Other softwareAI models and assistantsLibraries and frameworksOperating systems and desktopMedia and creativeAI coding toolsInfrastructure and DevOpsTerminal and shellBrowsers and extensionsEmail and chatSelf-hosted and home serverNetworking and VPNEditors and IDEsSecurity and passwordsProductivityDatabasesFiles, sync and backupGit and code hostingNotes and knowledgeMonitoring and analyticsSearchFinance
Email and chat
What HN commenters recommend, ranked by distinct recommenders. Under each: what people praise most and the most common caveat, or the strongest quote where there is no summary yet.
- 1.Loved for Masked email, Reliability · Caveat No encryption
- 2.Loved for Leaving Google, Privacy focus · Caveat Leadership trust
- 3.Loved for Privacy and security, Group chats · Caveat Phone number required
- 4.Loved for Mail archiving, Multiple accounts · Caveat Declining quality
- 5.Loved for Easy self-hosting, Open and federated · Caveat Rough UX
- 6.Loved for Better than Teams, Searchable history · Caveat Slow and bloated
- 7.Loved for Voice chat, Private communities · Caveat Unsearchable content
- 8.Loved for Custom domains, Organization tools · Caveat Interface quality
- 9.Loved for Reliability, Family chat · Caveat Outdated OMEMO
- 10.Loved for Bot integrations, Everyday messaging · Caveat No E2E encryption
- 11.Loved for Per-service aliases, Everyday reliability · Caveat Apple lock-in
- 12.Loved for No login needed, Easy redirects · Caveat Takedown
- 13.Loved for Slack alternative, Enjoyable daily use · Caveat Casual group fit
- 14.Loved for Gmail alternative, Custom domains · Caveat Users left
- 15.Loved for Outbound prospecting · Caveat Overkill for basics
- 16.Loved for Encrypted email, Easy and reliable · Caveat Learning curve
- 17.Loved for Good value, Integrated suite · Caveat Spam filtering
- 18.Loved for Audience growth, Free email delivery · Caveat Platform dependence
- 19.Loved for Longevity, Terminal workflow · Caveat Mobile use
- 20.Loved for Decentralization, Protocol design · Caveat Small audience
- 21.Loved for Multi-device support, Push options · Caveat Update lag
- 22.Loved for Self-hosting relay, Deliverability · Caveat Migration intent
- 23.Loved for Privacy, non-US, Free IMAP · Caveat Management UI
- 24.Loved for Reliable at scale, Self-hosting · Caveat Device verification
- 25.Loved for Everyone uses it, Family chat · Caveat Meta ownership
- 26.I use it for outgoing SMTP from my gmail agent, identified as coming from me@mydomain.com
- 27.I've pretty much switched to Lemmy. It's one of the few Fediverse systems that actually seems to live up to its private counterpart.
- 28.If you want metadata privacy you should use SimpleX instead anyway.
- 29.Fluxer.gg is really good and in my opinion, tries to be the most similar alternative to discord in terms of UI/UX
- 30.I recommend checking out Purelymail for a budget, batteries included option
- 31.And kudos for backing it up with real guidance. Great project.
- 32.The thing I pay for is Tuta. The cheapest tier is way more generous than Proton and the product is simpler.
- 33.I used Lotus Notes in the 00s and 10s and greatly preferred it to Outlook.
- 34.The major benefit of Instagram, for me, is that it allows me to maintain relationships with people I am unable to physically see for long periods.
- 35.This is why I use installable PWAs wherever possible. On my Android phone right now, the Outlook PWA uses 281kB.
- 36.Its been excellent for self hosting email on a small hetzner instance. Highly recommended
- 37.I've been using iCloud email with a custom domain for a while, and it has been super conveninent, stable and spam-free.
- 38.I use Migadu to host my email, and they have a really cool wildcard-style system
- 39.you can get iCloud+ for $1/month and get the email provider (bring your own domain) among other things
- 40.I've been using Firefox Relay for a few years and it's great!
- 41.I tried out https://www.hey.com/ and it not only does it not piss me off, but I like it for how I use calendar and mail.
- 42.I've been using Postmark for many years, and have zero complaints.
- 43.I use Dino on Debian and Conversations on Android.
- 44.I use zoho with three low usage domains and pay $1 a month.
- 45.I highly recommend either SimpleLogin or Fastmail aliases.
- 46.
- 47.I use it all the time in conjunction with Bitwarden to generate unique emails per site.
Amazon SES
Instagram