Privacy policy

Effective 14 September 2026

findalternative.to ("we", "us") is a software-alternatives directory run by Noah. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, who processes it on our behalf, and the choices you have. Questions and requests go to [email protected].

What we collect

• Browsing. Our web server, and Cloudflare in front of it, log the IP address, requested page, browser type, referrer and time of each request. We use these logs to keep the site running and to block abuse, and we delete them after a few weeks.
• Account. Sign-in is through Google or GitHub only. The provider sends us your name, email address and profile picture, which we store together with your role on the site and an optional display name. We never see your password.
• Sessions. When you sign in we set a session cookie and record the IP address and browser of that session.
• Submissions and listings. Everything you submit about a tool (name, website, descriptions, pricing, logos and screenshots) is meant for publication and is shown publicly. Your account is recorded as the listing owner; your email address is never displayed.
• Payments. Payments are handled by Stripe. We store Stripe's customer, payment and subscription identifiers, the amount, and the status of what you bought. Card numbers never reach our servers.
• Advertising. If you book an ad slot we store the creative, its link and the booked dates.
• Email. We send transactional email only: submission decisions, receipts and badge status notices. We do not send newsletters or marketing.
• Preferences. Your light or dark theme choice is kept in your browser's local storage and never sent to us.

How we use it

• To run the directory: publish listings, show your dashboard, verify badges and run the ads you booked.
• To take payments, issue refunds and keep the accounting records the law requires.
• To moderate submissions and enforce the terms of service.
• To keep the site secure: rate limiting, blocking abusive traffic and investigating incidents.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the site is used so we can improve it.

We do not sell personal data and we do not build advertising profiles.

AI processing

Listing pages are drafted and refreshed with the help of Anthropic's Claude models. What goes to Anthropic is information about software products: public web pages, the details you enter when submitting a tool, and existing listing content. Your account details, email address and payment information are never sent to an AI provider.

Who processes data for us

• Google and GitHub, for sign-in.
• Stripe, for payments and subscriptions.
• Cloudflare, for content delivery, protection against attacks, and storage of uploaded images.
• Resend, for transactional email.
• Anthropic, for drafting listing content as described above.
• OVHcloud, whose data centre in the United States hosts the site and its database.
• PostHog, for product analytics, if we enable it. It records page views and feature usage against a random identifier, not your name or email.

Each provider acts under its own privacy terms and receives only what its role requires.

Cookies

We use the strictly necessary cookies set by our sign-in system to keep you logged in, and Cloudflare may set a cookie to tell visitors from bots. We do not use advertising cookies. If analytics are enabled they use a first-party identifier that you can block in your browser without losing any feature.

How long we keep data

• Account data: until you delete your account or ask us to.
• Sessions: until they expire or you sign out.
• Payment records: as long as tax and accounting law requires, typically seven years.
• Server and security logs: a few weeks.
• Published listings describe products, not people, and stay online. A listing owner can ask for a listing to be removed.

Your rights

You can ask us to show you the personal data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, export it, or stop a particular use. Email [email protected] from the address on your account and we will answer within 30 days. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom you also have the right to complain to your data protection authority. If you are a California resident, the rights above cover your rights to know, delete and correct; we do not sell or share personal information as California law defines those terms.

Where data is stored

The site is hosted in the United States and some of the providers above operate worldwide. If you visit from elsewhere, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States under the safeguards those providers offer.

Children

The site is not directed at children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

All traffic is encrypted, access to the database is restricted, and we keep as little data as the service needs. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you without undue delay.

Changes

Changes are posted on this page with a new effective date at the top.

See also the terms of service and the methodology, which explains what paid options can and cannot buy.