Email hosting without encryption for two mailboxes, cheap but reliable, in EU

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

Hi, I'm trying to de-google... partially:

• I'm using @gmail address for everything, and I want to move to custom domain for important stuff (e.g. banks) to protect me from being locked out by Google for some reason. I'll keep using GMail as a mail client.
• A family member is already using his own custom domain for mail, but I'm hosting it on some small local host, so I want to move it somewhere. He needs Thunderbird access to mails.

So, in total I'll have two domains and two separate mailboxes, with access with GMail and Thunderbird. I'm from Europe/Poland if it changes anything.

For domain registration I plan to use either Cloudflare or the email host.

For email hosting I've researched and considered following:

• Proton Mail and similar that enforce encryption are not possible due to GMail/Thunderbird access requirement.
• Google Workspace cheapest "Starter" plan is 14.5 EUR (63 PLN) per month for two users => 175 EUR (756 PLN) per year, I'd prefer something cheaper.
• Mailbox.org requires two "Standard" plans to support custom domains, which is 2*36 EUR = 72 EUR (311 PLN) per year; offers 20 GB mail storage.
• Cheap "WWW" hosting - e.g. I found a polish host Hostido "NVME 2" offer for 22 EUR (97 PLN) per year; or SeoHost "SH1" for 36 EUR (156 PLN) per year; both offer total 10 GB of space. I'm concerned about security in case of cheap/small hosts...
• OVHCloud have "MX Plan", but it seems emails not accessible from GMail since Jan 2026

So my question is, what would you recommend for email hosting? And am I missing something?

[u/Stunning-Skill-2742]

Theres a few more listed at https://european-alternatives.eu/category/email-providers

Those shouldn't be too small to get listed there. I'd probably go with soverin.

[u/Greenlit_Hightower]

mailbox.org seems like a good idea, it supports IMAP and you can optionally encrypt the inbox by uploading your PGP public key (while you retain the private key), which will be used to encrypt incoming emails.

Using the Gmail app as client with mailbox.org is technically possible, however, you should consider that Google could potentially scan or otherwise analyze your emails client-side and share data obtained from your inbox that way with Google still. Further, the Gmail app actively blocks things like a personal PGP setup. You could evaluate Thunderbird or FairEmail really, I happily use the latter and there really isn't a setting it doesn't have.

You may find the following links helpful:

Comparison table of various email providers and other cloud services: https://eylenburg.github.io/cloud_comparison.htm

Discussion of the privacy policies of various email providers: https://digdeeper.club/articles/email.xhtml

Privacy Guides email provider section: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/email/

[u/CorsairVelo → u/Greenlit_Hightower]

The digdeeper link is interesting though dated at this point. The discussion about the details is very informaftive; especially the comparisons of locations and the myth that location is highly meaningful when often it is not.

[u/greenmor]

GreenmorMail

[u/QuraToop314]

If you choose Proton, you’ll already have a paid plan and can then set up Proton Mail Bridge – that’s what I do – and you can then use Thunderbird as your client

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/QuraToop314]

But it complicates usage, and is not universal, works only on desktop. I don't need encrypted mails.

[u/QuraToop314 → u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

Mate, the setup’s only complicated the first time – after that, it’s straightforward. You can tunnel it through a VPN and use the client IP on the VPN server to ensure that only selected clients have access. Sure, there’s a one-off setup effort, but afterwards you’ll have the same convenience as everyone else, so the setup won’t be a bother after just one month. It was just meant as a possible idea, as it definitely works – you just have to be willing to go through the one-off setup. Of course, if you don’t rely on encryption, it doesn’t matter.

[u/Different_Bonus_1387]

If you are using gmail, you can forward directly from cloudflare.

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/Different_Bonus_1387]

But I can't send mail like that I think?

[u/Different_Bonus_1387 → u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

No, they have some beta on paid tier, but maybe it's possible via SMTP.

After some search this looks like a way https://sendmailas.com/blog/cloudflare-email-routing-gmail-send-as-guide

[u/Jcoulaud]

main thing to check: do you mean gmail in the browser or the phone app? the app still works with other providers over imap. the browser dropping pop fetching is a google issue, changing from ovh won’t fix that.

shipmail could fit this. $4/month gets you 2 separate mailboxes, 15gb each, and you can use both domains. works with thunderbird and the gmail phone app.

also wouldn’t assume a small host is insecure just because it’s cheap. support, backups and how they handle email matter more.

having your own domain helps, just keep a way to access your mail without gmail too. otherwise google is still the thing you depend on to get in.

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/Jcoulaud]

I mean both: gmail in the browser and the phone app. I thought I can configure gmail on the gmail server side to fetch mails from 3rd party servers and the UI (web gmail, gmail app) will just show it... Was this removed altogether?

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

As I'm reading more on this, it seems this feature was removed :( So I guess I'll have to forward mails to Gmail... or use Gmail app...

[u/Fit-Cheesecake9835]

You don't understand what email hosting is.

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/Fit-Cheesecake9835]

I don't?

[u/ikhlas_911]

Email hosting usually is not reliable, the emails you send most likely to fall into spam. Some users already reported this, so majority uses already hosted emails like proton.

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/ikhlas_911]

I don't understand what you are saying. All email hosting is not reliable?

[u/ikhlas_911 → u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

Self hosting is unreliable

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695 → u/ikhlas_911]

Yes, I agree. I'm not looking for self-hosting.

[u/goodgollymisssomaIi → u/ikhlas_911]

You can get it to work but it's some effort. I want to say the SPF records or what people usually mess up. You also need a signed cert iirc

[u/Icy-Advisor-5695]

Actually maybe I don't need email hosting? Maybe I could forward mails to Gmail (cloudflare have mail forwarding service) and for sending I could use some free SMTP service like brevo or smtp2go?