A technology user has documented an effort to move online services and subscriptions to providers based in the European Union, offering a practical account of the compromises involved in replacing familiar tools. The author described the project as an interim report motivated by the political climate and a preference for European data-protection rules, rather than as an advertisement or a universal recommendation.
Email proved to be one of the more complicated changes. The author had used Fastmail for two accounts at a reported cost of €10 per month, valuing support for multiple custom domains, catch-all addresses, flexible sender addresses, a family calendar and an Android application. Mailbox.org was tested and generally viewed positively, but it did not meet the author’s preferred sender-address workflow without a workaround.
The eventual choice was Uberspace, a German provider offering shell access, web and email hosting under a pay-what-you-want model. Because it lacks a dedicated mail app and integrated calendar, the new arrangement combines Thunderbird on desktop and Android with a self-installed Nextcloud instance. DAVx5 and Fossil Calendar handle calendar and contacts on Android. The author acknowledged that Nextcloud adds overhead, while noting that it also brings file-sharing and potential online-office functions.
Consolidation followed. The personal website moved from a Hetzner virtual private server to Uberspace, eliminating the separate server. Adapting server-side includes from an Nginx environment to Apache required a small code change, according to the report. Domain registrations moved from Namecheap to Germany-based hosting.de, selected for pricing, reviews, location and support for .is domains. The author said non-German domains cost somewhat more but remained acceptable.
The author emphasized that the former services were not necessarily poor choices. Fastmail and Namecheap had worked well, and Namecheap support had been helpful; the migration reflected changed priorities rather than reported service failures.
The migration was not absolute. Git repositories had already moved to Codeberg, a German nonprofit, while the author kept Sweden-based Mullvad for VPN service. On personal devices, a Pixel 9a running GrapheneOS allows alternative app stores, although Google Play remains installed for applications unavailable elsewhere. A used 11-inch MacBook Air was also purchased for an MX Linux installation as a possible Chromebook replacement, but had not yet been tested.
The account illustrates that geographic preference does not translate into a simple one-for-one substitution. It can mean assembling several interoperable tools, accepting more administration and deciding which existing services already fit the objective. The result is a specific personal configuration, not evidence that the same providers or trade-offs will suit every household.
