If you’re like me, you’re really beginning to get fed up with Gmail. What was once the go-to email provider in the world, millions have been leaving as Google began violating users’ privacy, instituting draconian policies, removing all customer service support whatsoever, and altering the user interface in ways that millions of users protested.
There have also been many other issues and reasons to leave gmail, including a hardly-usable mobile interface, continuously locking you out of your own account due to false alarms like trying to log in from a coffee shop or a friend’s house (since they immorally have been tracking your logins through IP geolocation and other unwanted tracking mechanisms), and worse, not letting you restore your own account despite knowing all your own information and even inputting a valid verification code.
I just got locked out of two of my primary gmail accounts today, and I did not log in through a new location. This is the second time in a matter of months that I have been locked out of both of these accounts – the other time I was locked out of them for a full month when I tried to access my accounts when I was traveling, because even though I received the verification email and input the correct verification code, it failed saying, “Unfortunately, based on the information you provided, we were unable to verify that you own the account.”
Oh yeah? So your own verification code wasn’t right, Google? Then why did you even bother to send it to me? Obviously, the verification code system with Google is simply broken, because the same thing happened with both accounts today, it sent me the verification code, I received it, I input it, and then it gave me the same error.
I am really fed up with gmail, and over the last couple years I have done a lot of research on gmail alternatives. The only reason I haven’t switched is because it is going to be a massive hassle – I manage many email accounts and it is a complicated setup that will take days to configure across all my accounts.
Additionally, I haven’t found a good free email provider that has some of the required features I want. This includes: dark theme (mandatory for me), delayed message sending (gets a whole lot of use from me – it is a gmail “labs” feature), pop3/imap support (yahoo does not have this in the free version), and html signatures that I can save different signatures for different “send from” emails.
Nonetheless, gmail won’t be able to hold me for much longer, and sooner or later I’m going to get so fed up I would rather compromise some of those features than have to use gmail anymore. So here is my top 4 list that is the result of many months of research and trial and error. I started out as a top ten list, but decided to make it a top 4 list because there are very few really good email providers out there worth using. However, I listed the other ones and some other alternatives after the list.
4 Zohomail
It has withstood years of testing and still gets good reviews. It is worth checking out to see if you like it. It is not as privacy-focused as the others; however, I do think it's secure, and certainly a more secure option than gmail.
Visit them: zoho.com/mail
3 Tutanota
They started to gain recognition when Protonmail was still limiting accounts and people were looking for a good privacy browser. You can think of Tutanota as kind of a barebones privacy email. Worth checking out.
Wander over: tutanota.com
2 Yandex Mail
If Yandex continues to improve their mail service, they can become a serious contendor as a gmail alternative. Additionally, they now have a Yandex.com domain (as to the formerly Yandex.ru), which really opens them up to the world, since not too many people can read Cyrillic (Russian letters are called Cyrillic). Better yet, they have a dark theme! The feature set is limited, but they do offer 10GB of storage. I hope they continue expanding their features!
Take a look: mail.yandex.com
1 Protonmail
I was in at the beginning, and have used it on and off ever since. It is certainly reliable and stable, the only trouble was that because it was so popular, and totally free, they had limited signups. Now, however, you should be able to sign up for a Protonmail account, as they have now fully opened it up to the public.
Some of their great features include a double password system for security - a login password and mailbox password, end-to-end email encryption, and a free mobile app. Some downsides are that the free version of Protonmail has limited storage (500MB) and limited number of emails you can send per day (150). However, even as a second provider, Protonmail is worth using for more important emails.
Check them out: protonmail.com
Now, keep in mind that unfortunately, none of these solutions are as powerful feature-wise as gmail. Gmail simply wins hands-down when it comes to features, especially with Gmail Labs with features like delayed sending (including an “undo” sent mail up to a minute later), Canned Responses, and the Unread Messages browser tab icon.
However, are all these cool gmail features really worth sacrificing your privacy, or having to deal with all the problems like getting locked out of your account every time you travel and total lack of customer service? For me, anyway, I’m beginning to get so fed up that I’m about willing to forego that, because it may in fact be less hassle to have to double-check my emails before I send rather than be able to read it afterward and undo if there was a typo; or have to copy and past a canned response from a text file rather than have a dropdown menu to do it. It might actually be less hassle to do that than to have to deal with gmail problems.
Better yet, some of these email providers in the list have revolutionized email privacy, especially Protonmail, which is why I put it at number one on the list. If you are really concerned about email privacy, you absolutely should not be using gmail! Instead, choose an email provider which emphasizes privacy. Email can never be 100% private (for reasons too long and complicated to fit in this post, but try this article), but at least it can be way more secure than gmail.
Then again, I have many accounts and a very complicated setup. If you only have one gmail account and that’s all you use, then there is no reason for you not to switch today. After all, you can forward gmail to your new email address, so you always get any old emails from anyone who you forgot to send your new email address.
Some of the other free alternatives include AOL mail (many issues with receiving mail), Yahoo mail (no IMAP or POP3), Outlook (major privacy concerns), Mail.com (a “1&1 Company”, and 1&1 is a terrible web host), or paid email providers such as FastMail.
Self-Hosted Solutions
Another viable alternative to gmail is self-hosted mail, such as Roundcube or Squirrelmail that is available through cPanel in many web hosts including Plex Hosting and HostRhinos.
The only problem with a self-hosted solution is that not only is it notoriously difficult to manage for non-tech people, but also the interfaces of Roundcube and Squirrelmail lag far behind modern webmail clients. At least Roundcube has a decent web interface design. Squirrelmail’s interface looks like it is from 1990. This is a limitation with cPanel, and the absolute only reason I personally don’t use cPanel as a webmail solution.
There are also other self-hosted email software out there that you can actually install on your server; however, I highly recommend against this because it is really too difficult to do without constantly worrying about hackers using your server to send spam. It is more trouble than it’s worth, trust me.
Also, any of these self-hosted 3rd-party mail software worth using costs money – a lot of it. You might as well take that same money to pay for something like StartMail; at least then you would not have to deal with the splitting headache of managing a self-hosted email server and the constant privacy worries and hacker concerns. Instead, I strongly recommend only to use one of the three email software that ships with cPanel, if you do go the self-hosted route.
The third webmail that I didn’t mention that ships with cPanel is Horde; however, I didn’t mention it because I don’t recommend it; in fact, if you are a webmail administrator then I recommend to actually disable Horde in WHM to deter spammers. This might change in the future though because the last I checked, Horde has been redoing their software and this might improve in the future. Let’s give it some time though.
If cPanel ever does bring in a truly modern webmail client; or if one of the three it ships with decides to revolutionize their UI and cPanel supports the upgrade, then it will revolutionize the world of email, because it will allow anyone with a web hosting account and a domain name to have maximum email privacy by self-hosting their email. I am looking forward to that day!
2023
Apparently WEF owns proton mail.com.
Proton is listed on their Satanic WEF site.
Interesting thanks for sharing
Very Sad Story . I’m sorry to hear that
My biggest concern with Google is their data collection policies. I don’t give them permission to collect data. Invasion of privacy. I don’t stick my nose in their business.
PC Mag has a nice article on how to create an anonymous email address that some people may find useful. I find the Tor browser much less user friendly than DuckDuckGo but I haven’t given it a fair shot. I know everyone wants to get away from Google/Gmail, understandably. I wonder if these desktop apps and web extensions truly offer the privacy they claim to?
Try Spike. It’s the best.
Like a lot of others I am very dissatisfied with gmail. I hate Google with a passion along with a number of other Tech and retail Companies – (How many of you actually read the privacy statement before you click on the agree button).
I will not have a smart phone because of the way these companies behave.
I too use DuckDuckGo, but a secure email is a whole other problem. I have looked at many and still searching for a safe alternative. Regards Yandex, my concerns are the cyberattack in late 2018 attributed to “Five Eyes” (pretty heavy guns there) and the fact this year a system administrator gave unauthorised access leading to some 5000 inboxes being compromised.
I guess we all have to remember most hacking is not done by someone sitting in front of a keyboard tapping away, but by what you might call “Social Engineering” in persuading someone to allow you in where you would not ordinarily be allowed.
Got on ProtonMail for my inbox. Now the say I need as new search engine. I have tried several times to get FireFox & DuckDuckGo, but they won’t take over for Internet Explorer. I am probably the problem, but I don’t know what to do. I went through FFox’s website set up instructions but still I have IE.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
SamFox
1. Download & Install Brave Browser
2. In Windows 10 go to Default Programs
3. Change Default for Web Browser to Brave Browser
I found to had to look up “how to” change my internet browser, then going through the steps for uploading DuckDuckGo or Brave. I then needed to select what web browser I wanted, then click it then Save it. I have an older hp laptop, doing the above worked for me. My parents have an Apple, DuckDuckGo has been installed. Smart phone is both Brave and DuckDuckGo. My challenge is email, who do I go with, have Gmail & Yahoo currently.. want off.
I’m pretty sure that DuckDuckGo does not have a web browser on Windows. It’s a search engine. Brave is a privacy browser. As far as I know, the only DuckDuckGo browser available in on mobile phones.
It does.. im on win 10 latest and duck duck go is totally good.
Its also been available for years on windows platform..
🙂
That’s true.
Ungoogled Chromium is a great browser. It’s Chrome minus the Google. A little trickier to set up but worth it.
Take Yandex out of this list. It is run by FSB (former KGB).
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Still better than Google or the US Government. Russia doesn’t care about what people do abroad as long as it doesn’t hurt Russia.
I have been searching for something other than Google & Gmail and Yahoo myself, for e-mail use. Two browsers I use are Brave and DuckDuckGo. So what other email accounts out there are good, that Google is NOT connected to?
Yes, looking and looking and looking as I become more overwhelmed each time–for a gmail replacement. Soon I hope, I will settle on something~ As for browsers, I’ve switched to Brave. I did not see it mentioned here. Would love your thoughts on this browser. It was a bit different at first, but it works for me. How safe is my browsing experience with BRAVE for those of you who do NOT like it???
Brave is identical to Chrome, except it has built-in privacy features. Brave is based off Chromium, so it uses the same core code as Chrome, and therefore also can use all the same extensions. I am also using Brave now, so yes I would recommend it. The downside is there is a rare occasion it will not work on some banking websites etc, so I recommend to also have Chrome Canary to keep the latest version of Chrome for whenever a site does not work, which is very rare.
I want to get off Google an gmail
In the App Store it says GOOGLE on the proton mail!!!
I just looked, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.protonmail.android and it says Proton Technologies AG as the developer of the Protonmail app. However, I don’t use the app, I simply use the browser. There is no need to use the app as it’s not very good.
My email has been a lost cause for months. I can do and entire letter and it comes out as on straight line like the subject line. The COX complete comes on I tell them and it works. Same with me being locked out of a ad special. I have been dealing with Swanson vitamins for years and they always send me specials. Of late I go to check the specials and I am locked out of the site warming me that there is a virus attached. The Cox cable guy comes on and it works. This is prior to the S hitting the fan. I hate Microsoft and google, it is a toss up as to which I hate more. I am senior and never even use facebook or many other sites as I do not allow permission to track me or what location is and the one that really does frost me is the what is your b-day. It is no one’s f in business when my birthday is. I have actually send them Messages asking MS what % is their cut for selling information! Bottom line, in my opinion this is like a stalker following you around even to the bathroom taking pictures of you that you are not aware of and then selling them and the stalker not getting put in jail. As for COX complete care why would the errors that I mentioned automatically be rectified when they come on my computer and the minute they go off the problem is back.
I will check these sites out
Hi everyone – not to turn anyone off but I am stinking mad at having aol as an email provider – I feel like they are providing me with their agenda – I would so appreciate to just have an e-mail account without big tec telling me how to think – for me it is very ugly – who should I use? How do I do it? Is anyone feel good about an aol alternative? Help
I’m with you and anyone else that hates AOL and Gmail which is why I am here on this site…in search of true uncensored privacy for email. Anyone use Reagan?
I just signed with yandex.com it’s good so far
I have used Reagan for a number of years now, and I’ve had no problems with it at all.: no storage issues (over 14,000 emails right now); I can access it through my iPad email set-up. I receive notification emails re: renewals. I think I was late renewing once, and they did not cut my account off. They say they that they safeguard privacy; I’m not in IT and can only hope so. Just a small thing, the email does keep the font I’ve selected, unlike Google. And I found Proton’s customer service quite nasty and unlike what we are used to in the U.S.
I have Yandex.com email
Zoho mail is absolutely not secure – it demands a phone number and online verifications don’t work with it
Thanks for your ideas. Proton Mail certainly is privacy oriented, and understandably your top pik. However, the one thing that kills that choice for me is the fact that you cannot reset your password without losing all your saved messages. As important as occasionally changing passwords is to overall security, I just can’t wrap my head around that policy. In any event, it was a deal breaker for me.
I don’t Proton Mail because it tells that my credentials are invalid despite the fact that I wrote them down so I wouldn’t have to reset account. I’m glad I didn’t trust it and lose all my email because it’s glitchy.
I haven’t had this issue. Perhaps you wrote it down incorrectly, or mistyped what you wrote down. I don’t think that Protonmail is glitchy.
Been having problems with gmail for a while now. Just a bit ago I was locked out of my mailbox. Now I got back on, ‘but we are having trouble connecting to google’. ‘Try again in 6 seconds’. Also have a LOT of ‘google is not responding due to a long running script’.
I chalk that up to my getting mail from & visiting conservative sites. I am older, 71 & not very tech savvy. My tech guy, a real expert, just died. It will be very difficult to find one as good as him. Paul Whitcomb will be missed!!!
I am not a repub, though a Constitutional conservative. Loved John’s comment below about we are NOT a democracy! That was refreshing!!
I already use Proton mail for my RE-legalize cannabis activism. Looks like I’ll be using them on my desktop to replace goog. That’s going to be a piece of work, as I have a LOT of mail from conservative sites. But I wanted to reduce the amount of mail I get, so it looks like goog has pushed me to leave them because it takes forever to get to be able to view my mail & delete stuff I don’t want. So far today, I can’t even delete stuff I am no interested in.
I Have a bit of a different problem. My late tech, Paul The Computer Guy, changed my 2 desk tops & laptop from Windows 10 to a clean version of Windows 7. Now that Microsoft isn’t going to support Win 7 any more, he was going to replace Win 7 & with a clean version of Win 10.
Is that something I can do myself? Probably not, but I thought I’d ask. I am in AZ, so if anyone knows of a tech person who can install a clean version of Win 10, reply to SamFox at Facebook. You can try samfox4867@gmail.com, as it’s possible maybe to reach me there. I Have had so many problems with gmail that I don’t know what to do.
Thanks! May God help the USA! We need it!
SamFox
OK. The login box won’t recognize my email address at gmail. Had that happen before at a couple of other sites. I’ll try again a few times, then try FB if I can’t get posted via EM addy.
I just got charged $75.00 from Protonmail and I only have a free account. TI asked them not to charge the account again a year ago after I thought I had cancelled the paid account. Not so. They have locked me out and accused me of fraud when I challenged the charge. Prior to that I was very satisfied.
I had a somewhat similar experience with Protonmail. I would just say that if you pay for an account, don’t expect the same customer service that we are accustomed to in the U.S. When I disputed a charge, which I learned of only through my credit card company and which had been in error, Proton argued the point. I opened a dispute on my credit card, and then Proton said that I owed an additional $15 for having done that, and Proton locked my account.
Just tried yandex from the UK .. all my emails sent to that email address are blocked and have the mail delivery service notification ” Policy rejection on target address “. Guessing someone doesn’t trust the Russians. We are truly in a surveillance state. Best next move a move reputable VPN.
What emails are they? Are you trying to forward gmail emails? Try this: https://yandex.com/support/mail/bounces/yandex/policy-rejection-on-the-target-address.html
Yandex is RUSSIAN. I would never trust Russian email let alone China email. That’s why I dropped Kasperski Antivirus a few years ago. They are centered right in the middle of Russia.
I am thankful to the author of this article who has shared this great post.
G mail is the pitts ,they undertook to erase on of my gmails where I kept ultra sensitive health records and they ignore every which way I try to get a reason from them,also as someone stated they intrude endlessly with unwanted ads ,they meddle with my searches ,preempt me which I also detest,this computer is mine ,they think they have shares in it!!If it were possible to get a computer that barrs google I would be very happy. I hane now moved to a vpn and hope it does what it says on the can.
I switched to DuckDuckGo for my search engine. It’s private and I’m amazed at how Easy it is. I also have a second phone that stays on privacy mode on google
I have a few accounts with gmail and looking to get away from them.
Try Swisscows.com instead of go duck go. No affiliation with Google at all.
How about emails from ISP like Xfinity. Are they better than Google, Yahoo and ATT
Hardly.
I live in the US and have been using Yandex email for around 5 years. Before it I used Yahoo for 15 years. When I tired of Yahoo trying to force ads on people I tried Gmail but didn’t like it at all. Yandex is very efficient, spam free, and I love the dark space theme. I won’t leave this wonderful email service just because it’s Russia based.
I am fed up with yahoo mail. They just blocked me from pulling up most of my emails. They also won’t let me delete any emails. The hell with yahoo!
You can’t be serious advising Yandex for privacy. The Russian Internet is heavily monitored, and censored, by the state. They just banned Telegram, because the company would not allow them to read their users’ messages.
Russian Internet services might be alternatives for users banned from Facebook or Twitter for political reasons. As a last resort. But privacy ? The Russian state is far more nosy into its Internet users than any of its Western counterparts, including the United States. Russia has tried to ban VPNs, for God’s sake.
Depends on who you want privacy from. If you live in Russia and are a Russian citizen, that might be another story. But if you are from the U.S., chances are Russia doesn’t care what you have and they certainly aren’t going to be sharing your data with the United States government. It’s true that Russia censors its own news and such but that is to control the Russian media. It’s too bad CNN isn’t censored in America. Russia has the right idea, of course, it can be abused. Anyway if you are from a country other than Russia you’re probably going to have a better chance of avoiding the U.S. government from reading your stuff. Because Google shares 100% of your data with the government in your gmail account, you signed away all your rights just by using gmail.
Stay away fronm yandex. They block your account – supposedly for suspicious activity – and after that they demand your mobile phone for restoring it. It’s much worse than demanding a mobile phone from the start. I classify them on “phising mobile services”.
Signed up with Yandex Mail several years ago now (from the west), never had such problems.
I didn’t give them a phone number either, and keep a fake/alternative identity with them.
Perhaps you’re signing-in using various locations/browsers (Tor / VPN)?
A friend also uses Yandex Mail for their primary mail account after I recommended it, and they’ve also had no problems, and to date, also have never given them their phone number.
John,
Thank you for your kind words about Mother Russia. Hope we can continue our shared vision for the future. As you may have read in the news today, we hsve been busy and appreciate all support from local operatives, such as yourself.
My English is pretty good,no?
I like to use my own domain name with hosted service, like Cpanel.
So when it is needed, I able to move to different hosting provider and still got the same email address.
No need to change email address everytime I move.
Because of the article and comments, I switched out of google search and am using StartPage. It is simple and the results are very similar to google, which is really important as they have the best intelligence. Another extremely important benefit is that conservative sites are visible, unlike google’s (what will it be next with google? hiding anti-establishment science and medicine?) Google is very creepy and I don’t use their email, and never sign in on my non-chrome browser, but still they know everything about me and you just from the searches and visits you make. Of course, gmail and yahoo et-al all read your private writings (breaking the 4th Amendment laws).
If anybody wants to see what a provider knows about you-here is the link to a site where you can search AOL’s database of what they had on their customers in 2006.
http://www.not-secret.com/index.php
I’ve tried duck-duck-go, but sorry to say, the results are weak like bing.
I, too am searching for an email provider that does not spy and try to manipulate me like BIG BROTHER, and so far, a paid subscription is the only solution (if one wants some space IMAP, etc.) I think it is worth it, considering what malevolent mind-controllers we are up against. I would only sign-up for an EU company as they still value privacy.
I have used mail.com and don’t find it has spam, but there is no free IMAP, and if Russia bothers you, well, it’s not for you.
Speaking of which, after the new presidency, I am a lot more concerned about the internet monopolies abusing their search powers than the government. In all fairness and understanding of our times, the security departments of the state, should be able to invade someone’s privacy–IF there is justifiable cause, as in a terror cell.
Mail.com is ransomware. avoid them at all costs.
I remember when google annihilated the various search engines and it concerned me and I remember where I was standing when I learned about it – it left that big of an impact on me. I never say, “google it,” because google is so invasive (I worked my career in various slots in IT). I do say, “Search it.” I use duckduckgo and google if I’m looking for something I want to be tracked. I want a different ISP if and when we move. That may land in whatever cable company is owned. If we stay here, my plan is to use a couple IDs on Charter aka Spectrum aka Comcast. They already have our phone number, so I’m okay with that.
I won’t use an ISP if they demand a phone # or worse. I may not have access to the internet at some point…
Stay away from anything related to google, folks. They are the worst and the biggest privacy offenders. Yahoo became a joke but at least it enabled me to quickly find and identify who hacked my account and I got the guy responsible and killed his ratings (he was a car/motorcycle mover broker). Ugh, I loathe google and people don’t understand why still.
If you need to download malware or virus protection, don’t use a third-party site because they will add invasiveness to the invasive product. Obviously stay away from Kaspersky.
Responding 2 years later…
I also use Duck Duck Go but I say “Quack it”
According to the Wikipedia article “Horde (software)”, there was a security problem because the open-source project’s server had been breached:
“While preparing the last Horde 3 maintenance release in February 2012 the Horde developers discovered that hackers breached the security of the Horde FTP server and managed to place a backdoor into three of the distributed packages. The attack had taken place in November [2011] so that the modified packages were distributed over three months. One of the tainted packages was picked up by the unstable branches of Debian and Ubuntu and were fixed immediately after the successful attack was disclosed.
I can’t say if Horde is a good or bad software solution today, but since it is “groupware” and provides much more than just email services, it may be more than an individual user needs.
Hi,
loved the conversation, and so many interesting comments to be read. I am user of Yandex mail almost from its beginning, full 18 years. Back then, I was living in Russia as an expat (European born) and for me Yandex was a perfect solution exactly because of what you said – they wont be likely to hand my mail over to anyone, let alone US.
For these 18 years, i never had any issues with spam, data leaking etc. and it was my goto mail for all the personal businesses, which didnt stop me from using other mail services as well, for other purposes.
I will be looking into protonmail thanks to your article
Thank you!
About Tutanota.com – I created an account there in 9/2016, then didn’t access it for almost 1 year (i.e., just today). It was still there waiting for me. So the person above who stated that mail providers shut down accounts for non-usage was seemingly incorrect about Tutanota.
Tutanota has now added a calendar.
I’ve been looking for an alternative to Gmail ever since I started using it–I hate it with a passion. Free is no longer my primary concern, but there seems to be no discussion in recent years of programs that are NOT free.
My primary concerns are:
1) The flexibility and features of Outlook without having to use a separate ISP
2) Reasonable (?!) security/privacy.
Any suggestions for low-volume users who don’t mind paying a reasonable cost to get the above?!
kpm
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that
it is truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels.
I’ll be grateful if you continue this in future.
Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Thank you for your informative article.
I have been doing some research lately and am surprised you did not mention http://www.mailfence.com
They launched a good year ago and offer an end-to-end encrypted email based on OpenPGP that is interoperable with any other openpgp secure email solution. This is a big advantage compared to closed systems such as protonmail that are not interoperable and do not allow you to recuperate your keys the day you want to leave them.
I discovered them in following article:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-secure-encrypted-email-providers-online/
They look great! I had not heard of them. However they offer very limited storage and mails for the free, although it looks like a good service. Just not if you have a lot of mail. They look like something like a “try before you buy”, since any significant use will require a paid plan. But for light users it could be a great free provider! Thank you for your great comment.
Update this page. Zoho requires SMS to sign up. No option to sign up with email verification only.
Hi! Am fed up with yahoo. I want a customer service number with real people at the other end. I want NO ads. I just need to be able to send messages and and attach really good photos. I restore antiques and sell online. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said that Putin was the only man that will save Russia. Coming from him you really have think hard.
I haven’t used Yahoo Mail since 2004. Why are you still using yahoo mail?
Please support our campaign for free mail, and file encryption services at Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mail-encryption-for-free/x/16739428#/
what about a vpn or tor.
I would also recommend to use that, but if you are using gmail it is useless because google still has all your data no matter what ip you give them. Also I would never recommend to log into your email over tor.
Why not login to email over Tor?
I am so done with gmail and could use some help to find a better one. Could someone please let me know which one to choose? I am researching a lot and dont know if they all are bullcrap lying or are they legit. Thanks!
Be forewarned:
Yandex is a little more than phishing machine for acquiring information about you. I have never seen a service so nosy and insistent on invading my privacy – they even asked me for a drivers license, passport, or military ID. This happened after I refused to give them my telephone number. They had the nerve to ask me if the name I used to register was my real name – thank goodness it wasn’t.
Beware of this company – they are up to no good; they have all the accouterments and earmarks of an organization that is up to criminal or nefarious activities.
Do not – I repeat: do not do business with them and certainly do not give them any of your personal information.
Yandex is sneaky, and here’s how they work – it will begin with an incremental collection of information accompanied by the inconvenient “step” of filling out the difficult to read code in the box………..then they ask you for another piece of private information. Don’t start down this path.
It’s all very deliberate. When you write to them informing them of your difficulties – they intimate that you are the one who’s a crook and they need this information to protect themselves and their sacred and almighty “terms of service”. Does this add insult to inconvenience, or what?
I see a lot of positive reviews for this company – either Yandex is stacking the deck with reviews, or else there are an awful lot of naive people out there getting robbed (and they just don’t know it yet).
Thank you for this info. I will look into this.
I may not dislike but you sure have great grammar and diction. You just taught me a new vocabulary: “nefarious”
What email service should I be using for things like online banking, credit cards, Amazon and Apple ID? I am currently using email provided by my ISP, but they are doing away with that soon.
I would suggest a free ProtonMail account for this.
Aren’t they in Switzerland ? No accountability if there’s an issue. And just how safe ? Although better privacy than Yandex email or Kasperski anti-virus by far.
Even if you have a secure browser, you can still download malware without your knowledge by just accessing a website (drive, click and download), many websites have malicious malware just waiting to be downloaded by someone passing by. Never play these games like the money tree or chase the monkey they will download malicious malware onto your computer.
Opening email attachments in a viewing pane can also download malicious code and malware. Anti virus software is NOT trustworthy. License software that you purchase sometimes comes with malware. The tech companies are doing everything they can to gain control of your computer. There is no such thing as 100% secure when it comes to electronic devices. Most software applications are installed out of the box with default configuration settings, which open vulnerabilities, threats, threat agents and risk to your system.
Patches fix one problem but open other vulnerabilities. If you computer is not properly hardened the bad guys still have another avenue to get into your computer. Nothing can be trusted. Back in 2012 during research there were 740 fortune 1000 companies that were hacked, and two dozen government agencies- now why would this be true if these organizations are spending millions on securing their systems? Why?? Poor patching, misconfigured software, software flaws etc…. Many software vendors develop poorly developed software products. Microsoft does not certify their products they let the public do it for them so that they dont have to spend the money. No one can be trusted, it is your responsibility to secure your own data!!
If you really want privacy when surfing the Internet use either TOR Browser and/or Startpage. ALL technology companies are in bed with the government to spy on you. ISP are their front line soldiers for collecting data on you. If you use Windows and have auto updated turned on they are downloading spyware, trojans, backdoors, viruses, worms etc…. onto your computer without your knowledge.
If you are using a third party firewall or virus checker they are they ones that are creating and releases the malware that affects your computer – think about it if there were no malware people wouldn’t need to buy their products. For ever one problem solved, they implant many more. The intelligence agencies and law enforcement have full control of your computer, tablet, cell phone, and anything connected to the Internet including all email accounts – all they have to do is ask the ISP and access is granted.
Everything that crosses the airwaves, and Internet is captured and stored and use to create a profile on every person on the planet. Now do you think your privacy is safe? Never ! Not unless you create the technology yourself. Even if you unplug you computer from the Internet they can still gain access to your data. It is better to go without then to be with if you are concern about your privacy – If you are using Youtube, Fakebook or FAKETwitter you are being censored…. The Deep State is in control and we are their slaves !!
Gmail, Google, Netscape, Mail, Twitter, Fakebook and others are all in bed with the Deep State and NWO – they are monitoring everything you do and say so that they can categorize you and one day they will use it to kill or in prison you. Encryption is s a total joke, vendors are required by law to create a backdoor and give access to the federal government so they can access your accounts – its NOT hacking, they cant hack so they need to private keys to gain access. Nothing that is connected to the network (wireless, wired) is there for ONE PURPOSE and that is to monitor you ! Jade Helm was an exercise conducted by the military to learn to control your thoughts and actions – they call it total domain. If you want total privacy you have to cut off ALL technologies!!!
Technologies are used to enslave you and your family. I hate to say it but they make you believe that the latest iPhone , Smart TV etc… is the latest and greatest technology, but that is their scam to get you to buy it so that they can control you! Turning off these devices will not protect you. Buy a prepaid phone, replace ut every 6 months, get rid of the Smart TVs and go spend time with your family; dont call people talk in person; don’t use email for sensitive information; turn it all off and communicate using face-face means!!
Electronics are our enemy not our friend. Anything that crosses the Internet is captured and stored in very large mainframes and computes. Nothing is ever deleted, profiles are created on every human on the planet. How do think law enforcement can track down criminals in a matter of hours? License plated, driver licenses, VIN numbers, birth certificates etc… are there to track and control us! I know many of you dont want to hear this but it is the truth. Data is captured and stored on all of us from the hour we are born until the time we die. How this data is used or could be used by the elite might scare you even more if you only knew. The elite believe they own us!
///-( YES, You R so right my friend! We have been play’d from the 1st breathe
till there is none left as we to. Elites, Religion, Monarchs, Governments, N.W.O., iLLUMiNATi, U.N. VATICAN, all of us have been lied to from the
Garden till now…. No difference! Now we have become the sellouts we have
no need for in all of Society as they had planed by giving of all of these New Improved Products of the Technological World, which leaves A.i.’s & it’s
only a trickle of it all. When we part take, we allow!!!! we Sellout!!!! 2sad.
Since i 1st fell down the Rabbit hole, from what I can make out of it all we
been phish’d, pharm’d, become the perfect product of New Digital Malwear
Spam Virus of Plague’s. By all we needlessly need, but have being programmed to receive & we accept. 2easy 2push a button or touch a screen 2 get results. Like nothing new under the Sun! Just look History is a lie!!!!
Secure email does not exist – it is a dream.
Try encryption, but that is easily broken in spite of what the tech hacks tell you.
If it’s online, it is vulnerable – period.
John,
Thank you so much for writing this because, as you pointed out in one of the comments about our liberties, anyone who cares about our freedom and privacy should NEVER use Google!! Did you know that they said they want to be “the voice of God” over all of us? Insanity.
I wouldn’t really trust the Russian thing either though because even though they look like a liberty beacon of freedom compared to our tyranny, they still shouldn’t be trusted. Putin was KGB and still has ties to it. True freedom is only in individual systems that work around the big govt thugs because none of them are ever out for the interest of the people. Be the RESISTANCE! God bless and thanks again.
I’ll be dumping my gmail account right away so I sure appreciate your research on this topic.
Hi Judy, it’s true, Russia is not perfect, in fact no big government is going to have freedoms. Sure, Russian email is probably less likely to read by U.S. officials, especially if you’re just a regular user (whereas every citizen in the U.S. can have their gmail accounts read without a warrant for any reason whatsoever). However, it’s true it is not a perfect solution. The perfect solution is the self-hosted solution.
In fact I wrote another post about this detailing it quite well and it will be posted soon. There I explain how to really keep your email 100% (or at least 99%) private. Of course, no matter what you do, once an email is sent, it is most likely to be stored in the internet forever, accessible by someone. So the best thing to do is watch what you write. However, even if what you write is innocent, still you don’t want government officials and other strangers reading your personal mails, so it’s best to protect yourself.
What about GMX? Its inbox is unlimited. Any info on this provider?
GMX looks exactly like mail.com down to the exact design. Research shows that GMX acquired mail.com in 2010. Mail.com is terribly spammy as in they spam your inbox. Mail.com does not allow you to use POP or IMAP, does not let you forward any mail, and is very limiting. I would not use mail.com as my primary email provider due to these limitations which are indicative of not being in control of your own data, and likewise GMX mail being the same company is probably not much different.
Hey nice post. I hope it’s ok that I shared it on my FB, keep up the great work.
Which is best secure email hosting company for small business?? Data per account 10 GB max, at least 10 accounts required, company domain name to be, use on desktop/mobile both, Data security most essential
There is a search engine called StartPage that protects your searches as well as an email service StartMail.
I’m sure there are other free email accounts that protect your email from snooping eyes. I believe StartMail is one of the first to offer a paid version that will keep your emails private. I’m thinking of switching to them. Still deciding which way to go.
The other is Protonmail, I understand it costs less than Startmail. It is supposed to be the most secure email service in the world and its servers are in Switzerland.
The other way I found was to do the encryption yourself using GPG tools. It allows you to encrypt your mail before you send it out along with a key so that someone could email you back an encrypted email. This method is free just download GPG tools.
I hope this information will be helpful in providing you some options to traditional free email services which will give you more privacy.
ProtonMail is free, actually (you can pay for upgrades but it is free for normal use). Startmail is not free, it is a paid-only service. If you have to pay, that changes everything because then you need to weigh your options.
You are on point in your posted comments here. Furthermore, to the concerned folks here, see: Echelon Project, Carnivore Project, Lantern Project, then Congressional internal scandal articles published/archived Jan 2000 and April 2000 Netscape.net (stealing emails off of satellites using pirated software… by the “law makers” themselves), optical signal splitting of telephone/cell phone lines at AT&T in Oakland, California, anything of YOU and by YOU belongs to YOU as per Davis v. Mississippi which means secret data mining = stealing, and there is lots more info out there. See EPIC.org and their tools section.
God did Bless America. Now it’s for Us to enforce His blessings!
Sending good wishes to all.
Emily
I am looking for a free secure email service I use it for a lot of political clubs.
Do any of these services offer pop mail so I can avoid the web interface?
Yandex (like others) will shut you down for lack of use.
I appreciate this article. I am going to try one of recommended email services.
It happened to me too. My Yandex account was removed for no apparent reason not once but twice.
I’m glad to learn from this article of the other email providers.
Zoho and Yandex will be snitching services (look at juicy ToS), cannot by mixed with the other two.
Strictly avoid anything US/Russian for the rest of your life.
Can you please elaborate on this?
you are recommending a mail service owned not just by a state bur by the Russian state as secure? BAHAHAHA
I would trust Russia with my personal mail long before I trusted the U.S. government. Russia is probably the least likely to hand my mail over to the U.S. government, especially since I am no one of political importance! Gmail on the other hand doesn’t even need a court order, the U.S. government can probably already read all my emails in my gmail account! But the U.S. government does not have access to mail servers in Russia. Therefore Russia servers are far safer. Plus, few Russians know English very well at all. So most Russians can’t read my mail even if they wanted to just like most Americans can’t read Cyrillic.
Are you kidding? Most of the hacks of credit card companies, banks etc. have originated in Russia, and the perpetrators are never prosecuted. So obviously they know English well enough to hack into our systems. The Russia gov’t would love to get their hands on anything American, just look at what they did to our election. I would not be worried about the US gov’t looking at my emails unless I was plotting a ter rer attack.
I sense a liberal tinge to your many unfounded and erroneous assertions. Sounds like you are listening to the liberal conspiracy theories. Russia had nothing to do with our election. Trump won by the electoral college. Don’t you know that popular vote does not elect the President? You can’t “hack” electoral votes, there aren’t enough of them to “hack”. There are only a few hundred electoral votes (538 to be exact). (America is a republic, not a democracy. America was never intended to be a democracy. America is a Constitutional Republic.)
Also your comment about “I don’t care about the government looking at my emails because I have nothing to hide” – obviously you do not care about freedom, which is the fundamental principle of the United States. Your comment is a common liberal cop-out. “Oh, I’m doing nothing wrong so I don’t care if they take away all my freedoms”.
Samuel Adams, one of the founding fathers of America, said, quite aptly:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!”
I will translate this for you: “If you love to be a slave to your masters, the liberal socialists, and give up your freedoms to do so, suit yourself. We Americans don’t care what you say and we will ignore you. May you crouch down and lick the liberal hands which feed you. May your chains of liberal bondage to the slavery of comfort at the cost of your freedom weigh you down,” (he was being sarcastic when he said, “sit lightly upon you”) “and we deny you as one of our fellow Americans!”
Remember this isn’t even me saying this (although I agree), this is one of our founding fathers of America saying this.
the democrats hacked into at least 20 state voter registration systems and even deleted the files for Dallas county 2x. Thankfully, they were diligent about backups and so the election for them went off ok.
Actually, catching us saying something they don’t like isn’t even the primary incentive for snooping. The real motivation is simply control. By making us aware that we are being monitored, they can effectively keep us from discussing things they would rather we not dig into.
Actually I believe it is a little of both.
i work at a (not gonna to tell) database centre. All of you would be surprised how much gmail or google know about you. It is actually frightening. I myself was shocked. I am seriously scared of what they know, and need to run asap.
Hearing this does scare me a bit. I should quit gmail sooner rather than later. I need a complete replacement!
I have a lot of g-mail that I need to sort, edit, and print. Thousands of messages. Google will not help. I need the name of another provider to whom I can forward these messages, edit them, and print them out. If I have to, I will go with a paid provider, as these messages represent money to me (either lawsuit or book sales, her choice).
You might want to take a real hard look at ” Inky.”
Just duckduckgo it! Lol!
I am not affiliated with Inky, yet, since I just found them last Friday and just downloaded their apps.
But they really look like a real great all-turn-it-ive, and it is better than Thunderbird, and the others except claws mail, and or salusafe (only 100MB) as personal on-board email servers (Windows and Android)!
Oh yea, my 20GB SPAM email is hosted in Russia called *****@inbox.lv (moderator removed email for privacy).
Thank you for the tips! I will look them up.
Update: I looked up Inky. It does not look like Inky is a real email program, rather it is just an interface so you can read gmails, microsoft emails, etc all from the same place. This is not a replacement for gmail. Also, there is a free version but to have the features you have to pay. So no, Inky is not a solution to replace gmail and it is also not a free solution.
Thank you so much for this. I stumbled across your informative article on my quest to find an alternative to gmail. Totally fed up. Like you, I don’t relish migrating multiple accounts to a new platform, but the time has come. I am a frequent international traveler and am heartily sick of losing access to my gmail because Google has deemed the activity “suspicious”.
I have experienced everything you described, including Google continuing to deny me access even with their own valid access codes. And traveling overseas, I rarely have the ability to receive a two step verification code by phone anyway, as I use different SIMs in each country. If you do manage to jump through their hoops and change your password and gain access to your accounts, you’re still not home free.
And it’s not just, “Thank you very much, User. You have proved that it’s you and you’re in Spain.” The next night you’re at a different hotel a hundred miles away, and you have to go through the entire nonsensical exercise yet again. On a recent trip to Ireland, I went through (no joke) 12 passwords that I had to create AND REMEMBER (insert angry emoji here) for just one of my accounts.
And you’re right – Customer Service isn’t a concept that Google embraces. I’ve tried for months to find an email address to suggest to them that they offer a service, such as bank credit cards do, where you could inform them of upcoming travel plans so that they know it’s you in advance. There isn’t one. I even asked my son-in-law, who works for Google. He just shrugged. There isn’t one.
I am currently sitting in a hotel room 23 miles from my house, and once again I have been shut out of my gmail. 23 freaking miles – I didn’t even leave the State.
I had already done some research, and heard of two of the services you recommended. I appreciate your reviews of them, as it helps narrow down my choice. You can be sure that one of them will shortly be obtaining a new account.
very sad story ! hehehe
I am sorry to hear about your experiences. I also have had the same experiences. Whenever I travel or move, I lose access to my google accounts. Some accounts I will never have access to ever again. I need to get off gmail before it is too late and I lose access forever.
Hello John, I feel the same and afraid. My phone clicks all the time on frontier. I never trusted Gmail because it would not erase my words and was deceiving. Do you approve of Hushmail for emails? I paid for my account but it’s not encrypted. I feel every key stroke is monitored. I appreciate your advice and will study it, and try to stay off websites except yours. I only do boring searches.
Thank you again,
Julie
Hi Julie, Hushmail is not safe and cannot be trusted. They lied about their business model “not collecting user data” because it did collect user data and they turned this personal data over to the government when asked for it.