5 ms·

Okay - what are the real alternatives to gmail? -Outlook.com -Ymail.com -Hushmail.com -Fastmail.fm --- Of the above - the only one I've heard great things

Okay - what are the real alternatives to gmail? -Outlook.com -Ymail.com -Hushmail.com -Fastmail.fm --- Of the above - the only one I've heard great things about is fastmail. Can anyone else add to this list? (I'll try to update it).

mtgx 13y ago
If I'm going to switch from Gmail, and bother with the switch, I'm going to make sure it's for one that's damn secure. I do want to move away from Gmail, too, but only because I know Google will never offer end-to-end security to Gmail. Most, if not all of the ones you mentioned won't either. So I'll just wait a little longer, until something like Mailpile or some other usable e-mail service using DarkMail protocol or something better comes along, before I switch. Do I think Gmail's UI could use a major overhaul? Sure. But I'm not going to switch because of that, after using it for years. But as I said, I would switch for something more secure. Outlook would be the last e-mail service I'd ever switch to. They even gave NSA pre-encryption Outlook data [1], according to Snowden's leaks. That's beyond unacceptable, especially when they promise their users "security and privacy". Security and privacy are obviously just a joke to Microsoft, that's only useful to them in TV ads. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-c... Here are the more important bits about Outlook: > Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch > Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal > The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail; > Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases > Within five months, the documents explain, Microsoft and the FBI had come up with a solution that allowed the NSA to circumvent encryption on Outlook.com chats
- XorNot 13y ago
  "End to end" security doesn't exist so long as you're using webmail. You want end to end security, use GPG. Otherwise accept that your email just isn't that interesting in the first place (or that you expect rule of law to prevent it's disclosure).
- zamalek 13y ago
  > Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch [...] Just like everyone else - the only reason we know about Microsoft is because that information was leaked. The only way to break from that is to run your own SMTP server and have all your friends run their own SMTP server. Thinking that those argument can be used as a deciding point between different webmail/email providers is either insane or ignorant (unless said provider resides somewhere like Russia, on an oil rig or in space). Snowden already leaked documents indicating the NSA completely compromised the Google network[1]. The only way to securely communicate over the internet is with something such as IM with a technology like OTR Messaging[2]. You are lying to yourself if you think anyone else has the remote semblance of secure. [1]: http://rt.com/usa/nsa-secretly-access-yahoo-google-982/ http://rt.com/usa/nsa-secretly-access-yahoo-google-982/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging
pcurve 13y ago
I'm surprised at the negative feedback Outlook is getting on this board. Have you tried Outlook recently? It's very good. Compared to Google's rather cryptic UI (which has gotten even more cryptic over the years), Outlook UI is refreshingly simple and clear.
- InTheSwiss 13y ago
  I really like the Outlook.com interface however the setting pages are god awful. They need to make them more dynamic so I don't have to load a whole new page for one little option.
- danishabdullah 13y ago
  Completely agree. Sometimes I wonder whether people here actually use the products that think suck or just repeat whatever they have heard elsewhere.
  - baldfat 13y ago
    BUT why are you leaving Google???? You are leaving Google to go into the arms of Microsoft????
- philliphaydon 13y ago
  I absolutely LOVE the new Outlook, but too lazy to switch.
tmallen 13y ago
Fastmail's not an alternative. I use it and it's great, but with Gmail you're talking 15GB+ free, and the ticker and 2GB was what set Gmail apart in the first place when it was invite-only. I pay Fastmail $30 a year (not much, granted) for only 500MB (!). I don't see who's going to realistically take on Gmail in the free space.
- nmjenkins 13y ago
  Huh? 1GB is $20/year, 15GB is $40/year – https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/personal.html https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/personal.html
  - tmallen 13y ago
    Ah, a long time since I first signed up, maybe the prices have changed, maybe not, but either way you're getting a lot more storage with Gmail for the price.
    - pyre 13y ago
      But you're evaluating that in a vacuum. When J. Random User is evaluating a solution for his/her email, cost-per-storage-unit isn't usually the highest thing on list (or at least not the only thing).
      - tmallen 13y ago
        I believe that the vast majority of email users want nothing but free webmail.
- brongondwana 13y ago
  Honestly, we're not interested in people who aren't willing to pay for service. We're not selling ads, we don't have a second revenue stream. Servers cost money, multiple replica redundancy plus backups cost money. Shiny new SSDs allowing us to serve the entire last week's email of every user from SSD so that first page view is always lightning fast cost money. We think that's worth 11 cents per day (Enhanced account).
pjmlp 13y ago
Using your own mail server? That is what I do. For me, gmail is only an easy way to aggregate email from separate accounts and chat with friends on gmail. At home I use my trusty Thunderbird.
- pyre 13y ago
  So.. you run your own mail server, just to have Gmail pull all of the mail down over POP?
  - pjmlp 13y ago
    I have my mail server on a ISP for private email, but other ones email accounts for other purposes as well. Yes you are right about your remark, but as I said, I am lazy and rather have Google servers do spam filtering and email aggregation than doing it myself with SpamAssassin. I got to a point where I rather spend evenings with family and friends than coding.
    - sliverstorm 13y ago
      ... but gmail doesn't do spam filtering on messages it pulls with POP.
      - pjmlp 13y ago
        Yes it does, my SPAM folder is a living proof of it. 99% of those emails stay on my other email accounts when I disable pulling services.
rgrieselhuber 13y ago
atmail?
glogla 13y ago
There's MyKolab, hosted in Switzerland, that costs about 11 usd per month for 1 GB storage with mail, calendar, contacts, etc. Mail only costs about half. I have not made the jump yet, but it does seem promising.
- tombrossman 13y ago
  I tried MyKolab last week and it went terribly. I so wanted things to work out but I feel the service isn't ready and in the end I had to give up. Documentation is very sparse and in some cases out of date. Even sign-up was problematic for me, since it looks like you are forced to have a PayPal account (you don't, and can use PayPal as the payment processor only). I had to contact support to ask for help signing up, and the steps they gave me were not possible to follow. Options for a bank transfer payment simply did not appear until many hours later. Imagine you added an item to your cart in Amazon and when you went to check out it was empty. Delete & re-add, still empty. Wait 8 hours, come back, still empty and no way to complete the purchase. Randomly, the item finally shows up the next day. I got through it finally and switched MX records. I logged in to the webmail interface 2 hours later and had errors 'Server Error: SELECT: Mailbox does not exist' then later 'An error occured(sic). An error occurred while saving'. Another support ticket, emails inbound bouncing, and no reply for three hours and I was all done with MyKolab. I still want a service like this and am actively looking but a big part of it is the product has to look totally professional and the company must have their shit together. Let's face it, if your goal is privacy and the adversaries are Google and random three-letter agencies you have got to inspire confidence and this company is a long, long way off.
contextual 13y ago
NeoMailbox.net is a real, offshore alternative to gmail: http://neomailbox.net http://neomailbox.net
- levosmetalo 13y ago
  Since when is Switzerland called "offshore"?
  - teddyh 13y ago
    Well, they don’t have a shore…
JetSpiegel 13y ago
yandex.com is a great replacement for gmail

mtgx 13y ago

If I'm going to switch from Gmail, and bother with the switch, I'm going to make sure it's for one that's damn secure. I do want to move away from Gmail, too, but only because I know Google will never offer end-to-end security to Gmail. Most, if not all of the ones you mentioned won't either. So I'll just wait a little longer, until something like Mailpile or some other usable e-mail service using DarkMail protocol or something better comes along, before I switch. Do I think Gmail's UI could use a major overhaul? Sure. But I'm not going to switch because of that, after using it for years. But as I said, I would switch for something more secure. Outlook would be the last e-mail service I'd ever switch to. They even gave NSA pre-encryption Outlook data [1], according to Snowden's leaks. That's beyond unacceptable, especially when they promise their users "security and privacy". Security and privacy are obviously just a joke to Microsoft, that's only useful to them in TV ads. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-c... Here are the more important bits about Outlook: > Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch > Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal > The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail; > Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases > Within five months, the documents explain, Microsoft and the FBI had come up with a solution that allowed the NSA to circumvent encryption on Outlook.com chats

XorNot 13y ago
"End to end" security doesn't exist so long as you're using webmail. You want end to end security, use GPG. Otherwise accept that your email just isn't that interesting in the first place (or that you expect rule of law to prevent it's disclosure).
zamalek 13y ago
> Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch [...] Just like everyone else - the only reason we know about Microsoft is because that information was leaked. The only way to break from that is to run your own SMTP server and have all your friends run their own SMTP server. Thinking that those argument can be used as a deciding point between different webmail/email providers is either insane or ignorant (unless said provider resides somewhere like Russia, on an oil rig or in space). Snowden already leaked documents indicating the NSA completely compromised the Google network[1]. The only way to securely communicate over the internet is with something such as IM with a technology like OTR Messaging[2]. You are lying to yourself if you think anyone else has the remote semblance of secure. [1]: http://rt.com/usa/nsa-secretly-access-yahoo-google-982/ http://rt.com/usa/nsa-secretly-access-yahoo-google-982/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging

pcurve 13y ago

I'm surprised at the negative feedback Outlook is getting on this board. Have you tried Outlook recently? It's very good. Compared to Google's rather cryptic UI (which has gotten even more cryptic over the years), Outlook UI is refreshingly simple and clear.

InTheSwiss 13y ago
I really like the Outlook.com interface however the setting pages are god awful. They need to make them more dynamic so I don't have to load a whole new page for one little option.
danishabdullah 13y ago
Completely agree. Sometimes I wonder whether people here actually use the products that think suck or just repeat whatever they have heard elsewhere.
- baldfat 13y ago
  BUT why are you leaving Google???? You are leaving Google to go into the arms of Microsoft????
philliphaydon 13y ago
I absolutely LOVE the new Outlook, but too lazy to switch.

tmallen 13y ago

Fastmail's not an alternative. I use it and it's great, but with Gmail you're talking 15GB+ free, and the ticker and 2GB was what set Gmail apart in the first place when it was invite-only. I pay Fastmail $30 a year (not much, granted) for only 500MB (!). I don't see who's going to realistically take on Gmail in the free space.

nmjenkins 13y ago
Huh? 1GB is $20/year, 15GB is $40/year – https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/personal.html https://www.fastmail.fm/signup/personal.html
- tmallen 13y ago
  Ah, a long time since I first signed up, maybe the prices have changed, maybe not, but either way you're getting a lot more storage with Gmail for the price.
  - pyre 13y ago
    But you're evaluating that in a vacuum. When J. Random User is evaluating a solution for his/her email, cost-per-storage-unit isn't usually the highest thing on list (or at least not the only thing).
    - tmallen 13y ago
      I believe that the vast majority of email users want nothing but free webmail.
brongondwana 13y ago
Honestly, we're not interested in people who aren't willing to pay for service. We're not selling ads, we don't have a second revenue stream. Servers cost money, multiple replica redundancy plus backups cost money. Shiny new SSDs allowing us to serve the entire last week's email of every user from SSD so that first page view is always lightning fast cost money. We think that's worth 11 cents per day (Enhanced account).

pjmlp 13y ago

Using your own mail server? That is what I do. For me, gmail is only an easy way to aggregate email from separate accounts and chat with friends on gmail. At home I use my trusty Thunderbird.

pyre 13y ago
So.. you run your own mail server, just to have Gmail pull all of the mail down over POP?
- pjmlp 13y ago
  I have my mail server on a ISP for private email, but other ones email accounts for other purposes as well. Yes you are right about your remark, but as I said, I am lazy and rather have Google servers do spam filtering and email aggregation than doing it myself with SpamAssassin. I got to a point where I rather spend evenings with family and friends than coding.
  - sliverstorm 13y ago
    ... but gmail doesn't do spam filtering on messages it pulls with POP.
    - pjmlp 13y ago
      Yes it does, my SPAM folder is a living proof of it. 99% of those emails stay on my other email accounts when I disable pulling services.

rgrieselhuber 13y ago

atmail?

glogla 13y ago

There's MyKolab, hosted in Switzerland, that costs about 11 usd per month for 1 GB storage with mail, calendar, contacts, etc. Mail only costs about half. I have not made the jump yet, but it does seem promising.

tombrossman 13y ago
I tried MyKolab last week and it went terribly. I so wanted things to work out but I feel the service isn't ready and in the end I had to give up. Documentation is very sparse and in some cases out of date. Even sign-up was problematic for me, since it looks like you are forced to have a PayPal account (you don't, and can use PayPal as the payment processor only). I had to contact support to ask for help signing up, and the steps they gave me were not possible to follow. Options for a bank transfer payment simply did not appear until many hours later. Imagine you added an item to your cart in Amazon and when you went to check out it was empty. Delete & re-add, still empty. Wait 8 hours, come back, still empty and no way to complete the purchase. Randomly, the item finally shows up the next day. I got through it finally and switched MX records. I logged in to the webmail interface 2 hours later and had errors 'Server Error: SELECT: Mailbox does not exist' then later 'An error occured(sic). An error occurred while saving'. Another support ticket, emails inbound bouncing, and no reply for three hours and I was all done with MyKolab. I still want a service like this and am actively looking but a big part of it is the product has to look totally professional and the company must have their shit together. Let's face it, if your goal is privacy and the adversaries are Google and random three-letter agencies you have got to inspire confidence and this company is a long, long way off.

contextual 13y ago

NeoMailbox.net is a real, offshore alternative to gmail: http://neomailbox.net http://neomailbox.net

levosmetalo 13y ago
Since when is Switzerland called "offshore"?
- teddyh 13y ago
  Well, they don’t have a shore…

JetSpiegel 13y ago

yandex.com is a great replacement for gmail