Awesome Privacy Tools
A curated list of the best privacy tools, open-source privacy tools, encrypted messaging apps, anonymous email services, VPNs, Tor tools, password managers, secure file sharing apps, browser privacy extensions, and self-hosted privacy software.
Awesome Privacy Tools helps people find practical tools for private email, encrypted chat, anonymous browsing, password security, data removal, device hardening, and self-hosted alternatives to surveillance-based products.
Contents
- Start Here: Best Privacy Tools by Use Case
- Selection Criteria
- Anonymous Email Aliases and Private Email
- Encrypted Messaging and Secure Chat
- Private Browsers and Search Engines
- Browser Privacy Extensions
- VPNs, Tor, and Network Privacy
- DNS, Ad Blocking, and Tracker Blocking
- Password Managers, Passkeys, and Authentication
- File Encryption and Secure File Sharing
- Private Cloud Storage, Notes, and Collaboration
- Operating Systems and Device Privacy
- Mobile Privacy Tools
- Photo, Metadata, and Media Privacy
- Self-Hosted Privacy Tools
- Privacy-Friendly Analytics and Developer Tools
- Privacy Checkers, Breach Monitoring, and Data Removal
- Cryptography and Security Libraries
- Privacy Guides and Learning Tools
- More Awesome Lists
- Contributing
- License
Start Here: Best Privacy Tools by Use Case
A quick privacy stack for common needs:
| Need | Tools to compare |
|---|
| Anonymous email aliases | anon.li Alias, SimpleLogin, addy.io, Firefox Relay |
| Encrypted email | Proton Mail, Tuta, Mailbox.org |
| Secure messaging | Signal, SimpleX Chat, Briar, Element |
| Private browsing | Tor Browser, Mullvad Browser, LibreWolf, Firefox |
| Private search | DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Startpage, SearXNG |
| Password security | Bitwarden, KeePassXC, Proton Pass, 1Password |
| Two-factor authentication | Aegis Authenticator, Ente Auth, 2FAS, |
Selection Criteria
A privacy tool should usually meet most of these criteria:
- It improves privacy, anonymity, anti-tracking, encryption, data minimization, or user control.
- It is useful to real people, teams, developers, journalists, activists, or self-hosters.
- It explains its security model, privacy model, limitations, or trust assumptions.
- It is actively maintained, widely used, independently reviewed, or historically important.
- It avoids deceptive privacy claims, dark patterns, surveillance advertising, and unnecessary telemetry.
- Open source is preferred, but strong closed-source tools may be included when the trust model and track record are clear.
No affiliate links. No paid placement. No fake “best” rankings.
Anonymous Email Aliases and Private Email
- anon.li Alias - Private email aliases with forwarding, reply-by-alias, PGP forwarding, and custom domains.
- addy.io - Open-source anonymous email forwarding and aliasing.
- Aster Mail - Zero-access encrypted email with anonymous aliases and custom domain support.
- DuckDuckGo Email Protection - Email forwarding service that removes common trackers.
- Firefox Relay - Email masks from Mozilla for hiding your real address.
- Forward Email - Open-source email forwarding service with custom domain support.
- Mailfence - Private email, calendar, contacts, and document service with OpenPGP support.
- Mailbox.org - Privacy-oriented email and office suite.
- Mailvelope - Browser extension for OpenPGP email encryption.
- Proton Mail - Encrypted email service with web, desktop, and mobile apps.
- SimpleLogin - Open-source email alias service for shielding your real email address.
- Thexyz - Email hosting service with custom domains, spam filtering, and privacy-focused mailbox management.
- Tuta - Encrypted email, calendar, and contacts service.
Anonymous Phone Number Aliases
Receive SMS verification codes without exposing your real phone number — the phone-side counterpart to email aliases above. Useful for signups, 2FA, and account recovery on services that require a phone number.
- VerifySMS — Pay-per-use virtual numbers in 200+ countries / 500+ services. REST API, iOS/Android/web clients. Automatic refund within 20 minutes if SMS does not arrive. Email-only signup, no KYC under $250. 5.0 stars across 21 App Store reviews (US: 9, GB: 2, TR: 5, DE: 5). Privacy Policy.
- 5SIM — Long-running provider with REST API, mix of real and virtual numbers across multiple countries.
- SMS-Activate — Large catalog of services and countries, REST API, pay-per-use.
- SMSPool — Marketplace model, REST API, multiple countries.
Encrypted Messaging and Secure Chat
- Briar - Peer-to-peer messaging designed for censorship resistance and offline scenarios.
- Element - Matrix client for end-to-end encrypted personal and team chat.
- Jami - Peer-to-peer voice, video, and messaging app.
- Matrix - Open protocol for decentralized, end-to-end encrypted communication.
- Molly - Hardened Android client based on Signal.
- Session - Metadata-resistant messenger using an onion-routed network.
- Signal - End-to-end encrypted messenger with strong defaults and broad adoption.
- SimpleX Chat - Private messenger designed without user identifiers.
- Threema - Paid encrypted messenger that does not require a phone number.
- Wire - End-to-end encrypted messaging and collaboration for individuals and teams.
Private Browsers and Search Engines
- Brave - Chromium-based browser with built-in tracker blocking and privacy features.
- Brave Search - Search engine with an independent index and privacy-focused defaults.
- DuckDuckGo - Private search engine with tracker-blocking browser apps.
- Firefox - Open-source browser with strong extension support and privacy controls.
- Kagi - Paid search engine with personalization controls and no ad-funded model.
- LibreWolf - Firefox fork focused on privacy and security defaults.
- Mullvad Browser - Anti-fingerprinting browser built with the Tor Project and usable without Tor.
- SearXNG - Self-hostable metasearch engine.
- Startpage - Private search engine with proxied search results.
- Tor Browser - Browser configured to use Tor and reduce fingerprinting.
- Whoogle - Self-hosted private metasearch proxy.
Browser Privacy Extensions
VPNs, Tor, and Network Privacy
- dnscrypt-proxy - Flexible DNS proxy supporting encrypted DNS protocols.
- I2P - Anonymous overlay network for peer-to-peer services.
- IVPN - VPN provider with privacy-oriented policies and clients.
- Lokinet - Onion-routed network for private browsing and service access.
- Mullvad VPN - Privacy-focused VPN with anonymous account numbers and cash payment support.
- Nym - Mixnet infrastructure for network-level privacy.
- OnionShare - Share files and host temporary sites through Tor onion services.
- Orbot - Tor proxy for Android.
- Proton VPN - VPN service from Proton with open-source apps.
- Snowflake - Tor pluggable transport that helps people bypass censorship.
- Tor Project - Onion-routing network for stronger anonymity.
- WireGuard - Modern VPN protocol and software.
DNS, Ad Blocking, and Tracker Blocking