Independent bookshops, libraries, fair music platforms, cinemas and public media libraries.
A library card costs little or nothing and often includes e-books, films and music streaming. When you buy, an independent bookshop keeps a shop open in your town, and fair music platforms pay musicians more of what you spend.
ARTE.tv is the free streaming site and app of ARTE, the Franco-German public cultural channel: live TV, catch-up, documentaries, films, series, concerts and reports, with no subscription and no…
Alternative to Netflix, Prime Video and other paid streaming services
Keywords
Categories
Gallica is the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and its partners. It gives free online access to more than 11 million digitised documents (January 2025): books…
Alternative to paid e-book shops and archive services for old books, newspapers and maps
Keywords
Categories
Project Gutenberg is a free online library of books in the public domain: nearly 78,000 e-books in March 2026, to read in the browser or download without an account. It is an alternative to buying…
Alternative to buying classics as e-books from Amazon’s Kindle store and other paid shops
Keywords
Categories
VLC is a free, open-source media player that plays almost every video and audio file, DVDs and online streams without extra codec packs, on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and more. It is an…
Alternative to paid video players and codec packs full of adware
Keywords
Categories
GIMP is a free, open-source photo editor and image creation program for Windows, macOS and Linux. It crops, corrects colours, cuts out shapes, works with layers and masks, paints and draws.
Alternative to Adobe Photoshop and its monthly subscription
Keywords
Categories
Place des Libraires is a French website that shows which bookshops have a book in stock: readers choose a title and a nearby shop, then reserve the book to collect there, or order it if it isn’t in…
Alternative to ordering books from Amazon and the big online retailers
Keywords
Categories
Onleihe is the digital lending service of public libraries in German-speaking countries: with a library card, readers borrow e-books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines and videos from home, and the…
Alternative to buying e-books and audiobooks from Amazon Kindle and Audible
Keywords
Category
momox is a Berlin company that buys used books, CDs, DVDs, games and clothes from private people and resells them online, in Germany through its shop medimops and in France through momox shop. Buying…
Alternative to buying new books, CDs, DVDs and video games
Keywords
Categories
Culture that pays its artists
News, media and knowledge
Education and training
Digital services, software and devices
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Second-hand, swapping, lending and sharing