this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2024
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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.

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[–] nnullzz@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

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)

[–] IDew@lemm.ee 1 points 4 weeks ago

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!

[–] 211@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

First thing you need to understand is that the smooth end-to-end encryption works only tuta-to-tuta or proton-to-proton, so in rare cases. Encryption at rest, which is what tuta-to-proton, gmail-to-tuta etc. can do, is something that a lot of other email providers do too.

I'm currently in the process of moving from Proton to Tuta, because despite several years of promises, the Android client for Proton still doesn't do non-google push notifications. Also because if you just need email with your own domain, Tuta is much more price-friendly. (The tier also includes unlimited calendars and event invites, which I haven't tried.) If you also want VPN and encrypted storage, the balance tips.

I don't use the calendar from either, so can't talk for their properties. I prefer seamless calendar integration for wrist gadget integration and such, so using NextCloud Calendar + DavX. For smooth integration with encryption, could also look into Etesync. I think you'll be able to share an ics attachment from either of those through your normal calendar.

Germany is a 14-eyes-country, but since I'm just privacy conscious and my threat model doesn't include international-coordination-level actors (barely state level, am in the EU but not German, so eh, far enough), it doesn't matter that much to me. Proton also has to obey court rulings.

[–] kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

The push notifications would be a issue for me. I am using GrapheneOS without any google services.

Also the calendar i am not 100% sure how I want to do it. I currently use Nextcloud and Caldav. Which for me works great when syncing with Etar on my phone and Evolution mail in the desktop. For my dad I have setup caldavsynchronizer for outlook as that is the email client he has used for years. When i would use Tuta id loose the nextcloud calendar because it can in no way synchronize with Tuta. With proton on the other hand I can use the bride for email and use the calendar how i am currently using it together with Etar on the phone.

On the other hand if say Tuta providers a calendar that is integrated and works with both the email client on the desktop and on the phone. the same goal is accomplished.

[–] Samlane86@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

I've been using Proton Mail and GrapheneOS for some time now. Early in I found an app called You Have Mail that solved the pushnotifications problem for me. I've never used Tutanota, so I can't speak for it at all, but I really like Proton.

[–] onion@feddit.de 0 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Thank you for the tip! It feels a bit sketchy to give it my login info though

[–] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

The app is completely open source: https://github.com/LeanderBB/you-have-mail
Your login data is only stored locally on your device, and used to log in to your Proton account. It's not sent to a third-party server. This is totally fine.

[–] oranki@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I stripped down Hydroxide, the OSS version of the Protonmail Bridge, to only send push notifications of new mail via a ntfy.sh server of your choice. Needs a Linux box to run on still, so not for everyone.

Main advantage over the otherwise good You Have Mail android app is that if you already use ntfy for other notifications, there's no need for a separate app for just mail notifications.

https://github.com/0ranki/hydroxide-push

[–] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks mate, this is really awesome! Will definitely try it out. Many people might find this useful, consider making a separate post about it. I created a community for UnifiedPush and related topics: !unifiedpush@lemmy.dbzer0.com, you're welcome to post there.

[–] Rerum@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago

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.

https://youtu.be/iH626CXyNtE?si=Zj6axq_RMou0NfrD

[–] trickster@infosec.pub 1 points 3 weeks ago

I personally suggest Tuta (and I use it daily) over Proton. Several reasons:

Proton:

  1. it is leaky in terms of social graph encryption. Sun Knudsen has a great video about it (https://youtu.be/GdDFUycXR_M&t=0)
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  1. doesn't use Google/Apple notification servers
  2. 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.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago

Proton have just announced they're moving to a nonprofit structure if that makes a difference to you; it sure does to me.