European Alternatives to Twitter/X
Twitter, now X, is a US social media platform under Elon Musk's X Corp. It has undergone dramatic changes including removal of moderation safeguards, aggressive data monetisation, and controversial privacy policy changes.
Why Switch from Twitter/X?
- ⚠Extensive user data collection and advertising profile building
- ⚠Data sold to third parties including AI companies for model training
- ⚠Reduced content moderation and privacy enforcement since 2022
- ⚠US jurisdiction with no meaningful GDPR compliance track record
1 European Alternative
Sorted by privacy score
Mastodon
Decentralized social network. No ads, no algorithm, community-owned.
| Tool | Score | Privacy | Pricing | OSS | EU Data | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1Mastodon Decentralized social network. No ads, no algorithm, community-owned. High Trust | 85 | 92 | Free | ✓ | ✓ | 🇩🇪 |
Decentralized social network. No ads, no algorithm, community-owned.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the European alternative to Twitter?
Mastodon is a federated, open-source microblogging platform similar to Twitter. It has no advertising, no algorithmic manipulation, and no central company owning your data. Many European instances are available, hosted under EU data protection law.
What makes Mastodon different from Twitter?
Mastodon is decentralised — thousands of independent servers (instances) communicate using the ActivityPub protocol. No single company owns the network. You can move between instances taking your followers, and no algorithm decides what you see.
Can I find people from Twitter on Mastodon?
Many people and organisations have moved from Twitter to Mastodon. You can find journalists, politicians, scientists, and communities on Mastodon. Tools like Movetodon help you find Twitter contacts who have moved.
Is Mastodon difficult to use?
Mastodon works like Twitter once you choose an instance to join. The main difference is choosing a community-run server — mastodon.social is the largest, or choose a topic-focused instance. The web and mobile apps are polished and easy to use.