<aside> <img src="/icons/drafts_gray.svg" alt="/icons/drafts_gray.svg" width="40px" /> TLDR: I use Fastmail for everything personal, Gmail for the rest.
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As time progresses, I increasingly find myself leaning towards more decentralised systems that can diligently uphold my standards of privacy.
When it comes to email, I found the most efficient strategy to be: purchase a domain name (like rahier.nl in my case) and use this with an independent email service provider's account. If, at some point, I am discontented with the provider, I can smoothly transition to another service without having to alter my email address, as I retain ownership of the domain name.
When it comes to choice, there are several independent email providers readily available, and all of them allow you to use your personal domain. Examples include @Tutanota, @Fastmail and @Protonmail. I selected Fastmail because, as the name suggests, its speed is a standout feature. I can use it with any email client, effortlessly syncs my Google contacts, and overall provides a lightning-fast email service.
I personally don't view email as a secure communication medium by default. An exception to this would be if my emails were end-to-end encrypted. This implies that both sender and recipient possess a unique encryption key known only to them. Services like ProtonMail and Tutanota have this feature built-in, but it necessitates that both parties use a service that encrypts emails. In my case, this is unnecessary 99% of the time.
Email encryption also does come with its drawbacks. ProtonMail, for instance, can be significantly slow as it needs to encrypt and decrypt your emails each time you wish to read one.
One feature I really like about Fastmail is the ability to set up a “catch-all” email address. This means that emails to any address at my domain, such as [email protected] or [email protected], can be delivered straight to my inbox. This flexibility allows me to create an unlimited number of email addresses.
I took advantage of this feature by aligning it with my password manager's folder structure. For instance, if I have a folder labelled "Admin," I can use [email protected] for all related services. Subsequently, I created an "Admin" folder within Fastmail and created a rule to automatically direct all emails from that specific address to the corresponding folder in Fastmail. This process was repeated for every folder, ensuring a streamlined and well-organised setup.