this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023

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Tutanota vs Proton Mail (self.privacyguides)

submitted 1 year ago by Asudox to c/[email protected]

64 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been using Tutanota for a while now. Been interested in people's opinions about Tutanota and Protonmail.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tutanota doesn't share their security audits, which Proton does.

Also, IIRC Tutanota uses their own custom encryption implementation, while Proton contributes to open source OpenPGP projects.

And when in the past the the Swiss gov ordered Proton to do some limited tracking for a specific user, after that they went to the court and succeeded in changing the law so it's no longer possible to order this tracking.

Proton might not be ideal, but they seem to actually care about making the Internet a safer place.

[–] Asudox 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I am sure that Tutanota does not use any custom encryption algorithm. It is clearly stated in the FAQ that they use RSA (with PFS) and AES to encrypt emails exchanged between Tutanota users. https://tutanota.com/encryption There's even a section which discusses why they do not use PGP. So it's not like they can't add it, they just don't because it lacks "important requirements". Plus they even are slowly developing a protocol that is post-quantum secure to encrypt their emails with.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm not really saying that what Tutanota does is insecure, but historically doing security on your own instead of using established standards has not been a winning move.
Plus their unwillingness to open source it and not sharing the audits just doesn't inspire my confidence.

Overall they're probably fine, but these are some of the main reasons I ultimately chose Proton instead.

BTW, they're not "slowly developing" post-quantum encryption, they're just saying they may do that at some point in the future - which everyone will have to do anyway when we get to this point.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I am sure that Tutanota does not use any custom encryption algorithm. It is clearly stated in the FAQ that they use RSA (with PFS) and AES to encrypt emails exchanged between Tutanota users. https://tutanota.com/encryption

These are only primitive algorithms, the actual implementation is custom and specific to Tutanota, which mean it will only work with Tutanota as nothing else will implement it.

There is no way to do key distribution outside of Tutanota's service.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've never used Tutanota but been a Proton Unlimited user for a few years now. I definitely like the mail service, and Drive and VPN are nice but can be slow, especially Drive. Everything else I don't have much use for, and honestly I cringe when I see the new stuff they're working on. Not that any of it's bad, but it feels like they're in the "can't just make a good product" camp, constantly trying to add on new stuff instead of focusing on quality. Could have it all wrong, though, I'm just a person, not an analyst.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

+1 on that. They're still struggling to make a good app for VPN on Linux while every other provider has sovlrd this ages ago. But overall a good service.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To be honest, that's probably less of a priority since most Linux users are likely to be comfortable with just downloading the configs and importing them into NetworkManager.

Personally, Linux VPN app is not something I ever had any interest in. I'd rather get a Drive sync client...

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[–] ShroOmeric 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah VPN app on Linux is ridicously bad.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

i immediately got defensive at this, but that's just my sunk cost fallacy speaking. The fact that it's a suite is what originally sold me; cancel my 1password/dropbox/PIA and still have money left over. But yeah apart from proton mail everything else is halfbaked, and in the case of protonpass i'd call it undercooked/raw.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

@keenworld I agree. They started with email a decade ago and even though it was unfinished they tacked on calendar, storage, vpn and so on. I would have wished that they finish one thing before starting another.

@Asudox

[–] phillycodehound 11 points 1 year ago

I love Proton and have been a visionary member for quite a few years. They give visionary member so much space it's nuts.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

+1 as a Proton unlimited user. Yes, proton has some unfinished products, I mainly purchased it for vpn and email( also SimpleLogin). So others are a bit of extra for me. After some time, I also plan to switch from Bitwarden to proton pass. If macOS client comes, then I will also switch to proton drive.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Proton Drive client for macOS is on beta right now.

We’re also beginning the beta for our upcoming macOS desktop app for Proton Drive. As with the other Proton betas, we’re starting with Proton Lifetime accounts today, with Visionary users to be invited later. While community feedback is always important, it’s especially vital at these early stages, so we will send beta invites via email based on our ability to keep up with the feedback. We’ll collect feedback both on Reddit and at [email protected]. Once the macOS app is released, we’ll also work on our planned Linux version.

https://proton.me/blog/proton-drive-windows

[–] badgrandpa 3 points 1 year ago

Tbh I don't like everything in one box. Also, Anonaddy is better than simplelogin in my opinion. I use both tutanota and proton - like proton more

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Tutanota deleted my account due to not logging in for 6 months. That was rough.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Plus one for Proton. I've used Tutanota but enjoy the Proton suite. It's been a while since I used Tutanota so can't remember if they have a suite or not

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Tutanota has e-mail and calendar. They are currently working on cloud storage.

https://tutanota.com/blog/pqdrive-project

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Tutanota is mainly an email service, with very basic calendar and contact functionality. Proton has a suite of apps, including Mail, Drive, VPN, Calendar, and Pass. I got the Tutanota subscription when it was €1/month and it works well for me.

I used to use both mail mobile apps, but found out that Proton Mail notification doesn't work without Google Play Services, which is a deal breaker for me. So I use Tutanota as my main email and Proton as my backup and for its Drive. Either way, I'm just glad to leave Gmail.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's this solution for notifications if you wanna try.

https://www.f-droid.org/packages/dev.lbeernaert.youhavemail/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Thank you. I've looked into it, but I didn't feel comfortable logging in with my Proton credentials.

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[–] spacedancer 7 points 1 year ago

Protonmail’s interface and mobile app is more refined and faster than Tutanota’s, and PM has more features on their free tier than what Tutanota provides on their free tier. Having said that, both are great email providers. I have accounts on both but I tend to use PM more at this point in time.

[–] ShroOmeric 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I am fine with Tutanota. Simple and working. All the half-finished services from Proton are just really annoying for me.

[–] peregus 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What do you mean by "half finished services"?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Better graphic interface for proton and it come with vpn, storage (500go), proton pass, calendar, etc

I pay 12$ a month

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I’ve been using Proton for a few months now and I like it. It’s under Swiss law and not part of that Five Eyes agency, so I at least feel like my data is secure. Their iOS app is actually really nice and easy to use if that will make or break something for you OP.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I am using Tutanota as my e-mail provider and it's quite OK.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Proton lost me in the testmonth. I wanted to cancel the auto renewing subscription about two weeks before it would habe been renewed and realized that they immediately removed all subscription-features. That disappointed me so much. That's not fair, I think.

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