Email alias and forwarding services
Email aliases give each site its own address that forwards to your real inbox, so leaks and spam can be traced and switched off. Each service is rated on privacy, openness and correct forwarding (SRS and ARC).
1. Forward Email Grade B
Email forwarding and alias service for custom domains. Mail is forwarded in memory to existing mailboxes or webhooks, with optional OpenPGP encryption, and paid plans add SMTP sending and encrypted IMAP mailboxes.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 86/100.
2. Addy Grade D
Open-source email alias service that forwards mail from unlimited aliases to real mailboxes, with optional OpenPGP encryption. Has a free plan and can be self-hosted.
Based in the United Kingdom (Five Eyes). Score 58/100.
3. SimpleLogin Grade D
Open-source email alias service run by Proton. Creates aliases that forward to real mailboxes and lets replies go out from the alias. Can also be self-hosted.
Based in Switzerland. Score 58/100.
4. Cloudflare Email Routing Grade D
Free Cloudflare service that forwards mail sent to addresses on a custom domain to existing inboxes or to Cloudflare Workers.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 48/100.
5. Hide My Email Grade D
Apple iCloud+ feature that creates random email addresses which forward to a personal inbox. Also used by Sign in with Apple.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 44/100.
6. DuckDuckGo Email Protection Grade F
Free email alias service from DuckDuckGo that gives out @duck.com addresses and forwards mail to an existing inbox after removing email trackers.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 34/100.
7. ImprovMX Grade F
Email forwarding service for custom domains, with aliases, catch-all addresses, forwarding rules and SMTP sending on paid plans.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 34/100.
8. Firefox Private Relay Grade F
Email masking service from Mozilla that creates aliases and forwards mail to a real inbox. Works on the web and through a Firefox add-on.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Score 33/100.
9. 33mail Grade F
Email alias service that creates addresses on a personal 33mail.com subdomain or a custom domain and forwards mail to an existing inbox, with anonymous replies.
Based in Ireland. Score 9/100.
How this list is made
Entries are ranked with our picks first, then by score against public criteria. Every answer links to evidence, and hosted services are tested automatically. The list updates when ratings change.
Compare all: email forwarding and aliases. Criteria and scoring.
Questions
Why use an email alias?
Aliases keep your real address private, show which site leaked or sold your address, and let you turn off an address without changing your inbox.