Private and open-source alternatives to Google Takeout
9 email backup tools rated against the same public privacy criteria as Google Takeout, with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: no. Closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The Google privacy policy covers collection of activity data across Google services, including for advertising.
- No ads or data sales: no. Google is funded by advertising and uses account data to personalize ads unless this is turned off.
- Independent audit: no. No independent audit of Google Takeout is published.
See the full Google Takeout rating.
The alternatives
Forward Email Backups Grade B
Built-in mailbox backup and export for Forward Email accounts. Mailboxes are backed up as encrypted SQLite files, optionally to the user's own S3-compatible storage, and can be downloaded as encrypted SQLite or password-protected EML or MBOX archives with contacts and calendars.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Forward Email Backups scores 85 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales and independent audit.
getmail6 Grade B
Command-line mail retriever that downloads mail from POP3 and IMAP accounts into local Maildir or mbox files, or passes it to a delivery program. It is the Python 3 fork of getmail.
getmail6 scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Got Your Back Grade B
Command-line tool that backs up and restores Gmail and Google Workspace mailboxes through the Gmail API, saving messages as local files with an index.
Got Your Back scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
imap-backup Grade B
Command-line Ruby tool that backs up IMAP accounts to local files, with incremental updates, and can restore or migrate the backups to another IMAP server.
imap-backup scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
ImportExportTools NG Grade B
Thunderbird add-on that exports and imports messages and folders as EML, MBOX, HTML, PDF, plain text or CSV, and can back up the Thunderbird profile.
ImportExportTools NG scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
isync Grade B
Command-line tool, run as mbsync, that synchronizes IMAP mailboxes with local Maildir folders in both directions, including deletions and flag changes.
isync scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
OfflineIMAP Grade B
Command-line tool that synchronizes IMAP mailboxes with local Maildir folders in both directions, so mail can be read offline and kept as a local copy.
OfflineIMAP scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
imapsync Grade D
Command-line tool that copies or migrates mail between two IMAP accounts, often used for mailbox migrations and incremental backups to another IMAP server.
imapsync scores 40 out of 100 (grade D) on the email backup tools criteria. It meets 1 of 4 criteria: open source.
MailStore Home Grade F
Free Windows program for private use that archives mail from IMAP and POP3 accounts, Gmail, Outlook.com, Outlook, Thunderbird and PST or EML files into one searchable local archive, and can restore messages.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). MailStore Home scores 10 out of 100 (grade F) on the email backup tools criteria. It partly meets no ads or data sales.