Non-EU vendorDesktop OSHeadquarters: US

elementary OS: sovereignty score and 8 European alternatives

elementary OS is a Linux distribution for desktop use, positioned as an alternative to Windows and macOS. It is based on Ubuntu LTS and uses Pantheon as its own desktop environment, with a set of matching applications. You install software through AppCenter, an app store for independent developers that elementary reviews and curates and where users choose what they pay. APT and Flatpak are also available. The system is downloaded as an ISO image for 64-bit Intel/AMD or 64-bit ARM (including Apple Silicon and Raspberry Pi) and installed locally.

elementary OS is developed by elementary, Inc. The operating system is fully open source (GPLv3), so the source code may be copied, modified and redistributed. According to the company, the operating system collects no data, and files, settings and online-account data stay on the user's own device. The company says it is funded by payments from users and does not sell advertising. Because the system runs locally, the organisation decides where its data is kept and which update sources it uses.

See the 8 European alternatives ↓Assess your stack with elementary OS pre-selected

Sovereignty score

71 / 1000 = high exposure
100 = sovereign

Jurisdiction SOV-210
Headquartered in the US: CLOUD Act and FISA 702
Data residency SOV-3100
EU-only hosting
Cryptographic key sovereignty SOV-390
Self-hostable: encryption keys under your own control
Freedom from lock-in SOV-680
Open source: low switching costs
Source & runtime sovereignty SOV-4 · SOV-675
Source code auditable, forkable and self-hostable

SOV codes: the matching objective in the European Commission's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Official source

How the score is calculated

Facts and evidence

Last checked October 2, 2026

Headquarters	US (US)	Verified by hand
EU adequacy decision	Only for companies individually certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework	Verified by hand
Sovereignty model	Vendor-hosted (non-EU)	Verified by hand
Data hosting	EU	Verified by hand
Open-source	Yes	Verified by hand
GDPR-compliant	Yes	Vendor-stated
Hosting signal	CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US (US)	Technically measured
Category	Desktop OS
Type	Product
Website	elementary.io ↗

The hosting signal shows the network that serves the vendor's website, often a CDN, and not necessarily where the service or your data is hosted. How we verify · Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to elementary OS

The European alternatives to elementary OS come from our knowledge base of over 6,200 vendors. We only list vendors headquartered in the EU or the EEA; fully European-owned vendors rank before vendors with a foreign owner. For each alternative you see the country, the open-source status and a short description.

Score per alternative: 0 = high exposure, 100 = sovereign

22 European Desktop OS vendors are in the catalogue. View the whole category · Submit an alternative · View category on the map

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Why digital sovereignty matters with elementary OS

elementary OS is headquartered in the United States. US vendors fall under the CLOUD Act and FISA 702: US authorities can compel access to data, even when that data sits in a European data centre. That is the core of the jurisdictional exposure in our model.

Data is hosted exclusively in the EU, so elementary OS scores best on data residency.

elementary OS is open source. You can audit the source code, self-host the software and keep the encryption keys under your own control. Switching is easier because data and software are not tied to a single party.

What this means for your organisation depends on your whole stack and context. The free assessment weighs elementary OS together with your other vendors and gives a total score, a heatmap and the main risk drivers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to elementary OS?

It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to elementary OS include Alpine Linux, EndeavourOS and KDE neon. On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.

Are there open-source alternatives to elementary OS?

Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to elementary OS include Alpine Linux, EndeavourOS, KDE neon, Linux Mint, Mageia, Manjaro, NixOS and Qubes OS. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.

Is elementary OS GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?

elementary OS is headquartered in US and hosts data in EU. The vendor states it is GDPR-compliant, but the data falls under non-EU jurisdiction. For full EU data residency the EU alternatives on this page usually offer more certainty.

Details and sources

Verified by handHeadquarters, owner, hosting locations and licence have been checked by us against public sources. Free of charge and for every vendor, not a paid label. Nothing in this knowledge base is taken over automatically. Last checked on October 2, 2026.

Sources

Public sources used in the latest check of this record.

Compliance evidence

The links below point to the vendor's own public documents. We only record what we found: a missing link means "not found publicly", not "not compliant".

No public compliance evidence has been recorded for this vendor yet. Do you know its DPA or subprocessor list? Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Cyber Resilience Act

Public signals that relate to the EU Cyber Resilience Act. They do not count towards the score. A missing line means "not found publicly".

Report a vulnerability: github.com/elementary/.github/security/policy
Supported versions: github.com/elementary/os/wiki/Release-Upgrades
Organisation behind the open-source project: elementary, Inc.

For products in scope of the CRA, CE marking is required from 11 December 2027; this cannot be checked yet.

Checked on October 9, 2026. What is the Cyber Resilience Act?

Digital sovereignty in Desktop OS

Desktop OS: Desktop operating system — daily work platform. In this category the choice of vendor determines who has legal access to your data, where that data lives and how easily you can switch later.

Also in this category

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