My opinion:
The wanted path of the devs is that you are free to choose. Having a default Chatmail server provides ease of use, allowing to register with just a few clicks, as well as some piece of mind that the server won’t go down in a month when the owner forgets about it.
Chatmail: Relays lists some other public Chatmail servers.
If you are satisfied with it.
If you want to use email for things other than Delta Chat, and if you are willing to maintain it.
It might be useful for people other than yourself, so it would be nice; + if you are willing to maintain it.
They’re generally not as well supported as Chatmail, e.g. in terms of push notifications, send limits, spam filtering and stuff. “Classic email servers” are supported, but are falling out of favor for Delta Chat as a project. See
- https://support.delta.chat/t/testrun-email-pumping-isnt-something-praiseworthy/3145?u=wofwca (Testrun email pumping isn't something praiseworthy - Delta.Chat)
- ChatMail? Questions from a Classic DeltaChat User - #7 by mpa
- How to use normal email adress instead of chatmail?
- Add a "Use an existing email address" option more visible on profile creation
- Drop classic email support