Over the years, I have become reliant on Google products. I was lured by the free mail service, which allowed me to use my own domain, but since then it's grown.

Why are you degoogling?

Since the rise of AI, I have become very concerned about privacy. I have always been a private person, and only shared what I needed to. Nowadays we really don't know what is happening to our data, and I definitely don't want it to be used to promote adverts to me. I hate Adverts.

The final straw for me was the cost of my mail. I had three domains I used with Google. One was still on the free tier, which I didn't use much; the other two were on the same account. This also started on the free tier, but I was getting pushed towards paying. It was costing me £33 a month for two email accounts bundled with a load of services I didn't use. It was time to say goodbye.

What Google services do I use?

• Gmail/Workspace
• Chrome
• Analytics
• Photos
• Drive
• Notes.

The first step.

The first step I took was Notes; this was the easy one. I used to use Evernote until they started to charge per device. It only allowed 2 devices; I had three. It was also clunky to use.

Then I discovered Notion. It was a game-changer; it's simple to use, intuitive, and there are no extra costs. I'm not against charging if you have hundreds of users; then that's fine, but for personal use it should be free. Also, if it's good, I'll pay, and I'm thinking of doing this with Notion.

I didn't have much data; I could move this manually. I didn't try the automated stuff.

Photo's and Drive

This was easy for me, as an everyday Mac user. I chose iCloud due to it being native on my devices, and I already had an Apple One subscription, which gave me 2Tb of space, which is more than enough for my use.

I'd been a bit reluctant in the past because iCloud wasn't very good, but it's so much better now, and I just forget about it now. It syncs easily between my iPhone, iPad and Mac.

My Biggest move: Mail.

I'd been a long-time Gmail user; I was lucky to get an invite when it was a beta product in the mid-2000's. I had a hell of a lot of stuff in my main account, which I was terrified to move. My biggest motivator to move was cost.

I then discovered Fast Mail, and I was hooked. I could have hosted on the same server as my website, but I like the idea of having my domains, website and email separate, so if any go down, the others are still available.

I was paying £33 for two accounts with Google and only using the email part of my Workspace subscription. I was paying for a lot of things I never used.

I'm now paying £12.60 for 6 users. This is more than enough for me. I'll post a full review in due course.

My last two are to come. Chrome and Analytics.

I have 2 sites that use Analytics. I have never been happy with how visitors are tracked on this service, but I like to know where my readers are from. I have been trying to do this through interaction; this is why I have comments on my posts and my guestbook. I find it more personal.

Do I remove analytics and stick to comments, or find a more private analytics service?

Chrome is such a hard one for me to move; I have become so reliant on it. It's on every device I use, and it syncs so easily, but the privacy factor is hard to overlook.

I have tried Safari; it's fast, but I can't get my head around how it works. I use tab groups a lot, but they are weird on Safari, and I couldn't get them to work.

I may try Firefox next; this was my default before Chrome, but it was sooo slow when I used it. I hated it.

I see a part two coming on.

Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.