Why I’m Switching: Non-US Digital Services Alternatives for Creators (2026)

Posted: February 1, 2026

Hey everyone, welcome back. This is a post I never thought I’d have to write, but one I now feel I need to share. I usually keep politics separate from my work, but when it starts affecting me and the people I care about most, staying silent no longer feels like an option.

Note: In light of the current political situation in the United States, which is indirectly affecting entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world, I want to use this post to share my perspective and explain how my business will move forward, including how I approach the use and recommendation of American-owned and American-made digital products and services.

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Forward

Given the recent developments across political and economic fronts, and from the perspective of an online business owner, I believe it’s important to voice my dissatisfaction with the decisions currently being made by leaders in the United States.

Again, I’ve always tried to keep politics separate from business, but since US leaders frame ‘their’ decisions as business-related, I’m making sure that the decisions I take are purely business as well. None of this is ‘personal’ because I have very good relationships with many of the product creators that I’ve used previously. It is what it is.

First and foremost, I strongly support humanity and any genuine effort to make the world a better place for all. I won’t go into detailed arguments about why I believe certain countries don’t align with my personal values. Instead, my way of expressing concern, particularly around digital sovereignty, data privacy, and current U.S. policy decisions (notably those stemming from Trump-era tariff actions), is by choosing to stop buying and using U.S.-based digital services within my business.

As some of you who may follow me on social media, I’m probably one of the least politically motivated people you’ll meet. I have friends and family in the U.S., and we don’t always share the same values, and that’s perfectly fine. To each their own.

In the same way, I believe I’m entitled to make my own choices, both personally and professionally. As a result, I’ve decided to move away from U.S. digital services wherever possible.

The process

This transition is far more difficult than most people might expect, because many of the tools I’ve used over the years have genuinely helped me grow my business to where it’s at today. That said, as someone who values ethics and accountability, I just no longer feel comfortable supporting companies that, in my view, have compromised their principles in exchange for power, control, and profit.

So, without further ado, below is my personal list of non-US digital service alternatives that I’ll be transitioning to throughout 2026 and beyond. If you’re considering making a similar shift, no matter where you are in the world or what your reasons may be, I hope you’ll find this list useful.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, only the tools and services I currently use are listed.

Web hosting and website tools

A quick word on web hosting and website builting tools.

Finding alternative website tools is a little bit complex for me. I use mainly WordPress and have been for the past 16 years. As you know, WordPress is a private American company owned by Matt Mullenweg. I’m sure you’ve heard his name mentioned a few times, especially in recent times.

My goal is to continue using WordPress for the foreseeable future, primarily since it’s open source and I have a lot of experience with it. For the most part, using WordPress on its own doesn’t actually cost me any money, but I’m looking into alternatives as well, such as Framer I’ve been testing for the past year, which is a Dutch based software company.

I also use SiteGround (a Bulgarian based web hosting company) and have been since 2015, I’m very happy with their service all-round since the data base I use are based in the EU. Their customer service has always been spot on and uptime incredibly reliable.

OK, here’s my list of tools that I use and the alternatives I plan to switch to this year and beyond.

Items marked with a ✅ are the alternatives I currently use. Items shown with a strikethrough are tools or services I’ve either never used or no longer use in my business.

WordPress + web hosting

When it comes to web hosting, I’ve been using SiteGround since 2015. In all that time, my experience has been consistently reliable, backed by excellent customer support. That’s really all I need to say. I’ve seen many hosting companies come and go over the years, but I’ve stuck with SiteGround, and I’m happy to continue recommending them.

  1. SiteGround (Bulgarian based 🇧🇬) ✅
  2. WordPress (🇺🇸) – Alt: Framer (Dutch 🇳🇱) (Open source, so remaining with WordPress for the time being.)

WP Page builders / Add ons

If I had to choose just one builder, it would be Bricks. Oxygen comes a very close second, and although it was founded in the US, the company behind it, Soflyy, is an international organization.

  1. Oxygen Builder (Soflyy, international) – Alt: Bricks Builder (Cyprus 🇨🇾) ✅
  2. Breakdance (Soflyy, international) – Alt: Bricks Builder (Cyprus 🇨🇾)
  3. Etch (🇺🇸) – Alt: Bricks Builder (Cyprus 🇨🇾)
  4. Clutch (🇺🇸) – Alt: Bricks Builder (Cyprus 🇨🇾)
  5. ACSS add-on (🇺🇸) – Alt: CoreFramework (Estonia 🇪🇪) ✅
  6. ACSS add-on (🇺🇸)- Alt: Advanced Themer (EU 🇪🇺) / BricksForge (Germany 🇩🇪)
  7. WPCode/WPBeginner (🇺🇸) – Alt: WPCodeBox (Int) ✅

Other WP plugins

  1. CookieYes (🇬🇧) ✅
  2. WPForms/Gravity Forms (🇺🇸) – Alt: Fluent Forms (Int) ✅
  3. Independent Analytics / AnalyticsWP (🇺🇸) – No alternative
  4. ACF (🇺🇸) – Alt: Meta Box (Vietnam 🇻🇳) ✅
  5. WPGridBuilder (France 🇫🇷) ✅
  6. GTranslate Multilingual (Armenia 🇦🇲) ✅
  7. LiveChat or Tidio Chat plugin (Poland 🇵🇱) ✅

WP LMS plugins / third-party platform

My main training platform at Van Marciano Pro currently uses LearnDash to manage course content. Samantha and I are currently exploring options to move away from LearnDash later this year.

  1. LearnDash (🇺🇸) – Alt: LearnWorlds (Cyprus 🇨🇾) / Thinkific (Canada 🇨🇦)

WP Ecommerce plugins

While these alternatives are not specifically plugins that work with WordPress, they are both reliable alternative platforms with many features. Payhip also has a free plan.

  1. SureCart + WooCommerce (🇺🇸) – Alt: FluentCart (Int) Payhip (UK) Sellfy (Lithuania 🇱🇹) (I plan to move over to FluentCart later this year)

Other digital services I use in my business and alternatives

Services

  1. DropBox (🇺🇸) – Alt: Proton Drive / Business Suite (Swiiss 🇨🇭) ✅
  2. Gmail (🇺🇸) – Alt: Proton Mail (Swiss 🇨🇭) ✅
  3. Intuit (🇺🇸) – Alt: Xero (NZ 🇳🇿) (Cancelling end of year)
  4. Google search (🇺🇸) – Ecosia (Germany 🇩🇪) ✅

Creativity

  1. Adobe Creative Suite (🇺🇸) – Alt: Canva/Affinity (Australian 🇦🇺) ✅
  2. CoSchedule (🇺🇸) – Alt: Sendible (🇬🇧) ✅
  3. ChatGPT (🇺🇸) – Alt: Le Chat (France 🇫🇷) (Debating, Cancelled ChatGPT)

Productivity

  1. ClickUp (🇺🇸) – Alt: Atlassian (Australia 🇦🇺) (In the process of switching)

Social media

At the time of writing, I’m using Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube to promote my services and online learning platform. While finding true alternatives to these platforms is extremely difficult, I’m in the process of building my own community platform for my WordPress training, and I plan to eventually close my Facebook business page and groups.

For now, I’m still publishing content on my YouTube channel, but this will also come to an end as I transition those videos to my own platform.

I’ve already stopped paying for advertising on Facebook and Instagram and have cancelled all ad campaigns for 2026.

Hardware

Hardware is a little bit more complicated because computing wise, I use a MacBook Pro and Air. I used to replace these every three years with a new model. However in September of 2025, I decided to purchase refurbished computers instead of new ones.

All other hardware and furniture that I have in my home office are mostly from Asia and the EU. (IKEA 🇸🇪 is a awesome )

Summary

So, there you have it. As mentioned earlier, this post, and my broader efforts to reduce reliance on US products and services, is very much a work in progress. This wasn’t an easy decision to make. I generally disagree with boycotts, as I believe they often cause more harm than good, but at this point, taking action feels like the only meaningful way to express my frustration, not just as a member of the EU, but as a human being. I’ll be updating this post weekly as I continue transitioning my online business to alternative products and services.

Affiliate Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products and services that I personally use and recommend. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.