Email service recommendations?

[Haruspex]

I'm getting pretty tired using the big Email providers. I started with "Hotmail" in the mid 90s before switching to Gmail when they had the invite-only beta for it. I've been with Gmail ever since, but they're making me a bit nervous.

It's unlikely to happen, but Google has unceremoniously banned Google accounts with no explanation in the past[www.androidauthority.com]. Considering how much of my stuff is tied to this account, I honestly would prefer not to continue to risk it.

You know what they say about free stuff. "If it's free, you're the product.", so I'm okay with paying for Email service. In fact, I think I would prefer it, if I can count on the service and fully trust it. I just can't with Gmail or Microsoft or any of the other free ones.

So, any recommendations for email that's:

• Paid
  
• Secure
  
• Reliable
  
• Not going away even after years or decades.
  
• Perhaps comes with an option for a custom domain.
  
• Has plenty of storage for when I invariably forget to check my email for ages.
  
• Has a decent spam filter.
  
• Anything else I'm missing?

I'll probably still keep a Gmail around for Youtube and as a dump email account when I don't want to share my "main" one.

[N3tRunn3r]

Still "Outlook" (former MSN/Hotmail): https://outlook.live.com/owa/

And "Proton Mail": https://proton.me/

P.s.: I have never created a gmail account, nor do I need one. Everything works via Outlook, even on my Android Smartphone (SONY).

[Omega]

If you want to ensure your email address is not tied to a specific service then using a custom domain is the way to go.

Protonmail has become very popular in recent times. I myself also have one of the more expensive subscriptions for it.

It will have all the functionality you would expect of a mail provider while having the added benefit of guaranteed data security and privacy.

Protonmail mailboxes are encrypted with PGP and can only be unlocked with your password. The decryption is done entirely on your machine using a Javascript OpenPGP implementation. The one big downside to this is that if you ever lose your password and recover the account the mailbox contents will be gone, so just do not lose your password.

[Haruspex]

Hmm, Proton seems like the way to go. Plenty of storage, encryption, custom domains, about $12 a month for the good one. It's only about 9 years old, which gives me pause, but my first impression is that they're in it for the long haul and aren't going away any time soon. I also expect demand for security to increase, so they're probably in a good position there.

[N3tRunn3r]

Good choice, have fun.

[emoticorpse]

Yeah, I use Protonmail as a secondary more secure/reliable and responsibly managed email account. I barely use it, but thats why it isnt bombarded with bs emails i guess.

I can only pass on what i've heard about their reputation. I havent't done anything myself to prove that's true or not, but I do trust it more just because it's not Google or any other watered down service.

[DevaVictrix]

I can also recommend proton. I’ve been a paid subscriber for years now… 2015ish I think. Can’t fault the service. My only gripe is they don’t offer the vpn client for opensuse. I have to use an old pip CLI install.

[Omega]

Originally posted by DevaVictrix:

I can also recommend proton. I’ve been a paid subscriber for years now… 2015ish I think. Can’t fault the service. My only gripe is they don’t offer the vpn client for opensuse. I have to use an old pip CLI install.

You do not need a Proton specific client, they use OpenVPN, any OpenVPN client application will do. Both KDE Plasma and GNOME have one build in.

[DevaVictrix]

I could do it that way but I’d have to specify a server. Using protonvpn-CLI allows me to set it up so it’ll connect to the fastest UK server, whichever that is at the time.

I always would use the CLI version… I just don’t like using pip. It feels dangerous!

[Lunch-b0x]

Protonmail.