Privacy Chapter 3 — The Privacy Starter Pack: Tools Everyone Should Use

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Now that you know why privacy is important, let's dive into some essential privacy tools that can help keep you safe and secure online. Before we delve into all the tools in detail, I want to summarise all the privacy tools I recommend for a common user.

Whether you want to stay private without spending a dime or you're ready to invest in premium tools for more control, I’ve got you covered. The first setup includes trusted, free, and mostly open-source tools that offer strong protection without sacrificing usability — perfect for everyday users. The second setup is for those who, like me, are willing to pay for better features, convenience, and privacy across all devices. These tools are ideal for professionals, privacy enthusiasts, or anyone looking to go beyond the basics.

🔧 Category	🆓 Free & Open-Source	💸 Paid & Premium
🔐 Password Manager	Proton Pass / Bitwarden	1Password / Proton Pass (Premium)
🔑 Multifactor Authenticator	Ente Auth / Proton Authenticator	1Password / Proton Pass (Built-in TOTP support)
🌐 VPN	Proton VPN (Free)	Proton VPN (Plus), Mullvad
📶 Secure DNS	Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) Quad9	NextDNS
📷 Photo Storage	Ente Photos (Free), Immich (Self-hosted)	Ente Photos (Premium)
📁 File Storage	Proton Drive (Free), Cryptomator	Proton Drive (Plus), Tresorit
🕵️ Browser	Brave, Firefox + uBlock Origin	NextDNS integration
📬 Email	Proton Mail / Tuta Mail, SimpleLogin (Aliases)	Proton Mail Plus/Unlimited, SimpleLogin Premium
🔍 Search Engine	Brave Search, SearXNG (self-hosted)	Kagi
🧠 AI Assistant	LM Studio (Local LLMs like Gemma, Mistral)	Proton Lumo AI

← Chapter 2: My Privacy Setup

Chapter 4: Antivirus →