Before you decide to go back to Google or close your account, keep in mind that Proton became a non profit organization with the main mission of protecting your privacy. And as a non profit, they're not trying to profit off of you in any way.

Going back to Google is the worst solution you can use. Remember that Google donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. Google also doesn't care about your privacy. On the contrary, they're selling your data and using it against you.

While the Proton CEO may be a nut case, he's only praising the choice that Trump made as the candidate for the antitrust department. While that's understandably stupid since I don't believe Trump is going up stick up for the little guy now that he's got Musk and Zuck in his pocket, at least he didn't actively donated and enabled Trump either personally or through his platform and spread misinformation.

Think about it.

At least with proton, the fact that you're different, that you're 2SLGBTQ+, is safe. Or at least substantially safer than Google.

Whatever you choose, remember that ease of migration is important. So for email buy your own domain name and use a service like mailbox.org that allows custom domains and full IMAP access.

Ive been using proton for a little more than a year now and I think that the service is one of the best out there. That, and their privacy guides in their blog are great as well. I think abandoning ship this early isn't really a need. I've abondonded things like Plex for jellyfin due to Plex starting to feel very commerical. As others have pointed out, the governing of the company may keep one individuals views from interfering with the products. With that said, if your beliefs swing opposite, i see how it can leave a bad taste and make it worth keeping an eye on the direction of the company.

Mullvad is supposed to be a safe and secure VPN.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

is tuta the new pick for custom domain email?

i wanted to move my google stuff to Proton this year as a Backup for my self hosted stuff. Shame, seems like I need to put a little more time into managing my self hosted stuff

Misinformation. OP is advocating that you shoot yourself in the foot.

The CEO said something silly on Twitter which revealed either that (a) he shares an exceedingly banal opinion with literally half of America or (b) he's not above a bit of preemptive sycophancy to advance his (positive) anti-trust agenda.

There's nothing particularly scandalous in the offending tweet:

• Implying that the Democrats are now "the party of big business" is arguably true (and very boring)
• Implying that the Republicans now "stand for the little guys" is dumb but also arguably true, unfortunately - the working classes swung to Trump in the recent election while the Democrats are fast becoming a party of high-earning elites (which is why they lost)
• Saying that the antitrust actions began under Trump I is, well, true

Proton is not owned Zuck-like by its CEO. It's controlled by a foundation with other stakeholders on the board, including the inventor of the Web himself. In its niche it is still by far the best option. Ditching it for a nebulous non-existent alternative because the CEO expressed a dumb and extremely commonplace opinion is just silly and self-defeating.

PS: to be clear, OP is peddling misinformation because it's not true that "Proton took the stance" of anything. It's the personal opinion of the CEO that's at issue. It's a major distinction. I find it disappointing that people interested in privacy would have such little respect for a private individual's right to have their own thoughts.

PPS: to be extra clear, my comments are about the post above, not stuff that people are reading elsewhere. But the substance stands. See discussion for detail.

My personal recommendations:

https://uberspace.de/

• Server location (jurisdiction): Germany
• Integrity/trustworthiness/transparency: About-Page
• User experience/ease of use (grade 1 to 10, lets take Proton as a benchmark with an 8): 6
• Pricing: Based on solidarity, but recommend minimum is 5 € per month

https://www.hostsharing.net/

• Server location (jurisdiction): Germany
• Integrity/trustworthiness/transparency: well, you own part of hostsharing if you use it (collective-ownership)
• User experience/ease of use (grade 1 to 10, lets take Proton as a benchmark with an 8): 6
• Pricing: 64 € onetime payment + 10 € per month (cooperative)

Other recommendations:

• mailbox.org, systemli.org, riseup.net, posteo.de (as far as I know all of them are located in Germany)

Tuta.com is similar to Proton Mail + Calendar.

• Location: Germany

• Governance: Private GmbH (German corporation, similar to an American LLC)

• Integrity/trustworthiness/transparency: Better than Proton IMHO. All their apps are open source and available on F-Droid. They encrypt email headers (unlike Proton, who are weaselly about this in their marketing materials).

• User Experience: Ehhhh...6? I'm not in the best position to compare because I do not have a premium plan, so I am not able to examine features like inbox rules/filters. Much like Proton, it doesn't support full-text email search unless you have it cache your entire mailbox locally (either via the web site or app). They do not support POP or IMAP, but do offer their own desktop and mobile apps.

• Pricing: €3/month for 20GB, €8/month for 500GB. https://tuta.com/pricing

God damnit I literally just got Proton going like 4 days ago.