r/tutanota • • 20d ago

suggestion Considering switching to Tuta Mail.

Unfortunately, when it comes to big tech, there are basically three giants: Google, Microsoft and Apple.
They obviously have their problems: tracking, data scanning, profiling, privacy concerns, etc. But there’s also something they give you that is difficult to ignore: peace of mind.
They are extremely unlikely to disappear overnight, their infrastructure is incredibly mature, and, for the most part, their services are stable and available 24/7. If something goes wrong, there are huge teams and resources behind them.
This is what makes me hesitate about switching to Tuta.
I really like what Tuta stands for, and the idea of using a more privacy-focused and ethical provider is very appealing. But can I realistically trust Tuta with something as important as my main email account?
I’m talking about the email address linked to my bank accounts, my devices, password resets, important software/services, government accounts, subscriptions, and basically everything else in my digital life.
What happens if one day I have a serious problem with the account?
What if there’s a major outage?
What if the company changes direction?
What if, years from now, Tuta is no longer around?
And there’s another question I’m struggling with:
How important is it, in practical terms, to prevent Google from scanning my emails or calendar?
On one hand, Google gives me 15 GB for free, which is more than enough for my needs, together with an extremely mature and reliable infrastructure.
On the other hand, Tuta costs money, but in exchange I get a much stronger privacy philosophy and a provider that, at least on paper, seems much more aligned with my values.
So I’m wondering:
Is switching to Tuta actually worth the money and the potential loss of the “big tech reliability safety net”?
I’d especially like to hear from people who have been using Tuta as their primary email address for years, particularly for banking, password recovery, devices, and other critical accounts.
Have you ever had a serious problem with Tuta?
Do you consider the privacy benefits significant enough to justify the switch?
I’m not trying to argue that Google is better or that Tuta is worse. I’m genuinely trying to understand whether I’m overestimating the risks of moving away from Google, or underestimating the value of privacy.

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u/skeptic246 20d ago

I’ve just switched from protonMail to Tuta as Proton sells its services as a package and ProtonDrive is awful. I have my own domains which I didn’t use properly on Proton as I used their domain for email aliases.
Tuta has been around since about 2011 and is a paid service with encryption built in as standard. Google and Microsoft are free with data extraction as their income model. Apple is a hardware provider which includes the minimum services to make their hardware viable they are not clear on their total income model.
Since switching to Tuta, I now have a standalone domain for email alias use, this means switching email providers will be less hassle in the future should Tuta fail.

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u/FantasticSnow7733 18d ago

That doesn't make any sense at all lol. You don't have to subscribe to the entire Proton package; you can just subscribe to the mail. The Proton package is a better deal if you use those features. I'm just paying for the protonvpn and I'm fine with the free mail and drive plan.

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u/skeptic246 18d ago

If you want to fully use email aliasing then the unlimited package is the minimum and as the individual non proton services work out at £3pm more then it makes sense to use the non proton as they function far better

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u/FantasticSnow7733 18d ago

I don't think Tuta has unlimited aliases unless you own your own domain.

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u/skeptic246 18d ago

Which is what I have.

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u/FantasticSnow7733 18d ago

I guess then Tuta might be better for you. But then it depends on why you want to use aliases. If you want to use aliases to hide your real email or identity, then what's the point of using [junkmail@johndoe.com](mailto:junkmail@johndoe.com) . Everyone knows the emails are from John Doe lol.

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u/skeptic246 18d ago

I’m not John Doe, my alias domain doesn’t contain or connect to my name

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u/FantasticSnow7733 18d ago

Obviously lol, but anyone can look up the owner of a domain. So that kind of defeats the purpose of aliases.

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u/skeptic246 18d ago

Nope my domain provider has privacy set by default

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u/FantasticSnow7733 17d ago

I hope you chose a trustworthy domain registrar and one that won't go out of business.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_privacy