FastMail, Aliases, PGP, Custom Domains, Privacy

Hopefully I can make this simple and understandable. I currently use FastMail as my provider and they’re rock solid except my email at rest is not encrypted. I’m looking for a way to add this using some different approaches.

If I use Addy.io, I can add my public PGP key and have my incoming alias emails encrypted when it hits my FastMail inbox (encrypted at rest). When I download my email to Thunderbird, it gets decrypted. If I reply, the email gets encrypted using Addy.io public PGP key in Thunderbird, and decrypted when it arrives at Addy.io before sending it on to the sender. Perfect for what I’m looking for except some websites don’t accept aliases from Addy.io.

Could I use a registrar custom domain with Addy.io to do the same thing? If I can, then this would solve the issue with some websites not accepting aliases from Addy.io, correct?

I don’t care if anyone knows who I am. For complete privacy, I can always use PGP directly when receiving or sending email with the sender. I just want to be able to secure regular email incoming and outgoing from FastMail staff, employees, anyone else who may have access to their servers from reading my email.

1 Like

Yes, your thinking seems sound and should theoretically work.

You should however be aware of the following:

(You can’t have name@last.tld in fastmail if you want to use last.tld for Addy.io.)

I don’t understand why this janky solution would be superior to just switching to Proton which includes SimpleLogin with a much nicer UX.

1 Like

So using a custom domain through Addy.io would work because the custom domain email (TXT and MX record) would be setup for Addy.io. Fastmail would just receive and send email that was forwarded by Addy.io. The keyword is ‘Forwarded’ by Addy.io since Addy.io and the registrar are the ones with the TXT and MX records needed to work properly, correct?

***I understand the whole Proton eco system but currently the plan that would fit for me at Proton is $120 a year. That’s $360 in three years. Fastmail which is rock solid and reliable is $84 for three years. Add Addy.io ($12 year) and a custom domain (average $12 year), and my total cost would be $156 for three years. Yes it’s a little extra work to do, but I’m also saving $204.

Yes, it should all work as you have imagined.

Can’t argue with that.

Ha! Thanks for your time! It helps a lot and I hope others will find this post useful in the future. Thanks again!

Another option will be, Proton Mail Plus and SimpleLogin Premium. If you plan to use all of your custom domains for alias then Mail Free and SL Premium.

Also, how did you get Fastmail that cheap? 3 year Individual Plan costs 168 USD according to their own page Pricing | Fastmail

@Bhaelros - Proton Plus and SimpleLogin still would be around $234 for three years. I am exploring some other options price wise to get the most bang but as the saying goes, 'You get what you pay for." Kinda hard to cheap out on an email provider.

As for the price at FastMail. I think I’m grandfathered in. Originally there was only three plans to chose from. That became their business plans and they introduced crazy individual/family plans that are overkill. You can still save by getting the same plan I have but it’s just a little more now. To see the current pricing, go to Pricing | Fastmail and click ‘Business’ and select 36 months. That will bring you down to $100.80 for three years. At the end of the three years, you may get a lower price for the next three years to stay with them.