I can give you one bad experience example from a couple years back. Signed up to Protonmail to test out how well it works when you try to use it anonymously, paid for a year via crypto, then at some point stopped using it.
When I came back to it later, and my subscription had expired, instead of downgrading my account to the free version, they wouldn't allow me to access any of my emails until I renewed my account for another year.
I have proton and remember reading that as well. Paid accounts have additional features (aliases, extra addresses) that will be disabled. The reasoning is to prevent them from being reused by maliciously. Iirc, the conditions were clearly spelled out, same as the fact that mail is encrypted and can only be recovered by the user.
Proton is perfectly fine and as secure as email gets. I would think there is some sort of a FUD campaign going on against them, if I didn’t believe that people are dumb enough to endlessly spout bullshit on topics they know nothing about without external motivation.
I've noticed that here as well, specifically with Proton. Some sort of cultural quirk I suppose. I'll keep using their service, until I see some more tangible criticism on their security. I've had positive experiences overall. Yes the extra security makes some things harder, like searching. That is a fair tradeoff for me.
Only real complaint I have is that Proton Drive is web-only. No supported API, either. We desperately need a Linux CLI and/or sync tool.
Edit: I meant a Linux tool. There are windows/mac/ios/android apps. Updated my post.
Also mostly positive experiences, and indeed extra security makes some things harder.
I think you don't hear about the 'silent majority' as much on the internet versus the small minority that's frustrated about something and complains about it.
Proton is simply the best service available at the moment if you value privacy above best usability.
Having said that, there are some limitations that need solving, for example;
- can't increase text size in emails (iOS app.) such a basic feature... (you can only pinch to zoom which doesn't work on a small screen.) Some emails are nearly impossible to read.
- searching is terrible (it's much much better in the web client, you can even search mail contents there.)
- can't get notifications for specific email threads / contacts
For now, i'm happy to pay a company that invests in my privacy, and thereby support future improvements.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We're working on improving the search as well as other features in our mobile apps, so keep an eye on our channels for updates!
When I came back to it later, and my subscription had expired, instead of downgrading my account to the free version, they wouldn't allow me to access any of my emails until I renewed my account for another year.