Any favorites for durable, reliable free email not one of the biggies?

[webecedarian]

I want to set up a dedicated email specifically for a forum that I expect to use a lot. I don't want to use the best-known major ones (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.). But I've had experiences when I used a lesser one, like Eumx and Cyberfear, and a public computer refused to connect me.

I'm thinking Proton, but I don't really like their layout. Any suggestions?

[jeffpan]

Originally Posted by webecedarian

I want to set up a dedicated email specifically for a forum that I expect to use a lot. I don't want to use the best-known major ones (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.). But I've had experiences when I used a lesser one, like Eumx and Cyberfear, and a public computer refused to connect me.

I'm thinking Proton, but I don't really like their layout. Any suggestions?

use a tech and privacy oriented email such as riseup/disroot/systemausfall/dismail etc. and vivaldi email is also good.

[dryoldlime]

Originally Posted by webecedarian

I want to set up a dedicated email specifically for a forum that I expect to use a lot. I don't want to use the best-known major ones (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.). But I've had experiences when I used a lesser one, like Eumx and Cyberfear, and a public computer refused to connect me.

I'm thinking Proton, but I don't really like their layout. Any suggestions?

You might wish to rethink about Proton. Free account seems not bad and the interface resembles GMail somewhat. Interface also is easy enough to understand and use.

[JeremyNicoll]

Originally Posted by webecedarian

I want to set up a dedicated email specifically for a forum that I expect to use a lot. I don't want to use the best-known major ones (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.). But I've had experiences when I used a lesser one, like Eumx and Cyberfear, and a public computer refused to connect me.

I'm thinking Proton, but I don't really like their layout. Any suggestions?

People tend to limit their answers to "mail providers". But there are other companies who provide mail services. Half my mail is handled by Fastmail, but the other half by a UK ISP.

They're not /my/ ISP - a third company provide my primary connectivity to the internet (& while that 3rd company have a limited email capability - with which many people are stuck - I don't use it).


This ISP with whom I host a custom domain & whose servers handle the non-FM part of my mail was chosen by me 20+ years ago because:

- they then had a usenet newsgroup where their technical staff discussed technical issues with anyone else who was interested (though most such people were probably their customers). These days, I've lost usenet capability & I dunno if the newsgroup still exists, nor - if it does - if it's spam-free (most of those I used to use are now full of spam).

- they were forthright in their views on privacy, & willing to represent those views (to the UK govt) when the UK government tried to impose more regulation. I doubt they succeeded, but at least they tried.

- they were then & still are the sort of company who will dig into their server logs to find out WHY something or other did or did not happen. This matters a great deal to me. I spent my working life implementing & supporting IT systems, & I appreciate being able to have sensible techy discussions with them, not blurred by ignorance, script-driven 'help', or whatever is trendy.

- IIRC they used to offer two webmail systems, now only one - RoundCube. But I know my way around that (& it's possible to raise bug reports with the RC developer), & while RC is not (in my view) as slick as Fastmail's system, it certainly works (& is more flexible than FM in at least one respect), and via its bug/RFE-tracker what's being worked is publically visible).

- they currently cost me a bit more than FM, but that's because I have an 'experimental' domain hosted with them as well as my main one; if & when I tidy that up, they & FM will cost approx the same.

[frtrsysli]

Originally Posted by jeffpan

use a tech and privacy oriented email such as riseup/disroot/systemausfall/dismail etc. and vivaldi email is also good.

dismail.de looks really good, so many services! But pitifully (don't know when) the owner wrote on the registration page: I have decided to stop registration of new users.

Both riseup and systemausfall seem to ask for an Invite Code to sign up. Anyone could kindly send me one for them?

[Tsunami]

I had free Proton and Tuta accounts. Very satisfied of both of them. I did upgrade my Tuta account to a paid one, because you cannot use their free tier for "commercial" activities. Commercial can be interpretated widely, if you for example buy hosting in order to promote your creations, then this can be considered commercial. I decided not to take a risk and go for a paid account.

As for Proton: I think they too don't allow to have a free account used for signing up to third-party services. I could be wrong though. (In the past Proton did allow a free account to be used for that).

Zoho has a free tier and is often cited in articles that recommend privacy-friendly email services. Usually you will see the likes of Proton, Tuta, Mailbox.org, Posteo, Mailfence, Mailo etc recommended in those articles, but I've read quite a few that also praise Zoho for their privacy-friendly service.

Of course, you can discuss weither Zoho is one of the "biggies" or not. They're not US-based and not part of what often is called "big tech" (refering to the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, etc) but of course Zoho is a big company.
I may consider them myself too if I'd need an extra email account, although my concern is that there'd be too many additional features while I just want solid email.




Anyways, if you don't mind the restriction on free accounts for Proton, Tuta and Mailfence, or if you don't consider Zoho to be a "biggie", then those should be good options for you.

Jeff recommended Vivaldi. I don't have experience with them, but I read quite often on this forum that they're solid too.

I would not recommend the likes of RiseUp or other politically loaded service as you don't know how long they will stay around. The biggest nightmare IMO is when you sign up for a new account with the intention of using it often, then to see the service cease operations a short time after.

[dryoldlime]

@Tsunami said:

As for Proton: I think they too don't allow to have a free account used for signing up to third-party services. I could be wrong though. (In the past Proton did allow a free account to be used for that).

I tried several months ago and yes then. Today, I do not know. Maybe worth trying to find an online service to sign up for to check. No idea yet which to try.

[Tsunami]

Originally Posted by dryoldlime

@Tsunami said:



I tried several months ago and yes then. Today, I do not know. Maybe worth trying to find an online service to sign up for to check. No idea yet which to try.

For sure in the past Proton allowed using a free account to sign up to third-party services. I'm not sure if this is still the case. In my account I could do so but then that account is several years old and the services I subscribed to using that free Proton were all subscribed to when I had just created the account. Maybe it wouldn't work anymore now.



PS: I notice PurelyMail gets very good reviews here. They're not entirely free, but their plans are very flexible, if I understand them well you hardly pay anything. So maybe they deserve to be mentioned here, even though technically not entirely free. Depends if the OP would consider paying a few $ or ? per year if we really talk about a very low sum.

If only for support reasons, paying is worth it IMO. For example Google: Gmail functions very well, but Google helpdesk is totally unreachable, which is a huge downside.
Proton does answer tickets from free users, I've noticed.

[Avion]

Originally Posted by Tsunami

I notice PurelyMail gets very good reviews here.

Not that it would be of any interest to the OP anyway, who continually searches for an incredible email provider for free, but . . .

Bear in mind, Purelymail changed hands last year, and the reviews here on the forum mostly predate that:

https://news.purelymail.com/posts/up...w-chapter.html

[SideshowBob]

Do you really need a separate account just for a single forum?

[dryoldlime]

Originally Posted by webecedarian

I want to set up a dedicated email specifically for a forum that I expect to use a lot. I don't want to use the best-known major ones (Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.). But I've had experiences when I used a lesser one, like Eumx and Cyberfear, and a public computer refused to connect me.

I'm thinking Proton, but I don't really like their layout. Any suggestions?

Thinking about this to myself, I wonder if mail dot com would be an option. I did test use it in the past but not to use for sign-up to any online service.

[TenFour]

Northmail.ca seems solid. They are new, but offer free accounts with some nice features. The web interface is Roundcube.

[frtrsysli]

Originally Posted by TenFour

Northmail.ca seems solid. They are new, but offer free accounts with some nice features. The web interface is Roundcube.

They seem to ask for a mobile number.

[TenFour]

Originally Posted by frtrsysli

They seem to ask for a mobile number.

I believe you do need one to sign up, but I used a US-based number with no problem. Good luck finding a reliable free email provider that doesn't require a phone number for sign up.

[Tsunami]

Originally Posted by Avion

Not that it would be of any interest to the OP anyway, who continually searches for an incredible email provider for free, but . . .

Bear in mind, Purelymail changed hands last year, and the reviews here on the forum mostly predate that:

https://news.purelymail.com/posts/up...w-chapter.html

I know Purelymail changed ownership. However, they received a lot of praise beforehand, and since the new owners are in charge I haven't seen any new comments of previous users who were disappointed or didn't like the service anymore. So it seems those who used Purelymail before the take-over and were satisfied, are still satisfied (or did not post any updates here. Maybe it's a good reason to revive the Purelymail topic)