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.
Email explained from first principles
Modern email is a patchwork of protocols and extensions. Here is one article to understand them all.
Email Doesn't Suck. It's Email Clients That Need Improving
Don't hate the technology, hate the implementation.
asutherland/glodastrophe
desktop web mail client for the development of the gaia-email-libs-and-more backend
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.
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
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.
Proton Mail: Get a free email account with privacy and encryption | Proton
Proton Mail is the world’s largest secure email service with over 100 million users. Available on Web, iOS, Android, and desktop. Protected by Swiss privacy law.
Scott Lanoue - CoMail
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.
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.
We’re Making Email More Modern With JMAP
The specifications for JMAP have been published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), marking a big victory for email tools now and in the future.
Why kernel development still uses email
In a world full of fancy development tools and sites, the kernel project's dependence on email [...]
Free Email Forwarding for Custom Domains - #1 Open Source Email Service 2026
Get free email forwarding for custom domains. Send & receive as you@yourdomain.com with unlimited aliases, 10GB storage, IMAP/POP3/SMTP & 100% open-source security. Trusted by 500K+ users. Setup in 2 minutes.
How It All Started: Pre-W3C Web and Internet Background
1971: Ray Tomlinson of BBN creates email program to send messages across a distributed network.