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Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

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Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#301

Post by vbezhenar »

SuperNinKenDo wrote: post #165
vbezhenar wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fastmail is paid and very costly while Gmail is free, not very good alternative for me.

Gmail is not free, you just pay in non-monetary terms. It's up to you to decide how you want to weight your priorities.

I don't understand how am I paying for Gmail. I never noticed any ads there (I know that there are ads, but it's hard to find them unless you're searching for them specifically), actually I'm rarely even using web interface and Gmail doesn't add any ads to IMAP-served mail. For me Gmail is absolutely free. May be it uses mail information to target ads for me, but I'm not even sure that I should consider that as a payment. I prefer targeted ads over untargeted ads anyway.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#302

Post by plicense »

rajuvegesna wrote: post #94

Zoho Mail is a strong option. Comes with mobile apps, supports all standard protocols (IMAP/POP/ActiveSync), includes Calendar and many other modules. Zero tracking. Zero ads. Beyond Mail, Zoho offers several apps that can replace most of what Google offers. From Docs to office suite, note-taking to chat and many more. (Disclosure: I am with Zoho)

To be honest, I would stay away from Zoho.

I know a couple of friends who work there and they frequently mention having access to raw email contents with minimal supervision. That's now how I want my email to be treated by the company hosting my email services.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#303

Post by pmorici »

conatus wrote: post #291
pmorici wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Fastmail pricing tiers are $3, $5, and $9 per month which is $36, $60, and $108 per year respectively. If you look at their primary competition their prices are on par or slightly better. Here is a sampling... Google G Suite: $5, $10, and $25 per month per user. Microsoft: $4, $8, or $12.50 per month per user. ZOHO: $3, $7 per month per user billed yearly. [0] https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html [1] https://pr…

While they are on par for email, with Fastmail being superior in certain ways, you do get a deal more value from the Google G Suite as you get a lot more besides email incorporated in the price, i.e, cloud drive, the applications themselves etc. Thinking though this for a project I'm working on with a tight budget I concluded for money related reasons I'd probably have to go with Google even though I'd prefer not to.

FastMail is more than just email. They include a drive like feature with the ability to make a basic website.

I use G Suite for my side business and while it seems like a great deal because you get all these other apps, in practice, I have never used them, not once.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#304

Post by ndnxhs »

rjzzleep wrote: post #188

For the self-hosted folks there are: https://mailcow.email/ - dockerized, works with multiple domains, sogo for groupware. Compared to mailinabox's single disk, it has 6 docker volumes to keep track of. https://mailu.io/ - dockerized, it has a section on kubernetes deployments, which i find weird, but I guess could make sense for companies https://mailinabox.email/ - no docker, no multiple domains, roundcube, nextclo…

You can have multiple domains in mailinabox. Its not clear from the UI but you just add a user with a different domain name and it adds it.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#305

Post by mikejb »

raffael-vogler wrote: post #280
simfoo wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing to keep in mind about Fastmail is that all their servers are hosted in the US and they have no plan about changing this (I asked). Post-Snowden this means you can be quite sure that all mails will end up being analysed by the US authorities

> mails will end up being analysed by the US authorities I read somewhere that servers located in the US are actually safer from drag net eavesdropping b/c a judicial order is required.

IIUC, no judicial order is required for collecting. Only for looking at collected data; but agencies get creative around these processes, so I wouldn't count on legal protection from snooping.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#307

Post by j45 »

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #190
lvillani wrote: post #86

FastMail. It's one of the few third party hosts to support push email on iOS with the native Mail app (it's a custom protocol based on APNS), since Mail doesn't implement IMAP IDLE [1]. They are also the main sponsors behind the JMAP protocol [2] and some open source projects such as the Cyrus IMAP server. [1]: https://fastmail.blog/2016/12/21/what-we-talk-about-when-we-... [2]: https://jmap.io

Does Fastmail provide any kind of "bundling" or "priority inbox" features? Since using Inbox on Android, I can't imagine going back to being notified about every single email. Automatic bundling of messages and the custom rules that you can then set on those bundles is a killer feature. If nobody comes along with a decent alternative before Inbox is shutdown then I don't know what I'll do!

I use Aquamail and it's smart folder features merges inboxes pretty decently.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#308

Post by pmorici »

TsomArp wrote: post #298
pmorici wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fastmail is on par or cheaper than Google's equivalent G Suite email service to business.

but the problem is that fastmail only offers mail and calendar, while gsuite offers, word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, online forms, and photos...

Fastmail has a photos/files/website feature so it isn't just email. I use G suite now for my side business and I've never used any of the features besides email since I have Office on my machine.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#310

Post by j45 »

InternetOfStuff wrote: post #210
fvargas wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fastmail has worked well for me with custom domains. It's nice being able to create custom aliases for when an address is publicly visible e.g. GitHub so I know through what funnel emails are coming from. Like others have said, the Android app is not worth installing unless you're okay with limited and, in some cases, poor functionality. I suppose you can set it up with the Gmail or Outlook Android apps? I've never t…

> Still searching for a good Android mail app... Give AquaMail a try. I find it efficient, fast and featureful. I've never noticed any bugs. The user interface is perhaps not fancy, but IMO not ugly either, and certainly functional. I've been using it for years, and they keep updating it diligently.

Co signed on Aquamail - the original author was very receptive to feature requests and fixing bugs (It was nice when he eventually added scheduled outgoing emails). The software has since been acquired but developement appears to be continuing.

Other clients that caught my eye also were Bluemail or Nine, depending on the need.

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