Outlook.com
By Microsoft, United States
Microsoft's free webmail with a 15 GB mailbox, upgraded to 100 GB through Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
At a glance
- Cheapest plan per year
- $19.99
- Microsoft 365 Basic, same price at renewal
- Your own domain from
- $84/yr
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic (business plan)
- Works in Apple Mail and Outlook
- Yes
- Who can read stored mail
- The provider can
- Encrypted at rest with Microsoft-held keys (BitLocker plus service encryption)
Good to know
- Outlook.com holds the keys to your stored mail
- Your own domain only on a business plan
Where it stands among 24
Each fact with every provider's answer. Outlook.com is outlined.
Who can read your stored mail
The provider can
Only you 3
Only you, if switched on 4
The provider can 16
Not stated 1
Ads on the free plan
Free, with ads
Your own domain
Only on a business plan
On a personal plan 12
Only on a business plan 3
Not offered 2
Works in Apple Mail and Outlook
Yes, standard IMAP
Yes, standard IMAP 17
Through a bridge app 1
No, its own apps only 3
Where the company is based
United States
European Union 7
Switzerland or Norway 5
Elsewhere 4
Plans and prices
In USD, as listed by Outlook.com on 2026-10-16.
Free
Free
15 GB. 15 GB mailbox, separate from 5 GB OneDrive (which holds attachments); ads; sending limits apply
Microsoft 365 Basic
$19.99/yr
- People
- 1
- Storage
- 100 GB
- Own domains
- None
- IMAP
- Yes
- Renews at
- Same price
100 GB mailbox plus 100 GB cloud storage. The first-year price is the standard rate and renews unchanged.
Microsoft 365 Family
$129.99/yr
- People
- 6
- Storage
- Not stated
- Own domains
- None
- IMAP
- Yes
- Renews at
- Not stated
2 TB shared cloud storage plus per-person mailbox storage (mailbox size not stated). Renewal not addressed in sources.
Microsoft 365 Business BasicBusiness
$84/yr
- People
- 1
- Storage
- Not stated
- Own domains
- Included
- IMAP
- Yes
- Renews at
- Not stated
$7/user/month, annual. Consumer Outlook.com has no custom domains, so this is the cheapest way to use your own. The number of domains is 'flexible within the tenant'.
Who can read your mail
- Provider can't read stored mail
- NoNo
- Subject lines encrypted
- NoNo
- Encrypted between its own users
- NoNo
- Encrypted mail to outsiders
- NoNo
- Built-in PGP
- NoNo
- Ads on the free plan
- YesYes
- Mail used for ads
- NoNo
- AI and your mail
- Not stated
Who you're trusting
- Owner
- Microsoft
- Operating company
- Microsoft Corporation
- Based in
- United States
- Mail stored in
- Worldwide
- Open-source apps
- NoNo
- Transparency report
- YesYes
- Latest audit
- None published
- Known incidents
- None found
Apps and features
- Web Yes
- iPhone Yes
- Android Yes
- Windows Yes
- macOS Yes
- Linux No
- Works in Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird
- Yes, on every planYes, on every plan
- POP3
- YesYes
- Exchange ActiveSync
- YesYes
- Security key or passkey sign-in
- YesYes
- Authenticator-app 2FA
- YesYes
- Extra addresses
- Several on free (limit not stated)
- Hide-my-email aliases
- NoNo
- Catch-all for your domain
- NoNo
- Calendar
- YesYes
- Contacts
- YesYes
- File storage
- YesYes
- Sieve filters
- Not statedNot stated
- Scheduled send
- YesYes
- Undo send
- YesYes
- Import from Gmail or Outlook
- YesYes
- Export your whole mailbox
- Not statedNot stated
- Auto-forwarding
- YesYes
Where we recommend it
Compare Outlook.com
Sources (9)
- Microsoft privacy statementVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Microsoft Learn: encryption in the Microsoft cloudVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Research summary of the provider's pages (no single link)AI-assisted research, spot-checked, checked 2026-10-16
- Microsoft law enforcement requests reportVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Microsoft 365: compare all productsVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Outlook email plans and pricingVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Microsoft Support: OutlookVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Outlook personal email plansVendor, checked 2026-10-16
- Research summary of the provider's pages (no single link)AI-assisted research, spot-checked, checked 2026-10-16