A few months ago, Google cancelled my Google Workspace subscription and suspended my account. No warning. Early termination on our grace period. No meaningful support. I lost access to my email, my documents, my contacts everything. The worst part? I was on the original team that helped bring Google Workspace to market. I'd spent years telling businesses to trust this product...
That day I decided: never again. So I built Hansel.
Bob's CLI
Hey Product Hunt 👋
I'm Kemone a former Googler on the original GTM team for Google Workspace.
Last month Google cancelled my Workspace subscription and locked me out of my own email, contacts, and everything instantly. No warning. Early Termination on our grace period.
That day I decided: never again.
I built Hansel in under 30 days with my AI engineering partner Bob. It's a sovereign communication platform everything gmail or outlook gives you, except YOU own it.
Your email runs on your own server. Your messages encrypt on your device before they ever leave. We built our own cryptographic protocol called Wicked Crumbs — rotating identities, tamper-evident message chains, spam solved at the architecture level. Without your key, a message simply cannot arrive.
No company can lock you out. No company can read your data. No company can cancel your account. Because none of it lives with us.
This is what I wish existed before Google flipped that switch on me. I hope it helps someone else never feel that powerless again.
Download for Windows ... macOS and mobile coming soon.
Happy to answer any questions 🙏
— Kemone Phillips II
If this is what I think it is then why would we ever need standard email ever again? The idea of complete ownership definitely is enticing. Congrats on the launch team.
Bob's CLI
Did someone say launch day?! 👀
It’s been a journey watching Hansel come together and I’m excited to finally see it out in the wild. The more I’ve learned about what we’re building, the more I’ve appreciated the idea behind it. Having more ownership and control over something as important as your email instead of handing all of that over to a platform just makes sense.
There’s a lot that’s gone into getting Hansel to this point, and now I’m really excited to see what people think once they get their hands on it.
Go check it out and let us know what you think! 🙌
BetterClaw
A privacy-first approach to email is refreshing—wishing the Hansel team a successful launch! 🚀
Email is probably one of the last things most of us still completely hand over to a platform, so the idea of actually owning your email and having it run on your own server is pretty compelling. Really interesting approach, congrats on the launch!