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What just happened? ProtonMail, the privacy-focused email service that offers end-to-end encryption to its users, has been rebranded and is consolidating its various products into a single package; there's even a new website and look. Depending on the chosen tier---there is a free one---you can get access to various levels of Proton's mail, VPN, cloud storage, and encrypted calendar services.
Now called just Proton, the company's new URL, proton.me, shows there are three subscriptions on offer, all of which unify its products. The first of these is free, but you're limited to 1GB of space---though it's still double that of the previous free tier---shared between Proton Mail and Proton Drive, one email address, three labels and folders, and 150 messages per day. You also get one personal calendar and one medium-speed VPN connection.
Next is the Mail Plus plan. It costs €4.99 per month ($5.30) and ups the storage to 15GB. Users also get ten email addresses, unlimited messages, folders, labels, and filters, support for one custom domain, the same VPN connection as the free option, and access to 20 Proton Calendars that can be shared with others.
Finally, there's the €12 ($12.79) per month Proton Unlimited option. This obviously provides the most benefits, including 500GB of email/cloud space, 15 email addresses, three custom email domain names, and ten high-speed VPN connections with 1,700+ servers across 63 different countries.
While nothing has changed with Proton's email functionality, current users can use the new @proton.me address instead of the old @protonmail.com if they so wish. It's also worth noting that users can save money on the paid-for plans by signing up for one or two years and paying in one go.
"For many years, the internet has been dominated by ad-based business models which abuse privacy and leverage our most intimate data for financial gain," said Proton CEO Andy Yen during the company's eighth birthday announcement last month. "Proton's mission is to provide an alternative and help build a just internet economy that works for users and all of society. The transformation from individual privacy services towards an integrated privacy ecosystem is an essential step toward building a complete replacement to Big Tech's offerings."
