Best free email?

[Perd Hapley]

My gmail account is so spammed that it's become a problem. And, besides, it's Google. 

What's a good alternative?

[Ben]

I've been talking about it for like a year without pulling the trigger, but I'm also in the "besides, it's Google" camp and will jump to Proton mail, which is a secure mail service. They have a calendar app now, so it will be easier to make the switch from the googles. I'm looking at keeping the google account for now as a throwaway and to use with the phone, but moving my main mail to Proton.

I don't know if any such thing exists, but it would be nice to have an Open Office equivalent of the google suite (mail, calendar, maps, duo, drive, etc.).

[lee n. field]

I've been talking about it for like a year without pulling the trigger, but I'm also in the "besides, it's Google" camp and will jump to Proton mail, which is a secure mail service. They have a calendar app now, so it will be easier to make the switch from the googles. I'm looking at keeping the google account for now as a throwaway and to use with the phone, but moving my main mail to Proton.

I don't know if any such thing exists, but it would be nice to have an Open Office equivalent of the google suite (mail, calendar, maps, duo, drive, etc.).

I just set up an email with protonmail.  It's quick, easy.   Mostly it's for making a user for alt social media.  There are a couple downsides to the free version.  4 folders total.  Web only, no IMAP or SMTP.  Pay version is like 4 euros a month.

[Ben]

I just set up an email with protonmail.  It's quick, easy.   Mostly it's for making a user for alt social media.  There are a couple downsides to the free version.  4 folders total.  Web only, no IMAP or SMTP.  Pay version is like 4 euros a month.

I'm actually good with going for the paid version of it. For that matter, if there was that "Open Office" equivalent of google, I'd gladly pay like $10-15/mo for the whole shebang just to keep from being used as a google information slave.

[Hawkmoon]

Microsoft still offers Outlook. My Hotmail account morphed into Outlook, but the address is still ____@hotmail.com

Juno is still out there and still free. I've had a Juno account since the mid-1980s.

If you want one that's a bit less well-known, and so possibly less likely to get spammed, try GMX Mail. They're out of Germany, and it ties into other things like a calendar (and, IIRC, a rudimentary office suite and some cloud storage). https://www.gmx.com/

Also IIRC, I believe GMX Mail can be used as an e-mail client to aggregate e-mails from other accounts all in one place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMX_Mail

[Ben]

Proton Mail is also German. In fact I should check with my computer geek cousin there on the google suite alternative thing. Most of Europe seems to hate google and other big tech semi-monopolies and there are always guys writing freeware to get around it (I mean, Linux, anyone?). I wouldn't be surprised if there is in fact a German google suite alternative.

[Andiron]

I've got Proton.  I miss gmail's familiarity,  but a pox on the rest of that company and it's surveillance apparatus.

[WLJ]

I'm been using outlook.com. It works well enough for my needs

[Hawkmoon]

Proton Mail is also German.

Swiss, actually.

In fact I should check with my computer geek cousin there on the google suite alternative thing. Most of Europe seems to hate google and other big tech semi-monopolies and there are always guys writing freeware to get around it (I mean, Linux, anyone?). I wouldn't be surprised if there is in fact a German google suite alternative.

My friends in Europe use GMX Mail. I just did some poking around in my GMX account, formatting a signature (which I hadn't bothered to do before) and looking at what else it offers. The office suite includes word processor, spreadsheet, and presentations. The only drawback is that it only seems to save to the GMX cloud -- I need to do some more poking around to see if files there can be retrieved and cloned elsewhere. The contact manager is serviceable. For some reason I can't access the calendar ("Organizer") today. It has worked in the past. It might be a browser issue -- I'm using Waterfox, so at some point if it continues to not work I'll try it from a different browser. I'd say GMX is a German Google suite alternative.

Check it out -- it's free, and open source.

[Hawkmoon]

I've got Proton.  I miss gmail's familiarity,  but a pox on the rest of that company and it's surveillance apparatus.

Proton Mail claims to be encrypted end-to-end. What does that mean if you use Proton Mail to send a message to someone on another service -- like, say, gmail? Does the end-to-end encryption only work between Proton Mail accounts?

I took a quick look at it. I couldn't find any way to set a default typeface and font size for composing outgoing messages. Is that not possible?

[Silver Bullet]

If you send a message to someone who has ProtonMail, it is end-to-end.

If you send a message to someone else, you have the option to have it encrypted at your end with a key.  You then have to get the key to the recipient so they can unlock it.  Lots of ways to do that, send a text with the key, make a voice call, or arrange it earlier with the recipient, telling them that all future encrypted messages from you will use a specific key if you don't want to change it each time.

I like ProtonMails folders and filters where I can have incoming and outgoing email automatically sorted into my folders based on how I define the filters.

I have the five addresses for $4 per month.  They all open with the same password.  I use one for family & friends; one for businesses I trust (my bank, credit cards, Amazon) and for most of the businesses where I don't know if they'll sell my address and I'll get spam; plus two others for other uses.  Keeps the spam out of my family & friends folder, and out of my important businesses folder.

I've set up about a dozen folders.

[Silver Bullet]

You can get ProtonMail for free, but with only one address.  So my situation doesn't meet the OP's query since I'm paying $4 per month.

I had the free version for quite a while, though.

[Hawkmoon]

Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail are also free.

Yahoo, at least, has ads. For $34.95/year you can upgrade to Pro and eliminate the ads. Dunno about AOL.

https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-email-accounts-1356641

https://www.guru99.com/best-free-email-service-providers.html

[Perd Hapley]

So, hey guys, I decided to do that Proton Mail. Drop me a line at ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com

[Hawkmoon]

So, hey guys, I decided to do that Proton Mail. Drop me a line at ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com

Admins, be sure to change his e-mail in his member profile.

[HeroHog]

This is an automated message from the mail system.

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

The reason for delivery failure is included in the message below.


<ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com>: host
mail.protonmail.ch[185.70.41.101] said: 550 5.1.1
<ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com>: Recipient address rejected:
Address does not exist (in reply to RCPT TO command)

[Perd Hapley]

This is an automated message from the mail system.

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

The reason for delivery failure is included in the message below.


<ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com>: host
mail.protonmail.ch[185.70.41.101] said: 550 5.1.1
<ImSoGladISolvedMySpamProblem@protonmail.com>: Recipient address rejected:
Address does not exist (in reply to RCPT TO command)

What?! It doesn't work? You bums played me! Set me up like Nancy Pelosi went and got her hair did! 

[Hawkmoon]

What?! It doesn't work? You bums played me! Set me up like Nancy Pelosi went and got her hair did! 

Yeah, well <fistful@protonmail.com> doesn't work, either. So who's playing whom?

[lee n. field]

Somebody asked.  It sounds like there are some enhancements to Proton<suite> coming.   This popped up in my protonmail inbox today:

As we enter fall, we are accelerating product development on several fronts. In addition to our core work on ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, we're also quickly completing components for ProtonCalendar and ProtonDrive. The latest work on the new version 4 of Proton is already available at beta.protonmail.com, and we look forward to bringing it to other platforms (such as mobile) as well.

etc.

I am seriously contemplating going to a pay version.

[Ben]

Somebody asked.  It sounds like there are some enhancements to Proton<suite> coming.   This popped up in my protonmail inbox today:

I am seriously contemplating going to a pay version.

Thanks for that heads up. I think that will hasten my parting ways with google.

[zxcvbob]

Are you looking for an email client, or a new host?  Thunderbird used to be pretty good; I mostly used it for usenet but it had a full-featured email client too.

[Ben]

Are you looking for an email client, or a new host?  Thunderbird used to be pretty good; I mostly used it for usenet but it had a full-featured email client too.

You mean me? I'm getting sick of google, but am somewhat addicted to the suite (mostly calendar, maps, drive). Gmail itself I could take or leave, other than I lean towards "leave" because of the privacy issues.

I used Tbird as a client years ago, but with synching computer(s) and phone, have been fine with webmail, and I like a synched web calendar.

[lee n. field]

Are you looking for an email client, or a new host?  Thunderbird used to be pretty good; I mostly used it for usenet but it had a full-featured email client too.

Host, I'm sure most here mean, to help avoid the Googleborg.  Thunderbird is just fine as a client.

[Hawkmoon]

Host, I'm sure most here mean, to help avoid the Googleborg.  Thunderbird is just fine as a client.

Blunderbird includes a calendar, too. As does Outlook, and GMX. There are lots of options out there.

I've been using Efficient Calendar, the free version. http://www.efficientcalendar.com/freeedition.htm

As with just about everything that's free, you get more bells and whistles with the paid version but, so far, the free version has been working for me for several years. I think I like it because the interface looks like the old Lotus calendar I used to use many years ago. The good thing about Efficient Calendar is that it's not part of anybody's suite, so I'm not tied into something else just to have the calendar.