As a solopreneur for the past 15+ years, a lot of my work takes place online. In an effort to step away from less-than-ethical data-mining platforms, I’ve been doing a lot of research to figure out what platforms to transition my virtual workspaces to. I’m currently testing out different platforms and will share my findings after I’ve spent some time with them and can have some substantial feedback and recommendations.
For now, in the spirit of the mycelium network, I would like to share my findings in this initial research stage, in hopes that it can help make getting started on your “de-googling” journey a bit less overwhelming.
Firstly, one of my main priorities was to identify alternative email providers that don’t sell or mine users data. So, all the email providers below offer hightened privacy and encryption, as seen below:
Comparison of Privacy & Encryption for each Email Service:
Note: “✅” indicates availability; “❌” indicates not available.
| Feature | Proton Mail | Mailfence | Mailbox.org | Tutanota | Zoho Mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End-to-End Encryption | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Zero-Access Encryption | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| OpenPGP Support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| S/MIME Support | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Two-Factor Authentication | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Jurisdiction | Switzerland | Belgium | Germany | Germany | India |
| Provider | Aliases | Documents & Collaboration | Migration Features | Price / Storage / Trade‑Offs (by tier) | Integrated Calendar | UX for Solopreneurs, Small biz owners, and Creatives | Reviews |
| Proton | +aliases always; paid plans allow multiple alias addresses, custom domains | Rich text / docs, images, tables, etc. Collaboration: yes (real‑time) Collaborators must sign in | Import Assistant (email, contacts), manual file export/upload |
Free: 1 GB mail storage, 150 messages/day, 1 email address, Easy Switch tool, basic features (Proton) Mail Plus: €4.99/mo (~$5.40) — 15 GB total storage (shared with Drive), supports 1 custom domain, up to 10 email addresses, priority support, IMAP/SMTP via Bridge, unlimited folders/labels/filters, “hide-my-email” aliases etc. (Proton) Unlimited: €12.99/mo (~$14) — 500 GB total storage, up to 3 custom domains, up to 15 email addresses, all Plus features, full Proton suite (Drive, Calendar, etc.) (Proton) Business / Business‑oriented tiers: e.g. “Mail Essentials” starts at 15 GB/user + 10 email addresses, custom domain etc. (Proton) |
Yes — Proton has a built‑in encrypted calendar with sharing, invitations, import/export etc. (Proton) | best for those where privacy/security is a priority. For others, sometimes the missing or less mature features are noticeable. If you care about encryption & privacy and are okay with paying more or handling some friction, they are highly rated in that niche. |
PROs: On reliability: “I use ProtonMail for my business and can’t say I’ve experienced any issues, been happy with it so far.” (via Reddit) CONS: “ProtonMail’s search broken … spam filters, despite training them everyday … do not perform as expected sometimes.” Reddit |
| Mailfence | Yes — plans offer many aliases (10, 50, 100, 200 depending) | Office docs: word, spreadsheet, presentations Collaboration: yes (group editing + chat) Collaborators must sign in / have permissions | Standard IMAP/POP import for email & contacts; manual document upload | Free: 500 MB mail + 500 MB documents; no IMAP/SMTP/POP (web only), limited aliases/groups (Cloudwards)
Base (new): €2.50/mo (~$2.75) — 5 GB email + 6 GB documents, up to 10 aliases, no custom domain, filters etc. (Mailfence Blog) Entry: ~€3.50/mo (~$3.85) — 10 GB email + 30 GB documents, custom domain support, IMAP/POP/SMTP/EAS, groups, more aliases, priority support (afkar.tech) Pro / Ultra: e.g. Pro ~€7.50 (~$8.25) for 20 GB email + 24 GB documents, 50 aliases, more groups etc.; Ultra ~€25/mo (~$27) for 50 GB email + 70 GB docs, 100 aliases etc. (SaaSworthy) |
Yes — integrated calendar, supports shared calendars, CalDAV, recurring events etc. (TechRadar) | Tends to be more niche; good for those comfortable with encryption, want control, but for mainstream small businesses it’s less often top‑recommendation because of interface / user experience trade‑offs.
There’s less high volume of small business‑centered quotes online (vs Zoho / Proton / Mailbox.org), but among those who prioritize privacy and encryption. |
PROs: CONs: |
| Mailbox.org | Yes — multiple aliases, custom domain addresses etc. | Web office tools: docs, spreadsheets, presentations Collaboration: yes (multi‑user editing, sharing) Collaborators must sign in / have share permissions | Email migration via IMAP/POP; contacts/calendar import; no automated Gmail import | Light (€1.00/mo net): ~2 GB mail storage, 3 aliases @mailbox.org, calendar & address book only (no drive/office) (mailbox)
Standard (€3.00/mo): 10 GB mail, 5 GB drive memory, 25 aliases @mailbox.org, 50 aliases for custom domain, includes Office (docs/meet) & calendar etc. (mailbox) Premium (€9.00/mo): 25 GB mail, 50 GB drive memory, 25 aliases @mailbox.org, 250 aliases for custom domain, full office + calendar + meeting etc. (mailbox) Other tiers / business / “Platinum / Gold / Silver” exist for large-scale / enterprise usage. (mailbox) |
Yes — includes calendar and address book integrated, though note calendar / address book may not have the same zero‑access encryption as mail. (mailbox) | strong candidate for those who value privacy, want a custom domain, and are okay paying a bit more. People seem happy with its stability, privacy, and feature set. Some trade‑offs in polish, but many think it’s worth it. |
PROs “Private and feature‑rich … I want my mail setup to be customizable.” CONs: |
| Tutanota | Yes (but limited) — free gets 1 alias; paid plans raise that, custom domain support | Primarily email, calendar, contacts — no full docs/spreadsheet editor suite Collaboration: No (editing shared documents is not a feature) | No built-in Gmail / mailbox import; mostly manual forwarding or archive export | Free: 1 GB total storage, basic features, one calendar, one alias, limited search, cannot use custom domain (Cybernews)
Revolutionary (~€3/mo ≈ $3.30): 20 GB storage, 15 aliases, multiple calendars, unlimited folders & filters, custom domains (up to 3), auto-reply etc. (Tuta) Legend (~€8/mo ≈ $8.80): 500 GB storage, 30 aliases, unlimited calendars, up to 10 custom domains etc. (Tuta) Business / Teams / Pro plans: e.g. Premium Business ~€2.40/mo, Teams ~€6, Pro ~€8.40 etc. (Cybernews) |
Yes — Tutanota includes secure encrypted calendar integrated. (Cybernews) | very strong for privacy, simple, but sometimes frustrating for business‑type workflows that expect docs, integrations, migrations, etc. Lots of fans, but also some who switched away when they needed features. | PROs “Love the encrypted mailbox + calendar + contacts. For someone who just wants secure, private communication, Tutanota really delivers.” CONs “Miss features when comparing to Google / Office suites — document collaboration etc. Migration is a pain if you have a large Gmail archive.” |
| Zoho Mail | Yes — supports aliases, up to ~30 aliases per user (paid) | Zoho Docs / WorkDrive: Writer (word), Sheet (spreadsheets), Show (presentations), etc. Collaboration: yes (real-time) Collaborators must log in / be given access | Very strong: “One-click migration” from Google Workspace / G Suite, IMAP/POP/PST import, contact/calendar import etc. (Zoho) | Free (“Forever Free” in some regions): up to 5 users, 5 GB mail storage per user, no IMAP/POP (web only) (TechRadar)
Mail Lite (~$1/user/mo): 5 GB (or 10 GB option) for mail, includes IMAP/POP/ActiveSync, calendar, basic features (TechRadar) Mail Premium (~$4/user/mo): 50 GB mail, larger attachments, retention / email backup, S/MIME support etc. (TechRadar) Workplace / Workplace Professional etc.: includes all of Zoho Mail + WorkDrive file storage (e.g. 10 GB team storage etc.) + full suite of apps (Writer, Sheet, Show, Cliq, Meeting etc.) (SaaSworthy) |
Yes — Zoho includes Zoho Calendar with sharing, invites, embedding, alias‑invite support etc. (Zoho) | often wins for “best value vs features” for small / solo businesses. It gives a lot of what people want for a lower cost, especially if you don’t need ultra‑high security or lots of regulatory compliance. Good balance. | PROs Small biz / startup perspective: “All in all, I have been very satisfied with Zoho Mail in general … fits the small business and startup niche. Although there is some issues with user‑friendliness and processes, Zoho Mail has continued to be the best of professional email providers it can be.” (via Secret) A Reddit user (small company ~20 employees): “We find the plans, features, and prices of Zoho Mail very appealing … support is excellent … but mostly they respond to bugs or issues; for more feature‑requests they guide you to docs / wiki |
