Fastmail: new pricing plans Duo & Family - anyone using it?

[TheJapanese]

Originally Posted by north

i will no longer use fm because of the price and will end my business relationship with fm after more than 15 years.

Ok - which will be the new one?

[TheJapanese]

Originally Posted by TenFour

...You would think they would offer the best deals to loyal longtime users, but no...

Excatly my point!

[evfrson]

I hate it when companies play stupid games like this.
I am done with Fastmail.
The problem now is which service to use ��
I will probably end up using iCloud Mail which has become much more reliable (for me) as of late.
Since I have iCloud+ I can host my personal domain email with them for free, can use Apple's version of masked email and I don't have to worry about storage as it uses my iCloud storage.

[TenFour]

The problem I see with iCloud email is that you are totally locked in to the Apple ecosystem, which I suppose is fine for most people that use and love it. One thing I like about Gmail is that you can use it on almost any device and with any operating system.

[evfrson]

I don't like the Gmail UI and I don't think Gmail does masked email which I use a lot but yes Gmail is good for the reasons you stated.

[TenFour]

I don't like the Gmail UI and I don't think Gmail does masked email which I use a lot but yes Gmail is good for the reasons you stated.

You can use almost any desktop and phone app you want with Gmail to get the UI you want, plus I use DuckDuckGo aliases that forward to a Gmail account. Super easy to use and free.

[placebo]

Originally Posted by TenFour

The problem I see with iCloud email is that you are totally locked in to the Apple ecosystem, which I suppose is fine for most people that use and love it. One thing I like about Gmail is that you can use it on almost any device and with any operating system.

I don't see how you're locked in by iCloud email. It's just regular IMAP.

[trikotret]

Originally Posted by evfrson

I hate it when companies play stupid games like this.
I am done with Fastmail.
The problem now is which service to use ��
I will probably end up using iCloud Mail which has become much more reliable (for me) as of late.
Since I have iCloud+ I can host my personal domain email with them for free, can use Apple's version of masked email and I don't have to worry about storage as it uses my iCloud storage.

You should look into addy for forwarding your aliases.

[TenFour]

I don't see how you're locked in by iCloud email. It's just regular IMAP.

Seems kind of pointless to get an iCloud+ account without an Apple device to use it with, but I suppose you can do so.

[NumberSix]

I'm amused when people get all huffy and indignant... "I'm done with this company! Voting with my wallet and gonna find some other one!"

Good luck finding a better ESP than FM. I've been with them 20+ years and have no plans to leave, even if they raise the price. The question is whether the service they offer is worth what they charge. I've always thought so. I can't imagine where else I would go. I'm so happy they managed to escape being swallowed up by some big company, back in the day (Opera, then rumors about Facebook?)

Should we really get upset that they are offering a new (better?) pricing structure to new users.... first? It's very hard for me to imagine it won't eventually be extended to everyone. Unless my memory is very bad, that's what they've always done. I've always thought they've bent over backwards to be fair, especially to loyal long-time customers.

If there are counterexamples to this, I trust someone will point them out...

[nudge]

Yeah I feel similar to NumberSix on this. Having more new users helps Fastmail to survive and continue to develop. I never want to change email supplier, even if I moan a lot I still love them 100%

[TenFour]

I'm amused when people get all huffy and indignant... "I'm done with this company! Voting with my wallet and gonna find some other one!"

The reason people leave is answered in your own post.

The question is whether the service they offer is worth what they charge.

In my case I have used FM several times and then left several times. The first time I left was when Gmail first came out with their huge 1GB of free space. FM wasn't offering me value for my money back then. Later I used them for my domain emails, but I left when it took them way too long to respond to and fix a bug in their system that was preventing me from using the service. It meant over a week without being able to use them, with no sense of urgency for them to fix an obvious bug at their end. So yes, I was huffy, but it was because the service I was getting (none) wasn't worth the money I was paying.

[Terry]

Originally Posted by NumberSix

I've always thought they've bent over backwards to be fair, especially to loyal long-time customers.

In the old days yes, but that does not happen today.

[north]

Originally Posted by TheJapanese

Ok - which will be the new one?

i am fine with mxroute and my hostingprovider.

[placebo]

Originally Posted by NumberSix

Good luck finding a better ESP than FM. I've been with them 20+ years and have no plans to leave, even if they raise the price. The question is whether the service they offer is worth what they charge. I've always thought so. I can't imagine where else I would go.

A few years ago, I decided to check out other providers just to see what's out there. Doing so did give me a new appreciation for everything Fastmail offers.

Still, one obvious weakness with Fastmail's recent pricing structure was that the service was very expensive if you wanted multiple accounts to use with your own domain. Initially, for a family of four, it would have cost $200 a year. You needed the mid-level account to host email for a domain, and all accounts had to be the same type. It got a little better, down to $140/year, when you were allowed to mix and match account types, but you also lost the ability to use IMAP with the lower account level.

I stayed with Fastmail because I was fortunately grandfathered into the old family plan. If I were to replicate my setup using the current plans, my cost would more than double, and I'd be paying for tons of storage I wouldn't be using. The service definitely wouldn't have been worth the cost If I had been forced to the current plans.

With the new family and duo plans, it does seem like Fastmail is finally looking at addressing an obvious problem in its current offerings.