Tuta vs Mailbox.org / which contributes more to privacy in practice?

Questions
1

Hi r/privacy ,

I’m trying to choose between Tuta (Tutanota) and Mailbox.org, and I’d really appreciate some perspectives from people here who care about actual privacy ethics and not just marketing claims.

Here’s how I currently see both:

  • Tuta: I like their zero-knowledge approach, open-source stack and the fact they take strong public stances for encryption rights. They’re clearly passionate advocates. But I’m conflicted about a few points: • They use AWS for DNS (seems odd for a privacy-focused provider). • Their onion site is basically just a redirect.. not a real hidden service, which feels a bit hypocritical for a privacy-first brand. • They also restrict Tor users sometimes, which contradicts their stated philosophy.

  • Mailbox.org: They feel more pragmatic and standards-based. I like that they run their own infrastructure and even operate a Tor node.. which to me shows real commitment to the privacy ecosystem beyond email. On the other hand, their webmail feels clunky and their privacy approach seems more “traditional” or outdated (relying on encryption options rather than true zero-knowledge design).

My situation: I’m in North America, not doing anything illegal. I just care deeply about data ethics, autonomy and supporting providers who strengthen the privacy landscape as a whole. I don’t use Tor, but I value organizations that contribute to open privacy infrastructure.

So I’m wondering:

  • Which of these two actually contributes more to privacy at the ecosystem level (protocols, activism, standards, open code, etc.)?

  • For someone who values transparency, technical integrity and social contribution more than convenience, which would you choose?

  • Any firsthand experiences or insight from people who’ve followed their projects over the years?

Thanks!

2

Based on what you’ve shared and what you seem to want and are prioritizing, Tuta is a clear choice here. They tick all your boxes and have fixed my major grievance of conversational view with email threads.

Usability wise it’s highly functional and simple but that’s the point. A minimal and highly private and secure email service. You can also pay for it privately or anonymously should you want to.

Go with Tuta. You won’t regret it.

3

Welcome to the forum!

Since you’re new here, you should know this is the Privacy Guides forum and has nothing to do with the privacy subreddit but only the privacy guides subreddit.

Besides that, I agree with @Seven. Tuta is what would suit you better.