This week, we take a detailed look at why Gabe switched to and continues to use Introducing FastMail Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 0:00 FastMail(affiliate link) is an online email provider that is a compelling alternative to Gmail and iCloud (seriously?) mail. “That sounds like an accusation” An Australian company offering a paid service with a strong feature set (even if they are based in a Five Eyes country) their strong suit is their highly responsive support model, which uses real human beings. Types of Accounts Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 2:55 On their lowest plan, you can use one of several different preexisting domains, but you can pay more to use your own. At the time of writing, the pricing for FastMail personal accounts breaks down like this: $10/yr for 250MB of email $20/yr for 1GB $40/yr for 15GB $120/yr for 60GB You can also purchase more storage space as needed. FastMail Accounts FastMail supports several levels of individual accounts. Most of the difference between the individual account types can be chalked up to storage space allocation. If you need tons of mail storage then you’ll need to pay for it. The FastMail web app allows multiple accounts, with fast access to any account right on the landing page. There’s no real reason to logout before accessing a different account. I’ve also used the business account from FastMail. It’s a nearly identical experience except for two differences: There’s an option so email between employees on a business account stay on the FastMail servers. As an administrator, you get control over granting, locking and archiving employee accounts. I have not used the Family plan. It allows you to combine multiple personal accounts under one bill but you also get the option to share contacts and calendars as well as administer and monitor accounts for the kids. For the security conscious (and who isn’t these days) you can set up Two Factor Authentication. FastMail has a very sane view of security, which is evident in its communications on the subject. They do everything possible on their end to maintain the security of your email but take care to point out that without using email encryption software such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or [Secure/Multipurpose Internet mail Extensions S/MIME), webmail remains flawed from a security standpoint. A good indication In reality, webmail is as private as a postcard, and efforts to claim otherwise are disingenuous at best. As FastMail’s security page points out, Hushmail turned over unencrypted email to the U.S. Government when served with a court order, in accordance with their privacy policy. Take note of this, a privacy-oriented email service stores your unencrypted email. I much prefer FastMail’s take on security than one that can’t really deliver what it promises. With their robust featureset, and a quick webapp, Gabe thinks FastMail actually can make email fun again. “I actually really love email” So Many Email Accounts Let’s clear the skeletons out of the closet. Over the years I’ve used AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail for email. There have been many more through various university accounts. It’s almost all out of my reach now. But for the past 5+ years I’ve primarily used my own domains for email. That makes it mine more than any other service. I highly recommend owning your own domain and getting an email address on that domain. Your email address will always be yours and you can point it to a new email provider, usually with little effort. The FastMail Web App Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 5:22 Gabe started off with FastMail by using regular email apps and connecting through IMAP. Eventually the FastMail Web App won him over, with its speed, design, and liberal use of keyboard shortcuts. FastMail Web App on the Desktop The FastMail Web
This week, we take a detailed look at why Gabe switched to and continues to use Introducing FastMail Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 0:00 FastMail(affiliate link) is an online email provider that is a compelling alternative to Gmail and iCloud (seriously?) mail. “That sounds like an accusation” An Australian company offering a paid service with a strong feature set (even if they are based in a Five Eyes country) their strong suit is their highly responsive support model, which uses real human beings. Types of Accounts Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 2:55 On their lowest plan, you can use one of several different preexisting domains, but you can pay more to use your own. At the time of writing, the pricing for FastMail personal accounts breaks down like this: $10/yr for 250MB of email $20/yr for 1GB $40/yr for 15GB $120/yr for 60GB You can also purchase more storage space as needed. FastMail Accounts FastMail supports several levels of individual accounts. Most of the difference between the individual account types can be chalked up to storage space allocation. If you need tons of mail storage then you’ll need to pay for it. The FastMail web app allows multiple accounts, with fast access to any account right on the landing page. There’s no real reason to logout before accessing a different account. I’ve also used the business account from FastMail. It’s a nearly identical experience except for two differences: There’s an option so email between employees on a business account stay on the FastMail servers. As an administrator, you get control over granting, locking and archiving employee accounts. I have not used the Family plan. It allows you to combine multiple personal accounts under one bill but you also get the option to share contacts and calendars as well as administer and monitor accounts for the kids. For the security conscious (and who isn’t these days) you can set up Two Factor Authentication. FastMail has a very sane view of security, which is evident in its communications on the subject. They do everything possible on their end to maintain the security of your email but take care to point out that without using email encryption software such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or [Secure/Multipurpose Internet mail Extensions S/MIME), webmail remains flawed from a security standpoint. A good indication In reality, webmail is as private as a postcard, and efforts to claim otherwise are disingenuous at best. As FastMail’s security page points out, Hushmail turned over unencrypted email to the U.S. Government when served with a court order, in accordance with their privacy policy. Take note of this, a privacy-oriented email service stores your unencrypted email. I much prefer FastMail’s take on security than one that can’t really deliver what it promises. With their robust featureset, and a quick webapp, Gabe thinks FastMail actually can make email fun again. “I actually really love email” So Many Email Accounts Let’s clear the skeletons out of the closet. Over the years I’ve used AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail for email. There have been many more through various university accounts. It’s almost all out of my reach now. But for the past 5+ years I’ve primarily used my own domains for email. That makes it mine more than any other service. I highly recommend owning your own domain and getting an email address on that domain. Your email address will always be yours and you can point it to a new email provider, usually with little effort. The FastMail Web App Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 5:22 Gabe started off with FastMail by using regular email apps and connecting through IMAP. Eventually the FastMail Web App won him over, with its speed, design, and liberal use of keyboard shortcuts. FastMail Web App on the Desktop The FastMail Web