# New Changes to SimpleLogin free plan that upset me **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/new-changes-to-simplelogin-free-plan-that-upset-me/17361 **Category:** Questions **Created:** 2024-03-15T23:41:27Z **Posts:** 29 ## Post 1 by @Hater — 2024-03-15T23:41:27Z Hi! **First, they removed account delete option.** Here is a link to saved page as PDF: [suspicious PDF link removed] **Second, they removed free breach checks:** [Link](https://github.com/simple-login/app/pull/2065) to GitHub **Third, they removed free send feature:** [Link](https://github.com/simple-login/app/commit/da09db3864a7bd72cef81f011f0805d26522a887) to GitHub But (!) allowed sending in trial period so this will not stop abuse because abuser will simply create new account. --- ## Post 2 by @johhny76 — 2024-03-16T00:08:41Z I can still see the account delete option… Not sure what’s happening with you. I do have a paid premium, which could affect it. --- ## Post 3 by @BionicBison — 2024-03-16T02:54:25Z You may be getting confused by the fact that there are two different settings pages. You have to go to _account settings_ to delete your account, which is not the page you linked. As for the sending during trial, I also noticed that I was able to create a reverse alias during a trial with a fresh account, but this may be explained by a comment on the [official discussion](https://github.com/simple-login/app/discussions/1827) stating “This limit isn’t enforced at the moment.” In general, while the removal of free features is always unfortunate, it’s fully within a service’s right to push users to pay for a service that costs money to run, and in the case of SimpleLogin, you’re free to self-host it without any of these restrictions. --- ## Post 4 by @Tech-Trooper — 2024-03-16T04:50:39Z You can’t have your cake and eat it. They have to put some features behind the paywall. If you are annoyed by them, consider spending a few bucks. --- ## Post 5 by @bee — 2024-03-16T06:48:47Z I don’t see a problem with any of these changes (and as others have stated, it doesn’t seem the delete account option is gone), as it’s well within their right to make such features paid-only. SimpleLogin is one product that I also really can’t mad at for this sort of reason, as their pricing is very fair and generous considering how immensely useful and versatile their service is. They also offer educational discounts on their already great price, along with the ability to self host for free. I’d take a SL premium subscription at double the price over any paid email service or plan if I could only choose one, even. --- ## Post 6 by @Bhaelros — 2024-03-16T12:21:47Z > **[Login | SimpleLogin](https://app.simplelogin.io/dashboard/account_setting)** > > Protect your email address with email ALIAS. Create a different email alias for each website. No more phishing, or spam. It is on the bottom, and here is the direct link > **[Login | SimpleLogin](https://app.simplelogin.io/dashboard/delete_account)** > > Protect your email address with email ALIAS. Create a different email alias for each website. No more phishing, or spam. Other points are valid. You should pay to get these features. --- ## Post 7 by @no-username — 2024-03-16T13:16:57Z > [@Hater](#): > > **Second, they removed free breach checks:** > > [Link](https://github.com/simple-login/app/pull/2065) to GitHub > > **Third, they removed free send feature:** > > [Link](https://github.com/simple-login/app/commit/da09db3864a7bd72cef81f011f0805d26522a887) to GitHub The most confusing it that they make users use their service providing this for free but now they are taking it away. That is a pretty shameful practice. It should be paid from the beginning or free forever. > [@Hater](#): > > First, they removed account delete option. Not removed. Moved to account settings. --- ## Post 8 by @anon73250778 — 2024-03-16T13:31:06Z I think we should just be happy that the business model is a subscription payment rather than data harvesting, yes? --- ## Post 9 by @no-username — 2024-03-16T13:44:19Z As I said: > [@no-username](#): > > It should be paid from the beginning or free forever. They grabbed user base using this practice and now forcing users that came on previous conditions to pay because of new conditions. --- ## Post 10 by @bluemonk — 2024-03-16T18:35:41Z It’s their business and they decide what they see is right. We should be lucky there even is a free tier. I’m happily paying for my subscription. --- ## Post 11 by @no-username — 2024-03-16T20:03:30Z > [@bluemonk](#): > > they decide what they see is right. They attracted people with free features, now they say them to pay. It is dirty practice. > [@bluemonk](#): > > happily paying for my subscription I would like to buy it (as lifetime) but subscription is not for me. I don’t have bank accounts (why should I give anyone my ID?) and have zero stable income (it varies from month to month). --- ## Post 13 by @Tech-Trooper — 2024-03-16T20:21:49Z Keep in mind that it’s not the same business as it was acquired by Protonmail. Edit: In modern times, you should really be sceptical agains lifetime deals, especially services working in cloud. --- ## Post 15 by @anon65550235 — 2024-03-16T21:44:32Z > [@no-username](#): > > The most confusing it that they make users use their service providing this for free but now they are taking it away. That is a pretty shameful practice. It should be paid from the beginning or free forever. > [@no-username](#): > > They grabbed user base using this practice and now forcing users that came on previous conditions to pay because of new conditions. > [@no-username](#): > > They attracted people with free features, now they say them to pay. It is dirty practice. Where are the sources saying that this is happening? Another post [here](https://discuss.techlore.tech/t/simplelogin-stop-providing-free-send-feature-reply-remaining/6863/7) from Techlore’s forum is saying the opposite based on this source [here](https://github.com/simple-login/app/discussions/1827#discussioncomment-6608305) from a maintainer. The maintainer asserts that existing users will indeed keep this feature. Although, the commit in OP’s post does supercede the discussion by date, so maybe some decisions were changed and existing users won’t keep receiving this feature? I don’t know how to read the code to interpret it. I also only have a paid plan, so I cannot check myself if this is the case. I certainly do not like this change, of course, but that doesn’t mean I do not like their choice. There is a difference. If you are going to develop an opinion on their practices, account for _why_ they are doing this, not just what is being done. I do not see an issue with their choice. If you actually expect them to follow up with your demands, i.e., be free forever, then expect them to be blacklisted from major websites, or worse: go bankrupt. Reality does not conform to our beliefs. The reality of the situation is that they wanted the feature to remain free but eventually had to change it due to bad actors. Whether there is a better way to go about this or not, I’m not really sure. There are people who are paid to look at the costs and benefits of certain outcomes, of which I am not. But I don’t endorse calling their choices bad practice, even if it were the case that existing users weren’t grandfathered in. --- ## Post 16 by @no-username — 2024-03-17T07:08:48Z > [@anon65550235](#): > > The reality of the situation is that they wanted the feature to remain free but eventually had to change it due to bad actors. I understand but, as OP said: > [@Hater](#): > > But (!) allowed sending in trial period so this will not stop abuse because abuser will simply create new account. So it will be logical to block it even in trial. Because now it is looking like cheap marketing. --- ## Post 17 by @Son — 2024-03-18T08:57:14Z Son, founder of SL here. 1. The account deletion is moved to the “Account Settings page” along with other account related settings as the previous Settings page has too many options ![image](//forum-uploads.privacyguidesusercontent.com/original/2X/2/2cb47e1caa4d38307570a437736126f2274d0de0.png) 1. The “free breach” is an unofficial feature that we haven’t advertised, as it was still in development. It uses the HIBP API that recently increases their price. And as the number of aliases in SL have significantly increased, we have to upgrade to the more expensive options in HIBP and financially can’t just propose this for free. The data breach monitoring feature is still under development, mostly for stability and scalability, we’ll make an announcement for it when it’s done. 2. The limit for creating reverse aliases has been mentioned on [SimpleLogin | Pricing](https://simplelogin.io/pricing/) since Apr 2022 ([commit](https://github.com/simple-login/website/commit/93326500cd127582d8279b2a1d845449a6bc2069)) before it was enforced last month. That leaves enough time for new users to be informed and make their choice. It only affects new accounts, existing accounts before the enforcement date aren’t affected and can still create new reverse aliases. --- ## Post 18 by @no-username — 2024-03-18T11:32:49Z > [@Son](#): > > The account deletion is moved to the “Account Settings page You need to write it in documentation. > [@Son](#): > > The “free breach” is an unofficial feature that we haven’t advertised Ok, understood > [@Son](#): > > The limit for creating reverse aliases Why it is not blocked in trial mode if you are “fighting abuse”? Or it is cheap marketing instead? --- ## Post 19 by @Sprout3425 — 2024-03-18T12:08:49Z I do not understand the need for email aliasing services like SL, when DuckDuckGo Email Protection exists for _free_. Then again, I am a total noob. --- ## Post 20 by @jonah — 2024-03-18T15:07:03Z You don’t understand the need for email aliasing services when… an email aliasing service exists? :thinking: ~~Well, if you receive an email at Sprout3425@duck.com you can’t reply back from that alias, which is the biggest problem IMO~~. SimpleLogin also lets you encrypt all incoming emails with PGP so that they are stored securely regardless of your email provider, and lets you use custom domains (which is the main reason I use it). --- ## Post 21 by @moonwriting — 2024-03-18T15:44:54Z > [@jonah](#): > > Well, if you receive an email at [Sprout3425@duck.com](mailto:Sprout3425@duck.com) you can’t reply back from that alias, which is the biggest problem IMO. Replies [do work](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/email-protection/duck-addresses/how-do-i-reply-from-my-duck-address/) with DuckDuckGo Email Protection and have worked for [quite some time](https://libreddit.privacydev.net/r/duckduckgo/comments/se6tk3/you_can_now_reply_from_your_duck_address/). --- ## Post 22 by @no-username — 2024-03-18T18:11:45Z > [@Sprout3425](#): > > when DuckDuckGo Email Protection exists for _free_ Agree. Unfortunately, now it is the only one that is really useful and doesn’t have “paid” crap. Free send, unlimited aliases… The only minus is absence of bulk deactivation feature. > [@jonah](#): > > you can’t reply back from that alias What?! You [can (official source)](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/email-protection/duck-addresses/how-do-i-reply-from-my-duck-address/). Who told you that? You even can [SEND for free (official article)](https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/email-protection/duck-addresses/how-do-i-compose-a-new-email/) SL looks too paywalled if compared to competitors: 1. Addy gives unlimited aliases on one subdomain and 20 (!) on shared domains. 2. Duck provides totally unlimited feature --- ## Post 23 by @gammexane — 2024-03-18T19:59:41Z I have been using SL for years now, 4 or 5… when I started begging for Labels (or similar) I had 50 alias, now I have more than 300… I NEED Labels… please :smiley: Labels has been in the roadmap for years… --- ## Post 24 by @Sprout3425 — 2024-03-20T00:02:40Z > [@jonah](#): > > You don’t understand the need for email aliasing services when… an email aliasing service exists? :thinking: You have definitely mischaracterised my “argument”, irrespective of whether it is correct. My argument can be more accurately summarised as: _I do not understand the use of inferior products when superior products exist._ Whether or not this is actually the case, again I do not know. > SimpleLogin also lets you encrypt all incoming emails with PGP so that they are stored securely regardless of your email provider, and lets you use custom domains (which is the main reason I use it). From my limited knowledge, aliases are usually given to untrustworthy _services_, hence, I assume most aliases would receive automated emails from newsletters, receipts for purchases etc., which can’t be encrypted anyway, because these online services usually don’t provide or receive PGP keys, am I right to say that? Custom domains seem to be redundant, when you can use randomised DDG email addresses, and as more people use DDG, DDG users will be able to fit into the crowd better. However, I do understand that custom domains may provide extra protections especially when using obscure services, but this may not even be true for most services, since they probably don’t have information that other services have about your other aliases, so maybe even in this regard custom aliases are redundant. Definitely correct me if I am wrong! --- ## Post 25 by @jonah — 2024-03-20T00:15:21Z > [@Sprout3425](#): > > From my limited knowledge, aliases are usually given to untrustworthy _services_, hence, I assume most aliases would receive automated emails from newsletters, receipts for purchases etc., which can’t be encrypted anyway, because these online services usually don’t provide or receive PGP keys, am I right to say that? **All** incoming emails are encrypted with your public PGP key when forwarded from SimpleLogin to your inbox, whether the service uses PGP is irelevant. --- ## Post 26 by @Sprout3425 — 2024-03-20T00:24:06Z Thanks for clarifying, so from the service to your alias, they are not encrypted? But from your alias to your real email they are encrypted, makes sense since SL is coupled with Proton Mail. --- ## Post 27 by @jonah — 2024-03-20T02:36:04Z Yes, but it works with any email provider (not just Proton). The use-case here is that it lets you securely _store_ your emails with any provider even if they aren’t Proton/Tuta and don’t offer built-in encryption. Some people it doesn’t matter too much to, since maybe your mailbox is already secure, but for others it is very useful. --- ## Post 28 by @Sprout3425 — 2024-03-20T02:46:52Z Oh I see, thanks for clarifying again, so basically this feature is useful for non-private email providers like Gmail. However, even if this feature is present in the free version of SL, I would say that DDG still wins the tradeoff when comparing the free version of both products, by quite a margin. Furthermore, is the purpose of this feature (privacy) not defeated, if the email is unencrypted when it is transmitted from the sender to recipient alias? Note: sorry for all the questions. I am trying to ascertain the best options here for me and for everyone. --- ## Post 29 by @Jorgefreeman — 2024-03-22T00:00:50Z > [@no-username](#): > > SL looks too paywalled if compared to competitors: > > 1. Addy gives unlimited aliases on one subdomain and 20 (!) on shared domains. > 2. Duck provides totally unlimited feature But it is hosted on Proton infrastructure = stable and reliable (as less outages as possible). > [@Sprout3425](#): > > Custom domains seem to be redundant They are harming privacy making you unique. For things that already know your identity (banking, business) it is not a problem. But I would strongly recommend not to use custom domains for signup on services that don’t know your identity. Now I am lack of tracking pixels removal. But with Proton it is not a problem.