Despite being the oldest form of online communication, email is still the go-to option for any serious digital correspondence—especially in business. 

While most people automatically defer to 

 from the biggest mainstream providers like Microsoft and Google, that’s not the best idea if you take 

Many large email service providers (ESPs) access the contents of your emails and use the information they find to create targeted advertising campaigns—and that’s not the only way your privacy may be compromised with a typical email setup. 

One of the methods of addressing such privacy and security concerns is a 

In this article, you’ll learn about setting up a private email server as a way of taking your 

What the advantages and disadvantages of a private email setup are

Prioritize your privacy with Skiff’s fully end-to-end encrypted protocol

Protect your digital privacy

Email servers are specialized computers whose primary purpose is to facilitate your email correspondence. 

They receive and send emails and store them before they’re transferred to another server or downloaded to your device.

A private email server is one that you set up and own—a computer that handles your incoming and outgoing email messages.

 You control who has access to it and manage its storage, which ensures a higher degree of privacy than what you’d get with any major ESP.

Server looks at the address of the recipient’s email server

Message is sent to the recipient’s server

Recipient’s email client downloads the message from their email server

 over your data to the ESP, as they own and operate the servers the info goes through.The process is the same if the sender and the recipient use private email servers. Still, there are no intermediaries except the cell towers and data cables that carry the information across the Internet, and the messages remain private between the two parties.

The first step in setting up a private email server is investing in the required hardware and software. 

Besides this initial investment, running an email server comes with ongoing monthly costs. The exact expenses can vary depending on your location and particular hardware setup.

If you want to set up the hardware yourself, you’ll need a computer with sufficient storage space for your server software and messages. Otherwise, you can look for a cloud hosting solution and rent hardware from a hosting provider.

Regardless of the option you choose, the email server will also need a 

 name—the part that comes after @ in your email address, like outlook.com or gmail.com. 

The next thing you need is a high-speed, stable internet connection to ensure maximum uptime on your private email server. Finally, you’ll also require server software, including:

An operating system (OS) like Windows or Linux

The exact tech stack will vary depending on the OS you choose. Once you’ve bought everything, you’ll have to learn the hardware and software configurations and start the process.

Cloud-based servers are an option, but you’ll still need to set up and maintain the software. If the hosting provider offers to do that instead, you’ll have to pay an additional fee. 

Coupled with other costs of setting up and running an email server, it’s an expensive way to ensure email privacy.

Before making a decision, check out the benefits and drawbacks of setting up your own private email server.

The main advantage of setting up a private email server instead of relying on an ESP server is more privacy. 

Ensuring no ESP employees can ever access your emails

Preventing any automatic scanning of your emails for targeted ads, training of machine learning algorithms, or similar activities

Eliminating the possibility of a law enforcement or government agency requesting email data from your provider

A private server lets you control every aspect of your email correspondence, from the email client you use to the robustness of your 

There are a lot more drawbacks to setting up a private email server than there are benefits. The most notable are:

—Setting up a private server is difficult and requires advanced technical knowledge. Many people also don’t have the time to manage an email server actively because it demands constant patches and updates. If you don’t know the intricacies of web technologies and aren’t tech-savvy, you’ll need time to learn the particulars first

Various software and hardware equipment necessary

—You must invest in a complex hardware setup, a variety of software, or a cloud hosting solution

—Running a server comes with constant maintenance work and security updates. Managing a private email server is a massive responsibility in the long run because higher privacy and 

 aren’t a given. You’re accountable for every aspect, so your 

—Unlike Google or Microsoft, you don’t have a globe-spanning server infrastructure worth millions of dollars, and your private email setup will be less reliable. A mainstream ESP guarantees decent accessibility at all times—if a Gmail server fails, Google always has alternate routes and backup solutions that ensure constant uptime. If your private server fails, you can’t send an email until you fix the problem

 also have extensive backup infrastructures, often cloud-based. Hosting emails yourself means you keep everything on your hardware or a small part of a rented server, bearing responsibility for the backups.

Even with a functional backup, you may not have the advanced tech skills necessary to restore the system after an incident. 

Renting pre-configured servers from a hosting provider is an alternative but not a perfect one.

Enjoy total anonymity with Skiff’s privacy-first policy and carefully designed UI

Get a privacy-oriented email service

Why hosting providers aren’t an ideal solution

Finding a hosting partner and renting a server solves issues such as worrying about server hardware. Unfortunately, the approach entails other problems:

Hosting providers aren’t always reliable

If you use a hosting provider, you don’t own a 

 server—you’re merely a renter. This brings you back to the initial ownership problem with mainstream ESPs.

Another issue is that even the best hosting providers rarely have the guaranteed uptime you get with Gmail or the 

. If unsatisfied, you can switch to a better hosting provider, but the migration process is complex. Ultimately, they’re a poor replacement for ESPs, despite the privacy concerns with the latter.

Here’s a breakdown of your options when it comes to email servers:

Private email servers are difficult to set up and run, rented servers are unreliable, and large ESPs come with privacy issues. 

Luckily, there’s a fourth option—email clients with end-to-end encryption (E2EE), like 

Solve your email security issues quickly with Skiff

Every server solution we’ve mentioned above comes with specific issues. 

 successfully avoids them all by providing:

 is the ideal way to ensure your online privacy. 

The platform uses an encryption algorithm that involves two corresponding keys—one for encrypting and the other for decrypting messages. The encryption is performed at the device level, ensuring your communication remains private and unreadable to anyone but the intended recipient.

Most ESPs provide some form of encryption, but their solutions only 

 while in transit or when resting on a server.

 E2EE does both by encrypting emails on your device before they’re ever uploaded to a server. As a result, no one has access to your emails and 

Forget about expensive hardware or complex private email settings—Skiff doesn’t require any setup or maintenance on your part. You create a Skiff account in three easy steps:

Once you complete the three simple steps above, you’ll have access to all of Skiff’s products:

—a scheduling and planning app for events

—a secure online workspace for collaboration and note-taking

—an end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service

Like Skiff Mail, all other Skiff products were built with the same robust E2EE setup. Unlike private email servers and mainstream ESPs, Skiff doesn’t ask you to choose between ease of use and security but provides both. Skiff’s products were carefully designed to be sleek, functional, and intuitive, ensuring users can easily navigate them regardless of their technical knowledge.

With Skiff, you can be comfortable sending sensitive information, like your 

The platform allows web3 integration, providing users of wallets like MetaMask with a private communication platform to facilitate their anonymous online transactions. You can use your MetaMask credentials to seamlessly log into Skiff and start sending messages with complete 

Unlike the technology used by most ESPs, Skiff’s encryption is 100% open-source and transparent. If you want to learn more about how Skiff protects your email and documents, check out the 

, and cement your online privacy with an 

! If you want to learn more about future updates or talk to the devs directly, you can also 

Private email server—pros, cons, and alternatives

After months of anticipation: Custom domains are out.

In this blog, we’ll cover how custom email domains work, and how to set up Skiff to send and receive mail from your own personal domain name.

Now, on your Skiff email account, you’ll be able to add custom domains for your personal account and for your workspace, so your family, business, or colleagues can all share a domain name. This custom domain name gives new power to your personal or professional email address - taking your email into a new domain of productivity. No matter whether you’re using ethereum.email, yourdomain.com, bud.net, or example.com, your domain will add a new level of professionalism, customization, and personability to your communications.

Custom email domains are a great way to promote your brand and give your customers a professional way to communicate with you. By using a custom email domain, you can show your customers that you are a professional business that they can trust, or an individual with a domain linked to your personal site (like @

Custom email domains also give you the ability to separate personal and professional email communications. This can be a valuable tool for customer service, professional communications, or maintaining your personal identity across email providers.

To start, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro or Business tier. For more information about tiers and pricing, visit our 

. Currently, Pro tier users can set up two distinct custom domains, and Business tier users can add up to five.

If you’re looking to try out Skiff’s custom domain feature, you can also collect a generous amount of credits (for downloading mobile apps, referring other users, or importing files). At this point, you can subscribe from the 

 page in-app and add your own domain name.

Now, once you’re on a Pro or Business tier, navigate to the “Custom Domains” settings tab inside Skiff Mail. If you choose not to upgrade, you can still use Skiff as a free email client with 10 GB of free storage.

From there, click “setup” to start the custom domain setup process and enter in the domain that you want to use for Skiff Mail. Note that you can use any hosting provider, and you can also enter a subdomain into this field (a subdomain will be treated as a distinct domain under paid plans, as every subdomain requires distinct DNS records).

Now, Skiff Mail will take you to a new page displaying different DNS records that you will need to configure on your domain or subdomain. This includes multiple records for different purposes, including both TXT and MX records. MX records are used to forward sending email to different servers and are critical for ensuring that you can properly receive mail at your custom domain email addresses. So, when another mail server (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or another provider) is trying to send mail to your Skiff account, it will look up the MX record on your domain and forward mail to Skiff’s inbound SMTP servers.

Each web hosting provider will have a different user interface for configuring DNS records. Typically, you will need to select a record type (MX, TXT, CNAME), then a subdomain it applies to (such as “_dmarc”), and a value. For MX records, you will also need to add a priority, which should be zero for a Skiff custom domain. Your domain registrar will likely have documentation on how to add these DNS records, but, if you need any assistance, contact us at support@skiff.org.

It’s also possible to set up your custom domain from the Skiff Mail mobile app. After clicking the gear icon to open settings in the top right corner, click the Custom Domains section to start the same setup process as the desktop app.

Below, we’ll give an overview of the DNS records that you need to add for your custom domain. Hosting companies may differ in how their DNS record setup works, but every registrar will have configuration options for MX, TXT, and CNAME records that are all critical for your email setup. Note that you should 

 have to pay for any special hosting plan to add these records; any basic hosting provider should allow you to add any DNS record configuration.

: As described above, the MX record describes where to send mail when sent to your custom domain. Depending on your choice of email hosting service, you’ll need to update an MX record that indicates that mail should be sent to that server.

: TXT records are helpful for attesting domain ownership, as well as implementing the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). SPF ensures that other individuals cannot spoof your domain when sending emails by limiting the mail servers that can send external mail from your domain.

DMARC records are also helpful in domain spoofing. Setting up a DMARC policy for your domain gives external email providers more information about your domain’s security posture, such as whether you are using DKIM and SPF to validate external mail. A DMARC policy will tell these providers what to do if SPF, DKIM, or other validation steps fail - such as completely rejecting an email.

: CNAME records are used for DKIM verification. DKIM records store a 

 associated with your domain. A sending email server will create a digital signature on email headers and a hash of the email body, thereby validating that your domain owner is actually sending a particular email.

We won’t go into great detail about how to buy a domain name, but we recommend purchasing a name online through a well-respected, privacy-focused registrar (more information coming in a future blog). Generally, you cannot get a free domain name, but using a web hosting company (such as Webflow) can sometimes reduce the hosting costs as they can be done via the hosting provider.

If you are looking for more customizability, you can choose a domain name yourself and set up your website later. Your domain registrar will have configuration pages for DNS records (see more info above), SSL (which is critical for security), SEO, and other important settings.

All incoming mail from external mail servers, including mail with your custom domain, is immediately end-to-end encrypted when received with your public key.

If you’re currently using a custom domain with your free Gmail (i.e. gmail.com) or your Google account, Outlook, or another email provider, you may be sacrificing your privacy as email is received unencrypted, or subsequently encrypted with a key owned by big tech. On Skiff, this isn’t the case. All receive mail is encrypted on receipt with a public key where only a user can decrypt messages, making your family, small business, or enterprise more confident and capable of using email effectively.

Custom domains provide critical usability for both personal and business purposes. Almost all business with an online presence need to support business email addresses for their organization, whether that’s on G suite, Microsoft Outlook, or another mail client.

Today, Skiff becomes a first class alternative to a full workspace email solution. If you add a custom domain on the Pro or Business tiers, your other workspace members will also be able to add aliases from that domain, giving your entire organization access to a new email address personalized for your business name.

This same use case is critical for family usage as well, where multiple members of a family will want to have shared email addresses at different custom email addresses on a single domain.

Custom domains are also helpful because they give you a single email address to use over many years, regardless of the email client that you choose. So, if you choose to migrate from a Gmail address to Skiff Mail, you can maintain the same domain setup without telling your contacts to use a new address. Alternatively, if you choose to set up a custom domain, you can still setup email forwarding to your new email with ease (check out our blog on 

We hope this step-by-step tutorial was helpful and informative. If you run into any trouble setting up your custom email domain on Skiff, please email us at support@skiff.org, or reference more docs on our 

You can also communicate with us on any of our online communities, including 

Arpeet Kale & Peter Lu