Thunderbird’s developers are planning to compete with Gmail and other email providers by offering paid “pro” tier services, including @thundermail.com email addresses and new services such as an appointment scheduler, file sharing tools, and some “Thunderbird Assist” AI features. You can join a beta waitlist by going to thundermail.com, which is the domain for the email addresses, along with an option for @tb.pro.
Thunderbird managing director Ryan Sipes announced that the services are in the works in a post on the Thunderbird Planning discussion group last Friday. However, it seems pretty early in development, and there are no announced tiers and pricing, though Sipes said there would be both free and paid tiers. “It is our goal to eventually have a similar offering so that a 100 percent open source, freedom-respecting alternative ecosystem is available for those who want it,” said Sipes.
Thunderbird is a long-running open source email client that originally launched in 2003 and was developed alongside Mozilla’s Firefox browser. It lost ground with the rise of Gmail and other web-based email services, but maintained a dedicated user base.
Mozilla ended development of the original Thunderbird client in 2012 and handed it off to a community group. In 2020, after renewed interest and donations, development moved to Mozilla Foundation subsidiary MZLA Technology Corporation, which has been modernizing the codebase and developing mobile clients.
Thunderbird Pro services, including Thundermail, are coming in late to the game with very few details. Unlike Gmail and Outlook, Thunderbird has never offered an email service to go with its email client. In the post, Sipes said, “It is my conviction that all of this should have been a part of the Thunderbird universe a decade ago. But it is better late than never.” It will also face popular Gmail alternatives like ProtonMail and FastMail, but with the general rise of distrust in Big Tech and concerns about privacy, maybe it doesn’t hurt to have more options.
