More shortened email options
I was offered shortened @pm.me email option.
I have to refuse it.
First reason is, it does not look trustworthy.
Given that I was offered it only after paying for it by default, means only limited amount of people were ever exposed to it, so it does have limited to none brand recognition. If I were to use it, many people would by default think I am trying to scam them. Same goes for "pm" part as well as ".me" part, it sounds cute, until you try to get into shoes of the receiver that is trying to decide if what he is getting is a scam and .me does not sound legitimate. One of my business friends mentioned to me that she had to make herself @gmail.com acc simply because if she doesn't contact some of her clients with gmail.com, they will assume it is a scam and will not reply to her offers. Now shorten already low recognition brand of @protonmail.com into @pm.me and congratulations, people will even more likely ignore you or flag you as a scam. To have to pay for the opportunity to be ignored is just strange.
Second reason is, how you spell that.
So what I do right now when I am communicating my email looks like this:
- ...@protonmail.com (people just know how to write .com and mail)
- what, protonmail.com? How do you spell that?
- I know, not well known, they are about privacy, proton, like in atom, mail, protonmail, together, dot, com.
- protonmail.com?
- Yes, that is correct.
Now how my new conversation would look like:
- ...@pm.me
- Mmm, pi em dot me e or p m dot m e?
- p m dot m e.
- dot m e.
- Yes.
- Ok.
While before it was "you are not well known", it would turn into "how do you spell that?". Ok for me, I just know, not so great for other people. And what you spell means nothing. It could be at least pmail, like gmail or proton.com (I would prefer that), because that would make sense and everyone would just get it, pm is just why google never went @gm.com route, it sounds like a dm (direct message) joke. Even funnier one would be @p.me, now try to say that out loud.
So, I would prefer if I get to shorten email, original one is quite long, probably why there is no @googlemail.com, but it should sound more legitimate and end on one of the: .com, .org or country ending (in my case .si, Germany would have .de, Poland .pl and so on), because those endings sound more legit and people already know how to write them, they are well known. It would ease in-person communication and lower the possibility to be flagged as a scam.
Aljaž
shared this idea
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yu zhang commented
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Gene N.
commented
I have a 20 year background in enterprise internet security to include email and spam filtering, etc. If that is the conversation you envision my only suggestion would be the typical support one... Please step away from the keyboard. If this truly is a problem then you probably should not be doing what ever it is you are doing.
I hate to break it to you but Gmail is undoubtedly the largest and most well known purveyor of spam, which includes scams, phishing, etc...
Furthermore, users that think they should only trust "Gmail" email addresses are the exact users that will click on the phishing links and submit their personal info. -
James Miller commented
I agree with the concerns about @pm.me. While shorter addresses are convenient, they reduce trust and increase the risk of being flagged as spam. A better approach would be offering shortened Proton addresses with a more recognizable domain like @proton.com or a country-specific TLD (.de, .pl, .si). This would preserve legitimacy, make spelling easier in conversation, and maintain brand recognition, all without compromising on convenience.
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Arno commented
Agree and added as a wish some days ago, that proton should offer pmail.com.
It's close to gmail, so people are kind of familiar with the concept already and it's far simpler to say 'no with a p instead of a g' if people misunderstand it for gmail.com than trying to get people to understand proton.me or spell "pe em dot em e", which is phonetically super confusing and also doesn't add up to something that makes intuitive sense for the recipient.
Cheers
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Cassian
commented
Disagree and am shocked at the number of upvotes. I don’t understand signing up for an email service where it’s completely transparent what the available addresses are and then complaining about the available addresses. Is the original poster sending unsolicited marketing or sales emails to people he doesn’t know? I don’t understand the fear of being labeled as spam if you’re not using spammy language in your mails. (If he’s running a business, he should use a proper custom domain name, anyway.) @pm.me is a short and memorable email.
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Ross
commented
This isn’t even an FR or any other request. It’s already possible by the user getting a domain name.
The fact that comments in here saying people have had to get a gmail address as it sounds more familiar is as telling as it is damning.
Proton don’t need to change anything here. Over 400 votes is crazy
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Kelly
commented
How does this have so many votes... Buy a domain if you don't like the proton ones...
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Ian H
commented
I strongly disagree with this suggestion, and can't believe it has over 400 votes.
The feedback I get from mail recipients is exactly the opposite!
Many people tell me what a "cool" email address I have (********@pm.me), and ask how they can get the same for themselves. They like it because it is as short as possible to type. Also they think of the "pm" part as standing for "personal message". So in effect my email address is telling them to "personal message me". Many people think this is really great! :-)
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Anonymous
commented
…@pmail.com ?
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Eric K
commented
When I first signed up for Proton E-mail service, I _declined_ to activate the @pm.me address.
The "proton.me" E-mail domain was already raising many eyebrows - and not in a good way - with some of the E-mail administrators that I still talk with. E-mails from "proton.me" are routinely blocked by many _corporate_ E-mail systems that are using Microsoft Exchange. Even at my (former) employer, I have to call people and ask them to look for an E-mail from me in their SPAM folder if I am expecting a reply.
Now, it seems, in their infinite wisdom, Proton has chosen to activate this address automatically? Seriously? So much for leaving the USER in control of what hapens with E-mail addresses.
I agree with the comments of the original poster, and for those that haven't had issues - count yourselves lucky.
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Anonymous
commented
@Proton.Email would be a nice option to have. Also @Proton.CH
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Sivapriyan
commented
Good points but redundant. I use pm.me and never had such an issue. I use it for both personal and business. Now, I got myself my own custom domain for my business and that itself boosted my business. So I would recommend to get your own custom domain and link it with ProtonMail, simply AMAZING!
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Riddles commented
Great points, Aljaž. Trust and clarity are everything when it comes to email — especially with lesser-known domains like @pm.me. While it looks sleek, it’s hard to say aloud, easy to confuse, and lacks the instant credibility that .com or well-known domains provide.
I’ve faced similar hesitation while contacting parents and educators for my https://funriddlesforkids.com/ site. Even in that friendly context, unfamiliar domains often get ignored or flagged. Something like @proton.com or @pmail.com would be far more intuitive and trustworthy.
Appreciate you raising this — it’s valuable feedback Proton should seriously consider.
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Quentin Wiley commented
This suggestion is horrible. I can't believe it has over 400 votes... They give you protonmail.com | proton.me | pm.me which pm.me is amazing. 99% of the time I tell people thats my email they go pm.me? I say yeah like private message and they say wow that's so cool I never heard that before. You forget that a new email like this is so nice because most usernames arent taken. So you don't have to use AljazUser4000@gmail.com you can just use Aljaz@pm.me
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corentin
commented
I think that pmail looks a bit to much like gmail (possible errors). That + the funny connotation for english speakers.
Not sure about it..proton.ch is definitively better. But proton.com is used by a car maker. (possible mistake again ?)
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corentin
commented
Another request for additional alternate domain name. Not saying that the proposed .com / .co are either available or good idea, but i agree with the idea of something else than pm.me
(@Orion Sure buying a custom domain name is cheap, but you have to come up with some name.)
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Anonymous
commented
I agree, @pmail.com might also persuade more people to move to ProtonMail from Gmail.
Some users mention in English that the "p" has social connotations, but this is a ridiculous argument from anyone over 5 years old.
Yet, if the "p" bothers those weak of heart, maybe @ptmail, @promail, @protmail would also be short and acceptable. -
Adeline
commented
It would be great to have a shorter domain than @protonmail.com like for google mail at the beginning who become gmail it would be nice to have a pmail.com really shorter to spell out loud to someone.
;) -
Orion
commented
Agreed this should be set to completed.
Besides, there is always the option to buy your own domain for people who don't like "pm.me".
A domain name costs less than 15€ / year and it's quite easy to set up. -
VSx86
commented
@pm.me is available now.
Set this idea status to "completed".