Email is pretty much the lifeline of our digital existence. Whether it’s for work, exchanging ideas with your colleagues, or even accessing online services such as social media platforms like Facebook, an Email has gone from a simple messaging system to a digital identity of sorts. As such, there are a lot of choices for you to create your Email, and each one of these Email services offer a bunch of advanced features, and a lot more. So, if you’re wondering which service will be the best for you, here are the 10 best free Email providers online that you can check out.
The kind of features someone may be looking for in an email client can differ from person to person; after all, it’s a very subjective topic. Do remember that this list is ordered as per my own thoughts about these email services, and your opinions may differ.
- Gmail
- Outlook
- Proton Mail
- Tutanota
- iCloud Mail
- Yahoo
- Zoho Mail
- AOL
- Yandex
1. Gmail
Gmail is the de-facto standard when it comes to email these days. Almost everyone has a Gmail account. In fact, the service has over 1.8 billion users worldwide. One of the primary reasons behind Gmail’s popularity could also be the fact that it’s tied into every Google service including Google Drive, YouTube, Google Photos, and everything else — each of which is an equally popular offering from Google.
The main disadvantage of Gmail is the simple fact that it’s owned and operated by Google, which means you’re giving even more control of your data to the Search giant. While the company has privacy policies and more to protect your data, it’s no secret that most people aren’t very comfortable with Google’s data collection. There’s also the fact that file attachments are limited to 25MB which can be a little too small for some users. However, Gmail brings an awesome integration with Google Drive, so larger files can automatically be shared via Drive links if needed. Overall, Gmail is definitely my pick for the best free email providers online.
2. Outlook
Microsoft’s Email service is another hugely popular email service. What started off as Hotmail (which was honestly a little cringe-worthy) has since been renamed to Outlook and has become considerably modern with a lot of useful features for individual users as well as enterprises. Popular as it is, it’s still nowhere near Gmail’s popularity; Outlook has a reported 400 million users (compared to 1.8 billion for Gmail).
Apart from that, Outlook offers 5GB of cloud storage space, and limits attachments to 25MB, same as Gmail. However, Outlook’s user interface is definitely better than most other Email services I have seen and used. The only major disadvantage with Outlook is the really restrictive 5GB cloud space. Although I also don’t like the fact that Outlook’s inbox has ads on the side-pane unless you start paying for Outlook premium. If these cons are a big no-no for you, the rest of this list contains some useful Outlook alternatives as well.
3. Proton Mail
Encrypted services are becoming more and more important by the day, so it’s really no surprise if you’re looking for an encrypted email service. Fortunately, there are quite a bit of these out there and Proton Mail is one of the best ones you can use.
For anyone who prefers using Tor for accessing the internet, Proton Mail has an official Onion page as well that you can access here. Proton Mail has a rock solid legacy as well. It was founded by scientists who first met at CERN, and wanted to create a secure and private internet.
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If ProtonMail’s 500MB limit on free accounts isn’t something you’re willing to put up with, you can also check out Tutanota. This is yet another free encrypted email service that’s built from the ground up with privacy and encryption in mind. Based out of Germany, Tutanota offers a bunch of useful features that anyone looking for encrypted email services will appreciate.
Similar to ProtonMail, Tutanota doesn’t ask for any personal information when you’re signing up for a new account, and thanks to its German origin, it is protected by strict privacy laws as well.
Apple’s free email service, iCloud Mail is also a solid choice for anyone looking for an email service they can use. It’s most preferred by Apple users, partly because almost every Apple user has an iCloud account anyway, and iCloud Mail comes bundled with it. Moreover, you get a nicely integrated webmail service and email client with the Apple Mail app.
Emails in iCloud Mail are synced to all your Apple devices automatically, and you can access them via the built-in Mail app on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, as long as you’re signed in with your iCloud account on those devices.
6. Yahoo
Yahoo may have been sold off to Verizon, but Yahoo Mail continues to live on with over 225 million active users as of October 2020. It’s nowhere near the top-dogs such as Gmail and Outlook, but it’s still a one of the more popular free email providers and for good reason.
The main disadvantages with Yahoo Mail are the short inactivity allowances — your account will get suspended if you’re inactive for 6 months. Plus, even though Yahoo Mail does bring a bit of customization to its inbox, it’s not as intuitive to use as something like Gmail or Outlook.
7. Zoho Mail
Zoho is a CRM solution offering a comprehensive set of Office Suite tools for businesses and professional users. One of their offerings, Zoho Mail, is a free email service and a solid option for anyone looking to get a new email address for their personal use or even for a business. You can set up your email on Zoho Mail with your own custom domain if you have one, or you can use a free @zoho email address. Free users get 5GB storage for their emails as well as 1GB of document storage included in the plan. You can also send attachments up to 25MB per email.
Platforms: Web-based, Android, iOS
Another one of the best free email providers that you can consider using, Mail is a webmail service that offers unlimited email storage to its users. You also get 2GB file storage for free, as well as support for 50MB attachments per email. You can also create up to 10 email aliases with over 200 domains to choose from including @engineer.com, @usa.com and more. If you also use other email service providers, you can connect those email accounts to your Mail.com inbox and access all your emails in one place.
A Mail email account also brings with it access to contacts, which can be synchronized with mobile apps. You also get access to a suite of Office apps including online editors for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
9. AOL
Ask anyone older than most millennials, and they will likely have fond memories of using AOL. It’s a great free email provider that may have lost its old-school charm but is still available and has all the most useful features you may need.
Platforms: Web-based, Android, iOS
Lastly, there’s Yandex Mail that’s also one of the best free email providers. With Yandex, you get a smart email inbox which does a decent job of sorting out emails for you. Basically, without even setting any rules manually, Yandex will automatically sort your emails so that you can easily find emails from real people, while promotional mails and any other emails will go into separate folders for you to peruse later.
Key Features: Spam filter, smart inbox sorting, access to Yandex services
