this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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Privacy

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It's me again with another question for recommendation πŸ™ˆ This time I am searching for a new Email-Provider:

Currently I am using mailbox.org (privacy-friendly provider based in Germany). Since my subscription is comming to an end there, I tought about switching to proton mail-plus. What I like about them is, that they have an easy way of creating alias-emails and also support the option to use your own domain.

But maybe you gals and guys have another great provider which offers good features for a good price.

Also: I dont need Cloud-Storage or anything like that, so just mail is fine.

Thx in regards :)

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Can anyone here comment on countermail.com ?

[–] [email protected] 49 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Personally i use proton with my own domain

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

same here. Proton with own domain!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I use Proton and really like it, but I don’t know how to go about using my own domain (though I am interested in it). How difficult is it for someone without webdev and self hosting experience to get set up?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Step 1. Get your own domain. I bought from porkbun. This was a difficult choice for me, having heard /read cases of domain hijacking by unethical domain sellers. Porkbun had decent reviews. Step2. Follow instructions on protonmail custom domains. Wait for all the greyed out tags to turn green. I was impatient and my domain was marked as spam by Spamhaus. Had to open ticket with them to get off their list step3: enjoy!

additional steps. I moved my dns provider to cloudflare if you wish to go that route.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I only know 2 good providers: Proton and Tuta.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

do they allow you to create anonymous accounts by paying with monero? And connected via TOR browser?

[–] eramseth 3 points 2 days ago

Another thumbs up for tuta.

[–] gaael 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Just a reminder: with Proton you can't use IMAP for your email client, you either need their mail client (mobile) or bridge app (desktop).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

While technically true, bridge is ultimately an IMAP server you run yourself ... and they do have good reasons for this design.

[–] andylicious1337 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Imap and end to end encryption are not possible at the same time.

Bridge exposes an IMAP interface but encrypts everything as Proton would, had you used the web client.

It solves a technical limitation.

[–] andylicious1337 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

oh so only when using their client I have the e2ee for the emails on their server? kind of makes sence but def. a point to take into consideration.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

No, I think you are misunderstanding my poor explanation.

Your emails are encrypted at rest on their server regardless if you use the web client or IMAP through the bridge.

The thing is that the encryption layer must happen at some point in time when you communicate with their API:s. In the web client this encryption is built-in. IMAP on the other hand does not support this type of end to end encryption, so the bridge adds this layer for you.

So you communicate unencrypted locally between your email client (Thunderbird for example) and the Protonmail bridge that you have installed locally on your computer. Then Protonmail bridge encrypts and decrypts all emails for you. So to your email client, it seems like a normal email server, but in reality everything is encrypted.

(Standard "encrypted email" disclaimer: Your emails are not encrypted in transit unless both parties, sending and receiving, are set up for encryption. Email is otherwise not end to end encrypted in transit)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

they have an easy way of creating alias-emails

With mailbox.org and other normal mail providers you should just be able to set a catch-all address, then you don't have to create aliases at all, just type "[email protected]"

If an email provider charges you more to create 'aliases' run far away and pick something else.

I wouldn't switch to Proton personally, they require that you use their own apps or use an IMAP bridge which doesn't work on Android/iOS. Their ecosystem feels very restrictive.

I don't see the point of an encrypted email provider like Proton, since 99% of the emails we all receive aren't encrypted anyways, and sending encrypted emails only easily works to other proton mail users.

[–] andylicious1337 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

oh ok, I have not tried that yet. I have only set up one address which I use yo send and receive from.

about the encryption: I thought the point with e2ee encryption on proton is mainly, that the mails are stored encrypted one their servers so they can not read them or hand them out to anyone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Basically all email is E2EE already since SSL/TLS is usually used for transport, even gmail and similar. But encrypted at rest in theory would help with stopping people from reading emails off the server.

You also have to trust that Proton truly doesn't have your keys to decrypt, but I imagine they do since you just login with a username/password combo and that's enough to decrypt the emails.

Although I don't think it matters that much, my email is basically receiving notifications from services I use and occasional emails with a friend about planning a trip or something like that, nothing that particularly needs to be super private, just using a mail provider that isn't actively scraping my data for ads (aka; gmail) is enough for me.

For private communications I would use something more suited to that, like any of the reasonable E2EE chat apps.

[–] andylicious1337 1 points 2 days ago

that's why I love great communities like this one here. you aks one think, maybe totally overthinking and read an answer like this, which helps you realize the overthinking :)

thanks for that. what you say makes sence. I really NEED to make a threat-model to find out, what is worth keeping private and what isn't worth the trouble.

Thank you :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I use posteo.de which costs 1€/month. It is simple, but works fine.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Somehow I always end up hating Proton. I was using TOR Browser to create an account and they wouldn’t let me. I had to give either another email or my phone number, and I’m not willing to do either. I even tried creating a throwaway with mailbox.org (works using TOR) and sending the confirmation email there but it never arrived, so I gave up on Proton.

I also tried Tuta and they wouldn’t let me create an account at all using TOR. So eventually I’m sticking with mailbox.org

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (2 children)

This also provides you with more freedom as in freedom as you aren’t forced to use their Clients/Apps.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Yeah I think it’s cool that you can even take control of your private keys. Although I’m thinking it also adds another point of failure / exposure if not done correctly.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Yeah. One of the major reasons I never plan to use Proton or Tutanota is that none of my email apps will work and I will rely on whatever interface they provide.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I have both Proton Unlimited and Mailbox. I prefer keeping my Mailbox account for mail, calendar and contacts. With Proton, I'd have to use their apps or some bridge, whereas Mailbox can be used with any app. I also have multiple domains connected with Mailbox and use plenty of aliases, so I don't really see why Proton would be better in that regard.

I don't have any suggestions to add, but as someone who subscribes to both, I was simply wondering what Mailbox lacks compared to Proton in your opinion.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (5 children)

I went through this journey looking for new providers recently after Proton started doing crypto shit. Tuta and Fastmail were the main recommendations, though the former has been accused of being a honeypot and the latter has really awful practices toward workers and unionisation.

I went with Migadu as a no-nonsense solution, and I'm over the moon with it.

As a big fan of decentralisation and federation, I was very tempted to try out Disroot, but I wasn't ready to try it out with my main mailboxes. I'll likely use it for any upcoming toy projects I embark on though.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Has any more evidence ever been produced to show Tuta is a honeypot? The guy who made the original claim is in jail for 14 years for passing on secrets while he was director of RCMP intelligence.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

+1 for Migadu

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Was there any controversy with Proton email? I remember hearing everyone shitting on it ywars ago. Did they do something to piss everyone off, but later fixed it?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Runbox, a privacy-focused email provider out of Norway. Our family has been using it for many years with zero issues. The prices are very decent.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Another vote for Runbox. Been using them for almost 5 years now with no issues. They are also an employee owned co-op if that is of interest.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Can I open an account with TOR browser and pay with monero without having to give any info like a secondary email or phone number?

[–] andylicious1337 1 points 3 days ago

I looked inyo runbox and it looks like a really good option. what concerns me is, that it is hosted in Norway and that Norway is part of the "Fourteen Eyes alliance". Would you still recommend it?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I don't think the email alias thing comes with Mail Plus, it's part of Proton Pass. You either need to get Unlimited which includes all of their products or pair mail plus with the paid version of Pass. There's a chance I'm wrong because I have Unlimited and haven't really explored it, but look into it before you commit.

[–] Ransack3 4 points 3 days ago

You get 10 aliases on mail+

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

How does the bridge work? Do i have to have it open all the time?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Proton, Tuta, Mailbox.org, Posteo

All are equal in terms of their overall quality of service, just different in what advantages they offer (except for Mailbox.org and Posteo. They're just offering standards compliant email servers without any bullshit and let you roll your own encryption)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

They are very cheap, only $1 for 10 aliases and then then $0.1/month for any additional aliases. But can't pay with monero.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Hmm... how does one anonymously pay an internet service provider with cash? Mail it in an unmarked envelope, with just your account name? Roll up to the front door and hand it to the receptionist?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

yes. mail

or crypto like monero

or prepaid credit cards

or voucher resellers, etc

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Proton and its services have been pretty good. Some things to know about proton mail:

  • Search is only for titles, as content is encrypted
  • You can do search in the body in your browser. It downloads your email into the browser and searchers locally. It takes a while to do this and build up indexes. I haven't had too much issue searching for things though.
  • Since they don't read your email, no automatic calendar events if there isn't a .ics

The VPN had been great

The storage isn't enough for me to be able to move off of my main cloud provider. There also isn't a way to pin a file on Android for it - and the 500gGB of space is less than I use

The Pass app is handy and it's easy to make aliases, though it often doesn't know to fill in, doesn't do it, or something, and I need to open the app to copy paste. Pretty trivial though.

I'm sticking with them. I don't really have a reason to leave. The aliases are really nice, the catch is that it's not easy to have them go to a sub email address that I use - it has to go to your primary email. Not a huge deal though.

[–] elperronegro 4 points 3 days ago

I have proton for many years since I started de-googling. Very happy with it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

As a user of mailbox.org myself iam just asking: What dont you like about them?

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