Secure email service Mailbox.org raises rates and changes subscriptions
The German mail service Mailbox.org, which offers encrypted e-mail, has announced new tariffs for its subscriptions and has thrown the subscriptions upside down. In some cases, customers pay a little more, or lose storage and tools as a result.
In a news item, the Berlin start-up says that with the new rates it has mainly tried to make the services they offer easier. For example, there were previously various mail packages, packages for cloud storage and for the use of office services such as documents and video calling. These are now included in the new standard subscriptions.
Previously, customers paid one euro per month for a light subscription, which included 2GB of mail storage and 100MB of cloud storage and additional video calling tools. With the low-cost account, the cloud storage and additional services are canceled. For what used to be the Team Mail and MailXL subscription, users now pay 3 euros instead of 2.50 euros. What used to be the Business subscription for 25 euros per month, is now called Premium for 9 euros per month.
There were also previously various packages for mail, team mail and office services. These are now woven into the new subscriptions. As a result, customers who had different packages are now cheaper in most cases. The new subscriptions look like this:
| Monthly price | 1 euro | 3 Euro | 9 euros |
| Mail storage | 2GB | 10GB | 25GB |
| Cloud Storage | – | 5GB | 50GB |
| Email addresses | 3 | 10 | 25 |
| Customer service | limited (account questions only) | normal (within 48 hours) | priority (within 24 hours) |
| Complementary services | – | Video calling, chatting, office tools | Video calling, chatting, office tools |
Mailbox.org is known for providing secure mail that uses PGP encryption. In addition, it uses (EC)DHE algorithms for Perfect Forward Secrecy to prevent decryption of messages. Users can choose their own email domain.
A change in the new subscriptions is that users now take out an annual subscription, where they could previously pay for mail prepaid and register anonymously. This has consequences for the privacy of users. According to the provider, this is necessary to comply with current legislation. In addition, transaction costs are eliminated and migration from mail to Mailbox.org is now free.