Most private email provider
Providers that can't read your stored mail, what they still can see, and what you give up for it (usually standard IMAP).
- 1
Tuta
Encrypts stored mail, contacts and calendars with keys only you hold, and also encrypts subject lines, which Proton doesn't. Open-source apps from a German company. Revolutionary is €36 a year with 3 own domains. There is no IMAP, so you use Tuta's own apps.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid, per year
- €36
- Who can read stored mail
- Only you
- Apple Mail and Outlook
- No
- Owner
- Tutao GmbH
- 2
Proton Mail
Zero-access storage with open-source apps, from Swiss Proton AG. Mail between Proton users is end-to-end encrypted automatically, and you can send a password-protected message to anyone. Subject lines are not end-to-end encrypted. A paid plan adds the Bridge app for Apple Mail and Outlook.
- 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
Posteo
€1 a month, paid anonymously if you like, with an optional crypto mailbox that encrypts everything stored with your password. It's off until you switch it on, and Posteo doesn't support your own domain.
- Free plan
- No
- Cheapest paid, per year
- €12
- Who can read stored mail
- Only you, if you switch it on
- Apple Mail and Outlook
- Yes
- Owner
- Posteo e.K.
Worth knowing. No provider can encrypt mail that arrives from Gmail or Outlook before it reaches the server: it arrives readable and is encrypted on arrival. Zero-access protects what is stored, not what the sender's provider keeps.