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Ask HN: How can I escape Gmail and Outlook.com?

20 points by setquk ↗ HN
I've spent the last 15 years or so dodging between Microsoft and Google's email solutions. I've tried escaping them to smaller providers including old fashioned pop3/smtp, but I feel like I've been strong-armed back into using them. The smaller companies tend to have numerous problems with delivery to providers such as Yahoo and MSFT Office 365. It's almost like there's a conspiracy between the larger providers to automatically accept email but for the small guys, they don't get a look in.

I want to move away because I entirely distrust them.

18 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 49.7 ms ] thread
graystevens
I’ve always had a good experience with fastmail.com, and I know it gets a lot of love here on HN.
setquk
Thank you - I will take a look at them.
setquk
Replying again. I've moved to fastmail and it's awesome. Thank you!
slipwalker
how about going full nerd and taking things into your own hands ? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16392096
setquk
Thanks for the suggestion. It is a valid one so not sure why you got downvoted.

I actually did this for a number of years in the late 1990s to about 2004 and currently am "fix it monkey" for our SES / DKIM / SPF / SMTP config and I don't really want to take that job home with me :)

tortasaur
Do you really need to fix that stuff often? I run my own mailserver, and it seemed very "set it and forget it", but maybe it's more complex at large orgs.
setquk
It's mainly swatting black hole lists and weird delivery errors. It's probably ok for simple use cases or personal use however. Unfortunately I have some unavoidable contacts on Yahoo Mail and Yahoo like to just defer your emails for 6 months with little chance of appeal.
Spooky23
If you are in a “good neighborhood” from a network point of view and don’t bulk send, it is not that bad.

Cheap hosts are a bad idea. I hosted mail on a local colo’s site and had zero issues. When I ran a large enterprise system, we had issues all of the time but even then resolution wasn’t terrible.

kup0
I would like to move away, but the issue I'm running into is the amount of services/sites/etc I've signed up with using my gmail account. I guess the best option would be to have both (gmail and X, where X is fastmail or something similar) for a few years and slowly migrate over, I don't know.

I don't like the fact that if a single email account of mine was compromised that it would essentially compromise everything else. Email accounts can hold a lot of power over someone's online life.

setquk
These are some of the problems I have. I've spent a while now separating everything. It's easy to hit that "log in with google button" but every click just locks you in further.
akulbe
https://mailinabox.email

I generally recommend against administering your own email server, but this may be a good idea for you.

I use this for one of my own domains. I have it hosted on a Digital Ocean droplet.

They take a lot of the complexity out of the picture. This is one of the easiest ways to host your own email, that I’ve seen up to this point.

pards
ProtonMail is also a good alternative. It's secure and hosted in Switzerland.

I'd suggest that you start using a new email for identity with online banking, utilities and other essential services.

Better still, buy a domain and use that for the identity address so that you can move the hosting around as you see fit.

craftyguy
Having your own domain is definitely the way to go, for the exact reason you mention. You're free to change mail providers without having to change your mail address, which is nice for you and for your contacts!
craftyguy
Here's a decent list of mail providers (with the exception of proton mail, because that's a walled garden): https://www.privacytools.io/#email

Personally, I've been using mailbox.org for ~3 years without any issues like you describe.

Endy
I still use Yahoo, but Excite and Juno are still around for email. Or you can look into paid solutions.