Email remains essential for communication over the internet, with a large number of email providers available..
Although there are many different productivity tools which aid to help with collaboration and general communication between teams, at the end of the day email remains the most commonly used. Partly it's from habit, partly it's because it's just so versatile, and partly it's because it does exactly what it needs to do, nothing more, nothing less, except perhaps with the addition of a, integrated calendar.
Another reason why email remains so popular is that email services are so freely available, with most major internet companies providing one or more for free, whether it be your ISP, or tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple. And we've already showcased what we think are the best free email services.
However, email can come in different forms. Originally you had to download software as an email client in order to use it, and often had to configure it to your needs. Nowadays cloud email services are the norm, not least because it provides a safe and secure way to backup your emails while also allowing you to access them from any device. We've already listed the best email clients.
However, these days with privacy and security of increasing concern, many individuals and business users are turning to the best secure email providers to ensure full privacy of their email contents. Additionally, many business users will continue to use the best email hosting services simply because it allows them full control over their email.
As you can see, there are many different types of email services available, and comparing them can be a challenge. That's why we've done the hard work for you by providing more information below to help you make your choice. So read on for our list of free email accounts listed and compared, though note that we have not included free email services that exist only as trial versions.
Gmail is the most popular email service globally, with around 1.8 billion monthly active users. This is one of the few cases where popularity correlates with excellence. Gmail is the best free email account anyone can choose. It offers 15 GB of free storage, which is suitable for most users. If you surpass 15 GB, you can delete files to create more space or pay for a Google One subscription to increase your allocated storage space.
Gmail offers much more than just email. A Gmail account is your ticket to all the free services Google offers, including YouTube, Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc. It unlocks access to a widespread ecosystem of software products offering great utility.
Gmail has an intuitive interface you can easily understand. You can access it from a web browser or download the desktop or mobile app. Gmail has solid anti-spam and encryption features to keep users protected. Anyone can sign up and start enjoying the free email services Google offers.
Yahoo Mail is another prominent email service, the second most popular after Gmail. It’s a free email service offered by Yahoo, the tech company best known for its search engine and web portal. It gives each user 1 TB of storage, or 1,000 GB, enough to store thousands of years of emails.
You can access Yahoo Mail from your web browser or download the desktop or mobile app. The app makes it easy to navigate and filter your emails and comes with advanced features like package tracking for items you purchase online.
Yahoo Mail has a user-friendly interface you can easily understand. A good thing about this platform is that it allows you to add other email accounts like Gmail and AOL and access them from one spot (through the Yahoo interface). Apart from typical emails, this platform offers many other features like document and image storage.
Outlook is a free email platform operated by Microsoft, the technology giant behind the Windows operating system, Azure cloud computing, Word document editing software, and many other prominent products. This platform gives free users 15 GB of email storage, and you can upgrade up to 100 GB if needed.
Outlook is more than just an email service. It’s also a personal calendar and task management tool. You can use your Outlook calendar to organize your schedule and keep track of all tasks you need to achieve. Outlook’s intuitive interface makes it easy to juggle emails alongside time management.
You can access Outlook from a web browser or download the mobile or desktop app. Your account gives you free access to other Microsoft tools, like Skype for voice and video calls, Word for editing documents, Excel for managing spreadsheets, and PowerPoint for presentations.
AOL might be an internet dinosaur, but the AOL Mail service still exists. It's a free email service that anyone can sign up for. Users get 250 GB of free storage for their emails, with a maximum attachment size of 25 MB. You can access it from a web browser or download it on your desktop or mobile phone.
A noteworthy drawback of this platform is that any account inactive for 90 days automatically gets deactivated. If the inactivity reaches 180 days, the account gets deleted.
AOL Mail has standard anti-spam and encryption features to keep users safe. It gives users access to a calendar and to-do list tool to organize tasks. Free users also get 5 GB of cloud storage for photos, videos, and other files.
You can sign up for AOL mail and get the “@AOL.com” email domain. Don’t bother about recipients who think you appeared from the past; gladly let them know that AOL still exists.
Proton Mail is a free email platform focused on privacy and security. It provides end-to-end encryption for emails, meaning no one can access their contents, including Proton Mail itself. This platform is ideal for privacy-conscious users who don’t want to be tracked. It’s accessible via a web browser, the Tor network, or the iOS and Android mobile app.
Proton Mail provides 1 GB of storage for free users, which is small but understandable. Unlike other free email services, Proton Mail does not make any money via ads. Its revenue primarily comes from premium subscriptions, with no ad revenue to subsidize free users, meaning it has to offer smaller storage.
Proton Mail has an intuitive interface you can easily grasp. But note that free users are allowed to send a maximum of 150 emails daily. Paid users can send unlimited messages and use custom domains, so you can upgrade if you love these features.
Proton offers complementary services like Proton Drive for secure cloud storage, Proton VPN for private browsing, and Proton Pass for password storage.
iCloud Mail is a free email service operated by Apple, the famous iPhone, iPad, and Mac producer. This app is famous for its sleek interface, typical for Apple products. It has a minimalist, uncluttered interface that looks pleasing to the eye. It works just like any other email service; you can send and receive messages from an address ending in “iCloud.com.”
This email service is ideal for people who already use Apple devices and have iCloud accounts. Apple provides 5 GB of free storage for every iCloud user, which counts toward your emails. You can pay to increase your storage limit above 5 GB.
iCloud is ad-free, user-friendly, and offers strong anti-spam and anti-phishing protection. You can even hide your email address by messages with a randomly generated address that forwards to your inbox, preventing others from knowing your real address.
Zoho is an Indian software company famous for making free or low-cost alternatives to popular software tools offered by Western corporations. It offers a free email service named Zoho Mail, giving users 5 GB of storage without paying a dime.
Zoho Mail is more than just email. It has an ecosystem of complementary services like cloud storage, an online meeting app, a task management app, etc. It’s similar to the likes of Gmail and Yahoo Mail but is much less popular. The free tier is suitable for both individuals and businesses.
You can access Zoho Mail from a web browser or download the desktop app (Mac, Windows, and Linux) and mobile app (iOS and Android). This platform has a less intuitive interface than the likes of Gmail and Yahoo Mail, so you may need some time to get used to it.
GMX Mail is a popular free email service. It’s a product of United Internet, Germany’s foremost internet company. It offers 65 GB of email storage for free users, enough for most people, plus 2 GB of additional cloud storage for files. Attachments are limited to 50 MB, higher than what most free email services allow.
GMX Mail is available in English, French, and German. It supports two-factor authentication to keep your messages secure. You can access this platform from a web browser or download the iOS or Android app on your mobile phone. GMX Mail’s interface can be confusing to a new user, but you should get used to it with time.
GMX offers standard anti-spam and anti-phishing features; it can detect suspicious emails and flag them with a high degree of accuracy. This platform makes it easy to communicate and exchange files with fellow email users.
Tutonota is a secure email service with end-to-end encryption for your messages. This platform is open-source, making it easy to verify its security. It’s accessible via a web browser or native apps for desktops and mobile phones.
Free users get 1 GB of email storage, which is low but understandable because of the lack of ads. You can upgrade to a paid account to enjoy more storage. Tutanota offers more than sending and receiving emails. You can use its calendar tool to manage your schedule and ensure you don’t miss important events. You can also safely store your contacts and retrieve them whenever you want.
Tutanota has a simple interface any layman can understand. It pairs ease of use with solid security and privacy. You can use end-to-end or partial encryption for your emails, depending on the level of sensitivity. Regardless of which degree of encryption, your emails remain as secure as possible with Tutanota.
Mailfence is an encrypted email platform launched in 2013 by ContactOffice, a European software company. It uses the OpenPGP encryption protocol, one of the strongest protocols, which uses encryption keys of up to 4096 bits.
Mailfence allows you to send text and visuals via email. You can organize your emails into folders and tags for easy reference. You can use multiple alias email addresses to hide your main address. You can secure your account with two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
Mailfence offers 1 GB of storage on the free plan, 500 MB for emails and another 500 MB for documents. You can subscribe to a premium plan to boost your storage up to 225 GB. This platform offers contacts, calendars, chat, and polling tools alongside its email platform. It has a simple interface you can easily understand.
10 Minute Mail is unlike other email platforms on this list. It’s a temporary email service that gives users addresses lasting for 10 minutes. If 10 minutes is too small, you can refill the allotted time up to 100 minutes. Every mailbox is disposable, meaning no one can reaccess its contents.
You can use temporary emails to sign up on online platforms you don’t want to contact you later. This platform is only accessible from a web browser; there’s no desktop or mobile app.
10 Minute Mail is multi-lingual, available in a few dozen languages. It’s very simple to use and understand but doesn’t offer any feature outside emails, unlike its competitors.
Mail.com is a popular email service operated by the United Internet Group, the same company behind the GMX mail service. Users can choose from over 100 domain attachments, including mail.com, USA.com, myself.com, consultant.com, techie.com, etc.
Mail.com offers 65 GB of storage for free users, which is more than enough for most people. Free users also get 2 GB of cloud storage to keep images, videos, documents, etc. This platform has an intuitive interface you can easily navigate. You can access it via the web or install the app on an iOS or Android device.
You can access complementary features like the online calendar to manage your schedule, the contacts app to manage and easily retrieve your contacts, and an online editor for spreadsheets, documents, and presentations. You can access these features without paying a dime and enjoy Mail.com’s anti-spam and anti-phishing protections to keep your email as safe as possible.
Temp Mail is another temporary, disposable email service. This one has no time limit on the temporary email address; it’s valid as long as the web page stays open. Once you close the web page, the temporary email address gets deleted.
You can use Temp Mail's disposable addresses to test apps, sign up for double accounts, register on web forms, etc. The website automatically issues one to you, and you can start receiving messages immediately.
Temp Mail doesn’t offer complementary features. It only tackles one problem and does it well; issuing temporary email addresses.
OnMail is an email service with an excellent user interface. The free plan offers 10 GB of storage for emails and a 100 MB attachment size limit. You can get up to 500 GB on the paid account if you want that option.
OnMail has a modern, responsive interface unmatched by most rivals. If you want a user interface you’ll enjoy using, it’s an ideal choice. You can access this service from a web browser or download the iOS app. There’s no Android app at this point, although OnMail’s team says it’s working on one.
This platform includes an intuitive calendar to manage your schedule and a contacts tool to store and retrieve your contacts easily. You can sign up anytime; it’s easy to use.
Fastmail is an Australian email hosting company. It offers a secure email service with an intuitive interface. This platform isn’t free; it requires a premium subscription starting from $3 per user per month, but there’s a 30-day free trial to test its features.
Fastmail gives you control over your email data. It doesn’t track you to serve any ads, unlike most free email services. You can send and receive emails securely via a web browser or the mobile app. This platform makes it easy to organize your emails for future reference.
Fastmail offers a calendar tool to manage your schedule and contacts. You can create multiple alias addresses and hide your main email address. It is an ideal email service for corporate use.
Spike is a modern email platform with a stellar user interface. It allows you to view emails in a conversational, chat-like format instead of the typical format you’re used to. It makes emailing look more fun and encourages users to communicate seamlessly.
Spike is primarily a paid service but offers a free plan that lets users create a single email address and access limited features. You’ll likely enjoy using Spike because it makes emailing feel more friendly and intuitive. However, we recognize that not everyone is a fan of the chat-like, conversational format; some people want to stick to what they’re familiar with, and there are many other options if you fall into this category.
You can access Spike from the web, desktop app (macOS and Windows), or mobile app (iOS and Android).
RMail is an encrypted email service that allows users to communicate seamlessly over the web. It gives users control over their email experience and lets them avoid being tracked for advertisements or other purposes.
RMail supports different encryption protocols and chooses the best one, depending on your email contents. It provides records that let users certify their emails were sent in compliance with privacy standards like GDPR and HIPAA.
The free plan lacks features like content filtering, email archiving, and PDF automation. It also allows limited storage space compared to the paid plans. However, you can test this platform’s features with the free plan and upgrade if you like what you see.
Canary is an email service that heavily incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) to help users write emails. The AI system learns your email habits and tries to help you communicate faster. For example, it can suggest replies to your messages or summarize long text into a short form that’s easier to grasp.
This email platform shines bright in automation. It lets you automate a great deal of your email communications and save time and effort to put to use elsewhere. Canary offers a free plan with basic features; it lacks advanced features like read receipts, push notifications, an attachment browser, etc. The AI system on the free plan isn't as sophisticated as what you'd get on the paid plans, but it's manageable.
You can download Canary Mail on a Windows PC or smartphone (Android and iOS).
Paced Email is a privacy-focused email service. It lets users generate anonymous or personalized email addresses on the fly and dispose of them anytime. You can control the pace of your own emails; you’ll choose a specific time to receive all your messages regardless of when they were sent. The platform holds the emails for you and delivers them at the set time.
You can protect your Paced Email account with two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access. This platform has an intuitive interface that’s easy to understand.
The free plan lets you create up to five email addresses. Anything above five requires a paid subscription.
