The hope is that this guide and website can act as a simple way to introduce newcomers - whether it’s you, friends or family - into this space and try something else besides the default options.

There is also a community-driven, open-source site ( https://purchasewithpurpose.eu/category/email/ ) that aims to make this even easier. This includes screenshots, ratings and a larger feature list.

I’ve also started tracking impact to help keep the momentum. If there are any other stats, please share them so I can add them to the guides and, eventually, the website.

As always, I more than welcome criticism and ideas!

top 30 comments

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[–] Ontimp@feddit.org 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Nice guide, some of the information seems outdated or incorrect though. I know that Proton and Tuta have their own apps (and even require them to be used afaik). Proton also has a surrounding ecosystem with a VPN service etc. Same does for them having a free tier. GMX belongs to its sister service web.de, which is not on the list but which is functionality almost identical, and both of them also have their own apps.

So the classification on the right seems a little arbitrary.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I tried to be clever with the space on the Venn diagram, but it might not be too clear. All those listed in the middle are included in the Eco-System section and the Free Tier.

The website has this listed better, so let me know if you spot any mistakes there: https://purchasewithpurpose.eu/category/email/

[–] Ontimp@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

Aaaaah yes I see, now I didn't get that that was supposed to be a Venn diagram

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

There's also this option, perhaps for very unbalanced categories

╳┌───────┐
╳│┌───┐╳╳│
╳└┼───┼──┘
╳╳└───┘

Basically the two boxes' boundaries should cross, not overlap. Unfortunately, that takes away some symmetry and cleanliness. Maybe a symmetrical pair of boxes with chamfers (45° corners) crossing could work?

Otherwise, you need color or shading.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Don't believe I didnt think of this! Thanks so much

[–] Maxxie@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Mailbox.org has a 12 euro/year plan with 3 aliases (and a bunch of other stuff but I love aliases), I've been using it for awhile no complaints so far.

[–] Aufgehtsabgehts@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

I had a great support interaction with them. They helped me with a problem barely connected to their service, with a lot of patience.

And they seem to be very privacy respecting.

Would choose mailbox.org again.

[–] fragrantvegetable@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I've been with Infomaniak for some time now and quite happy. Their 1.50 EUR for 5 mailboxes is hard to beat. I mainly chose them as they offer a decent android app , which is also open source and on f-droid. They are also as far as I know the only provider, apart from fastmail, that offer proper email threads/discussions, i.e. where your responses are shown alongside the received emails within the same thread. I haven't tried out all providers though so I'd be interested to hear if there are others with this feature. Unfortunately the app can be a bit sluggish at times but it's mostly serviceable.

[–] Bat@programming.dev 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Where is this 5 for 1.50 EUR? I'm only seeing kSuite Business for 3.29.

[–] fragrantvegetable@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 days ago

Here. If you scroll down a bit it's the one on the very right called "Mail service". It's mail only though, so no kDrive.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Also used both Fastmail and Infomaniak Mail. Ended up using Infomaniak Mail as there email grouping works really well.

[–] vodka@feddit.org 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Migadu is also an excellent option, especially if you want to run multiple domains.

Their approach to not giving a shit about your total amount of mailboxes, or amount of domains you use, and only care about the amount of email you send and receive (which isn't strictly enforced anyway) is fantastic.

I've got 4 family members on my plan. All of which fit nicely in their cheapest plan since they're firstname@lastname emails that aren't used for spam signups.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Migadu

Will look to include them! Looks like an excellent choice for a straightforward email provider. Thanks for the suggestion.

[–] anelephant@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I too use Migadu and had no issues so far. The client I use the most is ThunderBird, but it doesn’t matter which is used.

Although ThunderBird is not on iOS, got any recommendations for a FLOSS client on that platform?

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

https://purchasewithpurpose.eu/category/email/ has some email clients listed, and you can see what is Open-Source and Free.

I think Thunderbird is the only option that is on iOS. Would be very interested if there are others that I missed.

[–] anelephant@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don’t think it’s available on ios unfortunately

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Thunderbird

Right it isn't... the website is wrong then. I'll look to fix that.

[–] vodka@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

Whenever i use iOS I just use the default apple mail app. Sadly it doesn't do PGP, and no FOSS email app for iOS does as far as I know.. So most of my important email is unreadable anyway.

Hopefully Thunderbird for iOS will be available soon.

[–] Europellinore@europe.pub 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Where’s https://mailfence.com/ ?

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

For some reason, not all of the tools are being published to the website. Mailfence has been added so will look into this tonight.

[–] ik5pvx@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

FairEmail is a great mobile client.

[–] blinfabian@feddit.nl 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

is there any reason to use for example the fairmail client with a proton mail? or is the regular client just as fine? educate me

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The only reason would be if you preferred FairMail's interface, for example. You usually only use a different email client if the provider you have doesn't offer its own option or is limited in features.

[–] blinfabian@feddit.nl 1 points 2 weeks ago

ahh alright. ive never used an email provider that doenst have its own client tho (gmail, microsoft, proton, tuta)

[–] atropa@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

I switch to Posteo 1 euro /month ,perfect for my needs.

[–] bikooo2@r.nf 1 points 2 weeks ago

Clients I Would add:

Kmail
Evolution

[–] B0rax@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I would like to replace iCloud mail. But I heavily use their „hide my mail“ functionality where I can create as many randomly generated aliases as I want. Is there another service like that?

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

You are in luck! Pretty much all of the top options in https://purchasewithpurpose.eu/category/email/ have strong alias support. But Fastmail comes to mind with how it is integrated.

[–] jabberwock@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

I use StartMail (mentioned on the bottom of the guide) and it supports unlimited email aliases. They don't have a free tier though to my knowledge.

[–] titanicx@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago

Funny how the number 4 largest email provider isn't even listed here. Yahoo had something like 230m users, just over half of outlook (Hotmail).