Would much rather have a free tier of only like 2GB or something - allows me to try it out. Didn't like being surprised with being forced to pay after signing up.
@goeric Ok, clear. We'll try to make that more clear in the onboarding. We choose a different strategy based on time. A referral code from a paid user gets you a month for free to try it out.
Congratulations on launching/shipping. Looks pretty good!
Personally don't feel like I want to "pay for my privacy"; I wanna pay for a perfect email provider with which I know my privacy is guaranteed.
Couldn't find the details for the current price of €29.
As noted before; any background from the makers gives more trust indeed.
@eelcojellema Thanks! It's been an interesting journey so far. Agreed. You pay for the service a company provides you. Privacy is a result of that. That's why we are clear on our business model. A post on partners and technical details is coming up.
@itsnblackburn We are here for people that value quality and make conscious decisions about the products they buy. Proton is a good service and they are doing a great job of getting the word out on internet privacy, but it still feels a bit techie to me. We are building a product that appeals to many people.
Soverin wants to send a positive message, not one of fear, but one of freedom. I belief in choice. We don't encrypt the mailboxes by default, but we encourage people to do so themselves by using something like PGP. If they feel the need to. Our goal is to put people in charge of their data and take control of their privacy. We are not in the business of acquiring data of any kind and certainly not selling it. Our legal terms are clear about that. We just want to provide you with an honest email service that's private and sustainable. Paying for our service is a clear business model, without any strings attached. Simple as that.
@sokratus So sorry about that! There seems to be some delay in sms messages for some countries. We're on it. Have you been in touch with hello[at]soverin.net?
The brand looks amazing, the promise, the ethics, the signup and all the way to payment is really a fresh and simple UX.
However once I arrived in my inbox, I must say I've been quite disappointed by the UI. You really got me with the branding, the message and the tone. But in terms of experience, this is just as bad as my hosting provider's webmail, just white labeled.
I still love the idea, the privacy, the conditions... but why create such a gap between the front and the back of the solution?
Hey there Product Hunters!
We're very happy to be launching Soverin today! We want to help you take control of your privacy and switch from 'free' to freedom. Soverin is the honest email service that doesn't sell your data. We believe that email is great and should be simple, private and sustainable. It’s an industry that can benefit from a fresh perspective and some product innovation.
That’s why we want to change the status quo and liberate your inbox. There’s a lot being said about the lack of privacy in our digital world, but there’s not much being done. “If it’s free, you are the product.” Well we’re not down with that, so we decided to do something about it. Soverin is a fair alternative to ‘free’ email. Our product is made for people who value quality and make conscious decisions about the products they buy.
The ‘free’ email services most of us use on a daily basis come at a price. Your privacy. However we see public opinion changing. People are getting more aware of what is happening to their data and they want change. Our feeling is that we started small with something big.
We would love to hear your thoughts on the subject matter. Will people be willing to pay for privacy and sign up for a private email service?
For Product Hunters we have a special offer. We would like to invite you to become a founding member. This gets you 3 extra months for free! https://soverin.net/producthunt
Hey guys,
As discussed. Here is a post about our technology. For Product Hunters this may go slow, but we want everybody to understand this.
https://blog.soverin.net/about-o...
@jonsjanssens
30 euros is way too expensive for a private email service. Also you say that Soverin is founded by some "internet enthusiasts". Not sure I'm going to trust some "internet enthusiasts" with my email more than Google.
Some constructive points:
- reduce price point (I haven't run the numbers but I'm pretty sure cost is much much lower)
- give me a reason to trust you, some credentials, security background of employees, some companies that use your service
good luck — I really hope you succeed!
@sidhantgandhi Thanks for your feedback. Good discussion point. Sorry you feel that way. Putting a price on privacy is hard, but we see this as a fair price for a quality service. Your data at a 'free' email service is sold for much more than this. People tend to forget that part and you don't get a dime.
Building trust is definitely one of our key focus points, so we will explain a lot more about how we run the business on our blog. Transparency is key in building trust.
@jonsjanssens Since you are heavily branding around trust and transparency, I'd recommend taking a page from buffer and setting up a page like this: https://open.bufferapp.com/trans...
Pricing complaints went down dramatically and buffer is building trust with consumers by doing this.
@evanczhou Good video, but I don't agree that "privacy is dead". @garyvee always makes his point with a lot of passion and he sounds convincing, but I feel there's a line between things you put on social media to get your message out and private communication between people. Things like email, sms or phone calls. That's between me and the person I send it to.
I believe in giving people a choice. People should make a conscious decision about this. If they thought about it and made their decision, then it's fine. I'm worried about the lack of awareness with non tech people. Soverin wants to build a product that they can understand. So well designed, easy to use. However there will always be two sides to this. We would like to be the alternative for people who want control over their data with a clear and honest business model.
@shawnmk Thanks, Shawn! Both, we like people to put in the details themselves, but we are continuously looking to perfect the experience. So thanks for the suggestion.
@_configmgr This is the only thing I haven't seen in their FAQ. I think these are rather important facts if you want to compare Soverin with other email services like KolabNow or ProtonMail.ch.
@_configmgr Hi Anthony, good to hear. Off course. We believe in building trust by transparency, so we will put an extensive post on the technical side of things on our blog soon. Our infrastructure is open source, we control all hardware and our partners are based in the Netherlands.
I've been using it for a couple of weeks and I like it. Old school sort of, but easy to understand and visually appealing at the same time :) Good work so far