A good Google Contacts alternative keeps your address book on every device you use, without Google in the middle. That sounds simple, and it mostly is. The traps are duplicates, the hidden Other contacts list, and the moment you switch off Google sync on your phone. This page covers all three.
Contacts matter more than they look. Your phone uses them for caller ID, your email app for autocomplete, and your messaging apps to find people. Google also adds people to your account on its own when you email or share with them. Moving takes 15–30 minutes, and you only do it once.
Pick Your Path First
- Path A uses a private app (Proton or Tuta). It’s the most private hosted option. You manage contacts in the provider’s own app.
- Path B uses standard sync (CardDAV) through Fastmail, Posteo, mailbox.org, Nextcloud or iCloud. Contacts appear in your phone’s own contacts app, so caller ID works as before. These services aren’t end-to-end encrypted, so you’re trusting the provider (or yourself, with Nextcloud).
- Path C uses no sync at all. Contacts live on your phone, and you back up the file yourself.
If your contacts aren’t in the phone’s own contacts app, incoming calls show a number instead of a name. So if you choose Proton or Tuta, consider keeping a copy of your key contacts on the phone too.
Quick Comparison
| Alternative | Best for | Price (Oct 2026) | Encryption | Based in | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton Contacts | Proton Mail users | Free with any Proton account | Zero-access for details; names and emails readable by Proton | Switzerland | Apps, yes |
| Tuta Contacts | Most encryption for the money | Free plan; Revolutionary about €3/month billed yearly | End-to-end, whole address book | Germany | Yes |
| Fastmail | Your phone’s built-in contacts app | About $6/month, or $5/month billed yearly | Not end-to-end | Australia | No |
| Nextcloud + DAVx⁵ | Full control, self-hosting | Free software; you run the server | Your own server | You choose (DAVx⁵ is made in the EU) | Yes |
| iCloud Contacts | iPhone and Mac households | Free with an Apple Account | Not end-to-end, even with Advanced Data Protection | USA | No |
| Phone only | Maximum privacy, one phone | Free | Never leaves your phone | Your phone | Fossify Contacts, yes |
The Alternatives, One by One
Proton Contacts
Proton Contacts comes with Proton Mail and shows up in Proton’s web, Android and iPhone apps. Every contact is digitally signed, so tampering shows. You can import vCard and CSV files, and export everything as a .vcf file whenever you like.
- Pick it because it moves with your email in one import, and the details people care about most are zero-access encrypted.
- Watch for this deal-breaker. Don’t count on Proton Contacts appearing in your phone’s built-in contacts app. Proton’s help pages describe using them inside Proton’s apps, so check its support site for the current status.
- It’s free with any Proton plan. Mail Plus is about $4.99/month, or $3.99/month billed yearly (Oct 2026).
Tuta Contacts
Tuta, from Germany, encrypts the entire address book end to end, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and notes.
- Pick it for the strongest encryption of any hosted option here, at a low price.
- Deal-breakers include the lack of CardDAV, so contacts live in Tuta’s apps. If you need them in your phone’s contacts app, check Tuta’s current help pages first. Free accounts are deleted after 6 months without a login.
- It’s free on the free plan. Revolutionary is about €3/month billed yearly.
Fastmail, Posteo and mailbox.org
These email providers sync contacts over CardDAV, the open standard your phone already understands. Fastmail contacts work natively on iPhone and Mac, and on Android through DAVx⁵. Fastmail’s built-in importer can sign in to Google and copy your contacts, calendars and mail for you.
- Pick one because your contacts keep working in the apps you already use, on every device.
- The deal-breaker is that none of them are end-to-end encrypted, and there’s no free plan.
- Fastmail Individual costs about $6/month, or $5/month billed yearly. Posteo, from Germany, costs about €1/month and offers optional encryption. mailbox.org Standard is about €3/month billed yearly.
Nextcloud With DAVx⁵
Nextcloud is free software you run on your own server, or a rented one, with contacts built in. On Android, DAVx⁵ syncs it into the phone (free on F-Droid, a small fee on Google Play). Any contacts app can then show your address book. iPhone supports CardDAV natively.
- Pick it for full control and no company in the middle.
- The deal-breaker is that you maintain the server, its updates and its backups.
iCloud Contacts
If your household is on iPhone and Mac, iCloud is the path of least effort. Import your vCard file on iCloud.com and contacts appear on every Apple device signed in to your Apple Account.
- Pick it because it’s free, built in and syncs without setup.
- The deal-breaker is privacy. Apple encrypts contacts in transit and on its servers, but holds the keys even if you turn on Advanced Data Protection. You’re trading one big company for another.
Contacts on Your Phone Only
The most private setup is no sync at all. On Android, use an app such as Fossify Contacts (free, open source, with vCard import and export) and save contacts to the phone rather than to an account. On iPhone, keep contacts under On My iPhone.
- Pick it if you use one phone and want your address book to stay on it.
- The deal-breaker is that losing the phone means losing your contacts, unless you export a vCard backup every few months and store it somewhere safe.
Tidy Your Contacts Before You Export
Ten minutes of tidying in Google saves an hour of fixing duplicates later.
- Merge duplicates in Google first. On contacts.google.com, open the menu, choose Merge & fix, then Merge all, or review the suggestions one by one.
- Check Other contacts. Google saves names, email addresses and phone numbers from people you email, share files with, or meet in calendar invites. They sit in a separate Other contacts list on the left. Add the people you want to keep to your main contacts before you export.
- Stop the automatic saving. In your Google Account, open People & sharing, then Contact info saved from interactions, and turn off Save contact info when you interact with people. In Gmail’s settings on a computer, change Create contacts for auto-complete too.
How to Switch From Google Contacts
Export Your Contacts
- On a computer, open contacts.google.com.
- Tick any contact, then choose Selection Actions → All.
- Click More actions → Export, choose vCard, and click Export.
Pick vCard. The Google CSV format is mostly useful for importing back into Google. On an Android phone, you can also open the Contacts app, tap Fix & manage → Export to file, choose your Google account and tap Export to .VCF file. If you’re already making a Takeout archive, its Contacts entry gives you the same data (see our Google Takeout guide).
Import Into Your New Home
- Proton. If you’re moving Gmail too, use Easy Switch in Proton Mail (Settings → Import via Easy Switch, then Google) and tick Contacts. Our Gmail to Proton Mail guide covers the whole import. From a file, use Import in Proton Contacts and pick the .vcf file.
- iCloud. On a computer, open icloud.com/contacts, select the Add button and choose Import Contact, then pick your vCard.
- Fastmail. Use Settings → Migration → Import to copy contacts straight from Google, or import the vCard. Don’t do both, or you’ll get duplicates.
- Tuta, Posteo, mailbox.org and Nextcloud. Use the import option in the contacts settings and choose the .vcf file.
- Phone only. Open the .vcf file in Fossify Contacts or your phone’s contacts app and save the contacts to the phone, not to an account.
Spot-check a few contacts with several numbers, a photo and a birthday.
Sync the New Address Book to Your Phone
- On Android with a CardDAV service, install DAVx⁵, add your account with the server address from your provider’s help pages, and tick the address book. In your contacts app’s settings, make the new account the default for new contacts. Our calendar and contacts guide walks through the full DAVx⁵ setup with screenshots.
- On iPhone, add the CardDAV account in Settings, or sign in to iCloud, and set it as the default account for contacts. The calendar guide covers the iPhone menus too.
- With Proton or Tuta, install the provider’s app.
Turn off Google Sync as the Very Last Step
- On Android, stop the upload first. Open Settings → Google → Settings for Google apps → Google Contacts sync → Also sync device and SIM contacts and turn off Sync device and SIM contacts automatically. Otherwise, contacts you save to the phone keep being copied into Google.
- Then turn off contact sync. Open Settings → Passwords & accounts (also called Users & accounts or Passwords, passkeys & accounts), tap your Google account, then Account sync, and turn off Contacts.
- On iPhone, open Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts, tap your Gmail account, and switch off Contacts. On iOS 17 and earlier, go to Settings → Mail → Accounts.
- Live with the new setup for a week. Make a call, send an email, and check that names show up.
- Delete your contacts from Google. On contacts.google.com, select all, then click More → Delete → Move to trash. Google keeps them in Trash for 30 days, which gives you a safety net.
Troubleshooting
- Everyone shows up twice. You imported twice, or Google sync is still on. Turn off Google sync, then merge the duplicates in the new service.
- Contacts don’t appear on Android. Open your contacts app’s settings, check which accounts it displays, and make sure the DAVx⁵ account or the phone itself is included.
- New contacts keep landing in Google. Change the default account for new contacts in your contacts app, and check that the device contacts upload is off (step 1 above).
- Photos are missing. Some importers drop large contact photos. Add back the few you care about by hand.