Gmail is probably the most well-known. In 2016 TechCrunch reported that Gmail had 1 billion active monthly users. Are you one of those 1 billion? Which email service provider are you using and why?
Our Opinion
Miguel reports he uses two services. He uses Gmail “for work because he is able to hook up other email addresses into one box, unifying all of the addresses” he has. He uses it for personal use as well. He also uses a dark web onion email address for “sticky situations” where he has to interview or communication with regards to sensitive information. He adds “it’s particularly useful when I am performing investigations on people working in that space.” If ProtonMail supported the addition of multiple email addresses, he’d consider switching. Ryan isn’t really sure why he uses Gmail, but he adopted it a long time ago. It does everything he needs, and he’s used to the layout. He’s sure other email clients work just as well, or perhaps even better, but he subscribes to the “don’t fix it if it isn’t broken” rule. But he’s pretty sure he has an old AOL account he hasn’t looked at in over a decade.
Damien has been using Gmail for a long time. He has linked various accounts together so that he can access them all in one inbox. “I’ve been quite paranoid about Google collecting data and have been planning to switch, but I haven’t found one that is as capable and flexible as Gmail.” For now, he’s still on Gmail and believes he will be for the foreseeable future. Ada uses Gmail for backward compatibility reasons – for both personal and work – and uses ProtonMail for security. Yet all her Gmail accounts forward into her ProtonMail, so she only has one inbox. Over her past two years using ProtonMail, she has no complaints, “except for the occasional downtime, but this is unavoidable.” Alex asks how he could possibly not be using Gmail. He finds it superior to all the other services he has tried. He knows people (especially his dad) will say that Google reads all your email, but his are not that interesting that he would care who reads them. If they did, he would guess his emails “are the least interesting thing I do online in terms of advertiser-relevant data collection.” Kenneth explains Gmail is his favorite and is the one he uses for all his communication. He’s also used Outlook and Yahoo, but they aren’t even remotely comparable to Gmail. He loves that “Gmail has a feature that allows you to sign out from all devices remotely, which can come in handy should you lose your phone or forget to sign out from a public computer.” Simon has been using Gmail ever since the beta invites were sent out. “It may be because I’m so enfranchised with Gmail, but I find it hard to use other email providers to get what I want done.” One of his business emails uses Outlook, and he’s sometimes tempted to port that address to GSuite just to avoid using Outlook.
Andrew uses KolabNow, a privacy-focused Swiss email service he started using when it was in beta still. He doesn’t use the webmail interface and only accesses it through Thunderbird or a smartphone app, so the lack of features doesn’t really bother him. He’s been thinking about trying ProtonMail as well, “since it’s got a fun back story (designed by former CERN physicists).” He knows that no matter how secure your inbox is, as soon as your email hits the open Web, you may as well be using AOL. But he sticks with it because he got a discount for being a beta user, and it’s now the address everyone has for him. I use Gmail as well. I had several different ones, and Yahoo was my main email, but I got really tired of the spam and switched to Gmail for my personal use. I have one for a website that I’m not currently updating that I just port over to Gmail so that it will get rid of the spam. That said, I also still have the Yahoo and don’t ever look at it and also have one from my ISP that I don’t use. However, those extra accounts are good for filling out forms that ask for an email when you don’t want to be contacted and are also good for setting up a Facebook account for my dog.
Your Opinion
It seems most of our writers are using Gmail but are open to using another system if they find one that’s better. Do you use Gmail as well for the same reason? Or do you use a different email? Which email service provider are you using and why? Join our conversation about email service providers in the comments section below.
