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GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

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Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#111

Post by GiorgioG »

sesquipedalian2 wrote: post #89

I closed my GSuite account and migrated to Fastmail when the free tier shutdown was first announced. I’m glad I did. Fastmail does several things better than GSuite/GMail. It has a very nice UI. I was expecting a UI downgrade, but was pleasantly surprised. Also, migrating (including setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) was fast and easy. The $50/year price difference is well worth it. I’m sharing this because I wouldn’t…

I finally made the switch last month and I have to agree - it's totally worth it and I should have done it sooner. As an added bonus Google no longer gets to snoop my email to figure out what ads to serve me.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#112

Post by zerocrates »

gtirloni wrote: post #103

Do not use a Google Workplace (GSuite) account for personal accounts. Last time I did, many things didn't work (e.g. Google Play, YouTube Premium, etc). They might work now but it was a bad experience (non-paying customers seemed to have better service).

The last big issue I had along those lines was with Pay. Support for Workspace accounts pretty much always lagged behind though.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#113

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

isjamesalive wrote: post #97
sesquipedalian2 wrote: post #89

I closed my GSuite account and migrated to Fastmail when the free tier shutdown was first announced. I’m glad I did. Fastmail does several things better than GSuite/GMail. It has a very nice UI. I was expecting a UI downgrade, but was pleasantly surprised. Also, migrating (including setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) was fast and easy. The $50/year price difference is well worth it. I’m sharing this because I wouldn’t…

100% agreed. I switched from Google to Fastmail about 8 years ago and it has been wonderful. In that that time: * I have not had to worry that I’ll inadvertently trigger an account ban and lose my email account/all my email with no recourse. * UI updates have been gradual, subdued and useful. * Support requests have been answered promptly and have been extremely helpful, including one case where the web UI wasn’t loa…

what prevents account bans?

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#114

Post by chrisweekly »

Alupis wrote: post #45
filmgirlcw wrote: post #23

This is a relief. I might still move some of my personal domains off of GSuite, but the fact that I don't have to is honestly a real relief. And I wouldn't even mind paying. If you wanted to charge me just for email without any of the other stuff and not offer support, I'd pay $100 a year if you could give me unlimited (or even 25 or whatever the original number of email addresses was) separate inboxes. But when you…

This is great news for those folks that already were on the GSuite Legacy plan... but it's of zero help for folks looking to set something like this up now for personal reasons. I own my last name as a domain, and always thought it would be fun to use it for my primary email as firstname@lastname.com. Well... $6 a month for an individual "vanity" email address is already hard enough to justify once you realize Worksp…

Fastmail really is a grest alternative.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#115

Post by chrisweekly »

windexh8er wrote: post #66
Alupis wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is great news for those folks that already were on the GSuite Legacy plan... but it's of zero help for folks looking to set something like this up now for personal reasons. I own my last name as a domain, and always thought it would be fun to use it for my primary email as firstname@lastname.com. Well... $6 a month for an individual "vanity" email address is already hard enough to justify once you realize Worksp…

I don't think you should conflate those two things. I've run GSuite for a number of vanity domains since they started offering it way back when and have always had my actual Google account tied to my OG Gmail ([name]@gmail.com). In this way I don't have to worry about dealing with a split-horizon type situation if I ever decide to pull those vanity domains down and move them elsewhere. That and I don't trust Google t…

I did almost exactly the same thing.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#116

Post by cmeacham98 »

8n4vidtmkvmk wrote: post #113
isjamesalive wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agreed. I switched from Google to Fastmail about 8 years ago and it has been wonderful. In that that time: * I have not had to worry that I’ll inadvertently trigger an account ban and lose my email account/all my email with no recourse. * UI updates have been gradual, subdued and useful. * Support requests have been answered promptly and have been extremely helpful, including one case where the web UI wasn’t loa…

what prevents account bans?

Nothing _prevents_ it, but

1. Fastmail doesn't have the same reputation as Google of banning accounts with little to no recourse (presumably because their customers pay, thus significantly increasing the cost for spammers to abuse their platform).

2. Even if Fastmail bans me or the company goes under, I still will own the underlying domain and can move somewhere else.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#117

Post by throwaway_4988 »

paulhart wrote: post #104
Alupis wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The custom domain option is only available for those who use GoDaddy as their registrar (which is not an option I'm willing to consider), plus they imply only the free domains (outlook.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, etc) get attachment screening, and email encryption.

You also don't get aliases with O365 Personal - you need to subscribe to a business plan for that.

https://account.live.com/AddAssocId

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#118

Post by fuzzzerd »

Alupis wrote: post #51
ISL wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Email aliasing is more annoying/error-prone than directly hosted GSuite. I've done both.

Ya, aliasing is certainly not a replacement - particularly for non-tech savvy family members. I've also been around long enough to know not to try running my own email server anymore... been there, done that (Zimbra & Exchange). While possible, it will consume more of your time than you want. It's just beyond me why the likes of Google and Microsoft have not come up with a Family plan for bringing your own domain nam…

Microsoft has a family plan, it's 99/year, includes five or six accounts and a few TB of onedrive storage along with a vanity domain.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#119

Post by kelnos »

I'm still holding out for an account conversion to a non-GSuite personal Google Account without Gmail.

I've been constantly annoyed over the past few years over features that are missing from GSuite accounts. To name a few: you can't invite people to your Google Home household, you can't start or join a YouTube Premium family plan, you can't add Nest devices to your account. I think some parts of the calendar integration still don't work with Google Home if you're using a GSuite account. It's been pretty frustrating, honestly.

And you can't really use Takeout to download data, delete the account, and then re-create it as a non-Gmail Google Account without it being super lossy. Things like docs and photos sharing settings would have to be manually recreated (or I suppose I could try to write a script that uses the GDrive API, but who has time for that). YouTube watch history and subscriptions can't be imported. The worst bit: Google Play purchases are just gone. Etc., etc.

So if they actually offered the ability to convert my account, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I've already moved my email over to Fastmail, so I don't need Gmail anymore.

Re: GSuite legacy users can now get a free personal account, includes Gmail

#120

Post by kelnos »

gtirloni wrote: post #103

Do not use a Google Workplace (GSuite) account for personal accounts. Last time I did, many things didn't work (e.g. Google Play, YouTube Premium, etc). They might work now but it was a bad experience (non-paying customers seemed to have better service).

The things you list do work now, but there are still a lot of things that don't. I really want an option to convert my GSuite account to one of their regular personal Google Accounts without Gmail, as I've already moved my mail over to Fastmail. But I don't want to have to change my Google "identity" away from my custom-domain email address.
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