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I've been using GMail since its inception, so I figured I'd try the authors first suggestion, FastMail to see how the competition was fairing. The article ment

I've been using GMail since its inception, so I figured I'd try the authors first suggestion, FastMail to see how the competition was fairing. The article mentions that FastMail operates both "free and paid tiers of service", so I figured I'd make a free account and poke around. But I've clicked and searched for five minutes now and found nothing except paid plans with a free trial. Am I missing something? Also, the article mentions that it "exceeds" the features of Gmail, but where the hell are all the features listed? I see nothing on any of the pages except for features like "Reliability" and "Easy migration" which tell me nothing about how it compares to GMail in features. If this is an example of the best "alternative" to a Google product then the competition has a LONG way to go.

a3n 13y ago
There used to be a free tier, which was my first use of fastmail. At some point, possibly the Opera acquisition, the free tier went away.
ineedtosleep 13y ago
To clarify and to add onto what masnick wrote, the article _was_ right. The free tier was an option previously, but FastMail has recently dropped that tier in favor of a free trial and, I'm assuming, a lower tier that has a lower cost. Any previous users of the free tier will still have their account for free, possibly until further notice, but there is no obvious indication that they'll just drop your free account (unless you're inactive for their specified time period). I have two email accounts with Fastmail mostly because they were the only free email service that supported Yubikey, but aside from that feature, I would call them "just another email service."
MatthewPhillips 13y ago
I use FastMail. For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. FastMail has archiving, great search, and a superior interface. The Gmail interface is pretty bad IMO. It's cluttered with a lot of stuff that have nothing to do with email like: 1) A black navigation bar across the top that doesn't help with email. 2) 300px wide box across the top right dedicated to a social network no one uses (not email related). 3) A loading screen when the page first loads. 4) New mail compose window (no need for an explanation here). 5) Ads
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > I use FastMail. For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. I'm 100% certain Google lets you get Gmail for your domain. You have to pay for it (but you have to pay for FastMail), and you get other services alongside Gmail, but it certainly exists.
  - MatthewPhillips 13y ago
    Looks like you have to get a business account. Which is reasonably priced. So yeah, I was wrong, it's still possible to get it. Kind of a hack, but you can get it.
    - driverdan 13y ago
      Using Google Apps (which is cheaper than FM) is not a hack, it's designed to be used with your own domain.
      - subsection1h 13y ago
        Using Google Apps (which is cheaper than FM) I pay $15 per year for a FastMail family account,[1] which allows me to use my own domain. The account includes only 200MB of space, but that works for me because I delete email from the server so that the US government can't access it, which they can do without a warrant.[2] [1] https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/family.html https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/family.html [2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-betray-us-email-privacy-primer-light-petraeus-saga https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-be...
- ValentineC 13y ago
  > For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. You're still able to get a free one-user Google Apps for Domains account by going through Google App Engine. [1] I've used it to get catchall email addresses for any new domains I've recently registered. [1] http://lifehacker.com/5967336/use-google-app-engine-to-get-google-apps-for-your-domain-for-free http://lifehacker.com/5967336/use-google-app-engine-to-get-g...
kenkinder 13y ago
Hm, I thought it did. Perhaps it used to. Thanks for the correction. In terms of features, Fastmail does not do a good job of advertising its features. Just sign up for an account and check out the settings page. Its filtering is quite powerful, there's a SOAP API, and you can do stuff like automatically sort mail into folders. Eg, you could do me@bestbuy.kkinder.com and have it go into a "bestbuy" folder.
masnick 13y ago
The article is incorrect: there is no free tier but there is a 2 month free trial. https://www.fastmail.fm/action/signup/?type=personal&account=full‎ https://www.fastmail.fm/action/signup/?type=personal&acc... In terms of additional features: - Support for Sieve scripts - LOVE this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_(mail_filtering_language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_(mail_filtering_language) - Way faster loading time, snapper interface - Lots more customizability (look at the display settings for an individual folder: https://files.app.net/1/79748/aXTHb4q16UPxgBvF2RCedd9jMSV2u4Op1RIz_cylUtlNJ24EMpnKkWGY0LS_B1IAlYQAK016MxTBSk_tMNIYeao_taf_GZRPR0yQj2Y4pgeDMRh_JX8q3yZVHpw0b72NseiwIhZkn1-49z_RrMft70I1MO-PxoGhU7tRQsSLTKB7xC7s1bUQvfkCctCG44BiK https://files.app.net/1/79748/aXTHb4q16UPxgBvF2RCedd9jMSV2u4...) - Some different interface features that I really like (your mileage may vary), like always showing starred messages on top for specific folders There's lots more in terms of customizability and different weird configurations they allow you to do. They've done a pretty good job of hiding the complexity for non-power users, but it's still really accessible if you're willing to read through lots of preference screens. There are some features FastMail does not have that Gmail does. The two big ones for me are undo send and composing in a new window (although you can just open the whole FastMail interface in a new tab and it only takes a second to load; opening Gmail in a new tab could take 10+ seconds in my experience). I use the FastMail web interface full time and am just as efficient, if not more, than I am with Gmail. The keyboard shortcuts are pretty much the same, so there wasn't even a learning curve.
- zrail 13y ago
  Does Fastmail.FM have the equivalent of the "Archive" action in Gmail? Mail.app on OS X and on iPhone seem to play well with Archive and it's not something that I really want to give up.
  - masnick 13y ago
    YES! And Mail.app on OS X actually works better with FastMail's Archive than it ever did with Gmail's (in my experience). Here's a screenshot from Mail.app: https://files.app.net/1/79773/aTOWGMJ-rQ2Js_Edg-CWLi5FsLEVYq6gHDg7hoOrqEbzhj-leQKYvSOJldSlIFDWtfh7MhPL5Bd-wQWdc17X5AXlfT9SYYS-iXKKegr_o6WrjvNse66iE1aD18J0o8r3czxGmwFBzoR5WWEosAZRyZPeUHT_7q_XKmfCmyiKXbaJTk0l1SNINzKhzBaxy-V0p https://files.app.net/1/79773/aTOWGMJ-rQ2Js_Edg-CWLi5FsLEVYq... I either never knew that existed when I tried Mail.app with Gmail or it didn't work. In any case, it works perfectly with FastMail's "Archive" folder.
da_n 13y ago
I've been using Fastmail for about 2 months now. I much prefer it overall, but it is incorrect to say it has all the features of Gmail. It has just about enough of the right features that I want though, so no real issues there. The interface is superior in my opinion, of course the lack of adverts is wonderful, about the only thing which really gets me scratching my head is the way they handle multiple credentials, it is mind-boggling how many options there are yet none of them seem to allow a third party client to send/receive email but not have access to the account settings, a very strange ommission or just very badly documented. So no, it is not perfect, but it is a fantastic Gmail replacement.
- brongondwana 13y ago
  I've created a ticket in our bug tracker to fix that ommission if it's not available, or document how if it is! I wrote the initial one-time support many years ago, but I haven't worked on the authentication subsystem for a while now. Thanks for the suggestion.
  - da_n 13y ago
    That's great to hear, thank you!
lobster_johnson 13y ago
An additional data point to the other commenters: I switched to Fastmail a few months ago, and I am extremely happy with it. IMAP is much faster (especially search). I love the Sieve support and the domain hosting, and beyond that, Fastmail has all the features I need. The only downside so far is that the spam filtering is not quite as good as Gmail's. Even spam identical to stuff I have marked as spam keeps reappearing. But it's not bad enough to be annoying.

a3n 13y ago

There used to be a free tier, which was my first use of fastmail. At some point, possibly the Opera acquisition, the free tier went away.

ineedtosleep 13y ago

To clarify and to add onto what masnick wrote, the article _was_ right. The free tier was an option previously, but FastMail has recently dropped that tier in favor of a free trial and, I'm assuming, a lower tier that has a lower cost. Any previous users of the free tier will still have their account for free, possibly until further notice, but there is no obvious indication that they'll just drop your free account (unless you're inactive for their specified time period). I have two email accounts with Fastmail mostly because they were the only free email service that supported Yubikey, but aside from that feature, I would call them "just another email service."

MatthewPhillips 13y ago

I use FastMail. For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. FastMail has archiving, great search, and a superior interface. The Gmail interface is pretty bad IMO. It's cluttered with a lot of stuff that have nothing to do with email like: 1) A black navigation bar across the top that doesn't help with email. 2) 300px wide box across the top right dedicated to a social network no one uses (not email related). 3) A loading screen when the page first loads. 4) New mail compose window (no need for an explanation here). 5) Ads

dragonwriter 13y ago
> I use FastMail. For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. I'm 100% certain Google lets you get Gmail for your domain. You have to pay for it (but you have to pay for FastMail), and you get other services alongside Gmail, but it certainly exists.
- MatthewPhillips 13y ago
  Looks like you have to get a business account. Which is reasonably priced. So yeah, I was wrong, it's still possible to get it. Kind of a hack, but you can get it.
  - driverdan 13y ago
    Using Google Apps (which is cheaper than FM) is not a hack, it's designed to be used with your own domain.
    - subsection1h 13y ago
      Using Google Apps (which is cheaper than FM) I pay $15 per year for a FastMail family account,[1] which allows me to use my own domain. The account includes only 200MB of space, but that works for me because I delete email from the server so that the US government can't access it, which they can do without a warrant.[2] [1] https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/family.html https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/family.html [2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-betray-us-email-privacy-primer-light-petraeus-saga https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-be...
ValentineC 13y ago
> For one FastMail offers email for your domain, which Gmail no longer does. You're still able to get a free one-user Google Apps for Domains account by going through Google App Engine. [1] I've used it to get catchall email addresses for any new domains I've recently registered. [1] http://lifehacker.com/5967336/use-google-app-engine-to-get-google-apps-for-your-domain-for-free http://lifehacker.com/5967336/use-google-app-engine-to-get-g...

kenkinder 13y ago

Hm, I thought it did. Perhaps it used to. Thanks for the correction. In terms of features, Fastmail does not do a good job of advertising its features. Just sign up for an account and check out the settings page. Its filtering is quite powerful, there's a SOAP API, and you can do stuff like automatically sort mail into folders. Eg, you could do me@bestbuy.kkinder.com and have it go into a "bestbuy" folder.

masnick 13y ago

The article is incorrect: there is no free tier but there is a 2 month free trial. https://www.fastmail.fm/action/signup/?type=personal&account=full‎ https://www.fastmail.fm/action/signup/?type=personal&acc... In terms of additional features: - Support for Sieve scripts - LOVE this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_(mail_filtering_language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_(mail_filtering_language) - Way faster loading time, snapper interface - Lots more customizability (look at the display settings for an individual folder: https://files.app.net/1/79748/aXTHb4q16UPxgBvF2RCedd9jMSV2u4Op1RIz_cylUtlNJ24EMpnKkWGY0LS_B1IAlYQAK016MxTBSk_tMNIYeao_taf_GZRPR0yQj2Y4pgeDMRh_JX8q3yZVHpw0b72NseiwIhZkn1-49z_RrMft70I1MO-PxoGhU7tRQsSLTKB7xC7s1bUQvfkCctCG44BiK https://files.app.net/1/79748/aXTHb4q16UPxgBvF2RCedd9jMSV2u4...) - Some different interface features that I really like (your mileage may vary), like always showing starred messages on top for specific folders There's lots more in terms of customizability and different weird configurations they allow you to do. They've done a pretty good job of hiding the complexity for non-power users, but it's still really accessible if you're willing to read through lots of preference screens. There are some features FastMail does not have that Gmail does. The two big ones for me are undo send and composing in a new window (although you can just open the whole FastMail interface in a new tab and it only takes a second to load; opening Gmail in a new tab could take 10+ seconds in my experience). I use the FastMail web interface full time and am just as efficient, if not more, than I am with Gmail. The keyboard shortcuts are pretty much the same, so there wasn't even a learning curve.

zrail 13y ago
Does Fastmail.FM have the equivalent of the "Archive" action in Gmail? Mail.app on OS X and on iPhone seem to play well with Archive and it's not something that I really want to give up.
- masnick 13y ago
  YES! And Mail.app on OS X actually works better with FastMail's Archive than it ever did with Gmail's (in my experience). Here's a screenshot from Mail.app: https://files.app.net/1/79773/aTOWGMJ-rQ2Js_Edg-CWLi5FsLEVYq6gHDg7hoOrqEbzhj-leQKYvSOJldSlIFDWtfh7MhPL5Bd-wQWdc17X5AXlfT9SYYS-iXKKegr_o6WrjvNse66iE1aD18J0o8r3czxGmwFBzoR5WWEosAZRyZPeUHT_7q_XKmfCmyiKXbaJTk0l1SNINzKhzBaxy-V0p https://files.app.net/1/79773/aTOWGMJ-rQ2Js_Edg-CWLi5FsLEVYq... I either never knew that existed when I tried Mail.app with Gmail or it didn't work. In any case, it works perfectly with FastMail's "Archive" folder.

da_n 13y ago

I've been using Fastmail for about 2 months now. I much prefer it overall, but it is incorrect to say it has all the features of Gmail. It has just about enough of the right features that I want though, so no real issues there. The interface is superior in my opinion, of course the lack of adverts is wonderful, about the only thing which really gets me scratching my head is the way they handle multiple credentials, it is mind-boggling how many options there are yet none of them seem to allow a third party client to send/receive email but not have access to the account settings, a very strange ommission or just very badly documented. So no, it is not perfect, but it is a fantastic Gmail replacement.

brongondwana 13y ago
I've created a ticket in our bug tracker to fix that ommission if it's not available, or document how if it is! I wrote the initial one-time support many years ago, but I haven't worked on the authentication subsystem for a while now. Thanks for the suggestion.
- da_n 13y ago
  That's great to hear, thank you!

lobster_johnson 13y ago

An additional data point to the other commenters: I switched to Fastmail a few months ago, and I am extremely happy with it. IMAP is much faster (especially search). I love the Sieve support and the domain hosting, and beyond that, Fastmail has all the features I need. The only downside so far is that the spam filtering is not quite as good as Gmail's. Even spam identical to stuff I have marked as spam keeps reappearing. But it's not bad enough to be annoying.