For mail, a few things I'd look for:

• Standard protocol compatibility (POP/IMAP/JMAP/SMTP) so you can use a client that's not controlled by the service provider.

• Easy E2EE setup with PGP/GPG.

• Custom domain support.

• Email alias support (though this can be done with a third-party service, potentially).

• Server-side filter rules for incoming mail.

Proton and Tuta, for example, fail on point #1. The E2EE promise really doesn't mean a lot when the service provider ultimately controls the client. If they control the client, they could very easily exfiltrate your keys via a backdoor. This can be mitigated with open-source clients and reproducible builds, but if you're using a web client or apps from Google/Apple stores, that's never going to be verifiable.

For VPN:

• No-logs policy.

• Independent audits.

• Port forwarding support.

• Anonymous payment options.

These are not exhaustive lists, just off the top of my head.

The issue with VPNs is there is no way to verify their claims.

Typically, you want VPNs to promise not to collect data about you, or what sites you visit. They can promise to delete or never store data, but there's no way to verify they are doing what they say.

Many, many VPNs have claimed they don't store user data or allow traffic sniffing, only to later have been compromised by a government or other entity to track everything you do and hand it over to a hostile government after a subpoena / information request.

This is a more important issue than any feature or service they may provide.

Vpn: Mullvad but Port Forwarding is back.

No.

Different services offer different things for different customers.

Proton offers everything under one banner, a turnkey replacement for google. Seems great until you consider the person who doesn’t want kyc pii for all that stuff under one roof.

Mullvad has no password and keeps as little information about the user as possible. Seems great till you consider the user who wants to gate access by accounts with passwords.

People want different things out of the services they use.