deltachat is awesome

Matrix, IRC, XMPP

Also Email is useful and you probably shouldn't waste your time consuming info from people who think otherwise.

this is your reminder to set up OpenPGP. encrypt your email.

Something could replace it easily if they tried to use the open standards and decentralized system like email has. But tech companies have gone too greedy, they won't make anything that works with other tech companies. Every one of them are trying to pull users to themselves. Now we have people with account in 5 different websites to communicate with different people instead.

It is sad how far the technology has come. It'd allow so much improvements in quality of life and yet it'll all being used to extract more money, making life shittier.

I'm using cpanel email and it's terrible. Can someone recommend something cheap but better than cpanel?

That is why everyone should be using Delta Chat

And even instant and encrypted when using https://delta.chat/

Also Usenet. Still around after decades. As long as people are hosting news servers, it will stay. The original decentralized protocol.