Proton
Swiss provider of encrypted email and related privacy services such as VPN, Drive, and Pass.
HN commenters like Proton as a paid, privacy-focused alternative to Gmail and Google,12345 and as an easy way to run email on your own domain without self-hosting a mail server.67 The most common complaint is lost trust in its leadership over the CEO's comments and AI push,8910111213 with many long-time users saying they are leaving;1415161718 others cite poor search, a clunky UI and outages.19202122
Why people recommend it
Leaving Google · 3
Used as a paid replacement for Gmail and Google services by people de-Googling or avoiding US companies.
“paying proton mail for everything else”
“so I switched to Proton and use YouTube with VPN only”
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“I do like Proton Mail.”
Privacy focus · 3
Valued for a privacy-first approach and encryption at rest.
“Proton is privacy first. I use their tools for a reason”
“any cloud service without strong encryption at rest ala Protonmail will have insider threat issues”
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“now since proton is also creating its own ecosystem with privacy first principles. I think it will gain more traction.”
Account safety · 2
Some use it because Proton won't lock them out of email over unrelated Google-style account actions.
“Proton won’t lock me out of my email because I accidentally sang a copyrighted song in a Youtube video. That’s why I use it”
“so I switched to Proton and use YouTube with VPN only”
Replaces self-hosting · 2
Former mail admins recommend paying for Proton with a custom domain instead of running a server.
“Do what I do and pay for Proton and stick your domain on it.”
“Especially when Fastmail and Proton are so cheap.”
Broad ecosystem · 2
Seen as a one-stop shop of privacy tools with a growing ecosystem.
“They’re pretty much a one-stop shop for everything you could want”
“now since proton is also creating its own ecosystem with privacy first principles. I think it will gain more traction.”
Bridge IMAP · 1
Proton Mail Bridge provides local IMAP and SMTP access.
“ProtonMail. Then you can run ProtonMail Bridge to get a local IMAP and SMTP connection to your ProtonMail account.”
Caveats and dissent
Leadership trust · 3
Many users say they no longer trust Proton's leadership and its AI push, and plan to leave.
“I no longer trust Proton after reading this.”
“Already looking for exit strategies. I don’t want to give this prick one red cent of my money.”
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“corporate leadership at Proton can’t be trusted”
Privacy claims · 3
Some say its privacy and security are overhyped or its E2EE encourages vendor lock-in.
“Proton is completely overhyped in terms of the genuine privacy and security of their products”
“Using Proton for privacy and security is quite ignorant.”
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“The vendor lock-in is so bad that some Proton Official Emails (specifically Zendesk Support and Standard Notes) still don't use any form of E2EE”
Web client trust · 2
Web-app encryption means users must trust Proton not to serve a modified client.
“I need to trust that Proton doesn't inject a backdoor to extract my key”
“They could totally serve me a different client one day.”
Search and UI · 3
Search, performance and reading long threads are described as poor compared with Gmail.
“I use protonmail and the search is genuinely atrocious. Like the word can be in the title and it still won't find it.”
“Proton's performance is terrible, as is Outlook”
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“It is patently inferior to gmail.”
Outages · 1
One former advocate left after multiple hour-plus email downtimes in a week.
“multiple hour-plus downtimes in a week for e-mail is unacceptable”
Domain limits · 1
Limited addresses and only three custom domains kept one user on Fastmail.
“Proton only supports a very limited number of emailaddresses, and only 3(!) domains.”
Often compared with
5 moved from Gmail to Proton
1 moved from Proton to Gmail
1 moved from Fastmail to Proton
2 moved from Proton to Fastmail
3 moved from Proton to Tuta
2 moved from Windows to Proton
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Proton's CEO Cancels AI 'Re-Interviews' 6 mentions
- Manifestos, Fear, and 'Loser Thinking': Inside Proton's AI Reckoning 4 mentions
- Ask HN: What email provider do you recommend for personal email? 4 mentions
- Proton Spam and the AI Consent Problem 4 mentions
- European Alternatives 2 mentions
- Leaving Proton Mail 2 mentions
Also written as Proton Mail, ProtonMail. Data: proton.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 48
“Its just a matter of time now before I shutdown my Protonmail account.”
“I used to love Proton, but now I am looking for alternatives.”
“I’m not supporting their products anymore. Cancelling my subscription”
“I have already begun using my proton-domain email address with real people.”
“corporate leadership at Proton can’t be trusted”
“I moved to Proton half a year ago in an effort to de-Google (and de-US) myself. Now this.”
“I use Proton, time to move away.”
“immediately moved away from Proton. Was a pain but I'm not regretting it.”
“may be enough for me to start transitioning away after eight years”
“Proton is completely overhyped in terms of the genuine privacy and security of their products”
“Already looking for exit strategies. I don’t want to give this prick one red cent of my money.”
“I no longer trust Proton after reading this.”
“Proton could be optimized to fix games that were objectively broken on DirectX”
“With Proton which I use the configuration works by default though IIRC.”
“If I use Gmail/proton etc, then I can be pretty sure that the other person got my email.”
“up to GPG Mail or Proton Mail I never encountered any significant difficulties”
“Proton only supports a very limited number of emailaddresses, and only 3(!) domains.”
“Canceled my account and moved to Proton.”
“the work Valve has done with KDE and Proton has really added a lot of polish”
“Proton is privacy first. I use their tools for a reason”
“I guess I'm much less overthinking the whole issue than you are All my switching feels organic in retrospective”
“Anyone who cares about Windows->Linux compatibility layers, x86 emulation on ARM, or VR will benefit greatly from the Steam Deck/Machine/Frame ecosystem”
“so I switched to Proton and use YouTube with VPN only”
“I say that as somebody who switched to Proton for political reasons too”
“They’re pretty much a one-stop shop for everything you could want”
“Fonts are inconsistent, and can change and adjust on you when typing, or when opening drafts.”
“I've been a proton user for a while”
“besides maybe the encrypted mail providers like ProtonMail”
“multiple hour-plus downtimes in a week for e-mail is unacceptable”
“stick with Proton and eat the outages”
“Wine/proton as a gaming ABI/runtime is perfectly fine”
“I pay for protonmail, so I wouldn't use gmail to begin with”
“I use protonmail and the search is genuinely atrocious. Like the word can be in the title and it still won't find it.”
“Proton”
“I use Proton Mail which doesn't really allow custom notification services.”
“recently I've seen reports of Proton engaging in shady business practices recently”
“I've seen reports of Proton engaging in shady business practices recently, EG Price sensitivity testing.”
“Infomaniak or Proton. They're both Swiss security-focused competitors”
“ProtonMail. Then you can run ProtonMail Bridge to get a local IMAP and SMTP connection to your ProtonMail account.”
“Thanks to Proton and Steamdeck support, I don't even check compatibility any more on games.”
“Proton's performance is terrible, as is Outlook”
“Do what I do and pay for Proton and stick your domain on it.”
“Especially when Fastmail and Proton are so cheap.”
“I have it automatically send any emails (very few these days) to my ProtonMail account, which I pay for.”
“It looks like it is time to dump Proton.”
“It is patently inferior to gmail.”
“paying proton mail for everything else”
“I do like Proton Mail.”