Spoken like someone who has never had to live in bay area on <$1500/month. SSDI (social security disability income) doesn't pay much, and rent for a tiny, crappy appartment in CA eats up a lot of that. $10-20 extra means not eating for a few days.

A domain is free, if it's delegated. It's also something many people already have.

StartSSL is not an option (had problems with them pre-openssl-mess; absolutely not an option now).

This stuff misses the point, though: REAL privacy (not relying on a 3rd party like facebook) is a selling point that is becoming more popular "post-snowden". While I assume technical challenges can be made point-and-click easy over time, requiring cash is a hurdle that will shut out MANY people. Evidence: free email vs minor-fee/year email.

Right now, any competing service is already up against the hurdle of trying to get people to switch from what they currently use (facebook, google). The idea of not being tide to a big company is enough to overcome that hurdle, for at least some people. Requiring cash scraps that window of opportunity, sometimes for actual cash-availability reasons, and others for perceived reasons.