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The most important step for folks that wish to break free for Google: start using a custom domain name as soon as possible. Because the hard part is not moving

by kennell 10y ago

The most important step for folks that wish to break free for Google: start using a custom domain name as soon as possible. Because the hard part is not moving from one email service provider to another, but getting your new email address in everybody's address books and changing all your site logins. And if you love your Gmail interface and all the goodies that come with it, thats fine. Get a 1 user Google Apps account ($5/month) and start using your own domain with it. That way you have the freedom to switch to a other provider at any time once you are ready.

olalonde 10y ago
Or if you can't pay the 5$/month, you can get a free Zoho mail account with custom domain and connect Gmail to it.
- godzillabrennus 10y ago
  You can use a custom domain using a personal gmail account if you forward email to the gmail account from the registrar and then setup send mail as using gmail.
  - scrollaway 10y ago
    If you're using Gandi (a registrar I would strongly recommend), you can set this up from your Gandi domain dashboard: Click "Manage mailboxes" and create a forwarding address. Example: https://i.imgur.com/qRmho7J.png https://i.imgur.com/qRmho7J.png - The MX values for your domain need to be Gandi's default email servers.
- r3bl 10y ago
  Pretty happy custom domain + free Zoho mail user. 25 free users with 5 GB of email storage each is a pretty amazing deal you get without paying a dime. Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't use any other product offered by Zoho.
- brightball 10y ago
  Holy crap... So I read your comment and strolled on over to Zoho, who I'd never heard of before. They have a lot of products...just wow. That's a lot of stuff. It's just such a jumble. I find myself wanting to know more about what they have to offer but yet completely overwhelmed by everything that's there. Can anybody speak to the quality of these products? How well do they interact? Is Creator any good? It looks like a BPM offering that could fit for small businesses?
  - malyk 10y ago
    Just a heads up. I hate badmouthing companies, but... I wanted to use them instead of Google but my standard .com domain kept error int out in there interface and multiple support emails and posts in their support forum went unanswered so I bailed back to Google. I wanted to like them, but their signup and support experience was terrible. Their other products seemed to work well, but they've lost me as a customer.
    - sridharvembu 10y ago
      (Zoho CEO here) I am sorry to hear this. If you can email me your issue I will have it taken care of. svembu at Zoho dot com.
      - brightball 10y ago
        I'm having a vague recollection about the company now. Did you spend any time at Clemson?
      - zhte415 10y ago
        Hi. On a tangent, but email related. To you sub-contract the system to Alibana in the form of Alimail. The UI looks completely identical.
  - 00098345 10y ago
    The founder, Sridhar, is on here: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=sridharvembu https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=sridharvembu Very talented and humble guy.
- curiousgal 10y ago
  Too bad they only support SSL ports 110 and 995 when setting up POP3, my registrar uses 465.
  - davidandgoliath 10y ago
    Seems rather odd — 465 is for outgoing mail (SMTP). 110/995 are for incoming pop3.
tirefire 10y ago
You have to be careful with that. If an attacker can gain access to your DNS provider, then they have access to your email: à la https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-24eb09e026dd#.s4nzlqchb https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-...
- viraptor 10y ago
  And if they get into your email account on gmail, you lose your email account. (possibly permamently) Just evaluate and choose your risks.
rudedogg 10y ago
Also, you can add email aliases - even for other domains. This is how I have my email setup. For $5 a month it's worth it for me.
clinta 10y ago
Just beware of trying to use this as your main google account. You will be waiting months or years for new features that become available to @gmail.com users.
- summarite 10y ago
  I'm a Google apps 10-users-free legacy user from when it was free, what am I missing? I'm using inbox since the moment it came out, not sure what else there should be?

by kennell 10y ago

olalonde 10y ago

Or if you can't pay the 5$/month, you can get a free Zoho mail account with custom domain and connect Gmail to it.

godzillabrennus 10y ago
You can use a custom domain using a personal gmail account if you forward email to the gmail account from the registrar and then setup send mail as using gmail.
- scrollaway 10y ago
  If you're using Gandi (a registrar I would strongly recommend), you can set this up from your Gandi domain dashboard: Click "Manage mailboxes" and create a forwarding address. Example: https://i.imgur.com/qRmho7J.png https://i.imgur.com/qRmho7J.png - The MX values for your domain need to be Gandi's default email servers.
r3bl 10y ago
Pretty happy custom domain + free Zoho mail user. 25 free users with 5 GB of email storage each is a pretty amazing deal you get without paying a dime. Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't use any other product offered by Zoho.
brightball 10y ago
Holy crap... So I read your comment and strolled on over to Zoho, who I'd never heard of before. They have a lot of products...just wow. That's a lot of stuff. It's just such a jumble. I find myself wanting to know more about what they have to offer but yet completely overwhelmed by everything that's there. Can anybody speak to the quality of these products? How well do they interact? Is Creator any good? It looks like a BPM offering that could fit for small businesses?
- malyk 10y ago
  Just a heads up. I hate badmouthing companies, but... I wanted to use them instead of Google but my standard .com domain kept error int out in there interface and multiple support emails and posts in their support forum went unanswered so I bailed back to Google. I wanted to like them, but their signup and support experience was terrible. Their other products seemed to work well, but they've lost me as a customer.
  - sridharvembu 10y ago
    (Zoho CEO here) I am sorry to hear this. If you can email me your issue I will have it taken care of. svembu at Zoho dot com.
    - brightball 10y ago
      I'm having a vague recollection about the company now. Did you spend any time at Clemson?
    - zhte415 10y ago
      Hi. On a tangent, but email related. To you sub-contract the system to Alibana in the form of Alimail. The UI looks completely identical.
- 00098345 10y ago
  The founder, Sridhar, is on here: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=sridharvembu https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=sridharvembu Very talented and humble guy.
curiousgal 10y ago
Too bad they only support SSL ports 110 and 995 when setting up POP3, my registrar uses 465.
- davidandgoliath 10y ago
  Seems rather odd — 465 is for outgoing mail (SMTP). 110/995 are for incoming pop3.

tirefire 10y ago

You have to be careful with that. If an attacker can gain access to your DNS provider, then they have access to your email: à la https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-24eb09e026dd#.s4nzlqchb https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-...

viraptor 10y ago
And if they get into your email account on gmail, you lose your email account. (possibly permamently) Just evaluate and choose your risks.

rudedogg 10y ago

Also, you can add email aliases - even for other domains. This is how I have my email setup. For $5 a month it's worth it for me.

clinta 10y ago

Just beware of trying to use this as your main google account. You will be waiting months or years for new features that become available to @gmail.com users.

summarite 10y ago
I'm a Google apps 10-users-free legacy user from when it was free, what am I missing? I'm using inbox since the moment it came out, not sure what else there should be?