Email provider privacy ratings

Hosted email services. Where mail is stored, and who can read it.

31 email providers are rated against 21 public criteria, and 31 have enough evidence for a letter grade. Our pick is Forward Email. Of the 31 with a known jurisdiction, 14 are based in a Five Eyes country, and 24 in the wider Fourteen Eyes.

Criteria for this category · Suggest an addition · Markdown

Email providers privacy ratings, sorted by pick and then by grade
Name	Grade	Score	Data	Jurisdiction	Open source	No trackers or telemetry	No ads or data sales	Independent audit	Transparency report	Tells users about requests	End-to-end encryption	Encrypted mailbox storage	Open protocols	Custom domains	Sign up without personal data	Sender Rewriting Scheme	ARC sealing	TLS configuration	Security headers	Modern web standards	Email security standards	IMAP support	POP3 support	SMTP submission	Mail transport security
Forward Email Our pick Open-source email service with encrypted mailboxes, custom domains, and IMAP, POP3, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV on every paid plan.	Grade A	93	100%	United States Five Eyes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
mailbox.org Paid email, calendar and office service from Berlin, Germany, with built-in PGP encryption and support for custom domains.	Grade C	70	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes
StartMail Paid email service from the Netherlands with built-in PGP encryption, unlimited aliases and custom domains.	Grade C	66	100%	Netherlands Nine Eyes	No	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Kolab Now Paid email and groupware service from Apheleia IT in Switzerland, built on the open-source Kolab platform, with calendars, contacts, files and video calls.	Grade C	64	100%	Switzerland Outside Eyes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	No	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Proton Mail End-to-end encrypted email service from Switzerland, with apps for web, Android, iOS and desktop.	Grade C	64	100%	Switzerland Outside Eyes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	No	No	No	Yes
CounterMail Paid email service in Sweden that encrypts mail with OpenPGP and stores it encrypted. New registrations are closed.	Grade C	62	100%	Sweden Fourteen Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	No	Partial	Partial
Posteo Paid, ad-free email service from Germany that runs without collecting names or addresses and accepts anonymous payment.	Grade C	62	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Tuta End-to-end encrypted email and calendar service from Germany, with open-source apps for web, desktop and mobile.	Grade C	61	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Not tested yet	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	No	No	No	Yes
Disroot Volunteer-run platform from the Netherlands offering email and other open services.	Grade D	59	100%	Netherlands Nine Eyes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes
Riseup Email, mailing list and VPN service run by an autonomous tech collective in Seattle for activists and social movements. Accounts need an invite, and the service is funded by donations.	Grade D	59	100%	United States Five Eyes	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Purelymail Low-cost email hosting from the United States with custom domains, standard protocols and mail stored encrypted with the user's password.	Grade D	55	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Partial	Partial	Partial
Mailfence Email service from Belgium with built-in OpenPGP encryption and signing, plus calendar, contacts and document storage.	Grade D	54	100%	Belgium Fourteen Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes
Infomaniak Mail Email service from Swiss company Infomaniak, with free ik.me addresses and paid hosting for custom domains, plus web and mobile apps.	Grade D	53	100%	Switzerland Outside Eyes	Partial	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial
Fastmail Paid email service from Australia with custom domains and standard protocols.	Grade D	50	100%	Australia Five Eyes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Runbox Paid email service from Norway with custom domain hosting, standard protocols and an open-source webmail app.	Grade D	49	100%	Norway Nine Eyes	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Not tested yet	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
iCloud Mail Email service included with every Apple Account, with @icloud.com addresses and custom domains for iCloud+ subscribers.	Grade D	47	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Partial	No	Partial	No
Zoho Mail Email service from Zoho for businesses and individuals, with custom domains, calendar and contacts, and an ad-free free plan.	Grade D	45	100%	India Outside Eyes	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Gmail Google's free email service. Mail is stored and processed on Google's servers, and Google Workspace offers it for business domains.	Grade D	41	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GoDaddy Email Business email for custom domains sold by GoDaddy. It runs on Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online), with Outlook webmail and apps.	Grade F	39	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	Partial	No	Partial	Partial	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Migadu Swiss email hosting service for custom domains, priced by usage rather than per mailbox, with standard IMAP, POP3 and SMTP access.	Grade F	38	100%	Switzerland Outside Eyes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Partial	Yes	Yes	No
Namecheap Private Email Paid email hosting from Namecheap for custom domains, with webmail, calendar and standard protocol access.	Grade F	36	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Outlook.com Microsoft's free email service, also used for Hotmail and Live addresses.	Grade F	36	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
GandiMail Paid email hosting for custom domains from Gandi, a French domain registrar, with SOGo and Roundcube webmail and standard protocol access.	Grade F	34	100%	France Nine Eyes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Partial	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
HEY Paid email service from 37signals with a screening-based inbox and its own apps. Works only through the HEY apps, without IMAP or POP3.	Grade F	32	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes	No	Partial	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	No	No	No	Partial
GMX Free, ad-supported email service from 1&1 Mail & Media in Germany, with webmail, mobile apps, calendar and cloud storage.	Grade F	31	100%	Germany Fourteen Eyes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial
Titan Business email service for custom domains, sold through hosting and domain providers rather than directly. Includes webmail, mobile apps and a free plan with fewer features.	Grade F	31	100%	Cayman Islands Outside Eyes	No	No	Yes	No	Partial	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Partial	Yes	Partial	No
Yahoo Mail Free, ad-supported email service from Yahoo with webmail and mobile apps. A paid Yahoo Mail Plus plan removes ads.	Grade F	30	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
123 Reg Email Hosting Business email hosting for custom domains from 123 Reg, a UK domain and hosting company owned by GoDaddy. Mailboxes run on GoDaddy mail servers, with webmail and mobile apps.	Grade F	27	100%	United Kingdom Five Eyes	No	No	Partial	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
Mail.com Free, ad-supported email service from 1&1 Mail & Media, part of United Internet, offering addresses on many domains such as mail.com and email.com. A paid Premium plan adds IMAP, POP3 and phone support.	Grade F	27	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial
Yandex Mail Free, ad-supported email service from Yandex in Russia, part of Yandex 360 with calendar and cloud storage. Custom domains are available through Yandex 360 for Business.	Grade F	26	100%	Russia Outside Eyes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	No	No	No	Partial	No	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Yes	Partial	No
AOL Mail Free, ad-supported email service from AOL, owned by Bending Spoons, with webmail and mobile apps. A paid subscription removes ads.	Grade F	22	100%	United States Five Eyes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Partial	Not tested yet	Not tested yet	Yes	Partial	Partial	No

Questions

What is the most private option among email providers?

Our pick is Forward Email. The whole service is published on GitHub, server code included. Each mailbox is a separately encrypted SQLite file, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV work with any app, and custom domains are included on low-cost plans.

How are email providers rated?

Each entry answers 21 questions: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, security headers, modern web standards, end-to-end encryption, encrypted mailbox storage, open protocols, custom domains, sign up without personal data, email security standards, IMAP support, POP3 support, SMTP submission, mail transport security, Sender Rewriting Scheme and ARC sealing. Answers need links to evidence. See the full criteria.

Does jurisdiction matter?

Jurisdiction decides which laws can compel a provider to hand over data. Each entry shows its country and whether it is in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. The data a provider can hand over depends mostly on what it stores and who holds the keys. Read about jurisdictions and the CLOUD Act.