What is ProtonMail?
We have already introduced ProtonVPN to you. High time for a ProtonMail review! Read here about our personal ProtonMail experiences. How secure is the e-mail service with end-to-end encryption? What about usability? And what about the ProtonMail costs? Is there a good ProtonMail VPN alternative? We’ll tell you in our ProtonMail review!
Swiss quality: ProtonMail & ProtonVPN
ProtonMail was founded in Switzerland in 2013 by CERN scientists to ensure data security and neutrality. Today it has developed into the world’s largest encrypted e-mail network. Shortly afterward the team released ProtonVPN. You can read more about the Premium VPN in our ProtonMail VPN review.
Starting ProtonMail
So let’s get started with our ProtonMail review! The ProtonMail sign-in is wonderfully simple and very fast. As benefits an encrypted e-mail service, you don’t have to enter 
Creating a ProtonMail account
To create your account just go to protonmail.com, do the ProtonMail sign in and you are seeing the ProtonMail login screen. You just have to set your desired mail address (ending protonmail.com) and a password. But be careful: If you forget or lose your password, you will not have access to your mails anymore. Not even ProtonMail itself. However, you can enter a recovery e-mail address if you wish.
A clear user interface, familiar functions
Encrypted communication and sending encrypted e-mails sound complicated at first. But that must not be this way, as our ProtonMail review shows. The user interface is clean, straightforward and lacks none of the features you’re used to from other providers. After your ProtonMail login, you can create folders and categories and also choose your layout. You’ll find some options in the settings. There you can also add your design if you want.
Sending e-mails in the ProtonMail review
ProtonMail works with end-to-end encryption. This means that when you send an e-mail it is encrypted. The recipient then only receives a link that takes him to a login screen. There he must enter his key. This is the password you have assigned. If the password is correct, your e-mail will open. If you want, you can enter help with the password. In any case: Due to this end-to-end encryption, nobody can read your e-mail except the recipient. Even ProtonMail VPN has no access. ProtonMail works easily with other e-mail services.
Normal communication with other recipients
Sending e-mails works the same as with other providers except for the password entry. If you send an e-mail to not ProtonMail users, just click on the small lock and start the encryption. You can communicate normally with recipients with a .gmx, Gmail or other address. Only more secure. If you send an e-mail to another ProtonMail user, you don’t have to encrypt it separately.
Self-destructive e-mails
One exciting thing we discovered in the ProtonMail VPN test: self-destructive e-mails. In principle, the link to your e-mail is already marked with an “expiration date”. This is 27 days. But you have the option of setting a completely individual expiration date for your encrypted e-mails. When this expires, the e-mails are automatically deleted from the recipient’s inbox.
What about the ProtonMail costs?
ProtonMail is available in two versions: The first is the free version, which we’ve introduced to you here. It can do everything you need to send an e-mail. However, you only have 500 MB online storage and 150 messages per day. Also limited in the basic version is the support and you cannot set up a signature. Then there’s ProtonMail Plus for the current price of 4 euros a month. For this you get 5 GB storage space, 1000 e-mails per day, preferred support, addresses with your domain, etc. Besides you can also choose Visionary or Professional. Here you can get ProtonMail.
ProtonMail Apps
For this ProtonMail review, we have taken a look at the desktop version. Of course, you can also use ProtonMail on the go with the ProtonMail apps. There is an iOS and macOS app as well as one for Android.
Is there a good ProtonMail alternative?
If you are interested in a ProtonMail alternative, this Tutanota review will certainly be helpful for you. But there are also other e-mail providers with high security, privacy, and anonymity.
New features 2020 & 2021
ProtonMail always works on optimizing its service. In this section we tell you, what new features the provider offers. Just check out for yourself!
Keyboard shortcuts
In the V4 web app, ProtonMail has introduced keyboard shortcuts – these are available here. (note: you will have to activate the feature yourself in the settings). Included are shortcuts for archiving mails, navigating, individual filters etc.
ProtonCalendar: new invitation function
iOS & iPad: ProtonMail as default app
In the latest ProtonMail versions for your iPad or iPhone, you can set ProtonMail as the default email app (since late 2020). This means that “mailto” links then are opened in ProtonMail instead of Apple’s Mail app. Now this may not be a mega change, but again it supports your privacy as you can better control how you send and receive data on your own device. In general, this option is a big step in the fight against Apple’s casteism – because of course the company wants users to use Safari exclusively as their browser etc. However, many users are increasingly resisting this coercion, and Proton is also campaigning for free app choice with Apple.
Things to know beyond our ProtonMail review
ProtonMail relies on end-to-end encryption. For this purpose, the service uses only secure and reliable implementations of AES, RSA, and OpenPGP. To eliminate secret backdoors ProtonMail VPN uses only open-source encryption libraries Open Source. Additionally, the provider uses SSL. This secures the communication between your computer and the server.
Our ProtonMail review conclusion
Our ProtonMail VPN experiences have been consistently positive. ProtonMail is a recommendable choice for all those who value more data protection and privacy. And all this without any great effort and easy to use. You even can use it for free. When you take a look at ProtonMail vs Gmail ProtonMail might be the the more secure choice.
Erstellt am: 12/28/2019
