# Free proton alternative? **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/free-proton-alternative/16711 **Category:** Questions **Created:** 2024-02-09T21:57:30Z **Posts:** 49 ## Post 1 by @Gab19 — 2024-02-09T21:57:31Z there is a free alternative to proton? --- ## Post 2 by @anon89321548 — 2024-02-09T23:18:25Z For email or? --- ## Post 3 by @ph00lt0 — 2024-02-10T01:06:00Z Proton has a free plan. --- ## Post 4 by @Valynor — 2024-02-10T01:27:49Z A _very useable_ free plan, too. If you don’t write thousands of mails and send large stuff regularly it will be fine for most private use. --- ## Post 5 by @anon89321548 — 2024-02-10T03:00:15Z Would be good to pay for at least 1 month to activate the @pm.me domain and to remove the inactive account timer. --- ## Post 6 by @anon73250778 — 2024-02-10T08:55:17Z Tutanota probably the next best free? --- ## Post 7 by @KeepItSimple — 2024-02-10T09:15:50Z No IMAP and PGP. Maybe something else? --- ## Post 8 by @anon89321548 — 2024-02-10T10:27:13Z Free? I think google, outlook, yahoo, aol still offer imap and are free. You can roll your own pgp workflow with these main stream providers. [Mailbox.org](http://Mailbox.org) has imap, but you’ll need to cough up 1 USD. The $1 plan now features a conference call ability too. --- ## Post 9 by @CuriX — 2024-02-10T11:34:17Z > [@anon89321548](#): > > remove the inactive account timer What do you mean? Also what if I don’t have banking cards for privacy reasons? How to do that? > [@Gab19](#): > > alternative to proton Why do you need this? > [@anon89321548](#): > > Free? They are not “free”. Users pay with own privacy and (obviously) sensitive data. --- ## Post 10 by @anon89321548 — 2024-02-10T12:59:53Z I was being facetious. In any case, you can mail proton cash. I understand the threat model of wanting to avoid a bank from being aware you are using proton services. I still think it’s important to remove the inactivity timer\* through a one time payment and would find a way to do so. For example, if you are incarcerated you will not have access to proton during your stay. It may be\* unfortunate if your account was deleted as a result. My understanding is a free proton plan does not have its account deleted after 1 year if it was ever on a paid plan in the past. \*Edit - I’m realizing this is a personal decision. There could be an advantage to your account auto-deleting after 6mo(Tuta) or 1yr(PM). If that is appealing then a free plan may be advantageous. --- ## Post 11 by @NumericalFried — 2024-02-10T13:24:32Z What is missing for you from Proton’s free plan? That might help make better suggestions. --- ## Post 12 by @wojciechxtx — 2024-02-10T14:07:58Z > [@anon89321548](#): > > My understanding is a free proton plan does not have its account deleted after 1 year if it was ever on a paid plan in the past. Thats whats written in their FAQ: > **If you are or have been a paid Proton subscriber at any point in time, your account will permanently be considered active. Anyone that has ever paid for a Proton plan is exempt from this policy.** Source: [inactive accounts page.](https://proton.me/support/inactive-accounts) --- ## Post 13 by @anon73250778 — 2024-02-10T16:26:15Z To OP, I dont think what you want exist right now. Maybe consider self hosting? But you will still need to buy a domain I think? --- ## Post 14 by @Ganther — 2024-02-10T16:41:34Z Personally, the only thing I’m missing in Proton’s free version would be unlimited folders and being able to access my emails without a connection. Aside from that, I think they are golden. Would easily upgrade to a paid tier if they added an offline mode. --- ## Post 15 by @wojciechxtx — 2024-02-10T17:09:08Z > [@Ganther](#): > > offline mode. on mobile (I mean Android app; dont know about iOS) you have a switch to work offline. At least if you are on `Unlimited` plan/tier. --- ## Post 16 by @Ganther — 2024-02-10T17:21:37Z Huh… where did you find this exactly? I’ve looked in the settings and can’t see it. --- ## Post 17 by @wojciechxtx — 2024-02-10T22:25:46Z @Ganther are you paying customer? --- ## Post 18 by @Ganther — 2024-02-11T08:07:33Z Not yet no, I was under the impression that I would be able to find the switch regardless though. --- ## Post 19 by @Tuta_Official — 2024-02-12T12:08:40Z Hi there, over at Tuta we offer a range of subscriptions both free and paid. --- ## Post 20 by @ph00lt0 — 2024-02-12T12:53:16Z Just be wary that @Tuta_Official does deactivate your account and you lose access to your data if you don’t use it for a while: [Tutanota deleted my account](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/tutanota-deleted-my-account/12382) --- ## Post 21 by @Tuta_Official — 2024-02-12T13:41:28Z We do have a 6-month inactivity policy for free accounts, but if you login regularly (more than once every 6 months) this will not be an issue. We do disclose this policy during the signup process as seen in the screenshot below: ![six-month-inactivity](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/6/66f20f1b79e2314a5cc43f0c158a6f4d8cd748db.png) Despite this policy, it is possible to recover these lost email addresses, just not any content which may have been in the account. --- ## Post 22 by @Screwdriver — 2024-02-12T15:18:00Z If a person had been paying for a Tutanota sub, and they dropped down to free. Is there still a six month timer? --- ## Post 23 by @ph00lt0 — 2024-02-12T19:17:30Z I am aware now, but learned the hard way. This is not something you’d remember as a non frequent user. I don’t really understand the policy. Just trying to warn others as for me this one time banner wasn’t enough. --- ## Post 24 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T20:32:58Z If you are not going to use an account for several months or even a year, why do you create it? If you want to keep your account alive, just login once a month, it is not hard, right? --- ## Post 25 by @ph00lt0 — 2024-02-12T20:38:44Z Because I used it with other people using Tuta. That’s the only way to have e2ee with their mailadresses. Normally I use Proton. Also I do not like your tone of voice and don’t feel like I should have to explain my use case to you. --- ## Post 26 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T20:42:27Z Tuta looks shady for location in “eyes” country and following articles: [one](https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/08/tutanota_backdoor_court_order/), [two](https://cyberscoop.com/germany-court-ruling-tutanota-email-monitoring/) --- ## Post 27 by @Valynor — 2024-02-12T20:50:38Z That example is not shady at all, they just adhered to the local laws. You have no choice but to follow a lawful court order, that’s how the law works in a democracy. --- ## Post 28 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T20:52:25Z > [@Valynor](#): > > is not shady at all, they just adhered to the local laws That’s why I said that countries in “eyes” for such services is shady, unfortunately --- ## Post 29 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T20:53:40Z What is wrong with my tone? I am simply asking the reason. Proton has one year of inactivity time to delete your account and Tuta has six months of time. If you are not going to log in for that amount time, then why do you even need an account? Account might be free, but you are still using a resource on the provider. --- ## Post 30 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T20:55:03Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > Proton has one year of inactivity time to delete your account and Tuta has six months of time You can pay for one month for Proton and (as they promise) never be deleted --- ## Post 31 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T20:55:54Z Yep. It is written on their page. At the end they are a business and they need to gain money. --- ## Post 32 by @Valynor — 2024-02-12T20:56:37Z This case had nothing to do with “x eyes” though AFAIK. It was initiated by German state police, they wanted access to a specific user’s account(s). --- ## Post 33 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T20:58:01Z > [@Valynor](#): > > It was initiated from German state police, they wanted access to a specific user’s account(s). Ok, where is guarantee that _you_ won’t be suspected sometime? Proton is under Swiss law so it is way harder to do such things (it is possible, but harder) --- ## Post 34 by @Valynor — 2024-02-12T21:00:07Z Irrelevant. In Germany a judge has to decide in these matters and when a judge oversteps or decides badly you’ll have to go through the instances to get the verdict overthrown. Very unpleasant, but that’s they way it works in most countries. --- ## Post 35 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T21:04:13Z At least it is harder with Proton because they don’t have to adhere with EU or US laws. Court order must come from Swiss authorities. But, let it be either Tuta or Proton, if they are totally encrypted as they, then in theory no one should be able to read emails which are stored on their servers, but sent emails are another topic. --- ## Post 36 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T21:04:40Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > At least it is harder with Proton because they don’t have to adhere with EU or US laws. Court order must come from Swiss authorities That’s what I am trying to say :slight_smile: ——— By the way, [I asked Proton](https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/10774738) to join this forum :slight_smile: --- ## Post 37 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T21:14:21Z I asked them via support ticket just now. I hope they will assign someone here too. --- ## Post 38 by @Qw6 — 2024-02-12T21:17:27Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > I asked them via support ticket just now Thank you very much! Hope so :slight_smile: --- ## Post 39 by @Catalyst2422 — 2024-02-12T22:00:23Z > [@Qw6](#): > > Ok, where is guarantee that _you_ won’t be suspected sometime? Proton is under Swiss law so it is way harder to do such things (it is possible, but harder) What makes Swiss law better than German? Both Tuta [1](https://tuta.com/blog/transparency-report) and Proton [2](https://proton.me/legal/transparency) release regular transparency reports. And they both regularly comply with court orders to hand over data. If you use end to end encryption as recommended here then anything that they do hand over is uselss to the authorities. --- ## Post 40 by @exaCORE — 2024-02-12T22:00:46Z You may want to see this thread: [Cock.li safe? - #20 by dngray](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/cock-li-safe/16408/20) --- ## Post 41 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T22:16:39Z Every company needs to comply with local laws, but it is better to adhere to one country law instead of many. --- ## Post 42 by @Catalyst2422 — 2024-02-12T22:19:45Z And what other countries laws is Tuta complying with? --- ## Post 43 by @Bhaelros — 2024-02-12T22:21:47Z EU, apart from Germany. --- ## Post 44 by @anon21489307 — 2024-02-12T22:22:14Z This is true for ALL lawful countries. This is how this thing works. Any registered company is obligated to the law in their registered countries. Swiss or not does not matter. However, there are 2 things that would come into consideration: 1. **The adherence to the rule of law.** Some countries have good laws and follow them, while some use the laws to abuse their people. Or in some extreme situations, they could just issue an _order_ regardless of the laws. You can see the ranking/index from: **[WJP Rule of Law Index](https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/global)**. 2. **The technologies involved.** This is not related to trust, reputation of the company, privacy policies, etc., but the actual code as of written on the public repo for everyone to see and _verify_ the source, for example, whether they’re using E2EE and how they’re using it. The ideal usage would be to compile the source yourself if your threat model is extremely high. Unfortunately, most don’t compile the source unless it’s necessary (me included). And most centralized services don’t release their server side source code, and even if they do, there’s no guarantee that they really run that exact code on their servers. Well, even Proton is spotty with their clients source code, let alone the server. Therefore, I always prefer decentralized services, which would require zero-trust. --- ## Post 45 by @Catalyst2422 — 2024-02-12T22:40:45Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > EU, apart from Germany. The EU is a collection of member states who enter into treaties, enacted via their own local laws. As far as surveillance laws go. Any request must go via local law enforcement in a member state. Yes, there are treaties for sharing data. But they are enforced first and foremost by local/national courts. And in fact, the EU courts provide an additional backstop to protecting your personal data through Articles 7 and 8 of the charter of fundamental rights of the EU. Switzerland doesn’t have this additional safeguard. And in the recent past has made use of broad constitutional clauses to rewrite basic laws to safeguard Swiss interests against the interests of others. --- ## Post 46 by @KeepItSimple — 2024-02-12T22:51:16Z Tuta say the truth though. Technically, when any mail provider receives unencrypted emails, they can do anything with them, maybe save, or maybe encrypt, you still need to trust them, does not matter is it Tuta, or Proton, or Cockli. --- ## Post 47 by @anon47640430 — 2024-02-13T09:53:03Z [Tuta](https://tuta.com/) offers a free plan indefinitely as long as you use it. --- ## Post 48 by @anon47640430 — 2024-02-13T09:57:00Z I don’t think either provider has to adhere to US laws. If the nations court decide that they need to turn over data they are legally obligated to. This happened with Proton when the Swiss govt forced them to turn over data about that climate activist. --- ## Post 49 by @Tuta_Official — 2024-02-13T14:23:56Z When the account is downgraded to the free version this six month inactivity policy is put in place. Should the account be returned to a premium version, the policy is no longer applicable.