I switched from Gmail to Proton mail: 5 eye-opening takeaways

1. Proton has anonymous sign-up

At no stage during the sign-up process for Proton’s free-tier account was I ever asked for any credentials, like my name, birth date, or my gender. That level of anonymity is great for keeping your personal identity safe and secure. Gmail, on the other hand, asks for more information, some of which feels a tad intrusive.

2. Proton offers custom domains

While creating my free username at Proton mail, I got the option of selecting one of two different domains – either a @Proton.me account or a @Protonmail.com account, which is one more than Gmail.

But should I choose to upgrade to one of the paid plan options at some stage in the future, I’ll be able to register a domain and use it as a custom domain for my email, in the format [email protected]

3. Proton doesn’t have ads or tracking

Unlike Gmail, which displayed ads and tracked my data, Proton mail is ad free and doesn’t log my IP address or track my email activity.

4. Proton has end-to-end encryption

Proton mail provides strong end-to-end and zero-access encryption, which means that only I and the email recipient can decrypt and read emails. Emails are encrypted on my device before reaching servers, which means that even Proton AG, the company running the mail servers can’t read my emails.

Gmail does have client-side end-to-end encryption but it’s very new and not a universal feature for all users. Right now, this feature is only available to enterprise users

5. Proton is subject to strong privacy laws

The Proton mail service is owned by the not-for-profit Proton Foundation through its subsidiary Proton AG, which also operates Proton VPN. As many users of the company’s VPN service know, Proton is Swiss owned so it’s subject to some of the strictest data privacy laws in the world. That’s a bonus for keeping my data safe and secure.

Gmail, on the other hand, is owned by Google, an American company, which is not subject to such strict privacy legislation.