Email Providers: The Final Dance (One Can Hope)
How I Finally Settled On An Email Provider / System Without Going Insane.
Table of Contents
Ok, this is yet another installment in my journey to set up an email flow that I could be happy with, let go of, and step away from. To just use it.
How I Got Here
This is a continuation of this article, which in itself was an update of this one. So rather than detail again every single provider I reviewed, I will get to the quick here. You can lose yourself (literally) in Reddit reading about each provider. Here’s I’ll list in order my recommendations in descending order, starting with the one I have gone with, and a real quick note on why or why not:
The Contenders
Proton - I went with this one, but I went all in. Visionary. Since I hopped back on (for the third time) they have launched Lumo, an AI app, and an Authenticator app. So new stuff is coming. Being Visionary means you get it all. Yay!
Tuta - I really really looked at this one. If it wasn’t for Proton, I would go for this. It came down to the design / UI (and the fact I had to sell a family on it, so it was for more than just me. But if you want just email at a good price, go for this)
iCloud Mail - If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, go for it, if you don’t really care about features and you just want a domain email (or two, or three) to set up quick.
Fastmail - Tough call between Fastmail and Infomaniak in this spot. I went with Fastmail because it is easy to set up, tons of features, pretty good design. But their privacy is really more the style of “trust us, we respect your privacy” than anything technical about it.
Infomaniak - I really wanted to like this one. Really really wanted to. Great pricing, generous offers. I even managed to get it set up from Chile. But support sucks. Sucks, sucks, sucks. And set up is NOT intuitive, even if you play with DNS and MX records on a daily basis.
MX Route - If you want domain email, it’s an option. Hate the Crossbox app provided for mobile email. Google Material Design.
Postale.io - This was my first experience with domain email once I woke up from the Gmail nap years ago. It’s solid and well-priced.
Purelymail - If you REALLY want to pay very little for lots of domain email features, you are technically inclined, and don’t care AT ALL about beautiful user interfaces, this is the way to go.
I can totally recommend either of the first two. I signed up for a 14 day trial with Tuta and had no problem requesting a refund, despite what Reddit users say. Sometimes you just need to stop, read the information and instructions, and follow them.
Take this for what it’s worth. Hope it helps!
