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To all skeptics: For upwards of six years, I've been a happy user of Fastmail. My experience as a customer has been nothing short of excellent. Its wealth of fe

To all skeptics: For upwards of six years, I've been a happy user of Fastmail. My experience as a customer has been nothing short of excellent. Its wealth of features – including numerous alias names, concealed email addresses, customizable domains, and its notably swift customer service – all come with a modest price tag. I believe it's worth every cent and represents outstanding value for money. Edit: I must clarify, though, that I have no affiliation with Fastmail - my endorsement is purely a reflection of my positive user experience.

stereoradonc 3y ago
15 years here. This is the third time in my time period that it has been down. I have zero incentive to move to anything else.
- 0xfai 3y ago
  I think gmail has been out more than three times in the last 15 years. I remember in like 2013ish was the first gmail outage I remember and it was so shocking that everyone just left the office. heh. I've been trying to fully degoogle for six years. It's hard. I was an early GHA adopter and have multiple domains and stuff. That journey is finally wrapping up and FastMail has been a fantastic solution for me as I inch closer to self hosting. I've been very happy to give them money.
outcoldman 3y ago
I actually think they don't charge us enough. I am paying ~240 for 3 years, so that is 80 a year, less than $7 per month. I would pay a higher price for this service. Especially if that will allow them to add more durability for ISP :D
- bachmeier 3y ago
  Maybe open a couple extra accounts that you don't use so you can pay more. As much as I like Fastmail (been using them for a long time) there's only so much I'll pay for a service I can get for free elsewhere. If they're not making a healthy profit at the current prices, they're doing something wrong. I don't think I've ever experienced an outage, either, including today.
  - outcoldman 3y ago
    I pay for Professional with 3 years discount. Not suggesting increasing prices for Basic/Standard. But I am ok paying for Professional more.
throwaheyy 3y ago
I have been using Fastmail for close to 20 years and this is the first time I’ve noticed any downtime. It’s one of the few services I’m happy to pay for year after year.
- radiowave 3y ago
  Likewise, 20 years here. I vaguely recall some downtime in the past, so for me this might be the second time I've noticed it.
- submeta 3y ago
  I must admit, I was unaware they've been operational for such an extensive period! Given their valuable service, I'm confident they will persist for another two decades. There's an undeniable need for email services that are independent and not subject to the whims of major corporations like Microsoft or Google.
- bwanab 3y ago
  Likewise, at least 20 years and I didn't even notice this one.
roughly 3y ago
I switched from gmail for my domain a couple years back and am similarly happy. The switch was incredibly easy - Fastmail imports everything for you - and the service has been rock solid and easy to use since. Strongly recommend them.
- submeta 3y ago
  I share a similar experience. I transitioned from Gmail to Fastmail and haven't once regretted it. The migration process was impressively streamlined; I transferred several email addresses, including a few gigabytes of data, to Fastmail without any hassle. I'm particularly fond of their interface; it's straightforward, user-friendly, yet remarkably powerful.
- thom 3y ago
  Yep. I put off migrating a bunch of domains with mail that I had on Google for almost a decade, thinking it would be torture to sort it all out. Took a couple of hours and a few clicks on Fastmail to bring them all together. Been a delighted customer ever since.
AnonHP 3y ago
I've seen a lot of commenters on HN like Fastmail and have nothing but praise for it. But I disagree with > all come with a modest price tag The price tag may be modest for some people, but is not for everyone. If someone needs one mailbox per person in a family, the costs go up a lot with Fastmail. There are cheaper alternatives that have been around for long (though probably not doing things like developing new protocols such as JMAP). Some of these alternatives may also be suitable for people who don't want email to be hosted in the US.
- theshrike79 3y ago
  I think the best option for families is either iCloud or Office 365 Family. I've got both, because I can buy 12+3 month O365 keys on black friday sales and stack them. I think my next bill is coming in 2027. Until then everyone in my family has a 1TB Onedrive account and full Office suite with email.
  - snapplebobapple 3y ago
    I use fastmail for personal and o365 for work and if i could gwt work to switch to fastmail i would.... I don't get the allure, especially when you can buy a terabyte on pcloud for very cheap to combine with fastmail.
  - crossroadsguy 3y ago
    Problem with iCloud is it allows "Catch All" but it doesn't allow you to send email from those "catch all" addresses on your domain.

stereoradonc 3y ago

15 years here. This is the third time in my time period that it has been down. I have zero incentive to move to anything else.

0xfai 3y ago
I think gmail has been out more than three times in the last 15 years. I remember in like 2013ish was the first gmail outage I remember and it was so shocking that everyone just left the office. heh. I've been trying to fully degoogle for six years. It's hard. I was an early GHA adopter and have multiple domains and stuff. That journey is finally wrapping up and FastMail has been a fantastic solution for me as I inch closer to self hosting. I've been very happy to give them money.

outcoldman 3y ago

I actually think they don't charge us enough. I am paying ~240 for 3 years, so that is 80 a year, less than $7 per month. I would pay a higher price for this service. Especially if that will allow them to add more durability for ISP :D

bachmeier 3y ago
Maybe open a couple extra accounts that you don't use so you can pay more. As much as I like Fastmail (been using them for a long time) there's only so much I'll pay for a service I can get for free elsewhere. If they're not making a healthy profit at the current prices, they're doing something wrong. I don't think I've ever experienced an outage, either, including today.
- outcoldman 3y ago
  I pay for Professional with 3 years discount. Not suggesting increasing prices for Basic/Standard. But I am ok paying for Professional more.

throwaheyy 3y ago

I have been using Fastmail for close to 20 years and this is the first time I’ve noticed any downtime. It’s one of the few services I’m happy to pay for year after year.

radiowave 3y ago
Likewise, 20 years here. I vaguely recall some downtime in the past, so for me this might be the second time I've noticed it.
submeta 3y ago
I must admit, I was unaware they've been operational for such an extensive period! Given their valuable service, I'm confident they will persist for another two decades. There's an undeniable need for email services that are independent and not subject to the whims of major corporations like Microsoft or Google.
bwanab 3y ago
Likewise, at least 20 years and I didn't even notice this one.

roughly 3y ago

I switched from gmail for my domain a couple years back and am similarly happy. The switch was incredibly easy - Fastmail imports everything for you - and the service has been rock solid and easy to use since. Strongly recommend them.

submeta 3y ago
I share a similar experience. I transitioned from Gmail to Fastmail and haven't once regretted it. The migration process was impressively streamlined; I transferred several email addresses, including a few gigabytes of data, to Fastmail without any hassle. I'm particularly fond of their interface; it's straightforward, user-friendly, yet remarkably powerful.
thom 3y ago
Yep. I put off migrating a bunch of domains with mail that I had on Google for almost a decade, thinking it would be torture to sort it all out. Took a couple of hours and a few clicks on Fastmail to bring them all together. Been a delighted customer ever since.

AnonHP 3y ago

I've seen a lot of commenters on HN like Fastmail and have nothing but praise for it. But I disagree with > all come with a modest price tag The price tag may be modest for some people, but is not for everyone. If someone needs one mailbox per person in a family, the costs go up a lot with Fastmail. There are cheaper alternatives that have been around for long (though probably not doing things like developing new protocols such as JMAP). Some of these alternatives may also be suitable for people who don't want email to be hosted in the US.

theshrike79 3y ago
I think the best option for families is either iCloud or Office 365 Family. I've got both, because I can buy 12+3 month O365 keys on black friday sales and stack them. I think my next bill is coming in 2027. Until then everyone in my family has a 1TB Onedrive account and full Office suite with email.
- snapplebobapple 3y ago
  I use fastmail for personal and o365 for work and if i could gwt work to switch to fastmail i would.... I don't get the allure, especially when you can buy a terabyte on pcloud for very cheap to combine with fastmail.
- crossroadsguy 3y ago
  Problem with iCloud is it allows "Catch All" but it doesn't allow you to send email from those "catch all" addresses on your domain.