29 alternatives
“Que faire de mes objets et déchets ?” is a free website of ADEME, the French agency for ecological transition: typing the name of an object or a type of waste shows how to repair, give away, resell…
Alternative to throwing everything in the bin because you don’t know who repairs, takes back or recycles it
Keywords
Categories
The French Ministry of Health publishes the results of the official checks on tap water for every commune, free online, so anyone can see what is in their water before paying for bottles.
Alternative to bottled water bought out of distrust of the tap
Keywords
Category
The “Économiser” pages of ADEME, the French ecological transition agency, are free guides to spending less on electricity, heating, fuel, water and everyday purchases. They need no account, carry no…
Alternative to energy-saving advice from suppliers and salespeople who want to sell you something
Keywords
Categories
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
The Blauer Engel (Blue Angel) is the German government’s eco-label, introduced in February 1978. It marks products and services that do less harm to the environment than others of the same kind…
Alternative to fresh-fibre paper and office products with vague “eco” claims
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
The BZfE Saisonkalender is the seasonal calendar for fruit and vegetables of Germany’s Federal Centre for Nutrition, free as an app and as a poster, showing when each kind is harvested in Germany and…
Alternative to buying strawberries in winter and other out-of-season produce flown or trucked in
Keywords
Categories
Pl@ntNet is a free app and website that names a plant from a photo of its flower, leaf, fruit or bark. It was built by French public research institutes, and every confirmed photo feeds a public…
Alternative to commercial plant identification apps with subscriptions
Keywords
Categories
The Complémentaire santé solidaire (C2S) is France’s public complementary health cover for people on low incomes. It pays what the Assurance Maladie leaves to the patient, for free or for at most €1…
Alternative to a paid mutuelle for people on low incomes
Keywords
Categories
The Energie-Info comparator is the official comparison tool of France’s energy ombudsman (médiateur national de l’énergie). It lists the electricity and gas offers of every supplier and ranks them by…
Alternative to commercial comparison sites paid by suppliers that sell your contact details
Keywords
Categories
France Rénov’ is the French public service for home energy renovation, run by the national housing agency Anah. Its advisers give free, neutral advice on insulation, heating, ventilation and the…
Alternative to commercial renovation companies that cold-call households and sell expensive works
Keywords
Categories
FUN MOOC is the French public platform of free online courses made by universities and grandes écoles: videos, quizzes and forums on hundreds of subjects, mostly in French, with about one course in…
Alternative to commercial online course platforms such as Coursera or Udemy
Keywords
Category
Gesundheitsinformation.de is the health information site of IQWiG, the German institute that assesses the benefits and harms of medical treatments. It explains illnesses, examinations and treatments…
Alternative to health websites financed by advertising, supplement sellers and “Doctor Google”
Keywords
Category
Lumni is the free, ad-free educational platform of French public broadcasting: videos, quizzes, games, articles and podcasts for learning and revising school subjects, from nursery school to the…
Alternative to paid tutoring and revision books
Keywords
Categories
The Verbraucherzentralen are the consumer advice centres of the 16 German federal states: non-profit associations, mostly publicly funded, that advise on contracts, energy, insurance, banking, food…
Alternative to the customer service of the company you are in dispute with, and comparison sites paid by commissions
Keywords
Categories
The Volkshochschulen (vhs) are the public adult education centres in Germany: 815 centres with about 2,630 branches, most run by towns and districts. They offer affordable courses in languages…
Alternative to expensive private courses and coaching, and online course platforms that sell subscriptions
Keywords
Categories
The EU Ecolabel is the European Union’s official environmental label, with a flower logo, for products and services that meet published criteria; for cleaning products it limits hazardous substances…
Alternative to cleaning products with green claims that nobody checks
Keywords
Categories
Visale is a free rent guarantee from Action Logement that stands in for a personal guarantor: it covers unpaid rent and charges for the landlord, at no cost to either landlord or tenant, for young…
Alternative to paid guarantors, guarantor companies and unpaid-rent insurance
Keywords
Categories
Zu gut für die Tonne! (“Too good for the bin”) is the German federal government’s campaign against food waste, with a free app of about 800 leftover recipes, storage tips for each food and a…
Alternative to throwing away leftovers and food past its best-before date
Keywords
Categories
The Krankenkassenliste is the official list of Germany’s statutory health insurance funds (gesetzliche Krankenkassen) with their additional contribution rates, published by their umbrella body, the…
Alternative to comparison portals such as Check24 and Verivox that show only the health insurance funds paying them
Keywords
Categories
The ADIL (agences départementales d’information sur le logement) give free legal, financial and tax advice on housing in France: leases and rent, unpaid rent, co-ownership, buying a home, loans…
Alternative to paid legal advice and the vague answers of internet forums
Keywords
Categories
Nightjet is the night-train brand of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), with trains from Vienna, Munich, Zurich and other cities to more than 25 European destinations, among them Hamburg, Berlin…
Alternative to short-haul flights and low-cost airlines between European cities
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
Pour bien vieillir is a free website of the French public pension funds that helps retired people stay healthy and independent: advice on physical activity, food, sleep, memory, falls, social life…
Alternative to private retirement-home brokers and the advice of companies selling senior services
Keywords
Categories
SignalConso is the free public service of the DGCCRF, the French consumer protection authority, for reporting a problem with a company, in a shop or online, or asking a question about consumer rights…
Alternative to giving up when a shop or company doesn’t respect your rights
Keywords
Category
The Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label from A (dark green) to E (red) that sums up a food's nutritional quality per 100 g or 100 ml, so that two breakfast cereals or two pizzas can be compared at a…
Alternative to nutrition tables in small print and to health claims on packaging
Keywords
Categories
Manger Bouger is the French public health website on food and physical activity, run by Santé publique France, with the official recommendations and La Fabrique à menus, a free weekly menu planner…
Alternative to diet apps, paid meal plans and food advice from the food industry
Keywords
Categories
The Eatwell Guide is the UK government’s picture of a healthy, balanced diet, a plate divided into food groups, explained for free on the NHS website and published by the Office for Health…
Alternative to diet plans, supplements and nutrition advice sold by brands
Keywords
Categories
“Is private health insurance worth it?” is a free guide from MoneyHelper, the money guidance service of the UK government’s Money and Pensions Service. It helps people decide whether they need…
Alternative to advice from brokers and comparison sites paid on commission by health insurers
Keywords
Categories
Waste, recycling and zero waste
Repair and do it yourself
Second-hand, swapping, lending and sharing
Water and sanitation
Energy and heating
Household and personal care
News, media and knowledge
Culture: books, music, films and streaming
Office, paper and printing
Electronics and home appliances
Education and training
Nutrition advice and recipes
Food and community farming
Garden, seeds and biodiversity
Health, care and wellbeing
Banking, insurance and pensions
Law, consumer protection and advice
Housing, building and renovation
Children, family and toys
Neighbourhood, community spaces and local networks
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Renting and tenants’ rights
Travel and tourism
Mobility, cars and transport
Ageing, end of life and funerals
