Best free email provider
Free plans compared by storage, ads, mail-app access and what you trade for them.
What we looked at:Storage on the free planAdsWorks in Apple Mail and OutlookWho can read stored mail
- 1
Gmail
15 GB shared with Drive and Photos and IMAP for any mail app. Ads appear in the Promotions and Social tabs, and Google holds the keys to stored mail.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid, per year
- $23.88
- Who can read stored mail
- The provider can
- Apple Mail and Outlook
- Yes
- Owner
- Alphabet
- 2
Proton Mail
No ads and zero-access storage, with no phone number needed to sign up. The free plan is small: 1 GB, 1 address, 150 messages a day, and no IMAP (Bridge is paid only).
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid, per year
- $47.88
- Who can read stored mail
- Only you
- Apple Mail and Outlook
- Bridge app
- Owner
- Proton AG
- 3
Zoho Mail
The only free plan here that takes your own domain: up to 5 users with 5 GB each. Webmail and Zoho's apps only, with no IMAP on the free plan.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid, per year
- $12
- Who can read stored mail
- The provider can
- Apple Mail and Outlook
- Yes
- Owner
- Zoho Corporation
Worth knowing. Free plans can change their limits. Before you move a lifetime of mail in, check that you can get it out again: export and IMAP access are listed on each provider's page.