He's saying if you use a free service to expect downtime. If you use a paid service, expect downtime. Maybe less downtime than a free service, but it will sti

He's saying if you use a free service to expect downtime. If you use a paid service, expect downtime. Maybe less downtime than a free service, but it will still be there. He is using IMAP because it makes it easy for him to migrate to another provider if the inevitable downtime becomes a problem.