Olá, sou o Vincent.
Desenvolvedor independente em Marselha, França. Criador do mail123, mexedor compulsivo e defensor de uma web mais livre.
Um geek desde o Macintosh 128K
My name is Vincent, I grew up in front of a Macintosh 128K — yes, that's as old as it sounds. My first real PC was an HP tower my parents gave me. I never really unplugged since.
My first coding project was a calculator in C. A complete disaster. But I was hooked. Today I tinker with a home lab — an HP Proliant running too many things, Raspberry Pis blinking in every corner, and a constant urge to push every machine I own to its limits. That's how I unwind.
I love the passion behind old personal websites, forums where you made friends without asking who was collecting what, the innocence and constant tinkering. That era shaped me. It also taught me that a useful Internet isn't built with registrars and endless cookie banners, but with tinkerers who share.
Prefiro a web "mais livre" do início dos anos 2000, com a sua inocência e a paixão que vinha com ela. Hoje, demasiados governos querem tratar-nos como crianças sob o pretexto de nos protegerem.
From 3 hacked-together pages to a multi-domain service
Mail123 começou minúsculo. Três páginas, algumas linhas de código, uma única máquina. Era principalmente uma desculpa para aprender. Hoje virou um serviço usado em vários países, com uma infraestrutura que se mantém sozinha. Eis como chegamos aqui.
The initial hack
Primeira versão: 3 páginas, algumas centenas de linhas de código, design minimalista com um único domínio. Era mais um protótipo do que um serviço, mas já recebia emails.
↑ The v1 in all its simplicity — bright blue, bullet lists, and the "Recevoir les mails" button.
Full graphic overhaul
Shift in direction: new dark/light design, live email reception, multi-language support, first additional domains. The service starts looking like something usable daily.
Internationalization and advanced features
Geo-localized domains (.fr, .click, .pt, .com.br), automatic OTP detection, public REST API, embeddable widget, public stats page. The service became what I would have wanted to find myself.
What's next is up to you
Webhooks, more geo-localized domains, WordPress and browser integrations, and everything you report via the contact page. The project lives thanks to its users.
For a web that doesn't fear its users
Mail123 isn't neutral. It's a tool built with specific values, and that's what makes it different from the dozen of anonymous services doing the same thing.
A freer web
The 2000s web had its flaws, but it let everyone tinker their own corner. Today users are infantilized under the pretext of protecting them. Mail123 asks nothing: no card, no age, no reason for use.
Privacy by design
No trackers, no third-party cookies, no data resale. Mailboxes auto-delete. If I store nothing, I can't leak anything, nor sell anything. It's that simple.
Love for the craft
Mail123 roda em self-hosted, não depende de nenhum SaaS. Sem framework mágico, sem caixa preta — código que entendo inteiramente é código que posso corrigir.
EU sovereignty
Servers in France (Roubaix). No AWS, no GCP, no Cloudflare in front of emails. Data stays in the European Union and crosses no exotic borders.
The project in numbers
Mail123 is a small independent service, but it holds its own. A few up-to-date numbers — weekly activity, active mailboxes, and what makes the service a bit different.
Full breakdown and charts on the public stats page →
Three things that make me happy
When you tinker with a project for months, a few details are worth all the effort. For mail123, those are:
1. The simplicity. A visitor arrives, clicks, receives. No onboarding, no tutorial, no form. If you need instructions to use a disposable email, it's poorly designed.
2. The hidden features. Under the hood it's less minimalist. Automatic OTP code detection in received emails, multi-domain geo-localized management, public REST API, embeddable widget… All those things you only notice when you need them.
3. Internationalization. Mail123 speaks 5 languages and uses geo-localized domains. A Brazilian uses mail123.com.br, a Portuguese uses mail123.pt, a French user mail123.fr. Small detail, but that's what sets a quality service apart from an American copy-paste.
A question, an idea, a bug?
The service lives off its users. If you find a bug, have a suggestion, or just want to chat about the project — the contact page is there for that. I read everything, I reply to most.
Go to contact page