hello, as always: imho ... self-hosting email [among other services :] i've done this since ... ever ;)) pros: done properly, you learn a lot about various f

hello, as always: imho ... self-hosting email [among other services :] i've done this since ... ever ;)) pros: done properly, you learn a lot about various fundamental aspects of modern computing and (inter)networking. if this is something you are interested in - go ahead! [if you just want email using your own domain: pay someone a few bucks a month and do whatever else matters to you!! ;] cons: takes some of your time ;) possible path: 1. do you have experience in selfhosting anything!? if not: start with selfhosting a shell-server - ssh ... to access your system - and a (simple) webpage ... static html-pages, PHP using apache2 or nginx. why? its simpler / a lot less "moving parts" compared to email and you familiarize yourself with some basic services which are also necessary for email selfhosting * DNS ... eg - THE basis of all [other services] of the internet: whats a SOA, a A record, howto manage serials in a sane way, whats an MX record!? how does a [RFC-conform|"best practice"] zone-file look like!? why following "best practices" make sense!? * operate a [linux|*BSD] system over a longer timespan don't even think about using windows or macOS X for this, its not worth the time / hazzle!! * howto automate details of the systems installation and operation 2. if you know howto do this, then read about SMTP and the various components which form an email-system you need * DNS - as i said before, this is the fundamental service for all other services on the internet * the MTA - at the core * MDA - you want to access your mailbox * mail-clients - from webmail to various clients on your devices * (somewhat) optional: content-scanners - spam, virus, rbls content-scanners are not necessary for a "playground" system, but they are for a "serious" system ... ad "playground": use some kind of a "less serious domain" at first, because you will encounter problems. watch/monitor/backup your system - you will encounter "other problems" over time / if you operate your selfhosted system long enough :)= a word about where to host such selfhosted services: i'm a big fan of "bare metal" device, they are "more fun" but a bit pricier than cheap vhosts ... but often cheaper than some "services with a fancy name" from a "big cloud-provider(tm)" ... regardless if its a cheap/older root-server at some hoster ... or some cheap vhosts: they should have enough resources for "playing around". if you are able to get your own fixed line with "real" addresses somehwere - no CGNAT, you don't want to fumble around with access-tunnels at first -, operate your own hardware ... just get yourself an old PC/laptop you already own, a beefier raspberry pi [2/3/4/5] or some cheap ITX board with a pre-installed CPU adding "yesteryears" memory-sticks from your closet. you don't need much!! and this so much more fun than clicking around in the "big cloud-provider(tm)" admin-webapplication and pay a ton of money each month ;)) just my 0.02€