Hey guys,
I am looking for a new email provider as I am still using gmail and like to get that removed finally. I am currently looking at Tuta and proton. I would be using it mainly for email and the Calendar. most other things I am self hosting but email in particular is not something I like to self host.
Proton being hosted in Switzerland and Tuta being hosted from Germany I think Proton has a edge over Tuta in that regard although I am not very familiar with both country’s privacy laws.
Also how do they compare to each other regarding flexibility in creating email filters and folders. I believe proton hat some restrictions on the amount of email filters if i am not mistaken.
And lastly can you get calendar invites with these email providers? If I like the email provider i might move the business email to one of the providers as well but seeing we get like calendar invites which works fine with outlook. I dont know if this works with the email clients of proton or Tuta.
Also if their is a better email provider i am open to suggestions.
EDIT: Thanks guys! Got many great answers. i think I will get my own domain and try them out both for a while.
I switched over to Proton from Gmail about 8-10 months ago and it’s been great so far. Folders and filters have been like what I was used to. The only thing I haven’t played around with much is calendar and invites.
I ended up going for the whole proton bundle since it included the vpn, storage, and custom domains (up to 10 addresses I think)
For me the vpn and storage is not something I am interested in. Bundles in general though. The 10 custom domains is a nice thing for sure.
Proton have just announced they’re moving to a nonprofit structure if that makes a difference to you; it sure does to me.
This video lays it out perfectly, basically email is not secure. Protocol, not really meant to be, main thing is getting it off of Microsoft or Google servers. I recommend proton, just seems to be more reliable with receiving images and pictures on emails.
I want more from this guy!
I personally suggest Tuta (and I use it daily) over Proton. Several reasons:
Proton:
- it is leaky in terms of social graph encryption. Sun Knudsen has a great video about it (https://youtu.be/GdDFUycXR_M&t=0)
- had this case about the climate activist (https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/6/22659861/protonmail-swiss-court-order-french-climate-activist-arrest-identification). And since they position themselves as a privacy company, this looks disturbing.
- I’d prefer a such a privacy oriented company to be more open to anonymous payment methods.
Overall, Proton seems like a little more privacy-conscious Gmail alternative.
Tuta
- doesn’t use Google/Apple notification servers
- encrypts more stuff than Proton
PS In both cases, emails are not end-to-end encrypted. Even though both are marketed with E2E encryption by default. Again, Sun Knudsen has a great video about the topic (https://youtu.be/G2Jh8bQ2wM8&t=501).
Also, as far as I remember, Proton is more expensive while having less features (the cheapest option) than Tuta.
Been using Proton for over 4 years now, and have had no issues with it. I don’t use folders or tags that much, but if you are a paid member, you get unlimited of those. They recently announced calander invites (I personally never want to use them) and it looks like it should work fine. Proton also has unlimited aliases to hide your actual address, which I use all the time (coming over from SimpleLogin.)
The bundle (mail, VPN, calander, pass and drive) is really bang for the buck for what you get, even though you don’t use some of them. You can always upgrade to it later if you wish. And in case you don’t plan on paying, the free versions work just as you expect!
If you have any questions, just ask!
I found Tuta to be lacking.
Conversation view is incomplete https://github.com/tutao/tutanota/issues/6 - https://github.com/tutao/tutanota/issues/5051
“when you have multiple addresses and custom domains getting hundreds of emails… it takes forever for the emails to load” https://community.centminmod.com/threads/skiff-email.24363/
Search isn’t working in firefox “your browser doesn’t support data storage”. As the search index needs to be stored in your browser, it does not work in private mode/incognito mode.
Free accounts get deleted if you do not log in for six months.
what about Posteo? when I compaired many providers a few years ago they seemed like one of the the most ethical
one caveat: you can’t use your own domain name, for privacy reasons. I wish they gave the option though. maybe it has changed since
no idea about calendar invites
Been using tuta with like 3-4 domains for years. It works fine.
Getting your own domain so you can keep an email address and move providers is the actual right move. Sounds like that’s what you’re going to do.
Not trying to make the choice harder, but mailbox.org seems to fit into the choices as well (also hostesd in Germany). Also in terms of hosting in Switzerland, keep in mind that it’s not actually part of the EU, which is the primary/original source for many of the privacy laws you probably care about if you’re looking into these providers.
I think they are both fine,
I like that tuta is doing just one thing, ( ignoring the new storage feature ), and trying it’s best at it.
Proton is going to more of a google approach, however the nonprofit goal they just set is pretty awesome.
I got the tuta’s, now non-existent, premium plan, and am using simplelogin relays to protect it. No plan in changing the setup.
Nowadays proton owns simplelogin and I think it offers it’s services to customers, a couple bucks cheaper than my impossible setup, so protonmail it’s probably the best option nowadays.
I’d be careful of Tuta. It’s been stated to be a honeypot run by an unnamed western intelligence agency.https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38263621
Recently there was a criminal trial of a 5 eyes spook in Canada. There it was alleged that Tutanota was a intelligence resource. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366559333/Encrypted-mail-service-Tuta-says-it-was-wrongly-accused-of-being-a-front-for-intelligence-services
You should not be using any kind of digital communication for criminal activities. OP, if your only goal is to prevent companies from scanning all of your personal life to show you tailored ads, then either is will be fine. I do prefer Proton though, as their products are more complete
I use and prefer Proton as well.
Well proton has been accused of being a honeypot as well.
Well proton has been accused of being a honeypot as well
Do you have a news source for this allegation?
Just search protonmail honeypot and you get many results. I am not saying it is true. Just saying because a company gets accused of something doesn’t make it true.
The person you are talking to also believes the narratives that Russia spins about their invasion into Ukraine, so the don’t have very sound epistemology to begin with, unfortunately.
Run your own email server and don’t ever send anything you don’t want it to be public over email!
Email is NOT SECURE, no matter what you do!
Peace!
It is a necessary evil. Better make it as good as possible. Hosting your own mail server is not feasible in most cases
