Despite all the hype about instant messengers and social networks, email is still the most important form of business and formal communication over the Internet. Many reliable email services are available.
These are just a few of the many features offered by these free email services. It is worth learning about other powerful email service options available that offer even more benefits to users.
To help you make informed decisions about which email service is best for you, we have compared the strengths and weaknesses of each free email service.
12 Best Email Services to Choose From
To give you detailed and accurate information, we have used and explored all of the listed email services. Each service below offers a totally free email account which is either ad-supported, premium or completely free.
We have also listed the limitations that most free email accounts come with. This table will help you to compare email services based on their features and the number of subscribers.
1. Gmail – The Market Leader in Free Email Services
Gmail is the most popular free email service. It’s easy to set up an email address, it is reliable, user-friendly and provides 15 GB free inbox storage.
Gmail’s Best Features
- Great spam filtering that blocks unwanted contacts
- Built-in chat function that supports voice and video chat.
- With Gmail backgrounds and themes, you can add color and personality to your inbox.
- Configure the tabbed email inbox to auto-classify emails as Primary, Updates or Promotions.
- You can now personalize and set up the Inbox interface using the latest update.
- You can write emails using the Gmail compose tool and you can also forward multiple emails.
- If you find an error in a few seconds, you can undo the email.
- You can group email threads with the relevant replies to make it easier for you to read messages in their proper context.
- To automatically classify and tag your emails with custom labels, set up filtering rules.
- Gmail quick actions buttons to help you do more with your inbox
- Gmail users can access multiple accounts from within Gmail .
- Use an email archive to archive messages and later retrieve archival emails.
- Gmail makes it possible to access your email offline with the help of Google.
- Integration seamless with other Google services such as Calendar and Google Drive (where email attachments, photos and files can be saved).
- Apps for Android and iOS that are top-notch
What are our favorite things about Gmail?
- Excellent features and reliability in an email service.
- Excellent spam filters
- Gmail’s search function is amazing and makes it easy to locate lost or forgotten messages.
Gmail has so much more to offer than email.
- Gmail’s privacy practices were suspect in the past. Each user should examine and adjust their privacy settings to suit their needs.
2. Zoho Mail – Business-Class Email Service for Individual Use
Zoho Mail offers a completely free email service. It is completely ad-free, comes with 5GB storage, and it is totally ad-free. You can also pay for extra storage space at reasonable rates if you need it.
Best Zoho Mail Features
- Cloud storage space of 5GB for email accounts and enhanced collaboration.
- You can personalize the inbox by choosing a vertical or horizontal email preview panel and changing the font settings.
- You can access emails, tasks and calendars from a tabbed interface that minimizes clutter.
- Send and Undo Send in one click. You can cancel or make changes up to 30 seconds after hitting the send button.
- You can quickly navigate through the settings and locate the item you are looking for.
- Emails can be flagged and tagged. You can also create custom filters for both incoming and outgoing mail for easier sorting.
- It integrates with Zoho Docs, Zoho Sheets and other services, making it an excellent alternative to Gmail.
- You can set up recurring emails, reminders, templates, multifactor authentication and receive read receipts for all your emails.
- You can migrate email accounts from an old email provider using IMAP/POP, Outlook Exchange server or Outlook Exchange server and then switch to Zoho mail.
What are our favorite things about Zoho
- Zoho offers a unique advantage to individual users: the email service is designed for businesses. This means that you can get top-quality security and advanced features even if you are a single user.
- There are no ads and there is no scanning of your email for advertising targeting.
- For as little as 5 emails, you can use your domain to host them all.
What could be better than Zoho?
- The interface can feel like a dashboard, and it can sometimes be overwhelming.
Zoho Mail is a secure and free email service.
For more information, see our Zoho Mail review.
3. ProtonMail Email Focused on Privacy
The pioneer in encrypted and private email services
ProtonMail, a Swiss-based email provider, was founded in 2007. ProtonMail has one goal: secure, private, encrypted email. Because it doesn’t sell or collect your data, it is one of the most secure email services. It earns money by selling paid accounts but also offers free email accounts to ensure everyone has access. This account is free but only offers limited support.
ProtonMail Features for Free Users
- Secure, anonymous, and ad-free service
- Simple and easy to use interface
- 500 MB free storage
- Only one email address.
- Only 3 folders/labels supported
- You can send up to 150 messages daily
- Send password-protected email Only recipients with the password have access to the contents of the email.
- It is not possible to create custom domains.
- Send an expiring email. Once the timer is up, it will be impossible to access your email. These settings can be easily set up via the composer in any email you send.
- Configure two-factor authentication. Manage active sessions.
Free email accounts do not include security features. You can get all the security features offered to premium members by choosing one of their affordable pricing plans .
ProtonMail Features For Premium Users
- Access ProtonMail Bridge which supports IMAP/SMTP protocols. This allows you to use ProtonMail to work with desktop email clients, while maintaining security.
- Enable autoresponders.
- You can have unlimited storage and additional email addresses.
- You can personalize the account interface layout, composer view, button layout and even the theme.
- You can create spam filters and keep a blacklist/whitelist of email addresses and clients that are free to you. This will help to manage your inbox.
- For your email account, get a custom domain
What are we most pleased with ProtonMail
- End-to-end encryption. Secure replies can be obtained by sending encrypted emails to non-ProtonMail email addresses.
- Your free email account is protected with the best industry privacy and security practices
- To create an account, you don’t need to provide any personal information.
- Auditable open-source applications
What could be better than ProtonMail
- Search limit for free accounts
- Subject lines in emails are not encrypted.
- Premium accounts only have access to IMAP and SMTP support.
ProtonMail is a top-rated email provider and has been the flag bearer in the fast-growing, but still very new niche of privacy-focused, secure email services.
For more information, see our ProtonMail review.
4. Mailfence – Secure Email Service For Individuals And Businesses.
Mailfence, an email service, aims to offer a secure and encrypted service for individuals and businesses. Mailfence is built with privacy in mind. It uses the best industry practices to protect your data from prying eyes. This includes zero tracking, end-to-end encryption and digital signatures that allow you to verify your identity.
Mailfence is a secure and free email service that respects your privacy. Mailfence is a secure, free email service that offers 500MB of storage for emails and 500MB for documents. It also supports 1 group with support via email. The free plan offers 500 MB storage for emails, 500 MB for documents, and 1 group with support via email. Paid plans increase these limits.
Best Features Of Mailfence
- Encryption of your emails at rest and in transit.
- Digital signature to prevent impersonation in digital communications
- No tracking and advertisements
- Two-factor authentication and password protection
- An internal and external calendar with SMS alerts support
- A comprehensive contacts list that can easily be exported and backed-up
- Integrated document folder for uploading and storing documents
- Make a virtual drive to map to your Mailfence documents
- Document sharing with private groups
- There are many features you can set up.
Mailfence: What are we enjoying?
- Mailfence is located in Belgium, which has strict privacy laws. Mailfence transparency reports state that they can provide the necessary data if ordered by a Belgian court.
- End-to-end encryption ensures complete security
- You can pay with cryptocurrency
Mailfence is the best!
- There are limits on the free plan that can be more generous.
- Only shared files within groups can be downloaded. Online interactivity and usage are not supported.
- Premium accounts only have access to IMAP, SMTP and POP support.
5. Outlook Microsoft’s Flagship Email Service
Microsoft Outlook is a well-known and trusted platform that offers the best free email accounts available for personal use. It is the reinvented Hotmail and Live.com email service that offers an advertisement-supported web client and excellent email clients for Windows, iOS, and Android platforms.
The Best Outlook Features
- The intuitive interface has several actions that can be used to address common email issues.
- You will get a Focused Inbox to help you concentrate on important emails
- You can integrate seamlessly with Office Online, allowing you access to documents, spreadsheets, notes and other files.
- Email encryption and free storage of 15GB.
- You can add up to 20 additional email accounts to your Outlook account. You can set Gmail up in Outlook to make it easy to access. Or, migrate your Gmail account to Outlook.
- It is ideal for Skype heavy users as it integrates well with Outlook and enhances Outlook’s chat functionality.
- A search integrated allows you to locate what you’re looking for.
- To keep your email address private, use Outlook aliases
- Spam filters and effective phishing to seperate junk mail
- You can plan your schedule using the calendar and task management features.
- You can customize the keyboard shortcut configuration to fit your style.
- You can connect to your social media accounts directly from the inbox
What are our favorite things about Outlook?
- Outlook Desktop Client is extremely powerful.
- Outlook webmail lets you connect up to 20 email accounts, and allows you access all your emails directly from Outlook.
- Office Online’s integration with Office Online is excellent. It goes beyond email service provider to become a productivity suite.
Outlook: What could be better?
- Spam filters and Focus Inbox are not all equally effective. For better results, custom filters and frequent flagging might be necessary.
- Outlook desktop and app experience is quite different. This can make it confusing for new users.
Although not perfect, Outlook desktop client is one the best free email clients. Outlook.com is a top-rated email website, and the Outlook mobile apps are also highly regarded by users.
Overall, Microsoft Outlook’s email service is excellent, improving all the time, and can be your default email hub.
6. Tutanota: Secure and Free Email Accounts
Tutanota, an encrypted email service that focuses on security, is Tutanota. It competes with ProtonMail for secure email services.
Features for Free Tutanota users
- Email service that is completely ad-free
- Only 1 user supports
- Storage allocation of 1 GB
- Search capabilities are limited
- No custom domain. Only the Tutanota domain can be used for email addresses
- Send encrypted email messages end-to-end to other Tutanota users
- Send password-protected email to other addresses
- Without creating an account on Tutanota, external addresses can securely reply via encrypted email.
- One calendar
Features For Paid Tutanota Users
- Add a user
- Inbox rules to be set up
- You can create up to five aliases
- For your email address, use a custom domain
- Unlimitted search
- Multiple Calendars
- You have the option to add storage space, additional domain names, white-labeling, or a secure contact form to you website.
What are our favorite things about Tutanota
- End-to-end encryption, including subject lines, content and attachments.
- To protect your privacy, it strips header information.
- You can expand your premium account according to your needs.
What could be better than Tutanota
- There is no IMAP/SMTP support. Third-party email clients are not supported.
- Tutanota is focused on security, and therefore does not offer many features you might find in other free email services.
7. Yahoo! Yahoo! Mail – With Additional Benefits
Yahoo Mail has been around over 20 years and is still a top-rated email service. Sign up is simple and all users receive a massive 1TB storage (which is the same as unlimited storage for email).
Yahoo Mail Features
- Web interface that is sleek and intuitive
- To personalize your Inbox, choose a theme that interests you.
- Your account can have up to 10 send only email addresses
- Yahoo Mail allows you to connect up to 50 mailboxes for an email account.
- You can customize the settings to write and read emails
- To manage incoming email, create filters
- Yahoo Mail is ad-supported. Yahoo Mail can even be disabled for a time, making it fair for both Yahoo and users.
- It offers a ‘travel view’ that focuses on your travel plans. This view can also be used for all connected mailboxes.
What are our favorite things about Yahoo!
- Yahoo Mail is distinguished by its ability to create 500 disposable emails.
- Storage capacity of up to 1 TB is practically unlimited
- Yahoo Mail is a long-standing email service. However, Yahoo Mail has changed with the times and doesn’t look outdated like other alternatives on this list.
Yahoo! is the best.
- Although the disposable email addresses feature is very useful, it isn’t easy to use.
- Yahoo! Services have been the victim of multiple security breaches in recent years.
8. ICloud Mail – Trusted Email Service For Apple Fans
iCloud Mail, an exclusive email service provider, offers a free email account for Apple device users. To access the mail service via the browser, you must have an iOS device or Mac. After the mail service is enabled, you can log in to iCloud.com using your Apple ID. You don’t have to create a new account or login credentials.
Best Features Of ICloud Mail
- Apple IDs can differ from iCloud email IDs.
- 5GB storage and a free email account. This account can be accessed online, and can sync with your Apple devices.
- Absolutely no ads.
- You can set up email forwarding from one personal email address to another.
- To filter email and create vacation responders, create folders and rules.
- You can have up to three aliases
- Use the Mail Drop feature to share large files via email. The file is stored on your iCloud, and the recipient can download it.
- Minimalistic design
What are our favorite things about iCloud Mail?
- Apple has been increasing its focus on privacy as a company. iCloud Mail offers the same confidentiality as Apple products.
- There are no advertisements
- There are no flashy features. Only pure, functional email
What could be better than iCloud mail
- Although iCloud Mail promises privacy, it is not as good as top email services like ProtonMail that are built with a privacy-first approach.
- Other top email services offer advanced features that are not available here.
Compared to other email providers, iCloud Mail doesn’t have many outstanding features. It is free and does not contain ads. This makes it a strong contender for this year’s best email service provider. This is only for Apple device owners.
9. AOL Mail – Email Service with Unlimited Storage
AOL Mail was the first public email service. It is functionally an email service but it doesn’t stand out from the top email service providers in any way, other than storage. Unlimited storage is the only thing that sets it apart from other email service providers.
AOL Mail Features
- Unlimited storage included in your free email account
- You can customize the settings in general
- There are many themes to choose from
- You can modify the layout or the composer
- Ability to add filters to manage your inbound emails
- AOL Mail integrates a calendar and allows you to easily add events.
- You can also keep a to-do list alongside your email, but it’s quite basic.
- The email service has a section called “Today on AOL” that delivers the most recent news from AOL directly to your inbox.
- Optional subscription for ad-free email site
- Mobile apps for email access from the go
What are our favorite things about AOL Mail
- Unlimited storage
What could be better than AOL Mail?
- AOL Mail has been around for a long time, and it still shows. It is quite outdated.
- This service is heavily ad-driven. Advertisements are placed in every empty folder, sidebar and any other possible place.
If you don’t already have an investment in AOL Mail or use its related services, I recommend you choose another service from this list to create your new email address. AOL Mail offers nothing exceptional that would justify you opening a new AOL Mail account, other than unlimited storage and your email ID.
10. Yandex Mail – A powerful email service based in Russia
Yandex Russia’s primary search engine is Yandex. Yandex Mail, the free email service provided by Yandex, is Yandex Mail. Yandex Mail offers a solid alternative to other free email services.
Features of Yandex Mail
- It is ad-free and gives off the impression that the business isn’t dependent on email services for revenue streams.
- Simple, clear UI with minimal clutter
- Yandex Mail offers a free email account with 10GB storage.
- An integrated calendar and Yandex Disk linked account for document storage
- Use themes to personalize your inbox
- Your emails can be classified as Conversation, Travel Purchases, Social, and Social.
- You can enable a task list by going to the settings in the lower right corner of the screen.
- Email composer that is feature-rich with extensive formatting options.
- Ability to attach files using Yandex Disk and your computer
- Save email templates
- Use labels and folders to better manage your inboxes. You can also create filters to automatically classify them.
- Spam protection is integrated, increasing the security of your inbox.
- You can import emails from other accounts such as Gmail, Outlook and Mail.ru and then use Yandex to manage your email.
- The email service provider provides access to the internet on the go with a mobile app that can be downloaded for iOS or Android.
What are our favorite things about YandexMail?
- You can schedule the emails for later and set reminders to remind yourself to follow up on your emails if you don’t receive a response.
- A received receipt can be requested for emails that are specific.
- Yandex Mail can be imported into third-party apps, websites, and services. Yandex Passport allows you to create app-specific passwords so you don’t need to use your main password. This is a great feature that helps you keep your primary password safe.
What could be better than Yandex mail?
- Some users shared their concerns about using a Russian service.
Yandex Mail is a great email service provider if you don’t mind its location. It is a good idea to not have all your data in one country.
11. Mail.Com – Custom email accounts
Mail.com offers 200 free email domains that can be used to create any type of email account you want. You can choose from 200 free email domains to get the email accounts you want.
It’s definitely more fun having an email ID you can relate to. Or you can choose one of the popular free domains such as @mail.com and @email.com.
Yourname@mail.com is the default email account type.
Mail.Com Features
- You can choose from more than 200 email domains in order to find the right email ID for your needs
- It is mandatory to create an email account recovery option upon signing up
- 2GB of storage and support included for your online calendar.
- Attachments up to 50MB can be included in your email. You can also have 10 aliases (types or email accounts) linked.
- You can also access online file storage with the free email account.
- To get started quickly, import contacts from other email service.
- Mobile apps available for iOS and Android platforms.
What are our favorite things about Mail.com
- There are many email domains available to choose from
- A premium subscription is available that eliminates the most common pain points from the service.
Mail.com: What could be better?
- Premium users can only use the POP3 /IMAP feature.
- TrustPilot users have criticized this service and complained about their accounts being blocked without reason. Some users even reached out directly to us with these concerns.
- This service is heavily ad-driven, which can be distracting and not subtle.
Editor’s note We received complaints from readers that their accounts were unjustifiably blocked by this service. Although we haven’t experienced this ourselves, we felt it was important to inform our readers. We received communications from the service saying that they were working on these issues and are trying to improve their user experience.
Although the service will push you to upgrade, it doesn’t inform you of all the benefits of a premium account . This can make this service more attractive.
12. GMX – Email Accounts with Generous Storage
Mail.com’s parent company 1&1 Mail & Media Inc. offers another email service. GMX has almost identical features and interface to the other service, if you compare it to the previous one.
Features of GMX
- Reliable email service that supports up to 50MB attachments
- Effective spam and virus filters
- Using their email collector, you can manage all your email accounts.
- You can manage your email on the web or mobile.
What are our favorite things about GMX
- GMX provides 65 GB storage for your email account.
- Allowable attachment sizes up to twice the usual size
What could be better than GMX?
- Your email domain options are limited to gmx.com or gmx.us, as opposed to mail.com
By The Numbers: Comparison Of Personal, Free Email Services
Scroll the table to the left to see more information about each email service
There are many options available to you for getting your free email account. It all depends on what you need.
Make sure you explore all options before you make a decision.