Provider-domain aliases (@duck.com, @mozmail.com, @icloud.com) are free or cheap, instant, and stop working if you leave the provider. Custom-domain aliases cost a domain and some DNS setup, and the addresses are yours regardless of who routes them. The right choice depends almost entirely on one thing: how much will end up depending on those addresses.
The comparison
| Provider domain | Your own domain | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free to ~$36/yr | Domain (~a few dollars/yr) + service |
| Setup time | Minutes | DNS records, once |
| Ongoing admin | None | Remember to renew |
| Switching provider | Re-address every account | A DNS change |
| Provider shuts the product | Every address dies | Repoint and continue |
| Account suspended | Every address dies | Repoint and continue |
| Anonymity | Better — you're in a crowd | Worse — the domain identifies you |
| Address readability | Usually random strings | Readable, e.g. netflix@ |
| Guessability by others | Low | Higher with readable names |
| Blocked at signup | Sometimes — known domains get blocklisted | Rarely |
The case for a provider domain
It's stronger than alias-service marketing tends to admit.
- It's free. DuckDuckGo Email Protection costs nothing at all, and Firefox Relay's free tier gives 50 masks. There's no trial period and no upsell wall.
- Nothing to maintain. No renewal to forget, no DNS to misconfigure, no registrar account.
- Better anonymity. This one is counter-intuitive and it's real. An address at
@duck.comis one of millions; it says nothing about you. A domain used by one person is a consistent identifier across every service you use it on — anyone correlating datasets can link those accounts together. - Immediate. You can be using it in the time it takes to read this.
The case for your own domain
Portability
The main argument. Provider-domain addresses work for as long as your relationship with that provider does. Leave, or have the product discontinued, and every address needs replacing at every service that uses it — each one requiring a login, an edit, and a confirmation sent to the new address, with a support ticket for anything you can't get into.
With your own domain, changing routing service is a DNS change. Nothing needs updating anywhere. The argument in full.
Readable addresses
Most provider services generate random strings. You can label them in their interface, but the address itself carries no information — seeing spam at a random string doesn't tell you the source at a glance.
hardware-store@yourdomain.com names the company on the To: line. Over a few hundred addresses that's a meaningful difference in how usable the system is.
Fewer rejections
Some sites blocklist well-known alias domains at signup. Your own domain looks like any other company domain and is rarely blocked.
The honest downsides of owning it
- Money and setup. A domain plus DNS records. Not difficult, but not nothing.
- Renewals are on you. Miss one and every address stops. Turn on auto-renew and keep the card current.
- Less anonymity. Register with WHOIS privacy or your name and postal address become public — you'd have solved one exposure by creating another.
- Guessability. Readable names mean someone who sees one can guess others. Fixable with a short fixed suffix (
netflix-k2@), but worth deciding deliberately. More on catch-all trade-offs.
How to decide
One question: what would it cost you if these addresses stopped working next year?
- Nothing much — you're using aliases for newsletters and one-off signups. Use a provider domain. It's free and the portability argument doesn't apply to you.
- A great deal — these are the contact of record for your bank, insurer, utilities and government correspondence. Own the domain. The cost of being locked out dwarfs the cost of a registration.
There's also a sensible hybrid, which is what a lot of people should probably do: a free provider service for casual signups where convenience wins, and your own domain for the accounts you'd hate to lose.
Where the services sit
- Provider domain only: DuckDuckGo Email Protection, Firefox Relay, Apple Hide My Email.
- Your own domain: SimpleLogin Premium, Proton Pass Plus, addy.io, Don't SPAM Me.
Full breakdown with current pricing: the best email alias services, compared honestly.