Private email services

14 apps, each with a privacy passport

Email can't be fully private, because messages to ordinary addresses travel unencrypted. What a private provider can do is keep your stored mailbox encrypted, skip ads and scanning, and run on open-source apps. Proton Mail and Tuta encrypt the most; mailbox.org, Posteo and Fastmail are simpler, cheap and work with any mail app.

Leaving one of these?

If you only try three

Privacy passport
Proton Mail
Email
Our pick
No tracking
Minimal
Open source
Partly
Only you can read it
Partly
No account
Needed
Free
Free plan
1 of 5 checks
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Easiest private inbox, works everywhere
Privacy passport
Tuta
Email
Our pick
No tracking
Yes
Open source
Partly
Only you can read it
Encrypted
No account
Needed
Free
Free plan
3 of 5 checks
- Android
- iPhone
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Web
Encrypts more than most, including subjects
Privacy passport
Thunderbird
Email
Our pick
No tracking
Minimal
Open source
Yes
Only you can read it
On device
No account
Yes
Free
Yes
4 of 5 checks
- Android
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Free app for any inbox, with built-in encryption

All 14 email services

Passes

Works on

14 of 14 apps

Proton MailPick

Service5.7k

Swiss email where your mailbox is encrypted so the provider can't read it, with apps on every platform.

Minimal tracking
Partly open
Partly encrypted
Account needed
Free plan

Android
iPhone
Mac
Windows
Linux
Web

TutaPick

Service8k

German email and calendar that encrypt the whole mailbox, including subject lines and contacts.

No tracking
Partly open
End-to-end encrypted
Account needed
Free plan

Android
iPhone
Mac
Windows
Linux
Web

ThunderbirdPick

App

Free desktop and Android mail app from the Mozilla family that works with any provider and supports OpenPGP.

Minimal tracking
Open source
Stays on device
No account
Free

Android
Mac
Windows
Linux

mailbox.org

Service

Long-running German email provider with calendar, drive and optional PGP encryption, paid for by its users.

No tracking
Closed source
Partly encrypted
Account needed
€1/month billed yearly

Posteo

Service

Ad-free German email you can sign up for and pay anonymously, with optional encryption of your stored mail.

No tracking
Closed source
Partly encrypted
Account needed
€1/month

Mailfence

Service

Belgian email suite with calendar and documents, and built-in OpenPGP for encrypting messages you choose.

No tracking
Closed source
Partly encrypted
Account needed
Free plan

Android
iPhone
Web

StartMail

Service

Dutch email service with unlimited disposable aliases and one-click PGP encryption, from the makers of Startpage.

No tracking
Closed source
Partly encrypted
Account needed
$4.99/month billed yearly

Fastmail

Service

Fast, ad-free email with calendar and masked addresses; paid for by subscriptions rather than ads.

Tracking not stated
Closed source
Provider can read it
Account needed
$5/month billed yearly

Android
iPhone
Web

Infomaniak Mail

Service

Free Swiss email from an independent hosting company, with servers in Switzerland and no ads in the inbox.

Tracking not stated
Closed source
Provider can read it
Account needed
Free plan

Android
iPhone
Web

FairEmail

App4.7k

Android mail app built around privacy: it blocks tracking images and links and stores mail only on your phone.

Minimal tracking
Open source
Stays on device
No account
Free plan

Android

Forward Email

Service1.7k

Open-source forwarding and mailbox service for your own domain; free forwarding, paid plans for sending.

Tracking not stated
Open source
Encryption not stated
Account needed
Free plan

Stalwart

Self-hosted15.3k

All-in-one mail server written in Rust, with spam filtering and encryption at rest, for people who host their own mail.

No tracking
Open source
On your server
No account
Free

Mac
Windows
Linux

mailcow

Self-hosted13.7k

Docker bundle that sets up a full mail server with webmail, spam filter and admin panel on your own machine.

No tracking
Open source
On your server
No account
Free

Linux

Mail-in-a-Box

Self-hosted15.4k

Script that turns a fresh Ubuntu server into a working mail server with webmail, contacts and calendar.

No tracking
Open source
On your server
No account
Free

Linux

What to check in email services

1 Whether stored mail is encrypted so the provider can't read it, and if that covers subject lines
2 Whether you can use your own mail app (IMAP) or only the provider's apps
3 Where the company is based and how it makes its money

If you only try three

All 14 email services

Proton MailPick

TutaPick

ThunderbirdPick

What to check in email services

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