A subscription-free digital life
I recently read an article on Kev Quirk's blog, where he answered a question that many of us have probably asked ourselves at some point: can you live digitally without subscriptions? And if so, what would that look like? Kev's answer was an honest one, but it leaned quite heavily toward self-hosting as the main solution. I'd like to offer a slightly different perspective.
The person who asked the question, Sanjay, mentions something important: what happens to his services if he is no longer around or faces a financial constraint? This is precisely why self-hosting is not the ideal answer. A server at home or on a VPS depends on your continuous presence and attention. If you disappear, so does the server. The more appropriate answer is a combination of quality free services, where the business model is not built on your data, supplemented where necessary by software you install locally on your computer.
You can read Kev's article here: Can one setup their digital life to be subscription free?
Operating system
This is the foundation and the easiest point to resolve. Linux is free, libre, and has no subscription. It does not ask you to pay for updates, does not sell your data, and does not disappear if a company decides to change its business model. There are distributions suited to every level of experience, from Ubuntu and Linux Mint for those coming from Windows, to Fedora or Arch for those who want more control. This is the only point on this list where there is no possible compromise: Linux is the right answer.
Email with a custom domain
Kev says that email with a custom domain inevitably costs money, and he is right about the domain itself. But if you do not strictly need a custom domain, there are two excellent services that are free and privacy-respecting: Proton Mail and Tuta. Both are open source, both offer end-to-end encryption, and neither reads your emails to show you ads. The free Proton Mail account comes bundled with Proton Calendar and Proton Drive, making it an excellent starting point for several other categories on Sanjay's list.
If you do want a custom domain, there is an elegant solution that does not involve self-hosting: email forwarding through MX Routing. ImprovMX and ForwardEmail let you receive emails on your own domain and automatically forward them to your Proton Mail or Tuta account, completely free of charge. ForwardEmail has the added advantage of being fully open source. This way you get the personalised address you want, without having to run an email server.
Calendar and reminders
If you create a Proton Mail account, Proton Calendar comes with it automatically. Tuta Calendar works the same way, included in the email account. Both sync across devices and require no subscription. As a locally installed alternative, Thunderbird covers both email and calendar in a single open source application.
Notes
Standard Notes is a free note-taking service with end-to-end encryption and apps for all platforms, including Linux. Your notes are yours and no one else can read them, not even the company providing the service. Another open source and free option is Notesnook, which works on the same principle. As a local alternative, Joplin saves everything on your computer in Markdown format, with no account required.
Documents, spreadsheets, presentations
Cryptpad is a complete office suite, free, open source, and end-to-end encrypted. You can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly in the browser, without an account if you prefer, or with a free account if you want to save and access your files later. It is hosted by a Swiss nonprofit organisation and is arguably the best option in this category. If you prefer something installed locally, LibreOffice covers everything you need, is open source, and does not depend on any external service.
Passwords
This is a service many people leave out of the conversation, but it is essential. Bitwarden offers an excellent free account, is open source, and its servers can be independently audited. All passwords are encrypted locally before being sent to their servers, so not even Bitwarden can read them. Apps are available for Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and as a browser extension. If you prefer not to depend on any external service, KeePassXC is the obvious local alternative: the password database is stored as a regular file on your computer, which you can copy or sync however you like.
Cloud storage
Proton Drive is the natural choice if you are already using Proton Mail, as it is included in the same free account and benefits from the same end-to-end encryption. As an alternative, pCloud offers 10 GB for free, has native Linux apps, and lets you choose whether your data is stored on servers in Europe or the United States. It is not open source, but it does not sell your data and is a solid, pragmatic option.
Website and blog hosting
Kev mentions GitHub Pages and Cloudflare Pages as free options, but both come with privacy trade-offs. A more appropriate alternative in the spirit of open source is Codeberg Pages, built on Forgejo and hosted by a German nonprofit organisation. Sourcehut Pages is another option in the same spirit, minimalist and open source, hosted by a small company focused on the free software developer community.
CDN
I should be honest here: there are no quality free options in this category that are not large corporations with their own interests. Cloudflare has a free tier and is the most widely used, but having such a large percentage of web traffic flowing through a single private company is a real problem for the decentralisation of the internet. jsDelivr is an open source option designed for libraries and static files, but it does not cover general use cases. If you genuinely need a CDN, this is one of the rare points where you will have to accept a compromise or pay for an independent service.
Databases
This is a technical topic, relevant mainly to those who develop applications. Supabase offers a decent free tier, is open source, and can replace Firebase in most cases. For local use, PostgreSQL or SQLite are mature options, completely free and requiring no account.
RSS and content following
RSS is decentralised by nature, so you do not need a central service to use it. A locally installed reader solves the problem entirely and independently of any server. On Linux, Newsboat is an excellent option for the terminal, while Newsflash offers a graphical interface. If you want synchronisation across multiple devices, Inoreader offers a decent free account.
Messaging
This is a category Sanjay did not mention explicitly, but it is probably one of the most important in anyone's digital life. Signal is the gold standard: open source, end-to-end encrypted, and free. If you want something even more decentralised, with no phone number associated with your account, Session is an interesting alternative based on a distributed network with no central server.
Browser
Brave blocks ads and trackers out of the box, is based on Chromium, and offers a good level of privacy with no additional configuration. Waterfox is a fork of Firefox, lighter and without Mozilla's telemetry, suited to those who prefer the Gecko engine. Both are free and available on Linux.
Search engine
Qwant is a European search engine with servers in France that does not track you or build an advertising profile. As a second option, Brave Search has its own independent index without relying on Google or Bing, which makes it less vulnerable to outside influence. Both are free and work directly in the browser without any account.
Maps
Organic Maps and OsmAnd are both based on OpenStreetMap, work offline after downloading the maps, and do not collect data about your location. Organic Maps is simpler and more pleasant for everyday use, while OsmAnd is more complex and suited to those who need more functionality, including cycling or hiking navigation.
Music
This is the category where the trade-off is most visible. If you want to listen to music without ads and without a subscription, the cleanest option is to own the music you listen to. Bandcamp is the ideal place for this: you can listen to albums in full for free before buying, and when you do buy, the music is yours in FLAC or MP3 format, with no restrictions. On Linux, a local player such as Rhythmbox or Clementine plays any audio format without any account or subscription.
Video editing
This is the only category on the list where a quality free online service does not really exist. Video editing requires significant processing resources, which makes it difficult to offer a sustainable free service. Locally installed software is the only realistic option here. Kdenlive is open source and free, well suited for personal projects. If you need something more powerful, DaVinci Resolve is available for free on Linux at a level that few paid applications can match - while it is not open source, the free version has no meaningful limitations for everyday use.
Final thoughts
My conclusion differs from Kev's. Self-hosting is not the answer for someone like Sanjay. The answer is a combination of free services with transparent business models and open source software installed locally. The first type of service does not disappear if you are no longer around, does not become a financial burden, and does not depend on your continuous attention. The second type stays on your computer regardless of what happens in the world.
The trade-off is real, but smaller than it first appears: instead of paying with money or your data, you sometimes accept a less polished interface or more limited functionality compared to subscription services. But the gain in independence and peace of mind is well worth it.