Constantin Graf, founder of the platform European Alternatives , comes from Vienna and is a freelance web developer. As a side project, he launched the European Alternatives platform in 2021 to end a tedious search for European alternatives in the digital sphere. In an interview, Constantin gives us insights into the creation and development of his platform.

What is the purpose of European Alternatives?

Count: European Alternatives collects European alternatives to digital services, cloud and SaaS products. These are clearly arranged in categories. There are categories for server hosting, email providers, web analytics, corporate chats, and much more. For each European alternative, there is a short description, information about which country it comes from and additional labels such as “open source” or “sustainable”. The products within a category are ranked according to how good we think the European alternative is.

What prompted you to found the European Alternatives platform?

Count: Since the NSA affair, I have looked from time to time, before I used a new tool privately, to see if there was something comparable from Europe. After the GDPR and the problem with the Transfer Agreement became bigger, I also looked professionally where I could to see if it didn’t make sense to use a European tool for new projects.

I noticed how tedious this research is. Lists of alternatives were often not available or only in comments on Reddit. And even if you have found a product, it is often difficult to quickly find out where the company behind it actually comes from. Often this information can only be found somewhere small in the middle of the terms and conditions.

At some point I thought that several people must feel the same way, and I started European Alternatives.

How is the platform now financed? Is it true that you started the project on a voluntary basis?

Count: Yes that’s true. Until recently, I cross-financed European Alternatives with my freelance work. For almost a month now, we have had a sponsor who supports the platform financially. I plan to go more in this direction in the future.

In addition, some listed companies offer affiliate marketing, with which we earn a little money when someone clicks on a link and buys something. However, the products with affiliate links are not preferred. For example, this does not change the position in the category.

In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of European tools compared to US tools?

Count: European tools sometimes have to invest quite a lot of time and money in order to be able to implement the stricter European laws. An example of this is, for example, data protection. This usually benefits customers because the stricter laws are often in their favor.

US tools often have much more venture capital to expand. This means that they grow very quickly and offer many features. I think European companies are therefore focusing more on one thing than developing all-in-one products.

Features, UX, pricing, environmental protection, green hosting and open source are the most important criteria when evaluating European providers!

Constantin Graf
Founder of European Alternatives

What are the requirements for admission to the European Alternatives?

Count: To be listed on European Alternatives, the company’s headquarters must be in an EU country or a country that is located in Europe and has a strong relationship with the EU. These currently include EEA, EFTA and DCFTA countries.

In addition, open source products are listed that are easy to host yourself.

The rules have been continuously expanded or concretized, such as the relatively new open source rule.

What are the 3 most important criteria when evaluating European providers?

Count: In the first step, I look at all the features a product offers and how well they are really implemented. This also includes whether value is placed on UX and how professional the company works in general. It seems to me that web design and UX are often somewhat neglected in European alternatives.

Then I look at the pricing. Is the price justified and which target group does the pricing address?

Thirdly, I look at how the product comes about. Is it powered by renewable energies and what does the company behind it do in general on the subject of environmental protection? If it’s not a hosting provider myself, then I look as best I can where the product is hosted. Is it operated by a European provider of servers, etc.?

Some of these criteria have their own labels that make it easier to find products that are open source or green hosted. These things may not seem central at first glance, but the tools that are compared on European Alternatives are usually used for quite a long time, because it is a hassle to migrate. Therefore, in my opinion, such issues should also be taken into account when making a decision.

What advice do you have for founders who want to establish a new IT solution on the European market?

Count: I believe that a European company can have a great advantage in the European market if it is marketed well. However, the European “stamp” alone is not enough in the long run. Companies should make sure to be innovative and keep up with technical developments.

sproof is already proudly represented on the European Alternatives platform under the European electronic signature software category and in the Alternatives section under European alternatives to DocuSign . At sproof, we naturally use some European alternatives ourselves, such as Plausible, Scaleway and sendinblue. Tools that can also be found on Constantin’s platform.