Both auto-forwarding and auto-reply are paid features, which makes cancelling & switching much more difficult. Gmail is a breeze comparatively. I highly recommend against using their addresses (e.g. protonmail.com, proton.me, pm.me)
Email forwarding is available for everyone with a paid Proton Mail plan.
(source)
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You forgot to mention the aliases
No, Proton email addresses do not. I have ProtonMail addresses using my domain. If tomorrow I point to another email provider, Proton can do nothing about it.
Being paid feature vs free is not vendor lock-in.
You are spreading misinformation, either by misrepresenting the situation or by not understanding what “vendor” (an arguable term since apparently you are focusing on the free version) is lock-in means.
I think OP is overblowing things, and is especially misguided in recommending gmail, but at the same time, they do have a valid point and I think you’re somewhat misrepresenting what they said.
For one, they specifically said that the proton domain email addresses are problematic (
protonmail.com,pm.me), and weren’t talking about custom domains that sit in front of Proton mail.For two, their point is valid. Auto-forwarding being paid, does create vendor lock-in and make it hard to switch away from Protonmail if you use the OOTB addresses. It’s something worth considering.
As you said, the recommendation should be to use a custom domain that sits in front of Protonmail rather than switching to Gmail, but paid auto-forwarding is a valid criticism.
The details might be technically correct but then the title is rage bait.
I have Proton Mail addresses using my domain.
Those are your addresses then not Proton’s. Hence why switching is easy and is irrelevant to my complaint which is specific to the domains listed
Wikipedia says…
In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs.
If I want to switch away I have to pay every month in perpetuity to deliver emails to my new provider. In other words, I’ll always have to be a customer
Because you wouldn’t be actually switching so that’s not lock-in, that’s just you expecting free stuff forever.
Anyway, I understand your point. I also want free stuff and I also want all my free stuff to be exactly what I need. My criticism is more than you selecting a provider, not paying for it, know what the problem is then complain it’s not what you need despite knowing it in advance. What also was problematic for me is that your title is not correct.
Finally, maybe you are technically right (which I do not believe) but you can see from the total number of downvotes to your post and the upvotes on my comments that, at least in this community, your interpretation is being quite criticized.
To end on a pragmatic note : please PLEASE do get funding (it does not have to be your own money) for Proton to provide forwarding for free for all email addresses. I’m sure nobody on this community would complain about that, I surely won’t!
PS: if you are into lock-in and tech, consider reading “Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy” by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian - ISBN 087584863X - Harvard Business Press 1998 and if it’s a bit too much here are my notes on it https://fabien.benetou.fr/ReadingNotes/InformationRules written 15 years ago.
My criticism is more than you selecting a provider, not paying for it, know what the problem is then complain it’s not what you need despite knowing it in advance.
I was a paying customer. I was not aware of this functionality being paid. If I had been aware, I wouldn’t have used Proton addresses. Now I’m facing the consequences after switching. Others have commented being in the same position,
you can see from the total number of downvotes to your post and the upvotes on my comments
If you think I care, you’re wrong. The point of this post is to remind and inform, not argue over technical definitions. If it helps one person then it’s served its purpose
What have you switched to?
You do not have to care. I’m only highlighting that according to this community your post is precisely not “informing” much.
Also while checking your history https://lemmy.ml/post/19526546 it seems to be a pattern of misunderstanding then blaming it on others.
I guess that’s what not arguing over petty details like “technical definitions” might result in.
Please do not use Proton if you do not think it’s appropriate for your usage. Please do inform others about problems you do encounter. Please do note though that when you are misrepresenting the situation, e.g. with titles that are shortcuts and thus incorrect, you are NOT helping.
How do you expect anything to be completely free?
A better question would be, why do domains cost so much.
Thank you for raising this point.
Are there even other privacy-respecting email providers that are fit for the job? I’m genuinely curious.
EDIT: I absolute hate doing this, but I want to understand: Why is this getting downvoted?
