i created my own cloud storage and it's MUCH more affordable in the long run, but i get that it can be expensive up front.

if you have an old laptop or desktop laying around collecting dust, then this is an option for you too.

Just separate the two, e-mail and cloud storage, and you'll be a lot more flexible.

Posteo e-mail costs 1 EUR/month.

As for cloud storage, either self-host or use a managed Nextcloud instance. IONOS' offering (500GB) comes in at 6 EUR/month.

In total, that gets you to 7 EUR/month, which is still cheaper than Proton's unlimited package (clocking in at 10 EUR/month). On the downside, you still haven't got a VPN at that pricing. But I'd keep that separate from mail and file storage anyway.

Infomaniak Ksuite. Migrated a year ago and been happy so far.

Other options I looked at:

Murena

Internxt

PeerGOS

Pcloud

Just want to add there is also the app Cryptomator that encrypts data before uploading it into a cloud

Tuta Drive is in closed beta. Could be available soon.

I use Jottacloud. 79 nok/month (9 euro perhaps?) for 1 TB.

Thunderbird? They provide mail now.

backups! whatever you do make sure you have automated backups. just saying.

Filen.io has been fantastic for me for years now, but give it a test drive to see if fits your needs. E2EE & 10gb free plan.

I'm using Mega (20GB free) and Internxt (1TB lifetime plan). I have not done any particular research, nor have I read their privacy policies. I'm in the early stages of planning my transition to self-hosting, checking out hardware prices and drawing logic drafts of the interconnectivity (LAN, WAN, me, groups, others) that I want to be able to achieve.

Internxt forces you to use their app on your phone unless you enable viewing the desktop version of the website. Even then, they have made it so that uploads and downloads eat all your RAM, crashing the browser before larger files can finish processing. A workaround is to use their app or .appimage if you're on Linux.

I haven't used Mega long enough to be able to say anything about it yet.

I saw someone mention pCloud and thought I'd take a moment to point out that if you can afford a heftier upfront cost, pCloud has different levels of Lifetime plan and probably will have a decent Black Friday sale for it. That said, they could probably change the terms of that retroactively, I don't know anything about the company itself, but still worth mentioning. Personally, I'd recommend something like on prem NextCloud (or similar) with backups going to pCloud. Bonus points for encrypting those backups with Cryptomator.

Really?
Being a dick is "evil"?

The majority of companies are run by dicks and assholes; Even the good ones. Almost especially the good ones.

Honestly, the term "evil" seems only ever used to give people (themselves mostly) permission to shun, without looking at what's actually wrong, and occasionally trying to do something about it. It's lazy.

Does Proton have internal management problems to fix? Absolutely! Along with virtually every other organization.