Not that many people use email much anymore, but as you often need an email address to sign up for other shit… anyway, I need a better option than gmail, I’m sure you can appreciate why. Email is so old school at this point that most of the time I don’t even think about it anymore.
Anyway, I need some email options that aren’t gmail or otherwise attached to a billionaire. I’m not really interested in non-email methods of communication, I’m specifically asking about email.
Thanks in advance.
Riseup.net Private, free, encrypted
Disroot - A lot of people in the know about privacy seem to really like it.
Really though email is a bullshit communication medium and unless you’re insisting on using GPG for every message and make sure your or other people’s keys never got compromised I wouldn’t rely on it.
Really hoping Dark Mail actually becomes a thing at some point. If it was that with locally stored encrypted email then email might actually be worth bothering with.
proton.
Proton unlimited comes with unlimited everything on proton pass, including disposable email addresses
Proton have shown recently they are very much pro-cop and pro-trump and so aren’t that private or worthwhile any more.
They’re against censorship and in favor of free speech. If you hear about a VPN provider that blocks their users’ access to certain things based on the owner’s political beliefs that’s a shitty VPN provider
Full disclosure. I’m not a fan of Trump. I’m just a free speech absolutist and even if I hate what someone has to say I think they should be allowed to say it.
There’s already laws against threats, slander and libel and even doxing in some places.
I’ve been a Proton customer for over 4 years and I’m leaving because of this. Don’t use Proton.
The ProtonMail CEO recently said that Trump “fights for the little guy”. I know that’s not a substantial critique of their privacy policy or encryption standards, but I wouldn’t trust a company that says something so baseless, divisive, and in support of a fascist oligarch.
Honestly, I know this is entirely subjective, but I never liked the vibes from proton especially in the last year. I’m going to use my animal instincts and just avoid them.
That said, I really need new email service so looking at options
And frankly, even if he’s not a facist himself, the CEO saying something that fucking stupid makes me think that you shouldn’t trust him to run the slurpee machine at a 7-11, let alone something sensitive like your email.
Most if not all non-paid options will have privacy concerns similar to gmail, so you’ll have to pay. I pay for Proton, and though I’m not thrilled about some of the political bullshit their CEO has been up to recently, I think I’ll stay with them for now since they’re still good for privacy, and their other services are solid. They’re also very upfront about what they charge and why, and I think they still plan to transition to a non-profit.
It’s not just the pro-trump stuff though, there’s also the case of being very pro-cop in that they helped get info about a french activist against their will or settings, we believe.
That definitely sounds concerning, do you have a link or anything? Any company would have to comply with a legal court order regardless of their preference or ideology, so how they comply comes down to the amount of information they store and for how long. Just saying, the fact that they helped the cops (as much as I hate the cops in general) doesn’t necessarily mean they handed everything over or volunteered anything they weren’t legally obligated to provide. But I don’t know the specifics of the case you mentioned.
Several links, here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58476983
https://www.wired.com/story/protonmail-amends-policy-after-giving-up-activists-data/
Hope this helps!
Thank you!
Sure, happy to help! 🙂
There’s also Tuta if you’re looking for an alternative.
I use proton and for registering on different sites I usually use addy.io. Also, I recently found a new mail service that looks nice and might give it a try soon, disroot.org
ProtonPass will also generate aliases and forward the mail to your email account. But, as someone else mentioned, the CEO’s politics seem sus.
Who’s not using email? I’m green with envy, but I think it’s a ludicrous premise to think not many people are using email.
I also wondered what kind of rock OP lives under. I use email every day, multiple times per day. I probably send more emails than texts.
if you wanna forget privacy and subscribe to a proprietary startup instead, use hey mail because it just sorts well. otherwise just use proton like everyone else said
I use Fastmail with my own domain. Not free, but worth it given how much I rely on my email/calendar. There’s a 30-day free trial before committing though, so you can kick the tires before deciding.
I second this. Fastmail has been a joy to use. Since the users are paying, the company has (less) incentives to enshittify. JMAP? Count me in!
I use proton for a while now, its been great and well supported. The proton pass lets you use unique emails to register too. Its paid, for that anyway. I’ve been in love, I still don’t keep my passwords on it opposed to a USB drive, but some i’ve started to just out of simplicity and lack of need of serious security for those.
I’m currently moving (for the last year) from Gmail to mailbox.org.
They have a free level, but I wanted aliases, so I pay $30/year. Worth every penny.
Same here. Moved from Outlook to Mailbox a year ago and I’m happy with it, using mostly custom domains with catch all. I havo also recently enabled encryption which wasn’t hard to integrate into my mail clients at all. They dont have a free plan, but the cheapest plan is 1€/month (which doesn’t allow custom domains).
I’ve been there for several years as well. Works great, and I get pretty much no spam.
At one point they offered “envelope with money sent via postal service” as an anonymous payment option, IDK if they still do that.
Been with MailBox.org for ages and it’s been absolutely fantastic. Proton had very limited offerings at the time, but even now I haven’t felt the need to move.
I think the most basic email offering is €1/month.
I use Tuta mail. It is entirely open source. There are both paid and free tiers. I started on a paid tier, then downgraded to free. I like the option of a usable free tier when money is tight. I use addy.io for aliases.
While I’m using Proton rn, I’m planning to migrate to Posteo with Addy.io for aliases. However they all cost money. If you mean free email that’s not tie to a billionaire, I can’t think one off my head. You can achieve “free” by hosting your own email server as it sounds you’re intended for receiving only, but the electricity still cost some, plus you are doning free labor to make sure it is happy.
