this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
79 points (100.0% liked)

Proton

5323 readers
149 users here now

Empowering you to choose a better internet where privacy is the default. Protect yourself online with Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive. Proton Pass and SimpleLogin.

Proton Mail is the world's largest secure email provider. Swiss, end-to-end encrypted, private, and free.

Proton VPN is the world’s only open-source, publicly audited, unlimited and free VPN. Swiss-based, no-ads, and no-logs.

Proton Calendar is the world's first end-to-end encrypted calendar that allows you to keep your life private.

Proton Drive is a free end-to-end encrypted cloud storage that allows you to securely backup and share your files. It's open source, publicly audited, and Swiss-based.

Proton Pass Proton Pass is a free and open-source password manager which brings a higher level of security with rigorous end-to-end encryption of all data (including usernames, URLs, notes, and more) and email alias support.

SimpleLogin lets you send and receive emails anonymously via easily-generated unique email aliases.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

For those of you who have been using Proton Mail for a year or longer, how reliable have you found it? Have you encountered any instances where websites didn't accept or didn't deliver to you Proton email address? Have you ever had trouble accessing Proton Mail while travelling?

I'm looking to try some of the Proton services soon, so I'd appreciate some honest experience from real users. Thanks!

all 26 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] RageAgainstTheRich 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been using protonmail since beta. It is my primary email address ever since. Honestly have never had any issues with it. I also use proton calendar as my main calendar. Which also works great. I've only used proton drive a handful of times but it worked just like it should every time. I used to use protonvpn but i switched to mullvad because its cheaper. When i did use it it was great too. Never any issues.

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

Yep, price is also my concern. It sucks that I have to have the paid version to have their "bridge" access.

[–] Nelizea 9 points 1 year ago

The bridge adds quite some load to the API, thus more ressources are needed for that feature. This is the reason that this feature is reserved for paid customers. Remember, paid customers are the only reason why a) Proton can keep existing and b) keep offering free accounts for everyone, with some limitations in additional features. There's no other source of income.

[–] robotdna 15 points 1 year ago

Zero issues with it, been using it for maybe 5 years.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Rock-solid and largely issue free for me for many years. I remember once having a site not accepting usernames from the “@protonmail.com” but the “@proton.me” worked w/o issue. Not bad for my most memorable issue in like 5 years.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use it since 2016, but with my own domain, so can't really speak for the "@ proton" domains
But I never had trouble accessing it in a foreign country, it worked flawless

[–] RoseRose56 6 points 1 year ago

I'm since beta if im not wrong, never had a problem with proton, everything worked smooth and fine. There was on time where mail went down, but it was only 1-2 hours. I want to mention that I use the free version!

[–] zkfcfbzr 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I have somewhere on the order of 80 accounts on as many websites registered to Protonmail accounts, and I've never once had a website turn me away for the @protonmail.com domain. I exclusively use that domain. I can only remember one specific instance where they had downtime, too - overall they've been very reliable.

I did once have some of my protonmail accounts closed for suspicious activity, multiple years ago - but in their defense I was being pretty suspicious. I emailed support from my main account, explained the situation, and they unlocked the accounts for me - never had an issue since.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There definitely are sites that block or restrict accounts using ProtonMail addresses. Obviously social media sites will be more likely to force an account to provide a phone number if one is using a proton mail address compared to for instance, a GMail address. There has been one site I have seen block/restrict ProtonMail outright, and that is Lenovo. It is not possible to actually make purchases from Lenovo directly if the account's email is a ProtonMail address. Too be fair though, that is the only site I have seen any explicit account blocks/restrictions.

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

They block both @protonmail.com and @pm.me aliasesl?

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

It seems I did not try making a Lenovo account with the pm.me alias address. I did use a protonmail.com address when tried before swapping to making an account using a Tutanota address and attempting to replay the purchase sequence. I don't remember the conversation I had with support when they deduced the error to protonmail addresses not being eligible for purchases for not "being verifiable" despite the fact that payment and billing information is also provided in a purchase. I don't remember if the support technician claimed that the pm.me alias would also be blocked, but for some reason I never tried it.

[–] zkfcfbzr 1 points 1 year ago

Fair enough - all I can say is that I've never personally encountered one of those sites, despite having signed up for things with Protonmail exclusively for over 5 years now.

Lemmy (and formerly reddit) aside, I don't use social media - but even if I did, I'm not sure I'd notice the restrictions you mention without an unrestricted point of reference.

The Lenovo point is interesting - I don't have a Lenovo account, but I do use Thinkpads, so I may need one eventually.

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

many years, several domains.. lots of DNS nonsense. i have never had a single issue. proton is kinda awesome..

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

Some websites don't accept the '+' character you can use in the first part of your address ([email protected]). But most of them do

[–] KrisND 1 points 1 year ago

This is an often unknown benefit too, super easy as it works off the bat. Although, I did setup "directories" in SimpleLogin so I can make more customized and filtered emails, but does require premium...

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

Been using it for a bit over a year now. I've basically phased out all Google products, and I don't plan to go back. That said, I wish they would focus more on polishing the user experience than making new apps. The android and Linux experience are very poor right now, though they keep claiming they will get better soon.

[–] randomTingler 3 points 1 year ago

I feel the spam filter is as strong as Google. Receive a lot of spam, even though I didn't put my email on a random website, but the spam is not blocked.

[–] xfts 3 points 1 year ago

2 year Proton user here, The only real issues I've encountered are the occasional short downtimes (they really aren't often). If you're ever worried about their status, they do have a status page here. I haven't ever had any trouble with people not receiving emails from me, and I don't travel as of right now. Anyways, I'd give their free plan a try and go from there, just to see what you think, but I think it's a fantastic option.

[–] KrisND 3 points 1 year ago

Development is slow because of how much testing/refining they do. I've never not got an email or been unable to access it, even while traveling in the US & Canada. If your looking at the free tier the biggest issue at least for me would be the 500MB (1GB after steps taken).

I also have probably 30 email filters setup for absolute automation to set folders and tags to keep it all organized -- Super easy to setup compared to other email services.

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

I've been using PM for a couple of years and have been enjoying it without issue. No problems with delivery, but can't say anything about access abroad. The service has never gone down as far as I've noticed.

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana 2 points 1 year ago

Never had an issue. It's been rock solid.

[–] foiledAgain 2 points 1 year ago

been using it for years and paying. Just went all in on the pro plan to get the VPN. No issues. Maybe the iOS app can be bit slow to refresh but..

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

I had issues using it with something before. I think it may have been with Patreon?