Beta testers needed for open-source email forwarding service
5 comments
I would really like to use such a service, but my biggest concern is: Will this still exist in 5 years?
The export feature is a neat first step, but I simply don't want to have to think about ever needing to switch again.
I also appreciate that you've got a pricing page (too many startups ommit this!), it signals that you're trying to build a real thing. Do you have any plans on how to sustain in the long-term?
I also appreciate that you've got a pricing page (too many startups ommit this!), it signals that you're trying to build a real thing. Do you have any plans on how to sustain in the long-term?
Good question! There are 2 reasons that you can count on SimpleLogin:
- The running cost is low enough for us to keep the service running almost "forever". Even when SimpleLogin doesn't earn enough money to pay our salaries (the biggest cost), we'll keep SimpleLogin running as a side-project as we and a lot of our family/friends use SimpleLogin.
- The code and hosting instructions are open so anyone could deploy SimpleLogin on their server and migrate all their aliases there. The migration is actually not too complex as it mostly consists of changing the DNS and re-import your existing aliases. Making sure that SimpleLogin can run on an inexpensive and simple server is part of our design rules since the beginning so you don't need complex infrastructure to deploy SimpleLogin for yourself.
> Do you have any plans on how to sustain in the long-term?
Our revenue comes mainly from the premium subscription. We are also considering to create products derived from SimpleLogin technology but targeted at business.
- The running cost is low enough for us to keep the service running almost "forever". Even when SimpleLogin doesn't earn enough money to pay our salaries (the biggest cost), we'll keep SimpleLogin running as a side-project as we and a lot of our family/friends use SimpleLogin.
- The code and hosting instructions are open so anyone could deploy SimpleLogin on their server and migrate all their aliases there. The migration is actually not too complex as it mostly consists of changing the DNS and re-import your existing aliases. Making sure that SimpleLogin can run on an inexpensive and simple server is part of our design rules since the beginning so you don't need complex infrastructure to deploy SimpleLogin for yourself.
> Do you have any plans on how to sustain in the long-term?
Our revenue comes mainly from the premium subscription. We are also considering to create products derived from SimpleLogin technology but targeted at business.
Thank you for your detailed answer!
FYSA: the welcome email goes straight to spam
Thanks for letting us know. We just made some changes in our email server IP, the emails should not be put in Spam now.
We are building the first open-source and self-hostable `email alias` (or email forwarding) and `identity provider` service, called SimpleLogin (simplelogin.io)
In terms of email forwarding, it works in a similar way to other solutions (33mail, anonaddy, spamex, mailcare, etc): all emails sent to an `email alias` are forwarded to your personal email address.
We have some differences though:
- Open-source and easy to self-host. The self-hosting is based on Docker and could be run on almost any Linux server. The hosting instruction is on our repository at https://github.com/simple-login/app
- Generous free plan: there's no cap on bandwidth or number of replies/sends. The Free Plan is enough for protecting your personal email. Premium Plan targets at more "advanced" users with features like custom domain, unlimited alias or catch-all alias.
- Open Roadmap with some upcoming features: email directory, extension for Safari, mobile applications, etc. Feel free to check it out on https://trello.com/b/4d6A69I4/open-roadmap
- Export your data: this tiny feature is actually missing in a lot of solution we tested. It allows you to change the service provider if someday you decide to leave SimpleLogin.
The code source for the server is on https://github.com/simple-login/app and browser-extension at https://github.com/simple-login/browser-extension.
Please let us know if you have any questions/feedbacks/critics. Thanks. SimpleLogin team.