You’re right. All Things Secure has some recommended email providers with affiliate links on his website https://www.allthingssecured.com/identity-protection/best-email-alias-service/. The URL on his affiliate link looks different more like a normal affiliate https://www.startmail.com/partner?ref=mmviyzz and the page also looks different.
I think its just an affiliate link. It looks like every one can make a affiliate link https://www.startmail.com/affiliate.
I did not expect this from Sweden.
If you’re on mac or windows i think the storage part is fine. But otherwise yes. In my opinion proton is the best alternative if you don’t want to selfhost.
If you don’t want to self-host, consider Proton Drive, ente.io, or crypt.ee.
I use Proton Drive; it’s not perfect, but Proton has been around for 10 years.
ente.io seems promising, but they haven’t been around for long enough.
crypt.ee seems fine, but it has the same problem as ente.io, and I don’t like their interface(Edit: crypt.ee has been around for 8 year’s).
If none of the above options suit you, maybe try sync.com; they claim to encrypt all their files with end-to-end encryption.
Filen.io’s offer of cheap lifetime plans on Black Friday this raises a red flag for me, as lifetime plans are not a sustainable business model.
Both proton, ente.io and crypt.ee have been on podcasts I would listen to those before deciding what to go with.
If there is one that is smaller than 950MB, it would be interesting if you uploaded it to a cloud sandbox analyzer like Any.Run, Triage, or some other similar service.