Tell HN: Why Fastmail is the best email service

by stereoradonc on 12/3/2024, 1:57:40 AM with 8 comments
I was concerned about the costs involved with Fastmail email service. There were several options to consider.

ProtonMail is overhyping the "encrypted" email charade. 99% of the humanity doesn't need anything of that sort. Runbox was hyping on its "green credentials". I didn't consider it much thereafter. Hey.com has a cartoonish email interface and their play on the email service is interesting but useless. I couldn't take them seriously after poking around for 5 minutes. There are other interesting services (purelyemail) but that's in Beta.

Zoho was a major disappointment backed up by a poor customer support. Email sent to their support remains unaswered even after 12+ hours. I have requested them for a refund and is avoidable. I considered iCloud+ with a custom domain and Google Workspaces but I was concerned about lack of support on both services.

Fastmail offers everything. I have my configuration set up on iphone and works flawlessly. No issues with their mobile app or any restriction on their alias generation. I have unlimited Masked Emails generated through BitWarden as my password manager.

TL;DR Stick with Fastmail for peace of mind. It is expensive but offers complete value for money.

  • by jraph on 12/3/2024, 6:27:46 AM

    > ProtonMail is overhyping the "encrypted" email charade. 99% of the humanity doesn't need anything of that sort

    Did you mean that 99% doesn't need unencrypted mails, and 1% would love to have open bar access to the emails of others (to "fight against criminality", or to "offer" a personalized ad "experience")?

    I could have just ignored the whole post but this idea is harmful and needed a reply. The idea that people don't need privacy needs to die.

    It's not even like it is an argument against protonmail and it doesn't convince me that fastmail is better. Fwiw I don't use any of them, I don't know them, I self host my mails unencrypted but this last characteristic is a bug, not a feature.

  • by methou on 12/3/2024, 12:55:26 PM

    I love their masked email. Normally other offerings like SimpleLogin (by Proton) or Addy.io are $3+/mo.

    Fastmail's masked mail is an effortless addition to existing services, at no extra cost.

  • by 3000 on 12/4/2024, 12:16:30 AM

    i just wish they hired a designer to make it look a bit prettier... its a pain every.single.day to open the inbox. great service other than that.

  • by dankwizard on 12/3/2024, 4:09:58 AM

    Wish adblock could have detected this post.

  • by iamnotafraid on 12/3/2024, 2:14:50 AM

    I Always pondered who would use this …