Hey, it’s hard to switch from free!
My thought process on switching to a new email provider
Like pretty much everyone, I use Gmail. It was revolutionary when it launched and does the job well. It’s incredibly easy to search. You get a lot of space. You know it’s a product that’s not going anywhere.
That being said, Google’s business is your data. And yours. And yours. And mine. And as I recently wrote in a piece about the debates shaping our world, privacy will be one of the key forces shaping our future.
…Today, we're in a place where we now give up everything from our DNA to our love lives and our deepest thoughts to anyone who can provide us with a way to spend our time digitally. With the FAANG monopolies, an opt-out culture, and a society where personal data is the most valuable currency, we have given up that data without even considering what the long-term consequences might be….
Whether we think about it or not, we are the voters - with our purchases, with our time, with our political votes.
I know I theoretically support [privacy], but…I love free apps, no matter what their terms & conditions are…actions speak louder than words.
Basecamp recently launched a new email provider called Hey with much fanfare. Here was a chance to correct my actions.
[First, a note on my biases – I’m a sucker for organizations that tout strong values. For example, I used to HATE Domino’s. I would never, ever order from there. Then, I saw a commercial where Domino’s acknowledged their pizza sucked and launched a new pizza. I fell in love immediately – a company that acknowledges their missteps? That asks for another chance? I ordered Domino’s that night and have been a loyal customer ever since (by the way, their pizza actually did go from shitty to great).]
Anyways, the Hey Manifesto was so in my wheelhouse it was like taking candy from a baby for them. Sure, many of their principles were not relevant to me. But there were a few values that resonated deeply:
Get less email
Some apps promise to help you speed through your email. But that’s like treating the symptoms, not the cause. The only way to get ahead with email is to get less email. HEY solves that. First, at the source (you decide who can email you). And second, on the surface (by separating the stuff you really need to see from everything else). It's a profound shift, and it’s profoundly effective. You’ll never go back to the pre-HEY-days.
Pay with money, not privacy
There are lots of “free” email services out there, but free email costs you one of most valuable things you have - your privacy and your personal information. We’re not interested in your personal data. It’s always yours, never ours. We simply charge a flat, all‑inclusive $99/year fee for HEY. That makes our business work without having to sell your data, advertise to you, or otherwise engage in unscrupulous marketing tactics. We make a great product, you pay a reasonable price for it — that’s fair for everyone.
Small tech
Email is dominated by big tech. In the US, Gmail owns more than 50% of the market. Add Verizon (which controls Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail) and Microsoft’s Outlook/Hotmail, and you’re looking at ~80%. That’s atrocious. A vibrant internet depends on a strong counter to big tech and its obsession with mining private data and targeting personal ads. HEY is the alternative to Big Tech operated email. It’s an opportunity for people to wiggle free from Big Tech’s stranglehold, and support a vibrant, responsible independent.
Smitten by this marketing, I immediately signed up for a 2-week trial, with my new email address of arvindn@hey.com (even my early adoption couldn’t secure me a simple arvind@hey.com). 2 weeks later, today’s the day I have to either pay up or shut up. All the marketing aside, Hey is $99/year. Gmail is $0/year.
And believe me, Hey isn’t perfect. The UX is beautiful and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed certain features, particularly the screening, the keyboard shortcuts, and the feed & paper trail sections. That being said, I miss being able to archive easily, I find myself struggling to use the Reply Later function the way it’s meant to be used, and it’s not great for someone who loves formatting emails neatly (read: bullet points).
But Gmail isn’t perfect either. With Hey, I found myself checking email a lot less and getting a lot less email over the course of the two weeks as I used the screener. Gmail is free, though. $99 each year feels like a TON of money in the digital world of free.
Also, it feels like a lifetime decision. Switching email providers so everyone you want to reach you (friends, subscriptions, etc.) feels incredibly daunting. It doesn’t seem feasible to try it for a year and then move on if I find something better or more cost-effective.
I claim to want to choose money over privacy, but any amount of money feels like a lot for something that's imperfect. It's as if I'm willing to accept imperfections for a $0 product (Gmail), and even if I slightly prefer Hey's UX to Gmail's, the question becomes - is it $99 better? It's hard to change the framing to $0 is not free when you are paying with your privacy and data. Now is the time to put my money where my mouth is.
So, what have I decided?
I’ve decided to take the plunge for a year and pay $99 for Hey.
What ultimately convinced me was when I realized this wasn’t a lifetime decision. By paying $99 one time, I secure my new email address, arvindn@hey.com. They will continue forwarding emails from that address for life should I move on. Since I still have my free product, Gmail, I can transition as fast or slow as I want. And this was the initial product offering for Basecamp – they are already rolling out updates as they get live user feedback for the first time. So, I’m giving the folks at Basecamp one year to earn my loyalty.
I’ve just jumped into a lake. At first, it feels super cold. But by the act of jumping in, my body adjusts to the temperature and that becomes the new normal. Now, in a year’s time, it’s my hope that when I evaluate what email I want to use going forward, paying $99 / year will be my comparison point. I’ll let you know what I do in a year. In the meantime, you can reach me at arvindn@hey.com.