Thunderbird Pro Just Got Serious – Thundermail, Encryption and a $9 Plan

Thunderbird Pro is slowly turning from “interesting blog series” into a real product.

The November 2025 update shows that all three services—Thundermail, Appointment, and Send—are moving from concept to something people can actually use, even if it’s still early days. There’s a new website, more transparent pricing, and a plan for how the first users will get in.

What Thunderbird Pro actually is (in plain English)

Thunderbird Pro isn’t a new app. It’s a set of extra services that plug into the Thunderbird email client you already know. Think of it as an optional paid layer on top of open-source software.

• Three services sit under the Thunderbird Pro name:
  • Thundermail: email hosting from the Thunderbird team
  • Send: end-to-end encrypted file sharing
  • Appointment: a scheduling and booking tool
• Everything is designed to work with Thunderbird on desktop via a new add-on.
• The goal is to offer a privacy-friendly alternative to big tech suites, without ads or data selling.

In practice, Thunderbird Pro is trying to solve a familiar problem: your email, calendar, and files are scattered across different services that don’t always play nice together. Instead of pushing you into one giant ecosystem, Thunderbird wants to offer its own bundle built on open-source values. You still use the Thunderbird client, but you add hosting, scheduling, and encrypted file sharing that all talk to each other.

Thundermail: Thunderbird’s own email hosting gets real

Thundermail is the headline act here, and it’s finally moved into production testing. That means real infrastructure, not just dev servers and mockups.

• Thundermail accounts are now in production testing with Thunderbird’s own team.
• Internal staff are using it to test support, onboarding, and everyday reliability.
• A redesigned Thundermail dashboard lets users:
  • View and edit account settings
  • Add custom domains
  • Create and manage aliases
• The new Thunderbird Pro add-on already supports Thundermail, so accounts can be added automatically in the client.
• Data hosting is being migrated from the Americas to Germany and the EU where possible, with continued security work and better email deliverability.

The important bit here isn’t just “it exists”. Production testing means the team is confident enough to use Thundermail for their own accounts, push it through support flows, and see what breaks. The dashboard work—custom domains, aliases, clearer settings—also shows they’re aiming at people who want more control than a basic free inbox.

If you care where your email lives, the move towards EU hosting is a strong signal. Thunderbird is explicitly saying it will not fund Pro by selling your data or stuffing the interface with ads. That’s a different model to the usual “free service now, upsell later” we see with many subscriptions, like music platforms adjusting their prices for UAE users in moves similar to the recent Spotify Premium price rise in the UAE.

Appointment: scheduling with a new coat of paint (and Zoom baked in)

Appointment is Thunderbird Pro’s scheduling tool, and the latest update focuses more on design and integrations than flashy new features.

• The team has been busy with:
  • A major visual update that will spread across all of Thunderbird Pro
  • Better Zoom integration
  • Improved CalDAV support
  • Workflow tweaks, infrastructure work, and bug fixes
• The goal is to get Appointment into shape for the Early Bird beta release.

On the surface, “design work and bug fixes” doesn’t sound exciting, but for a scheduling tool, usability matters more than shiny features. If Appointment is going to compete with the usual booking links people drop into emails, it needs to feel simple: pick a time, see availability, send a link, done.

The mention of Zoom and CalDAV is key. Zoom makes it relevant for remote meetings, while CalDAV matters for anyone already using standards-based calendars instead of being locked into one vendor. For UAE users juggling work accounts, personal calendars, and maybe a side-hustle inbox, having a standards-friendly scheduler inside Thunderbird could save a lot of copy-pasting between tabs.

Send: encrypted file sharing with a security stamp

Send is the file-sharing side of Thunderbird Pro, built around end-to-end encryption and safer uploads. The November update shows the team is putting as much effort into security and structure as they are into UX.

• Send is being migrated from its own add-on into the unified Thunderbird Pro add-on.
• This should make using Send inside Thunderbird desktop much smoother.
• Key areas of focus:
  • Better reporting and prevention of illegal uploads
  • A completed external security review, with all issues scheduled for fixes
  • Plans to publish the security report once the work is final
  • Improved mobile performance
  • Faster upload and download speeds
  • A cleaner first-time user flow

The external security review is the standout detail. Anyone can write “encrypted” on a product page; asking a third party to audit it and then promising to share the findings publicly is a different level of confidence. For people sending large files—contracts, client assets, or just big media folders—having this built into Thunderbird reduces the need to jump between random cloud links.

Of course, some users will still keep their own local storage game strong, with tiny hardware like the 1TB USB-C drive Sandisk built to just live in your laptop. Send sits on the other side of that spectrum: encryption, time-limited links, and cloud-backed sharing rather than carrying everything in your bag.

New Thunderbird Pro website, Early Bird pricing and what happens next

This update isn’t just about backend work. Thunderbird Pro now has a proper public face and a clear starting price.

• The new Thunderbird Pro website is live and acts as:
  • An information hub for the Pro services
  • The first step for signing up, signing in, and managing accounts
• The first subscription tier is the Early Bird Plan, priced at $9 per month.
• Early Bird will include all three services:
  • Thundermail
  • Send
  • Appointment
• The team is clear about how Pro will (and won’t) be funded:
  • No selling user data
  • No ads
  • No compromising independence
• The Early Bird rate is described as an introductory price to support early development and long-term sustainability.
• Pricing and plan options will be reviewed based on feedback, with more tiers planned once the platform is ready for a wider audience.

For a lot of people, the big question is simple: “What do I get, and how much does it cost?” This update finally answers that, even if you still can’t sign up freely. A single plan with all services is easier to understand than a messy matrix of add-ons.

It also lands in a world where subscriptions pile up fast—from AI tools offered to students, like the Gemini Pro deal for university students, to creative suites and music streaming. Thunderbird’s pitch is that your money goes towards hosting, storage, and security—not towards ad systems or data-profiling engines. For privacy-minded users in the UAE and beyond, that alone will be worth monitoring.

Early testers, waitlists and gradual rollout

Thunderbird Pro isn’t going straight from “internal dogfood” to “open to everyone”. The rollout plan is intentionally slow and controlled.

• Next step: an initial closed test run with a core group of community contributors.
• This group will:
  • Conduct broader testing
  • Help identify critical issues
  • Feedback on UX, reliability, and workflows
• After that, Early Bird access will open in waves to people on the waitlist.
• Even then, the services will still be considered under active development.
• Users are encouraged to sign up for the Early Bird waitlist via the Thunderbird Pro site and help shape the service.

It’s a classic open-source mindset: ship early to people who care, listen hard, and iterate. For now, the smartest move if you’re interested—whether you’re in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or elsewhere—is to get on the waitlist and manage expectations. This is still a work in progress, not a polished, fully global commercial launch.

The upside is clear: by the time Thunderbird Pro is ready for general availability, the service will have been shaped by the same kind of power users who kept the Thunderbird client alive all these years.

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