Proton Mail or Tuta: which is better for a custom domain?

How many custom domains does each plan include?

Proton Mail Plus includes 1 custom domain and 10 addresses, Proton Unlimited includes 3 domains, Tuta Revolutionary includes 3 and Tuta Legend includes 10. Tuta's unlimited domain count belongs to its top business tier only.

For one personal domain, the counts are equal in practice. For a family with a personal domain, a second one for a project and a third one for a shop, Tuta reaches that count on an entry-level paid plan, while Proton needs Unlimited. Check the current page of each provider before you pay, because both change their plan tables.

Proton's pricing page shows Mail Plus at $2.49 a month when billed for 12 months, which is $29.88 for the first year and $47.88 a year after. Unlimited is $6.49 a month on the same term, $77.88 the first year and $119.88 afterwards. Tuta's pricing figures could not be read in full on 12 November 2026, so we publish none.

Which one needs fewer DNS records?

Proton asks for eight records and shows every one in a wizard; Tuta shows its values in a wizard too, but several could not be confirmed from Tuta's own pages.

According to Postelva's count of Proton's support pages on 12 November 2026, a Proton domain needs one verification TXT, two MX, one SPF TXT, three DKIM CNAME and one DMARC TXT: 8 records. Tuta's setup lists a TXT record for ownership, an MX record, a TXT record for SPF, DKIM CNAME records and a recommended DMARC TXT, with a CNAME for MTA-STS also in its list.

For Tuta we state only what its pages and blog confirm. The record names and targets, such as the DKIM selectors and the SPF include, are shown in Tuta's setup wizard under Global Settings, Custom email domains: copy them from there rather than from a third-party guide. Our step-by-step pages cover both providers: how to set up Proton Mail with a custom domain and how to set up Tuta with a custom domain.

Postelva has a one-click Proton Mail template. Tuta has none at Postelva: its MX, TXT and CNAME records are typed in the DNS editor.

Can I pay for Proton Mail or Tuta in crypto?

Proton accepts Bitcoin as account credit; Tuta accepts no crypto for subscriptions directly.

Proton's help page says the Bitcoin option works on the Bitcoin network only, with no Lightning, no Monero and no Ethereum tokens. You first create a free account, then buy credit with Bitcoin. There is no autopay, so you renew by hand and pay at least 24 hours before the bill is due. The credit does not expire.

Tuta lists card, PayPal and bank transfer for subscriptions. Crypto reaches Tuta only through gift cards bought with Bitcoin, Monero or cash from a partner.

The domain is a separate purchase in both cases. At Postelva you pay in BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC from a prepaid balance with a $25 minimum, which leaves the mailbox as the only part you pay elsewhere.

Which features differ for aliases, catch-all and encryption?

Both providers offer a catch-all on paid plans, and both encrypt mail between their own users.

Proton supports plus addressing with no setup: name+word@ delivers to the same inbox. Whether this works on a custom domain is not confirmed by an official page we read. Tuta's support states that plus addressing is not supported on Tuta-owned domains, and its behaviour on a custom domain is not verified.

Tuta sets a catch-all per custom domain, under Global Settings, Custom email domains. Proton offers one on paid plans with a custom domain. Proton uses OpenPGP for mail between Proton users; Tuta uses its own scheme and says it encrypts subject lines. Mail to outside addresses is not end-to-end encrypted by default at either, and for Proton this point was not re-verified on an official page on 12 November 2026.

What does a move between the two cost you with your own domain?

With your own domain, a move between Proton and Tuta changes records, not your address. The domain stays at your registrar. You add the new provider's records, remove the old MX records, and the address you gave to others keeps working.

The order matters: export or import the old mail first, lower the TTL on the old records a day ahead, switch MX last and keep the old account until you have seen new mail arrive. The page on how to keep your email address when changing provider has the full sequence.

Postelva sells $12.49/year .com domains with the same price on renewal and transfer, so a long-lived address does not get more expensive in year two. Our index of providers with custom domains lists the other providers you could move to.