12 Best Private Email Services in 2024
Reviews, comparison, screenshots and more for the 12 best private email services.
Written by
Forward Email Team
Published
4/1/24
Time to read
Less than 5 minutes
We recommend Forward Email as the best private email service.
Private Email Service Comparison
Email Service | Pricing | Storage | Attachments | Open-Source | Sandboxed Encryption | Unlimited Domains | Unlimited Aliases | TTI | SMTP | IMAP | POP3 | API | E2EE | OpenPGP | WKD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward Email⭐ RecommendedEmail service for everyone | $3/mo | 10 GB pooled | 50 MB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | TTI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ⚠️ Opt-in | Yes | Yes |
MailfenceSecure and private email | $3.50/mo | 10 GB | 50 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ⚠️ Opt-in | Yes | Yes |
StartmailPrivate email you can trust | $7/mo | 20 GB | 25 MB | No | ❌ Startmail claims to use a User Vault, but this statement has not been audited and their source code is closed-source | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ⚠️ Supported if both sender and recipient are using OpenPGP | ⚠️ Supports OpenPGP, but does not support WKD | No |
Microsoft 365Grow your business with Microsoft 365 | $72/yr | 1000 GB pooled | 150 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ⚠️ Microsoft 365 does not support PGP/MIME | No |
mailbox.orgPrivacy made in Germany | €3/mo | 10 GB | 100 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ⚠️ Supported although they require you to upload your private keys, which is a security issue; also see this blog post for uploading public keys. | No |
Mail.comFree email – Customized to your needs | $29.99/yr | 65 GB | 100 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
GMXCreate a free email account fast | $29.99/yr | 65 GB | 100 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
FastmailFast, private email that’s just for you | $3/mo | 2 GB | 70 MB | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ⚠️ Fastmail does support PGP, but not in their webmail; see this blog post for insight | No |
SkiffPrivacy-first end-to-end encrypted email (NOTE: this company is no longer in business and shutting down service in August 2024) | $3/mo | 15 GB | 25 MB | ❌ Skiff claims to be open-source, but their back-end is actually closed-source | No | No | No | No | ❌ Skiff does not support SMTP and forces vendor lock-in | ❌ Skiff does not support IMAP and forces vendor lock-in | ❌ Skiff does not support POP3 and forces vendor lock-in | No | ⚠️ Supported, but Skiff manages your private keys and is closed-source | Yes | Yes |
Proton MailSecure email that protects your privacy | $3.99/mo | 15 GB | 25 MB | ❌ Proton Mail claims to be open-source, but their back-end actually is closed source | No | No | No | No | ❌ Requires you to download Proton Mail Bridge and forces vendor lock-in | ❌ Requires you to download Proton Mail Bridge and forces vendor lock-in | ❌ Proton Mail does not support POP3 | No | ⚠️ Proton Mail rewrites your emails | Yes | Yes |
SimpleLoginReceive and send emails anonymously | $4/mo | No SimpleLogin does not support storage | 25 MB | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ⚠️ Opt-in | Yes | No |
TutanotaSecure, green and ad-free. Email to feel good about | €36/yr | 20 GB | 25 MB | ❌ Tutanota claims to be open-source, but their back-end is actually closed-source | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ⚠️ Tutanota does not support PGP | No |
Private Email Service Screenshots
⭐ RecommendedOpen-source
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Open-source
Why use us as your email provider?
What makes us different than others?
- We're the only 100% open-source provider
- We don't rely on any third parties (we don't use Amazon SES or an alternative like others)
- Our pricing allows you to scale cost effectively (we don't charge per user and you can pay as you go for storage)
- Unlike others, your email with us is not stored in a shared relational database alongside everyone else
- We're the world's first and only email service to use quantum-safe and individually encrypted SQLite mailboxes
Did you know?
Other email services advertise as open-source, but they do not release the source code to their back-end. The back-end is the most sensitive part of an email provider. It is also important to use 100% open-source because it builds trust and allows anyone to contribute and independently audit.
Happy users
DHH
@dhh
Congrats for fully launching Forward Email – a forwarding service
for email that doesn't keep logs or store emails, and which works with ARC to ensure
signed forwards don't trip email filters 👏. I'm a happy user! ❤️
Creator of Ruby on Rails, Founder & CTO at Basecamp & HEY
abhi nemani
@abhinemani
Have now switched email forwarding from MailGun to ForwardEmail.net
. Simple and painless (and free!). Just some DNS changes, and it just works. Thanks
Government Technology Advisor, Sacramento and Los Angeles
Andrew Escobar (Andres)
@andrewe
This is so dope. Thank you. forwardemail.net
Fintech Explorer and Open Finance Advocate
Ullrich Schäfer
@stigi
Thanks so much for forwardemail.net
! It solves a real problem for our little org!
Mobile Lead at Pitch, Formerly at Facebook and Soundcloud
Andre Goncalves
@andregce
So they made this cool app that forwards email from your own domain to your Gmail inbox. There is even a catch all option, so sales@, support@, etc all goes to your own inbox. Check it out! It's free! forwardemail.net
Computer Engineer, Software Developer
Phil
@philcockfield
Thanks for your forwardemail.net
. What you've done is a beautiful thing! Your FAQ just smacks of integrity, and is just the thing I need.
hypersheet, db.team