Getting a new e-mail address

I have used Gmail for 10 years, and now it's time to move away. Gmail is very easy to use, but it's getting old and there are so many other choices now with great features. It's pretty much a decision based on principle, because I want to move away from being the product, when it comes to mail-privacy. In my search for a new provider, I have realized that I cannot get the same level of features without buyng a paid service. Yes, you'll find a lot of Freemium products, but the best features are always hidden behind a paid subscription. Usually the subscription cost varies between $3 - $10 /month, which is quite expensive for a service I can get 'for free'. I guess that's the reason I haven't changed before.

In case you just send a few e-mail to friends and family, you are well off with a freemium service or a free e-mail service like Gmail. I use it for more than that, and can see that the limitations on the freemium products will be reached quite fast. 

Before we get to my choice of e-mail service, I'd like to share some of the e-mail providers I stumbled upon during my research. All of these e-mail providers are easily accessible via the web and various applications. 

Proton Mail

You have heard about Proton Mail if you care about online privacy. They have spearheaded the 'e-mail privacy movement' as one of the first global startups as far as I know. 

The main issue for me is the missing feature of connecting with other e-mail clients (e.g. Thunderbird, Mailspring etc.).

Gmail

Gmail provides you with an excellent free e-mail service. If you have no concerns about using Google products, and would like to use a free e-mail service, Gmail is a fantastic option in my opinion. It's easy to set up and use, fairly secure when it comes to authentication, and when you sign up for a Gmail account, you are automatically integrated into the whole Google Workspace. I love to use these Google products, and will keep doing so for some of my e-mail accounts and projects.

Mailfence

Mailfence came highly recommended as one of the best freemium e-mail service providers in most of the articles I read during my research. It seems to be a good provider, but I haven't found anything special about it.  However, if you use your e-mail for more than just writing a few friends, I will recommend you to find another, as the free version is very limited.

No luck yet

The research started to frustrate me. It wasn't possible to find a new e-mail provider that could satisfy my needs. I had to try another approach..

It suddenly struck me that I am an owner of two domains, but e-mail hadn't been set up yet. It was only possible with a Google Business account, which I wasn't interested in. So I started looking for new domains, and Hostinger seemed like the right choice when I compared prices and reviews. 

derka.org was available for a fair price, and I decided to go for it. Together with an e-mail hosting account it cost me around 20$ for two years of domain ownership, and 18$ for one year of e-mail hosting.

I believe that 28$ for one year is cheaper than most of the paid e-mail solutions, since they usually are priced above 3$ / month. In any case I find it reasonable.

How to use my custom e-mail?

Now I just needed to set the e-mail up, so I can use it on all devices, and make it secure. The documentation is well written and it is easy to find the right article. I created an e-mail account in minutes. Now I can use it from my hostinger admin panel, but how can I get it on my mobile?

Actually Titan, who is the 'e-mail service partner' for Hostinger, has a mobile app which works quite well. You can use that and be up and running within 5 min. on your mobile devices. However, I wanted to use an e-mail client where I can access various different e-mail accounts from different service providers and domains in one application. So the search went on..

Thunderbird is an open-source e-mail client developed by Mozilla, which is an organization I have huge faith in. You can read Mozilla's manifesto here. Thunderbird is free forever, and you can support it by donating. 

The features of Thunderbird are exactly what I am looking for. It's easy to set up basic security, and you can adjust your settings regarding what to show by default in e-mails, how to open links, and it has an included spam-filter. You can combine your mailboxes according to your need, which is a feature that I've been missing without knowing it. Strange, since I've had this feature before.

Easy and customizable

In general you can get up and running within 5 minutes with your Thunderbird e-mail client, but you have an opportunity to customize it to you needs if you dedicate some time to learn how to.

Alternatives

Mailbird is one of the most recommended e-mail clients online, for people looking for a free e-mail client. But when you take a look at their feature comparison you will notice than the free version is pretty much useless. I cannot believe that so many websites recommend it - I guess they get paid? I cannot recommend it as a free e-mail client, and have no clue about the paid versions.

In mid-December 2023, Thunderbird announced their plans for the mobile application K-9, which is their e-mail application for mobile devices. They have released a beta-version on Google Play, so I decided to give it a try. Nothing to it, really. After setting up Thunderbird, I know exactly what server settings to use. The mobile app and e-mail account was set up within 2 min. Then I spent 10 min. to configure the settings to my preferences, and done. Up and running, and the test worked well. 

Based on the reputation of the Mozilla Foundation, and my general impression of their app, I feel K-9 might be the right choice. However, this is not a recommendation, but an honest post about my choice of e-mail client on Android.

It's a jungle out there. When I read articles with recommendations, it's hard to distinguish what is a real endorsement and what is an advertisement. I honestly believe that most people do not care about online privacy, and accept the bless of ignorance and comfortability, including myself. Paying for a new e-mail address feels like a waste of money, unless you got a reason like e.g. starting a business, privacy awareness.

In case you got a reason to find a new type of e-mail provider, it seems like there are a service for everyone. A lot of the services focus on one or two main feature and specialize in these e.g. User Experience, Security, Privacy.

A password manager comes in handy

I set up every e-mail saccount like it was my new choice, so I was thorough creating passwords, two-factor authentication etc. It struck me how happy I am for my password manager. It is so easy to create new accounts and generate passwords with Bitwarden. Furthermore, Bitwarden makes it easy to access login pages, so I don't need to use bookmarks in my browsers to remember the many accounts and websites.

You can read about my Bitwarden excitement here.

I am pleased with my choice of a custom domain and e-mail address. It's nice to have your own domain, and the custom set up works very well. It takes some time, research and effort to get up and running, when you're not experienced. The documentation is out there, and many services offers a lot of automation, so everyone can do it if they want to. 

For most people a free Gmail is enough. If it is not for you, go out there and explore - I'm almost certain you can find your own perfect solution, just like I did. Happy hunting!