Then self host your own email. If you are not the customer, you are the product, and that applies to digital infrastructure. No credible VPS or domain registrar will let you have amazing service for free without hidden costs either.
I would love to host my own email but PC parts are outrageous right now and I can’t even afford to update my main rig.
Everyone degoogles for their own reasons. For me it’s not even about privacy, I just really can’t stand ads, enshittification, or paying subscription fees.
I get what you’re saying, but paying 8 USD annually for a Tuta mail account doesn’t seem unreasonable in my eyes considering that’s just the costs of services rendered (no bullshit, but not free).
There’s a lot of great, free software that allows you to have a functional life on the internet without any of those issues, but if you’re logging in to a mail server maintained by anyone, you pay with your money or your data.
I have two things I pay annually (and nothing else): My email provider, and for my domain registrar for my self hosting needs. Less than 20 USD a year combined.
Edit: three, forgot to include mullvad. Still under 20 USD tho total.
If I missed a payment does my email get deleted? Or is it just held until I pay up again? My fear is losing my stuff because I forgot to pay after a card change or something.
I eventually want a NAS to self host cloud storage and all that too but costs are a big problem so I’m stuck with Google for the meantime anyway with 14 gigs of stuff.
Free accounts get removed after an inactivity period, but paid accounts remain (Relevant FAQ). You can also check on other providers’ policies like Proton to see how they handle things if you’d prefer them instead.
In my experience I haven’t had any issues even after changing payment methods.
(Also, as for hosting stuff, MEGA is encrypted and gives you 20GB off the bat without a google account requirement)
that’s a whole lot easier said then done, especially with gmail’s dominance and strict filtering, and of other even obscure providers. mailbox.org then or something like that
Then self host your own email. If you are not the customer, you are the product, and that applies to digital infrastructure. No credible VPS or domain registrar will let you have amazing service for free without hidden costs either.
I would love to host my own email but PC parts are outrageous right now and I can’t even afford to update my main rig.
Everyone degoogles for their own reasons. For me it’s not even about privacy, I just really can’t stand ads, enshittification, or paying subscription fees.
I get what you’re saying, but paying 8 USD annually for a Tuta mail account doesn’t seem unreasonable in my eyes considering that’s just the costs of services rendered (no bullshit, but not free).
There’s a lot of great, free software that allows you to have a functional life on the internet without any of those issues, but if you’re logging in to a mail server maintained by anyone, you pay with your money or your data.
I have two things I pay annually (and nothing else): My email provider, and for my domain registrar for my self hosting needs. Less than 20 USD a year combined.
Edit: three, forgot to include mullvad. Still under 20 USD tho total.
If I missed a payment does my email get deleted? Or is it just held until I pay up again? My fear is losing my stuff because I forgot to pay after a card change or something.
I eventually want a NAS to self host cloud storage and all that too but costs are a big problem so I’m stuck with Google for the meantime anyway with 14 gigs of stuff.
Free accounts get removed after an inactivity period, but paid accounts remain (Relevant FAQ). You can also check on other providers’ policies like Proton to see how they handle things if you’d prefer them instead.
In my experience I haven’t had any issues even after changing payment methods.
(Also, as for hosting stuff, MEGA is encrypted and gives you 20GB off the bat without a google account requirement)
that’s a whole lot easier said then done, especially with gmail’s dominance and strict filtering, and of other even obscure providers. mailbox.org then or something like that