Im tried of giving my data to google for all my email needs. Preferably I would like to use the thunderbird client.
I also have a number of self hosted services. I used to run my own email server, but ATT no longer allows the ports open and I want to move away from self hosting that solution. Figured I would ask people what they use here, since Im assuming others are in a similar situation.
Any suggestions?
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If you want free, I’d recommend Protom Mail.
For paid, I really like Mailbox.org and Posteo. They work with IMAP/POP3, CardDAV, and CalDAV
And how would you use Tbird on a free subscription? The bridge is a subscriber service.
I have several addresses at cock.li. Uptime is not the best, around 98%, but free. According to their policy they don’t collect any personal data, but they comply with legal requests. https://cock.li/help
You can select from a lot of domains, some of them ar normal like firemail.cc or airmail.cc, some of them are funny like aaathats3as.com, some of them are edgy like cocaine.ninja or national.shitposting.agency, some of them are racist like nuke.africa or hitler.rocks
I use migadu.com now, previously also used mailbox.org and protonmail.
The great part with migadu is how much control you have. Want to add multiple domains or have multiple users? No problem. (Though they reserve the right to ask what you’re doing if it’s excessive).
Limits are based on mails sent, mails received and storage space.
I was on their cheapest plan (19$/year) until I filled my receiving contingent because my servers had issues and monitoring kept dutifully sending email alerts about that.
I’m using Proton mail, I like their focus on privacy and e2e (only with other Proton users, though).
And desktop email clients work if you install their bridge thing.
I use Tutanota free, and I’m really happy with it!
Using Fastmail
In case those features are important to you
second fastmail. works with bitwarden just like 1password
Mxroute.com look for a discount offer since they have lots of good ones.
I’m using UberSpace for 5€/month for a few small web projects and for emails. Unlimited mailboxes, unlimited aliases. However, you have to configure it using console commands via SSH. But it’s all explained in their documentation.
I have started using Mailbox.org since about a year with several custom domains. Its around 3 €/$ per month for the basic tier which also includes some cloud storage and an online office suite (of which neither I use). I’ve been happy with it.
I assume that your inbox size counts against the cloud storage they provide?
There’s a separate quota for email storage and cloud storage.
I am using proton essentials plan it gets you ten custom emails that you can use with three custom domains.
So I use one email for my game servers so those services use that then I have another general use email for sending info like recently added plex content or alerts from my server then a few mix and match for random stuff.
Not the cheapest but now I’m also using their calendar which is nice. I don’t use any desktop clients though I prefer to keep as much stuff in the browser
Iirc SMTP and whatnot is business only for Proton, so I assume you’re sending alert emails through some other service like myself, right? I’ve been using SMTP2GO’s free tier and it works well for my very low usage needs, would love to hear more about your setup if you have any tips.
Yeah essentials is the low tier business plan
Ah, I had that one confused with the basic personal plan. 😅
About a year ago, I trialed both Proton Mail and Tuta mail. Proton mail worked out better for my needs, but YMMV. 
One nice thing about switching providers is that it gives you the opportunity to rid yourself of years of built-up cruft and spam.
Proton, Tuta, Mailbox, and Posteo are all good.
Proton and Tuta have free offerings. Posteo and mailbox have the cheapest paid offering, but posteo doesn’t allow custom domains.
Tuta won’t work w/ Thunderbird, but they do have a desktop app.
Proton should work with their bridge.
It works fine for me fwiw
If you want free tier with good privacy practices, Proton is going to be the best option.
I have several paid webhost accounts already, so I just use those for email. Any important messages (which are increasingly rare) are saved to PDF and stored offline (business/tax/medical info, etc.), and the rest is purged once read/sent.
Take a look at Tuta
I’m using Zoho. It’s pretty cheap and wasn’t hard to set up with my domain.