I typically use the desktop app and I never see ads. I just went into my webmail, and I still don't see any ads. So I have no idea what everyone is talking about. The only time I remember seeing any ads was when I created a free account. And even then, I had the option of hiding the ad.

Someone said that you can't send regular, unencrypted emails outside of Tuta. This is not true. I have a free account with them and you most certainly can. It just defeats the whole purpose of having a secure email account.

Are the free accounts restrictive? of course they are. If you want a ton of free services, stick with Yahoo & Gmail. The amount of complaining I see is breathtaking.

I am of the opinion that Proton is a company out to generate as much continuous revenue stream as they possibly can. Profit is first and foremost - it just so happens that they're selling 'privacy' to accomplish their strong profits. I don't suspect that Proton sells or harvests personal data, but their services are much too aggressively priced for my liking (and limited finances). I'm strongly thinking of dropping them. Mullvad VPN is just as good, even more private, and costs about half the price (at least on a by-the-month basis).

Tutanota mail doesn't impose nearly as many restrictions on FREE accounts as Proton Mail does (creating folders, for example), but Tuta IS every bit as secure and private as Proton. Tuta desktop apps work just fine for free accounts - as they should! I think it's unscrupulous of Proton to restrict their desktop apps to only paying customers. Unfortunately, you can't just send a normal, 'unencrypted' email through Tuta Mail, so there is that one hiccup . . .

Proton VPN is very limited features-wise in Linux, as compared to Windscribe's or Mullvad's Linux VPN clients. Proton's Windows VPN client is full-featured, but the company is seriously dragging its feet on the Linux side of things.

Overall, Proton does provide good services, but the forced "in house" ads and VERY AGGRESSIVE pricing reeks of avarice to me. If, "IF", Proton honestly cared about peoples' privacy and security as their first priority, they wouldn't be charging such high premiums. The fact that I can't change the Linux Proton Mail app to dark mode independent of my KDE desktop theme, kinda gets on my nerves too. The Linux VPN is only half as capable as the Windows variant. It's a bit of a love/hate scenario for me . Due to my very limited finances, I think I'll switch to other less expensive providers. Providers who support Linux better, offer equally as robust security, and do so less expensively. ;)

[quote]The amount of advertisement for "offers" questions whether protonmail is more interested by making money than providing a convenient and performant sevice. We should at least be able to disable it by opting out. [/end quote]

Thank you!

Yes this is so stupid. I'm paying 13 bucks a month for your top-tier individual subscription. The fact that ads are still even an option at this point is absolutely mind-boggling to me. Like @jaguima said even other places like google or facebook don't pull this s**t. Do better people, you're supposed to be the good alternative.

"You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, until now, until now you've become the very thing you swore to destroy." -Obi-Wan Kenobi

There is another import detail: they are collecting our user information even when we are paying by the service. It is unbelievable. Soon it will be like Google.

Do not show huge ad popups for Proton products.
This morning I opened Proton Mail on my browser and I was greeted by a huge ad for another Proton plan, even though I'm already a paying customer.

You can't praise yourselves for removing ad trackers from emails while showing disruptive ads yourselves. Not even other free email services like Gmail do that.

I am annoyed that I see frequent ads for ProtonMail and VPN even though I'm paying for the former. Every other app I can think of removes ads for paid accounts.

At the very least offer the option of removing the ads for $10 or something.

The amount of advertisement for "offers" questions whether protonmail is more interested by making money than providing a convenient and performant sevice. We should at least be able to disable it by opting out.