Email isn’t decentralized, and that’s fine

Email is open, but deliverability depends on a few big inbox providers. Why we traded some of email's decentralization to fight spam, and why that's fine.

Configure direct-delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites with Mail-Receiver

Discourse is all about enabling civilized discussion. While plenty of people like a web interface, e-mail is still the “hub” of many people’s online lives. That’s why sending e-mail is so important, and when you’re sending e-mail, you really want to be able to receive it, too. There are several reasons why: If e-mails “bounce” (they can’t be delivered for some reason), you need to know about that. Repeatedly sending e-mails that bounce will get your e-mails flagged as spam. Receiving e-ma...

The ‘Unsubscribe’ experience needs to be improved

The pains of trying to leave a mailing list

Email Doesn't Suck. It's Email Clients That Need Improving

Don't hate the technology, hate the implementation.

The Brazilianization of the Internet

Spam filters don't help you when you're the spam

Email Isn’t The Thing You’re Bad At

You and me, we’re bad at a lot of things. But email isn’t one of those things, no matter how much it seems like it.

Re-thinking electronic mail

There are many problems with the existing Internet email system, such as spam, scam, surveillance, insecurity, centralization, and complexity. The problems are starting to outweigh the benefits of the system. Fixing the problems by evolving the current system seems overwhelmingly difficult. This essay examines some solutions to the problems on the assumption that a completely new, parallel email system can be built.

After self-hosting my email for twenty-three years I have thrown in the towel. The oligopoly has won.

Many companies have been trying to disrupt email by making it proprietary. So far, they have failed. Email keeps being an open protocol. Hurray? No hurray. Email is not distributed anymore. You just cannot create another first-class node of this ne

Super Mail Forward : an email that evolves as you forward it

Last year, Litmus held a community contest which theme was “Emails Worth Forwarding”. In order to participate, I created an email I called…

Case Study: Email Startups

Comprehensive analysis of email startup failures. Why most email companies fail, burn millions in VC funding, and shut down. Learn what actually works.

The Worst Spam Emails: Inside iLands' AI Agent Hustle

iLands, a new AI agent-centric startup, is spamming creatives like me numerous times a day. What do its agents want? My job. Why? They need to buy more tokens.

Oh God, It's Raining Newsletters

On the rise of newsletter production, consumption, and monetization, and how email is one of the most powerful and resilient publishing platforms.

Email and calendar made better

Fast, private email hosting for you or your business. More productive, lightning fast, simple and built to save you time.

Email and calendar made better

Fast, private email hosting for you or your business. More productive, lightning fast, simple and built to save you time.

Email address obfuscation: What works in 2026?

Here are some of the best techniques for keeping email addresses hidden from spammers—along with the statistics on how likely they are to be broken.

Email address obfuscation: What works in 2026?

Here are some of the best techniques for keeping email addresses hidden from spammers—along with the statistics on how likely they are to be broken.