I've decided to leave Proton after being a user since 2017. Today, I migrated all my services to my new domain, marking the end of my time with Proton. The recent political noise and price point were no longer justifiable for me. It was a good experience while it lasted. Thanks for the fishes 🐟 🐠
I'm onboarding onto Proton now (but WITH my own domain, so I'll never have to change e-mails again (well, unless I turn out to be trans later and change my name)).
For mail I've heard of Tuta, I think that's the only serious alternative.
Ah. I tried tuta, back when I decided to go for proton instead. Their security requirements were more restrictive than I was able to allow for regular email use, although I don't remember the details of what they were, anymore.
I think the most common alternatives I see recommended are Mullvad and IVPN. Both have a great track record, but also both lack port forwarding if that is an essential feature for you.
PIA is notable for still having port forwarding; Something many other VPNs have ditched. So on that one point, they’re better than others.
However, 4 or 5 years ago they were bought by a company (Kape Technology, formerly known as Crossrider) that has a history of stuffing adware into their programs. Like their business model was basically:
Buy popular program
Stuff it with adware
Get short term profit off of existing user base
Abandon program after users have fled
Repeat
Since a VPN provider’s only real source of legitimacy is public trust, the Kape buyout had a lot of customers fleeing to alternatives like Proton. So far, the PIA app has been fine. But Kape could decide at any point to just pump it full of adware and run away with arms full of cash, like they have done in the past. Also, Kape is (or at least was, at the time of the buyout) headed by a known Israeli intelligence agent. So that was another big thing that sent customers scrambling to alternatives.
They stopped their official Mastodon presence citing having not enough resources to maintain communities everywhere, which caused outrage among the Fediverse.
Previously, they vocally supported the actions of Trump administration on the matters of Internet privacy, which caused a massive backlash.
So, essentially, they have alienated a lot of userbase by making questionable moves.
Same for me, just in the process of updating my mail adress everywhere again right now.
My renewal was just coming up and I also couldn't justify it. I've switched to a personal domain with my E-Mail and use Infomaniak for mail, calendar and cloud storage an Keepass as my password manager. Positive side effect, I only pay half of what I've paid for Proton.
What did the migration entail for you? I reckon it's a huge effort to move the mailing provider. I expect the calendar to be the most straightforward service to move.
If you have a custom domain I assume it's pretty easy? Just swap the dns
If you have to do it manually - hit all of the important financial ones, then update them every time you get an email. Make sure your storage is under the free tier limit for anything you forgot. (GDPR for you email history as a single download)
It's not just about a single issue, the company has changed significantly over the past 8 years. It has grown too large and now offers many products that I don't use. As a result, it no longer aligns with my needs, and I've decided to take more control, similar to when I stopped using Gmail. I'm not suggesting you should stop using it, I'm just making a personal choice that works for me.
I agree on the products thing. Bitcoin Wallet? WTF. While their staff says supporting drive sync on Linux is hard. (Yet seafile, and Google drive work on Linux)
Then it's not about that political crap. It's about it not being what you're looking for. And that's fine. But say that instead of the politics being the major reason you're leaving.
Edit :
And yes it has changed in 8 years.
It improved by providing more than a sinple VPN or a simple email service. But offering a whole suite of tools to compete with Google, which is a pretty fucking ambitious project.
They also changed to being owned by a non profit foundation with a clear mission to which they are legally tied to with a seriously competent team.
Andrew Yan made ONE comment about ONE decision Trump took. Sure it was a stupid comment. But PROTON isn't bad because of this. They're being run by a foundation with some pretty competent and knowledgeable people on the board of directors, if you ever bothered to look.
Ça sert a rien d'être nuancé ici, regardes mon historique de commentaires, les 2 avec -30 votes sont liés exactement au même sujet. Attends toi à la même chose 😁
Oui je sais. C'est con. Tout le monde Embarqué sur le bandwagon sans aucune pensée critique ni aucune nuance. C'est noir ou c'est blanc. Ça résume pas mal l'état des choses en ce moment.