# Proton Mail 196 Hacker News commenters recommended Proton Mail and 222 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 3 years (29 owners). **Verdict:** A privacy-focused, ad-free alternative to Gmail that stores little usable data and bundles extras like VPN and storage; critics cite feature gaps, outages and limited encryption. ## Why people recommend it - More private than big tech (9 comments): "It's not perfect, and for all I know they're sharing my info with baby-seal-clubbing pedophiles, but it sorta feels good to have escaped the thousand-year-data-reich." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155931)) "it's just the best available commercial clearweb host that still has to follow all the laws and comply with warrants, but won't be arbitrarily selling your metadata" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268201)) "Proton does offer more privacy than mainstream providers, because they have less information to hand over when courts compel them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47625062)) - Little usable data to hand over (5 comments): "your emails are E2EE at rest in your inbox, so in the event of seizure or a subpoena they can't hand over anything usable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49339949)) "this should be a point in favor of proton, seeing as how the only data they were able to hand over was payment data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48447294)) "There are plenty of problems with Proton but AFAIK not genuinely encrypting customer data is not one of them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46436079)) - Good value bundled family plans (4 comments): "I use the second one as well, but I use it so I can use VPN on some common devices the family use as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46464224)) "Considering how much I get for my Proton subscription I doubt I'll look for an alternative for a while." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381619)) "it's cheaper to pay for a family plan and get a VPN, password manager, and storage along with the email" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45849480)) - Reliable with great support (3 comments): "I've used Proton for a couple of years and have never had problems before today, so I think their engineering is of a high standard." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861688)) "I left Fastmail for Proton and am very happy with it. It improves/changes in fits and starts sometimes, but support is always great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48387053)) "I've always had a very good experience with them. It's cheap, fast and their spam filter works well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46735311)) ## What people warn about - Encryption limited outside Proton (4 comments): "Maybe Proton’s copy needs some work, but another page on their website very clearly explains that emails aren’t encrypted when an email leave the ecosystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49719433)) "The way ProtonMail works in the browser is a nice way for Proton to minimise the data they collect, but it's not E2EE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034620)) "Their end-to-end encryption is pointless because the vast majority of any recipients will just leak the plaintext emails via their own account providers anyway." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47268027)) - Barebones apps, missing features (6 comments): "I do like Proton Mail. The main thing I hate is how often the app and web versions get out of sync for read and archive states." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47488924)) "the main trade-off for me is that you are forced to use their apps on mobile, and those apps are pretty barebones" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48503709)) "I've had no issues with the app lately, but it's still missing the feature of building a local search index" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46432799)) - Shares data with authorities (4 comments): "Yes, paying by crypto prevents Proton from disclosing your identity that way. Is there anything preventing Proton from disclosing the email content or metadata?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47625166)) "it absolutely should be news when the company who heavily promoted themselves to normies as safe, encrypted, and private is sharing customers data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269960)) "Protonmail is widely believed to be compromised and some evidence supporting this has come forth in two separate incidents in the last year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47786659)) - Distracted by AI, side projects (5 comments): "When a CEO calls people "losers" for caring about security, and when the CEO considers it a failure that they don't have hockey stick growth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50308266)) "ProtonMail also does this. Someone actually told me they got an email from me and when I checked it said “this mail was AI generated”." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45849597)) "But people subscribe to Proton because they want to move away from big tech. What's the point of paying them if they get as bad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46736194)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Fastmail](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fastmail.md): 388 recommend - [Tuta Mail](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tuta.md): 49 recommend - [Rootshell email service](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rootshell.md): 7 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://proton.me/mail) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Proton Mail", https://hackerapproved.com/p/proton-mail/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).