Then you can easily move providers around in the background without having to distribute a new email address each time. IMO you should decide how private you want to be / how much functionality you're willing to give up for privacy, try the providers I listed, and then go from there.

Honorable mentions to some other services I tried that weren't as compelling as FastMail, Proton, or Mailbox, but are still good: Tutanota, Posteo, and Mailfence.

Mailbox isn't as private as Proton by default, but it can be configured to be roughly as private, and even at default it's far better than Google. By using iCloud Mail in addition, you can keep your communications in one place. The provider is a particularly good choice for those who are already deeply immersed in the Apple and iCloud ecosystems. The service is very similar to Gmail and Outlook, although some may consider the interface to be a bit less busy and cleaner looking. Of course, none of these options are as fast, feature-rich, or intuitive as Google's options, but they do all work, and they interface easily with IMAP/CalDAV/CardDAV/etc. Apple entered the email space with iCloud Mail.

has a suite that roughly matches Google - Mail, Docs, Sheets, Drive, Tasks, etc.

I hope that over time Proton can replicate the Google ecosystem, but it isn't there yet. I get why they did this - those standards aren't encrypted - but that means you're stuck with a so-so mobile email app, a beta calendar app, and no great contacts solution. The big downside is that ProtonMail doesn't play nice with standards like CalDAV, CardDAV, etc, so you HAVE to use their apps.

ProtonMail's paid options offer great features, and it's all encrypted at rest so your emails are about as protected as emails reasonably can be.

Fastmail isn't explicitly privacy oriented (they're based in Australia where encryption is banned IIRC), but they promise not to scan your mails or serve ads and they have a great reputation for usability and reliability.

If you're willing to pay a bit, you have a bunch of options:

If you want something that's free, ProtonMail is one of your only not-adware choices. Email is a naturally insecure / not-private communication medium, so there's no silver bullet, but there are a lot of better-than-Google choices. I recommend checking out privacytools.io for a good run down of some privacy-oriented providers.

Icloud mail vs gmail