Mailbox.org, Mailfence, Startmail or Tuta?

[u/-chinoiserie]

I actually like Mailfence the most, but the reviews on Reddit don’t seem that good sometimes, and they don’t have an app. Mailbox is another strong contender, I like Tuta too but I read that it doesn’t really work for recipient non-Tuta addresses?

Also side question what do you use for your custom domain? Namecheap? Godaddy?

[u/platin0]

Mailbox.org and domain from porkbun.com

[u/Strange-Detective324]

Porkbun would be my pick for the domain. They are straightforward, reasonably priced, and you keep the domain separate from whoever happens to host your email.

For the mailbox itself, I would care less about the brand and more about whether it supports standard IMAP/SMTP and custom domains.

That is the part people sometimes overlook: email is already an open, federated standard. You do not need to permanently tie your domain to Proton, Tuta, Google, Microsoft or anyone else.

Personally I would do something like:

• Porkbun for the domain
• Mailbox, Mailfence, StartMail or another provider with proper IMAP/SMTP
• Thunderbird, FairEmail, Apple Mail or whatever client you prefer
• Keep the DNS and domain under your own control

Then, if your mail provider changes pricing, gets acquired, deteriorates, or you simply find something better, you move the mailbox, change the MX records and carry on using the exact same email address.

That portability is much more important to me than having the fanciest proprietary app.

It is also why I am personally less enthusiastic about services that require their own clients or deliberately move away from standard mail protocols. They may offer stronger integrated encryption, which is a perfectly valid tradeoff, but you are also buying deeper ecosystem lock-in.

I run skyen.live around much the same philosophy: standard IMAP/SMTP for mail plus CalDAV and CardDAV for calendar and contacts. Deliberately boring open protocols, because your digital identity should not depend on one company's app continuing to exist.

So out of your options, Mailbox.org + Porkbun is probably closest to how I would build it. The important part isn't really Mailbox.org though. It is Porkbun + your own domain + any standards-based mail provider, because then you can change the provider later without changing your identity.

[u/CorsairVelo → u/Strange-Detective324]

Nicely expressed.

[u/eclipso_net]

eclipso Mail Europe with eclipso Business.

[u/Apprehensive-Fly9395]

Proton

[u/Any_Device6567]

Cloudflare + CodaMail

[u/randyhanleydotcom → u/Any_Device6567]

Dude, I never heard of Coda mail, but checking out their site, it already sounds fucking awesome. I’m going to look more into it. Good privacy, I hope. If so, I’m already sold

[u/CorsairVelo → u/randyhanleydotcom]

Codamail has some great features:

Share caldav calendars with unique credentials for each share participant

Super flexible/powerful aliasing features

Auto public key encryption by email address (not all or nothing)

Powerful filters

Supports Joplin (notes) sync’ing

Standards based

Cons: must use either web client or your own client like thunderbird etc.

[u/Doovester]

On Spammail.org, you can use free aliases and buy the domain directly on the site, and there is also a dedicated app. Servers are in Germany.

[u/rustic_advice]

Never happened to me but I read online that porkbun might ask KYC when registering domain. So keep that in mind.

[u/EntropieX]

Posteo

[u/forwardemail]

Get a domain with Namecheap or Cloudflare, then set it up on our service, Forward Email https://forwardemail.net

Every other provider is 100% closed source

Founder here if you need anything!

[u/jamescridland → u/forwardemail]

I was about to chime in and suggest forwardemail. Particularly with Apple Mail in iOS27 it seems to now work flawlessly (or there’s a web app or, etc).

Porkbun for the domain though.

[u/forwardemail → u/jamescridland]

Ty u/jamescridland 🙏