. A rarity.
Firefox
The last mainstream browser not owned by an ad or AI giant.
uBlock Origin
The content blocker. Kills ads, trackers and a good chunk of AI-slop bloat.

Own your reading

AI search is eroding the open web. Read the sources directly instead.

NetNewsWire
Free, open-source RSS reader. Follow sites directly — no algorithm, no answer box.
Feedbin
Polished hosted RSS if you want sync across devices. Paid, no tracking.
Our RSS feed
While you're here: subscribe to this blog the old-fashioned way.

Use AI on your terms

We use these tools too — the trick is staying in control of the data and the bill.

Ollama
Run open models locally. Nothing leaves your machine; no per-token meter.
OpenRouter
Pay-as-you-go access to many models. Usually cheaper than a flat subscription if your use is spiky.

Know a genuinely pro-consumer tool we've missed? Tell us via GitHub Issues. We don't add anything we wouldn't run ourselves, affiliate or not.