[masnick]

I switched from Gmail to Fastmail back in 2013 [1] and haven't looked back.

Fastmail has continued to make significant improvements, while keeping the interface lean and functional.

It seems to me like $3/month is worth it for a service as critical as email.

[1]: https://www.maxmasnick.com/2013/07/19/fastmail/ and discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6069944

[jw14]

I agree $3/month is reasonable for email, but since the encryption backdoor laws passed in Australia in Dec 2018, I've been avoiding Australian software.

[thekyle]

Would the Australian encryption laws impact Fastmail that much? AFAIK their emails were never encrypted at rest to begin with so someone with a warrant could always have gotten in.

[masnick]

You should take a look at https://fastmail.blog/2018/09/10/access-and-assistance-bill/. They say it doesn’t affect their customers.

[octotoad]

While the legislation introduced by the Australian government is certainly worrying and should never had been enacted, I've always operated under the assumption that if any government agency around the world really wants to get to my encrypted data or traffic, they'll likely be able to use/abuse some sort of loophole in their current processes and laws anyway.

[benhurmarcel]

It's a shame that they don't propose a reduced price for families. The $3-5 add up.

[microtonal]

Fastmail has continued to make significant improvements, while keeping the interface lean and functional.

And they are making open standards (JMAP) and contributing to the Cyrus IMAP server.

Moreover, they will soon have labels :) (currently in beta).