A collection of issues and my critiques with Proton.
I’ve had this drafted for a while but the recent news got me fumed and I locked in to finish and post it.
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None of those as android or iphone apps. That’s why Proton and Tuta are the most used.
Can I also point out my own provider (as in, I run it), https://port87.com/?
You’re not just taking up umbrage with Proton, you’re taking it up with the concept of encrypted email entirely. And yes, E2EE is not really a thing with email, but your email data can be encrypted on your server. Proton also does a bunch of stuff like opening images server-side so they can’t be tracked. And I hate email with a passion and desperately wish we could get away from it entirely but until I can confirm my doctor’s appointment via Matrix, we don’t have a ton of choice in the matter.
I’m going specifically after Proton because of the fact that their PGP encryption doesn’t provide any additional value that users lack, even when using Gmail you can send your mails with the same PGP encryption. All while Proton markets itself as FOSS without any plans to open source their backend. All while with their services removes one of the only good things about email which is the ability to use your own client, which paradoxically would usually allow you to automatically encrypt and decrypt PGP mails. That combined with the CEO spazzing out in 2025 over Trump was horrible enough and now with the AI news he’s just showing privacy is nothing but a marketing term for him. Doesn’t help that Proton has telemetry.
Rendering images server side is good but honestly using email with rendering enabled is just a horrible for privacy either way.
Would be awesome honestly if we could replace email with Matrix, all the same freedoms (and more as IP reputation isn’t a thing on Matrix) without the privacy issues of email. Or I wish my state which has done some effort to digitalize would provide doctors and hospitals with an appointment system since right now you are reliant on email as you said or even worse telecom companies for mobile.
I’m going specifically after Proton because of the fact that their PGP encryption doesn’t provide any additional value that users lack
This is not exclusive to Proton.
even when using Gmail you can send your mails with the same PGP encryption
As you already mentioned, Proton just makes this easier. Which is an entirely different discussion from how it’s supported on the other end. Also criticisms of PGP are not Proton’s responsibility or fault. None of this is specific to Proton.
All while with their services removes one of the only good things about email which is the ability to use your own client
Not necessarily, they created and published the Proton Mail Bridge. But this is an inherent limit of encrypted data. Once again, nothing to do with Proton. Tuta and Mailbox don’t support this either.
using email with rendering enabled is just a horrible for privacy either way.
See previous response about doctor’s appt.
Would be awesome honestly if we could replace email with Matrix
Something something candies and nuts
I recently switched from Gmail to Proton which was a pain in the ass. I’m still migrating or deleting a couple accounts per week.
Fortunately I purchased two domains (one primary and one for aliases) so future migrations will be easy. I was looking at mailbox.org + addy.io, on top of hosting my own Vaultwarden. Does that seem reasonable?
I can relate, my first move from Gmail when I didn’t have domains hurt. At least I got the option to clear out hundreds of random services I signed up to as a kid but the ones I wanted to move were truly a bother.
Yeah I’d say so. Moving from Bitwarden is a great addition :)
Sorry, but with the ability to create aliases, why would you care to own several domains for email? I could see owning 1 for customization, but then just create different users or addresses for different needs?
- My Proton address doesn’t get given out to anyone since it’s simply the backend I abstracted away with other domains.
- I use my primary domain for my personal email and all the important services (banks, healthcare, etc.), and things like GitHub that are tied to me. I also use it for all the services I self-host.
- The alias domain is for everything else. Newsletters, services, other long-term retail accounts like Costco. One-off random signups either get an alias on my domain or a random one from SimpleLogin if I don’t care about maintaining access to the account.
I just started doing this a few weeks ago so I might change my strategy if it becomes annoying to maintain, but I like it right now.
Oh dude I love doing this!! I shopped insurance recently and used a BS SimpleLogin address. When I was done shopping, I signed up for a company with a different actual alias and turned off the SL one. Now all emails from those other companies are rejected, and my info won’t be sold of and shared because they’ll get bouncebacks!! Now I won’t get harassed with email. It’s also easier to tell who sells my info.
I’ll do the same thing next time I car shop. I have a 2nd phone number to do this with too, bc I can send everything to VM and just leave it full until I need it.
A second phone number is next for me. Apparently that’s the real key lots of data brokers use because it’s pretty rare to have more than one.
So, I got “Hushed” from stack social when there was a lifetime option. I get 5000 texts and 1000 minutes annually. I don’t talk on the phone, so that’s fine, and I get la than 5k spam texts for sure.
Anyway, if I’m expecting a call, I have it forward to my personal cell, when done, goes back to VM. Texts stay in the app.
I also have a number through Jmp.chat (number), Snikket (service), and Cheogram (app). That’s strictly friends and family. Jmp & Snikket have a deal where of you pay for the number you can use Snikket so that’s $5/mo. So, $20/mo thru Mint, $5 for jmp/Snikket, I’ve had Hushed for $50/life for a good 5-6 years. But this way, it’s cleaner.
My cell, I only honestly have that for data. I hotspot my phone for my other cell that’s LineageOS. It’s better than a hotspot device with longer battery life. I’ve got all Google disabled on that one too. As soon as that mint plan runs out I’ll probably just carry my work phone and use that for my LineageOS phone with VPN. I do this so the SIM and IMSI can’t really be tracked. Tinfoil hat guy for sure lol. But I get minimal spam!!!
Well, if you own a few little companies, or different purpose websites (say, for open source projects), you’ll quickly end up with a whole bunch of domains.
Yep. For example I’ve got my own personal domain for email and my personal site. I also run a Rauthy instance for OICD for my hosted services which sends you an email to sign up after being invited, instead of using my personal domain which Rauthy isn’t on I can add the domain to Purelymail and now the emails can come from [email protected]. It’s a small thing but it looks nice.
Seems good. Mailbox is good, I’ve been with them for 2 years. With addy.io and your own domain you should be good.
Basically my plan. Haven’t settled on a final provider email wise.
The nice thing about owning domains is you’re not committed to any provider. I just switched to Proton but if I feel like leaving I can do that in an afternoon.
The con is that others won’t send you encrypted email because they don’t know you’re using proton
And the other con is that it ties together your different addresses, via the domain that nobody else uses.
Oh fuck… It just kinda clicked how that works. Yup. Fully the plan now. Thank.
Are there any guides you follow so I can get a better idea how or what I should be aware of when moving from gmail go mailbox or something similar.
I have a few domain names, but wonder how I would use those names with mailbox for example, and what was your process for moving all emails from gmail to your new mail provider?
Dos you start by mostly forwarding everything and then slowly switching email accounts on all your online services? Or is there something I am missing?
Obviously there are different approaches. OP responded they skipped forwarding; I did exactly what you said which was forward my Gmail to Proton so I didn’t have to sign in to Gmail anymore, and then slowly unsubscribe or delete accounts, or migrate the email to an alias for things I wanted to keep.
My first move was from Gmail without a domain so I had to manually move everything, personally I skipped the forwarding step and just spent a while moving everything. Currently I’m using my own domain so moving is just a matter of following the provider-given steps and switching out my email related DNS records which takes a few minutes at most.
Btw mailbox has a guide page for using your own domain: https://kb.mailbox.org/en/private/custom-domains/using-emails-with-a-custom-domain/
How is infomaniak compared to tuta mail?
infomaniak CEO advocated for kyc
Thanks for the article and list of alternatives, OP.
Hey, nice to see you outside of the movies communities!
Long time no see, Blaze!
I know!
