New FastMail Plans & Pricing

[tomgibson]

Originally Posted by CyberDyne

A useful feature indeed, if only it was available to Enhanced (Legacy) accounts. Glitch ? I somehow doubt it.

I'm a user with a legacy Family plan containing two Enhanced accounts, as far as I can tell there aren't any features I can't use, although I've not tried changing my account name into my own domain. The custom login page and variable theme/logo thing seems to work for me.

The only thing that seems to have changed is now I don't appear to be able to renew for more than one year at a time. I've always paid a year at a time, so this isn't a real change for me, but since someone earlier said it was still possible to subscribe multi year on a legacy plan this confuses me a little.

[17pm]

Originally Posted by tomgibson

I'm a user with a legacy Family plan containing two Enhanced accounts, as far as I can tell there aren't any features I can't use, although I've not tried changing my account name into my own domain. The custom login page and variable theme/logo thing seems to work for me.

Are you sure that you can change the "theme" in Settings->Policy?

[akorvemaker]

Originally Posted by tomgibson

The only thing that seems to have changed is now I don't appear to be able to renew for more than one year at a time. I've always paid a year at a time, so this isn't a real change for me, but since someone earlier said it was still possible to subscribe multi year on a legacy plan this confuses me a little.

If I recall correctly, Family plans were always limited to single-year renewals. (I used to be on one, but that was about 2 years ago.)

[nighthawk700]

Originally Posted by akorvemaker

If I recall correctly, Family plans were always limited to single-year renewals. (I used to be on one, but that was about 2 years ago.)

I can verify, I've been using it for a few years now, and can only renew year to year.

[joe_devore]

I'm not so sure about the new pricing plans...
above all else what is important to me is the Classic UI Login

[pjwalsh]

Originally Posted by dodorkahedron

Even then, gone are the clear screens with things like usage space by folder, or even how much storage I have. It now tells me only I'm using a percentage of my overall storage (unless I am missing something, and this interface is such a mess that I very well could be.)

'Quota usage' link, bottom of Folders page. A nice clear screen you're sure to like.

[DarioMor]

Originally Posted by grimmrimmer

That's my current hold out for now. My wife and I don't need all of the extra space. It would cost us $100 a year as opposed to the $35 that it would have been. Heck my two kids would bump it to $200. These prices seem prohibitively expensive for families and have pushed me to find an alternative. The flexibility of the plans was a major plus for FM. It seems like a massive oversight to completely remove it in its entirety. I honestly can't see any future families signing up at these prices. I was about to sign up under the old prices on my trial, but this bomb dropped without warning.

I think Fastmail made a bad balanced move with this new plans.

The obligation to have all users of the same account/domain with the same plan/price is a big reves to companies who take advantage of the flexibility ONLY FastMail gave to us.

You see, if we compare with MS Outlook.com and GMAIL, the prices WARE almost equivalent. And it was *not* cheap!

Now Fastmail has no more financial advantage.

And the old slow support is still the same. I get an qualified answer from Fastmail only after 24 hours.

Today I got phone support, in only 20 seconds, in my language (Portuguese), at 23h30 (my local time, but it could be ANY time, because it is 24/7), from Google Apps for Work. And it was for an newly created account, without any payment yet.

Now it will be hard to convince any company owner to pay to an small company (Fastmail) if he see no difference to Google Apps service or M$ option.

Sorry, Fastmail. I love you. But if you dont make these new plans more flexible, I think you will lose a lot of potential customers.

Dario

[Nortd]

I think that the increase in price is the direct result of FastMail recently gaining a lot of traction on HN where it was praised as an alternative to Gmail and GApps(link).

I'm sure that it's no coincidence that around a week later they changed their pricing plans, certainly not in the benefit of the users.

I actually found out about FastMail through that same article post on HN, I signed up for a trial and after doing some testing I decided to roll on a payment plan when my free trial expired.

I'm so glad that I dediced to wait, now that they jacked up the prices this is no longer an appealing alternative to GApps, I now think that it's worse. Google has the infrastructure I trust, I'm not going to pay the same price to switch to a relatively small provider who (based on user reviews) can't even get their android app working, not to mention that as a free trial I can't even test the android app. Fast Mail also only has servers in the states. Just sucks in my opinion.

[Terry]

Originally Posted by Nortd

Google has the infrastructure I trust,

Yea and they scan your mail, I know where I would rather be.

[Nortd]

Originally Posted by Terry

Yea and they scan your mail, I know where I would rather be.

If you would really be that privacy aware you certainly wouldn't switch to a provider that only hosts their servers in the USA where laws on user privacy and online data are questionable at best.

[steventay]

Originally Posted by Nortd

If you would really be that privacy aware you certainly wouldn't switch to a provider that only hosts their servers in the USA where laws on user privacy and online data are questionable at best.

indeed... time to jump ship

[Terry]

Originally Posted by Nortd

If you would really be that privacy aware you certainly wouldn't switch to a provider that only hosts their servers in the USA where laws on user privacy and online data are questionable at best.

They have back up servers in Amsterdam.

[17pm]

Originally Posted by Terry

They have back up servers in Amsterdam.

Back-up servers in Amsterdam while main servers are in the US. I agree with the others who state that privacy will not be achieved in FastMail.

The only thing fastmail has going for them is their awesome webclient. Hopefully others will catch up.

[Jacinto]

Originally Posted by DarioMor

. . .

Now it will be hard to convince any company owner to pay to an small company (Fastmail) if he see no difference to Google Apps service or M$ option.

Sorry, Fastmail. I love you. But if you dont make these new plans more flexible, I think you will lose a lot of potential customers.

Dario

Hello, Dario.

Not everyone considers GApps or Office365 as the only alternatives for E-Mail services, particularly, people who don't have Windows installed on their desk/laptop. Comparing FM to those two is the equivalent of comparing apples and oranges.

Fastmail would be foolhardy to battle Google and MS for business. As has been said before on this thread, FM decided that it wasn't making enough money with its traditional customers. Its new plans are geared towards small businesses who want solid E-Mail service, but don't need the bells and whistles of GApps or Office365. Whether of not this gamble on FM's part will be successful, remains to be seen.

You are correct in saying that FM will lose potential customers, but I would say some, not a lot.

Hopefully, in a year or two, we'll be discussing the success or failure of Fastmail's new plans.

One last thing, I'm sure Fastmail appreciates your love, but it would rather take your cash instead.

--
Jacinto

[Jacinto]

Originally Posted by Nortd

If you would really be that privacy aware you certainly wouldn't switch to a provider that only hosts their servers in the USA where laws on user privacy and online data are questionable at best.

Interesting observation, however, what other provider in the US or any other country can guarantee your E-Mail privacy?

In my view there are now three primary currents on privacy in the world today:

1. Countries like China an Cuba where there is no right to privacy.

2. Some countries in Eastern Europe that now have neo-facist governments and Russia's autocratic government. These countries give lip service to privacy but have enacted Draconian laws against it, and don't respect it in the end.

3. Most of the democratic countries in the world that have stringent privacy law and rules, but, because of the threat of terrorism, obtain search warrants just for the asking, to review or copy messages or confiscate mail servers. Most of these countries also have elaborate eavesdropping operations.

E-Mail privacy is an abstract thought, but not a reality.

--
Jacinto