[-warren]

After 21 years of hosting my own email server, starting with roll-your-own (anyone else remember sendmail.cf?) and moving to boxed solutions such as mox or mailcow, I gave up. Maintaining IP reputation and keeping up with the neverending set of arbitrary rules (spf, dkim, etc) I found my time was worth something too. Doing an honest ROI calculation, I figured i was spending 2 hours on average each month keeping the plumbing going. For me, that was well-worth the ~15/month that proton charges. I bet there are other good ones out there too!

To be honest though, throughout those decades, I learned a vast amount about how email flows. That knowledge is irreplaceable.

My recommendation is to try your own until you really, REALLY understand it. Then move to a paid solution.