Please enlighten me and help set my expectations for choosing an email provider

Questions
1

This will be quite a extensive post since I’ll try to answer everything I can think about at once, so…
To start with some question I found online so I could find my preferences:
Do you have any special encryption and privacy requirements?

  • No (I appreciate encryption, but it’s not necessary. I’m more concerned about the speed it might affect.)

    Do you need imap/smtp?

  • No, if the app is good enough (With Proton and Tuta I don’t need it, but Posteo and Mailbox would be better with IMAP, though I don’t favor either side.)

    Do you want to sync contacts and calendar with your devices?

  • Not really

    Do you want to use your own domain?

  • I don’t think so (I’ve never used one, but again I’m concerned about the future. If I change providers, would I need to change all my email accounts? And do I want to spend extra money on my own domain?)

    How many aliases do you need?

  • Minimum 2 (I may use SimpleLogin or Addy.io, but I’m not sure about the price increase and whether I would use them to their full potential.)

    Do you want to have burner addresses included?

  • Burner addresses means addresses to dispose of? Maybe 1, max 2 (I can use SimpleLogin/Addy.io for one-use addresses.)

    Would you like some basic office and cloud storage functionality?

  • Cloud storage would be cool, but not necessary.

    Which payment methods work well for you?

  • At the moment, any (I may need to research this topic a bit.)

    Do you want zero-access?

  • I appreciate it, but it’s not strictly necessary (I’vs already made the selection between this 4 providers do to them having solid privacy policies. However, I haven’t looked to each one in depth, so if any of them are considerably worse than the others, I might remove them from my list)

After this I started gathering some information to check how I viewed the 4 emails providers I was trying to choose from

Protonmail, Tutanota, Mailbox.org, Postoe

Protonmail - Most expensive [4€], Creating a ecosystem [Might be good or bad] (best interface imo) [4€, 2.5€ Black Friday only the first year/ per month]

Tutanota - Doesn’t support email clients [Might be good or bad], Payment problems [Not common]; Might be slower due to encryption [3€]

Mailbox.org - No .com or .net domain; Klunky and slow [use email client]; No mobile app [use email client]; Logs IP [1€ | 2.5€]

Postoe - Difficult domain to verbally share [posteo hard to understand] ; No spam folder [Can be changed], No custom domain [Might be a problem] 1€ 2GB | +0.25€ per 1GB (Cheap)

And lastly the rant that probably shows a little more about my best fit (even though I don’t know which it is)

I don’t really care that much about the PGP keys when sending emails, for example, in Proton. For people I know, I can just use messaging apps; and for those who I don’t have much contact with, the chances of them using something other than Gmail are slim and at the same time I don’t expect them to open a encrypted email anyway. Also I like encryption, but I heard that searching your inbox is slower (don’t know how slow) so it might make a difference on my opinion.

My main concerns, in order, are: security, reliability, price, privacy, good apps if you can’t use imap/smtp properly, and lastly the domain options . I like .com and .net, but .de makes me consider. Maybe being with a small email provider also causes some concern (although the opposite can be also be said)

I’m still considering using Addy.io’s 1€ plan with a email provider. Buying my own domain is something I’m not fully convinced about. I’m aware of the advantages, but even though the price increase isn’t huge, the idea of paying more because my email provider might not reliable enough and could go bankrupt makes me consider if I even want to change to that provider in the first place. (I’m aware that this isn’t the only advantage of personal domains)

To sum it all up, I’m overthinking. The best way to know which one is the best for me is trying them all. At the moment, my top choices are Mailbox.org and Tuta followed by Posteo and Proton. Pls share your experiences or let me know which one you think fits my preferences best.

Side Note: I’m currently using Linux and Android. I also understand that there’s no such thing as a perfect email provider. And I’m still considering if I’m going to use Addy.io/Simplelogin services or not.

If you’ve read all this, have a nice day (In case you haven’t, but you are reading this then, have a nice day too)

2

You might think this is obvious, but it is not to some so I have to ask anyways: you have read this page right?

2 Likes
3

Given your preferences and parameters, I also recommend checking out Fastmail. They meet all your needs too.

My personal preference is Proton however.

2 Likes
4

If you don’t need encryption, maybe try Fastmail?

They have great “Masked Email”.

5

Honestly you could also consider Fastmail, but it’s important to remember their privacy protections are policy-based, not technical. You cannot maximize security and privacy without zero-knowledge email storage at the very least, which would make me lean towards Proton if that is a concern.

1 Like
6

Heh, three posts about Fastmail posted at the same time :grinning_face:

7

I am speed

8

Besides the encrypted services we typically recommend, it is probably the only email provider that:

  1. Has a sustainable business model
  2. Doesn’t require a custom domain
9

It honestly has a fantastic UI/UX. Obviously better than Gmail and the likes but also sometimes beats Proton. I happen to use it every now and then when I have to help my father with his email/tech stuff.

10

For me also important is their development of JMAP and great support (not to mention search, advanced filters etc.).

They are like Mullvad but for email.

11

Just not encrypted.

1 Like
12

Do you need a third party email client, like Thunderbird? If you do, you can’t use Tuta, for example.

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13

Seeing everyone recommend fastmail makes me put them in my list of options. However I might need to read the privacy policy and the pass of the company since they aren’t recommended by privacyguides and they don’t have zero-knowledge policy. At the same time, proton continues to be the biggest privacy provider I see here, so I may also reconsider my budget and how much I’m willing to spend.
This all depends if I plan on taking addy.io or not though, because it will be adding 1€.
So if fastmail isn’t private enough for me, I need to go back and consider which as the best email provider for my needs.

Also, I’ve read your recommendation before making this post. Appreciate your extensive description of the email providers you recommend and why.

14

You don’t need to. If you get Proton Pass or Proton Unlimited, you get Simplelogin Premium with it. And if you get Fastmail, you get their own aliasing service. Either way, aliasing is not a problem as I see it.

FYI.

1 Like
15

They’re ok but have their cons

– They recycle addresses at their domains
– They won’t allow you to permanently delete masked addresses that have received email, citing that people are using these for logins. I don’t know how they reconcile that with the fact that they’re happy to recycle normal aliases at their domains as soon as you stop paying.
– Outside of a superficial website facelift, they haven’t made meaningful updates to their web interface in years (still beat most of the competition).
– They are resistant to other standards such as DANE and MTA-STS for reasons known only to them

Pros
– Appear competent at running email
– Support passkeys, hardware keys, TOTP, whatever
– Their marketing doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out like some other privacy‑centric services
– Best-in-class support
– Unless you need many users, they are priced competitively for what they offer

16

How sure are you? Support told me otherwise.

But they did, few months ago. What is it that you need bigger update?

17

You don’t have to trust me on it, it’s on their website. I had an account with them before and all my old addresses are available for grabbing. What they apparently don’t recycle are their masked addresses, but I think I heard it secondhand from someone citing a support email. “Normal” addresses are fair game. Still not cool, but appears to be widespread practice among a lot of paid email providers.

If you’re thinking this, it’s not a redesign or even a facelift but rather, minor (but still welcome) quality-of-life improvements.

18

I’d say what Proton did two or three years ago (maybe more?) where when it went from looking like run-of-the-mill VPS provider to looking like something an average consumer would be pleased to use.

19

Well, I like Fastmail and hate Proton UI, so like always, it’s just a matter of personal preference.

1 Like
20

It’s not just a precaution against bankruptcy. It is also worth considering:

  • they might change the features they offer
  • your priorities and needs might change
  • a better provider might come along

If any of these happen and you decide you want to switch provider, it’ll be so much easier to do with your own domain.

If you use the providers domain and you want to switch, you’re going to have change your email address for every single account that you have. I have 150+ online accounts—that’s hours, if not days of work to update all of them.

With your own domain you just update which email provider your domain points at, and then you’re done.

Now with something like Addy.io you probably get similar control (I’ve never used it), but it’s another entity handling your emails—which may or may not be an issue for you.

As for the cost, a .eu or .de domain cost ~10€/year, which is pretty negligible to me.

Something to considering at least.