Ask HN: My non techie partner wants to move away from Gmail any suggestions?

Recently my partner had a horrible experience when they stopped receiving emails because ‘Gmail was out of storage’. Very frustrating experience especially since they were on an overseas trip and didn’t know why? In panic they started deleting all the emails but didn’t realize that their Android phone was automatically syncing photos to drive. My mother incidentally encountered same issue on her new Pixel 8 pro, so this was a wake up call.

This feels like a nightmare scenario when all our documents and conversations can be blocked. What’s a good alternative to Gmail, paid or free, that is secure and not shady ?