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Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

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Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#391

Post by frockington »

bad_user wrote: post #314
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

I'm an European, but I don't mind. First of all when making such a choice, you have to identify who the enemy is. If you're talking about global enemies, like the NSA, then IMO without end-to-end encryption you're screwed. And if you're targeted directly, you're screwed regardless, given they have the capability to use whatever vulnerabilities they can find in your router, your phone, your OS, your browser, etc. If i…

What are the non-US alternatives you prefer? As a US citizen its always interesting to see what is popular an ocean away and check it out

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#392

Post by mirimir »

Pigo wrote: post #387
mirimir wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that an issue if you trust Google? Indeed, in that case, they're doing something that is user-friendly. Because stuff arguably works more reliably if you're logged in to both Google and Chrome. And if you don't trust Google, they're at least effectively an adversary. In the most favorable light, that they're doing something that might compromise your privacy.

I'm not as usually concerned about this as some are, but I appreciate that others are. As much as I enjoy Google products, I want there to be 50 other options out there that work great and have their own advantages. I wish there was more competition, in general, for most things on ye ole information super-highway.

I've found no search service that does a better job than Google. Plus Google Books, Google Scholar, etc. I'm just an anonymous coward when using them ;)

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#393

Post by beagle3 »

billysielu wrote: post #376
davemp wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this and make a new alias for everyone I give an address to (such as hn@domain.com). It can be interesting to see who leaks/sell your email address. You can also shut down alias that get out of control.

I do this too but sometimes companies reject my replies because the from address isn't the same address they have on record. Maybe there's a way to make the "reply's from" the same as the "original's to" but idk.

FastMail lets you change the from: address on the fly if you’ve set up a catch all.

And if you are not with fadtmail, there’s are several “multiple identities” add-ons for thunderbird (and recently a built in one, though it is still buggy) which let you add from addresses on the fly.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#394

Post by billysielu »

microtonal wrote: post #382
davemp wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this and make a new alias for everyone I give an address to (such as hn@domain.com). It can be interesting to see who leaks/sell your email address. You can also shut down alias that get out of control.

Fastmail has an even nicer feature: subdomain addressing. If you are dave@mp.com, you can set up Fastmail to accept subdomains dave@hn.mp.com dave@lobsters.mp.com Avoids catchalls ;).

Tyvm! That looks epic. Link: https://www.fastmail.com/help/receive/addressing.html Might be tricky if the time came to migrate away from FastMail though.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#395

Post by billysielu »

billysielu wrote: post #376
davemp wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this and make a new alias for everyone I give an address to (such as hn@domain.com). It can be interesting to see who leaks/sell your email address. You can also shut down alias that get out of control.

I do this too but sometimes companies reject my replies because the from address isn't the same address they have on record. Maybe there's a way to make the "reply's from" the same as the "original's to" but idk.

Thanks for replies. Link for others: https://www.fastmail.com/help/receive/alias-catchall.html

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#396

Post by rovr138 »

lallysingh wrote: post #319
mikejb wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But there's nothing to circumvent if the host isn't in the USA.

That’s assuming the wires aren’t tapped, it’s all encrypted and doesn’t pass through the US, they’re not cooperating regardless with the US.

If the US puts enough pressure, they could still cave and comply.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#397

Post by aladine »

chuckcode wrote: post #12
peatmoss wrote: post #9

Most important thing is to buy a domain so you can port your email address from provider to provider. I’ve had the same email address and several hosts over the years. I’m currently on Fastmail and find the service good.

+1 nice having your own domain so you can port to different providers. Used fastmail for a few years and it is fine although their android app isn't great and hangs a fair bit needing to be restarted.

I think fastmail app on browser still the best native browser experience.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#398

Post by ryukafalz »

bad_user wrote: post #314
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

I'm an European, but I don't mind. First of all when making such a choice, you have to identify who the enemy is. If you're talking about global enemies, like the NSA, then IMO without end-to-end encryption you're screwed. And if you're targeted directly, you're screwed regardless, given they have the capability to use whatever vulnerabilities they can find in your router, your phone, your OS, your browser, etc. If i…

>Organizations like EFF have been historically anti-government, but very pro corporate and private companies.

I don't think I'd call EFF either anti-government or pro-corporate. Rather, they have a set of positions around surveillance, the public domain, etc. and side with or against governments or private companies based on those positions.

I donate to them, and in my experience they've been pretty consistent on their positions, but if you've noticed otherwise I'd be curious to know how.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#399

Post by majidazimi »

mrmondo wrote: post #364
majidazimi wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing Office 365, then yes it is very very costly. Such services should earn money at scale. The basic plan should cost around 5$/year.

In my 6+ years of being forced to use Office 365 for one of my accounts - it is a flaming POS. Plagued by poor performance, regular (unexplained!) outages and has series issues with data consistency and don’t even get me started on it’s terrible rules system.

Let's not forget that with slightly more money that Fastmail or Protonmail are asking for just one mailbox, MSFT is offering you a whole office suit plus 1TB of storage.

Your criticism regarding functionality might be true, but there is no reason for competitors to charge more.

I'm just a simple email user -- 50 emails per week -- and I don't keep them in my inbox. As soon as I'm done with them, I delete them. A simple 50MB inbox is sufficient for me. I just need an ad-less mail box. For me anything beyond 5$/year is expensive as hell.

Re: Ask HN: Best alternative to Gmail?

#400

Post by luchosrock »

wheresvic1 wrote: post #167
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)

I can also second Zoho. It's primary target is small business and they have a massive suite of features but I'm just using their email and calendar. Their web interface is a bit annoying as you need to make a couple of clicks to get to the email but they provide mobile apps as well as IMAP access. So far I have not had any issues so I cannot say what their support is like.

Not anymore :( They dropped IMAP and POP support for the free tier on new domains. They are part of the $2/user/month tier now
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