11 Best Free (& Private) Email Accounts & Service Providers of 2023

You request an email relationship — whether it’s for networking, job recruitment, downloading resources, transferring files, mounting reminders, gathering with colleagues, oregon thing else.

Even with the emergence of bureau chat platforms, you inactive beryllium connected email for a astonishing fig of things. But unfortunately, not each email work is wholly free. And adjacent the escaped ones mightiness not beryllium the easiest to usage oregon person each the features you need.

It tin beryllium a situation to find an email work supplier astatine nary outgo that balances the close features with usability. To assistance marque your hunt easier, we enactment unneurotic a database of the antithetic types of email accounts you tin acceptable up, followed by the champion email work providers you tin big your relationship connected close present for free.

Types of Email Accounts

There are 2 main types of email work providers to take from: Email clients and webmail.

Let's concisely spell implicit these antithetic types of providers.

What are email clients?

Email clients are bundle applications you instal onto your machine to negociate the email you nonstop and receive. To entree this email, the lawsuit interacts with a distant email server.

Email clients you've apt heard of see Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.

What is simply a webmail?

Webmail is simply a signifier of email you entree exclusively from the net and truthful exists chiefly connected the unreality alternatively than your computer. Instead of an installed exertion fetching your email, you negociate your inbox close from your net browser.

Examples of webmail providers see Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail.

Now, instrumentality a look astatine the champion escaped email work providers (and the champion email accounts for privacy) you tin get your hands connected contiguous — some webmail and email clients included. For each email work provider, we've highlighted a unsocial diagnostic to assistance you find the champion fit.

1. Gmail: Best for Offline Accessibility

Unique Feature: Native File Collaboration

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone who already uses and loves the remainder of Google's products.

It mightiness look similar an evident apical pick, but Gmail is conscionable excessively versatile not to get our archetypal slot. According to Litmus Labs, Gmail has the second-highest email supplier marketplace stock (behind Apple iPhone's autochthonal email app).

Ironically, 1 of the reasons Gmail has go truthful fashionable is due to the fact that of each the connection options successful your inbox that don't impact email.

Gmail is simply a regular email inbox instrumentality you tin entree erstwhile you person a Google account. Since it’s built into Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), you tin besides entree a radical of escaped apps that let you to chat, video conference, and stock files with the radical successful your interaction list.

Google Hangouts, disposable from your inbox's near sidebar (or the close — you tin customize however your inbox is displayed), lets you substance and video chat with different Gmail users for the things that mightiness not warrant an email message.

Like astir different email accounts today, Gmail besides has an intuitive calendar wherever you tin acceptable meetings and reminders.

Pro Tip: You tin besides usage a escaped merchandise similar HubSpot Meetings to easy docket meetings without back-and-forth emails.

Unlike different email accounts, you tin usage your Gmail code to log into and negociate your YouTube account, arsenic good arsenic collaborate connected shared documents and spreadsheets close from a cloud-based Google Drive.

Offering a generous 15 GB of escaped email storage, Gmail does everything it tin to marque your inbox little chaotic, including providing precocious filters that automatically propulsion emails into abstracted folders arsenic they arrive. And nary of these functions costs a dime.

Notable Features:

• Allows you to un-send emails. Within seconds of sending an email you didn’t mean to send, a useful “Undo” fastener volition popular up successful the bottom-right manus country of your screen.
• 15GB escaped email storage. You tin store thousands upon thousands of emails without worrying that you’ll soon scope an precocious limit.
• Accessible from immoderate internet-connected device. And connected immoderate browser, too. Whereas email clients alteration successful presumption of compatibility with operating systems and devices, Gmail is disposable connected immoderate instrumentality you person connected hand.
• 99.9% extortion from suspicious/spam emails. Some mightiness reason that Gmail’s spam filter is oversensitive — I myself person had perfectly morganatic emails routed to my spam folder!
• Texts suggestions that assistance you constitute emails faster. Gmail’s Smart Compose diagnostic uses instrumentality learning exertion to foretell what you’re penning with precocious accuracy. Whether you usage the suggestions is up to you, of course.

2. AOL: Best for Interface Organization

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Unique Feature: Unlimited Storage

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone who uses email for astir of their communication.

America Online (I consciousness nostalgic conscionable typing those words) has softly kept up with today's standards for a bully idiosyncratic acquisition and is present erstwhile again 1 of the champion escaped email accounts disposable to you.

Purchased by Verizon successful 2015, AOL delivers your email from its classical news-driven homepage and comes with the modern spam filters and microorganism extortion you'd expect from your email provider. You tin besides send substance and instant messages from circumstantial windows successful your email inbox.

AOL does person thing implicit Gmail, though: unlimited storage. Additionally, you tin import email contacts from a CSV, TXT, oregon LDIF file, truthful you're not creating your "buddy list" (get it?) from scratch.

Notable Features:

• Unlimited storage. This large perk ensures you ne'er person to make different email account, ever, owed to retention limits. What a triumph — particularly if you merchantability and person galore emails per day!
• Ability to import contacts successful immoderate format. If you’ve kept your database of contacts successful a record connected your laptop oregon phone, you tin easy import it into AOL with the click of a button.
• Offers a spellchecker to trim errors. There’s nary request to instal a abstracted spellchecker — AOL provides 1 wrong its composer.
• Protection from suspicious/spam emails. No 1 wants to sift done emails from dubious senders. AOL volition filter them for you.
• Accessible from immoderate internet-connected device. And connected immoderate browser, too. Whereas email clients alteration successful presumption of compatibility with operating systems and devices, AOL is disposable connected immoderate instrumentality you person connected hand.

3. Outlook: Best for Multiple App Integrations

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Unique Feature: Multiple App Integrations

Sign up here.

Type of email: Email client

Who should usage it: Anyone who uses galore antithetic platforms to link with others.

If you ever cringed astatine the show of a "Hotmail.com" email address, you tin convey Outlook for this outdated domain name.

But there's bully news: Microsoft has reinvented its longstanding email service, and your escaped Outlook.com email code has galore precocious features waiting for you.

While it touts a calendar and connection filter akin to Gmail, Outlook besides integrates with respective different fashionable connection apps.

For example, you tin link Skype, Facebook, PowerPoint, PayPal, and adjacent task absorption software specified arsenic Trello — making it precise casual to scope and enactment with non-Outlook users without leaving your inbox.

Outlook offers 15 GB of escaped retention for each user, on with a super-clean interface.

Notable Features:

• 15GB escaped email storage. You tin store thousands upon thousands of emails without worrying that you’ll soon scope an precocious limit.
• Like with Microsoft Excel oregon Word, you tin usage Add-ins with Outlook. This is an fantabulous payment for avid Microsoft merchandise users who cognize which apps they request to link with their email.
• Easy entree to different Microsoft apps similar Skype. Outlook seamlessly links with different tools successful the Microsoft suite of products.
• Provides aliases that adhd anonymity to your email. Whether you’re sending emails for enactment oregon idiosyncratic matters, an alias tin beryllium adjuvant for protecting your individuality and your inbox from malicious spam.
• Excellent email organization. Easily find immoderate you request with Outlook’s sidebar, which provides precocious organizations folders to radical your astir important emails.

4. Yahoo! Mail: Best for Lots of Storage

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Unique Feature: Media and Attachment History

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Creatives and anyone who sends and receives attachments often via email.

Yahoo! Mail, different well-known platform, sits conscionable down AOL successful retention abstraction with a whopping 1 TB (that's a terabyte) for free, on with a fewer cardinal societal media integrations.

You tin person customized inheritance themes and hunt for cardinal accusation from your inbox with Yahoo! Mail.

Yahoo! Mail makes it casual to find each photo, video, and papers you've ever attached oregon received via email successful their tabs connected your inbox's sidebar. This makes the level particularly appealing to those who stock documents regularly oregon simply privation an medium made of each photograph they've ever had shared.

Notable Features:

• 1TB escaped email storage. Wow! Talk astir a mammoth level of storage. You tin store thousands upon thousands of emails without worrying that you’ll soon scope an precocious limit.
• Connects seamlessly with Yahoo Calendar. If you’re a existent Yahoo Calendar user, you’ll beryllium pleased to cognize that Yahoo Mail syncs with your events (and allows you to make caller ones from your inbox).
• Accessible from immoderate internet-connected device. And connected immoderate browser, too. Whereas email clients alteration successful presumption of compatibility with operating systems and devices, Yahoo Mail is disposable connected immoderate instrumentality you person connected hand.
• Outstanding media and papers organization. If you nonstop and person galore emails with media attachments, Yahoo Mail is an fantabulous prime owed to its precocious sorting and enactment features for attached files.
• Instant notifications for caller emails. Never miss a connection with Yahoo Mail’s instant notification feature.

5. iCloud Mail: Best for Data Encryption

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Unique Feature: Labels Senders arsenic VIPs

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: People who usage Mac and privation everything connected 1 system.

If you’re a Mac user, you whitethorn privation to see utilizing iCloud Mail arsenic your email provider. Their escaped email relationship comes with 5GB of retention that you tin usage to sync your photos, files, oregon email.

However, it’s important to enactment that retention is shared betwixt each of your apps and devices — truthful if you instrumentality a batch of photos connected your iPhone, you whitethorn devour into your email retention allowance for the month. Upgraded plans commencement astatine $0.99/month and spell up to $9.99/month.

One of the astir important advantages of utilizing iCloud implicit different email providers connected this database is the easiness of integration. Apple builds its desktop and iPhone message apps with each email clients successful mind, but it pays peculiar attraction to making the acquisition delightful for iCloud users.

Notable Features:

• Compatible with Apple products and services. If you’re an Apple user, iCloud Mail is an fantabulous prime that gives you seamless syncing crossed each of your devices.
• 5GB escaped email storage. Though little than different providers, 5GB is plentifulness of retention for the casual email user.
• Search functionality. Easily find thing and everything you request with iCloud Mail’s almighty hunt feature.
• VIP flagging. iCloud Mail gives you the quality to statement senders arsenic VIP to automatically filter important messages and prevention time.
• One-click “Unsubscribe” feature. Have you ever had to scroll and scroll to find the unsubscribe fastener connected an unwanted email? iCloud Mail includes a one-click diagnostic to assistance you prevention time.

6. Mozilla Thunderbird: Best for Managing Multiple Accounts

Unique Feature: Ability to Open Multiple Emails successful Tabs

Sign up here.

Type of email: Email client

Who should usage it: Anyone looking for a elemental but customizable email inbox.

Thunderbird, a escaped email exertion from Mozilla (known chiefly for Firefox), offers a speedy email inbox setup and a simple, easy-to-use idiosyncratic interface.

The app offers customizable features, specified arsenic taxable settings and app extensions to amended your email experience. The email app besides allows you to unfastened aggregate emails successful tabs, akin to however you would unfastened assorted web pages successful Firefox browsers.

Notable Features:

• Large hold library. Easily customize your Thunderbird acquisition with a wide scope of apps and services.
• Google Calendar integration. Thunderbird integrates with Google Calendar to marque task absorption and gathering scheduling easier.
• Smart email organization. Thunderbird reduces clutter by giving you galore folders and sorting options for each of your messages.
• Browser-like tabs. Have you ever recovered email hard to negociate due to the fact that you tin lone spot 1 connection astatine a time? Thunderbird solves this contented by giving you the quality to unfastened messages successful antithetic tabs, similar successful a web browser.

7. Zoho

Unique Feature: 25 Business Addresses

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Startups and tiny businesses.

This is the archetypal of the escaped email accounts for privateness to marque our list, but it holds a ton of imaginable for businesses.

The archetypal happening you'll announcement astir Zoho is its user-friendliness. From integrating with Google Drive, Box, and different cloud-based record managers, to its built-in task manager, this email work offers a elemental mode to execute each of your regular tasks.

The existent difference-maker, though, is the quality to customize the domain name for up to 25 connected email addresses. Want to regenerate "@zoho.com" with the sanction of your business's website? You tin bash truthful nether Zoho Lite, which gives you 5 GB for escaped — each nether [email protected]

Notable Features:

• Privacy from advertisers. Zoho doesn’t scan your inbox for advertisement purposes, truthful your accusation won’t beryllium sold to third-party buyers.
• Emails are successful an encrypted format. This is specially important if you regularly nonstop and person delicate information.
• Customizable domain name. Zoho gives you the quality to customize the domain sanction of your email, a utile perk for tiny businesses.
• Integrates easy with Zoho CRM. If you already usage Zoho CRM, Zoho is an fantabulous and earthy prime that offers concern email essentials for escaped oregon astatine a debased price.

8. Proton Mail

Unique Feature: Encrypted Email

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone who sends and receives delicate information.

Proton Mail offers conscionable 500 MB of escaped space, but for the worthy commercialized of encrypted email, allowing you to nonstop messages that cipher other tin spot and vanish aft a month.

What's the catch? Is the work hard to use? Proton Mail is casual to usage connected immoderate instrumentality without immoderate bundle needed to encrypt your emails, arsenic with astir webmail platforms. Its inbox interface is arsenic casual to recognize astatine a glimpse arsenic the different email services connected this list.

And the instrumentality offers speedy color-coded labels to assistance you further signifier which emails merit the astir attraction and protection.

Notable Features:

• 100% privacy. No idiosyncratic accusation is required to unfastened an account, making it utile for situations wherever you request to email idiosyncratic anonymously.
• Compatible with outer email clients. Whether you usage Apple Mail, Outlook, oregon Thunderbird, Proton Mail seamlessly integrates for off-browser email management.
• Optimized inbox to boost productivity. Easily benignant your inbox and radical messages into folders with Proton Mail’s enactment features.
• End-to-end information encryption. No third-party supplier gets entree to your email, ever, making this 1 of the astir backstage options connected the market.

9. GMX Mail

Unique Feature: Alias Email Addresses

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone who needs aggregate emails with 1 cardinal inbox.

While you whitethorn not person heard of GMX Mail, it’s been astir for rather a portion (since 1997) — and it has a clump of features that marque it worthy considering.

First off, GMX offers 65 GB of storage. That’s a batch of retention for a escaped email service. In fact, they assertion that it allows you to support astir fractional a cardinal messages successful your inbox!

Another diagnostic worthy noting is the quality to nonstop ample attachments. While galore services person debased caps for your email attachments, GMX Mail allows you to nonstop files up to 50MB. That’s large if you stock a ton of photos, presentations, oregon different ample files from your account.

But the diagnostic of GMX Mail that truly sets it isolated is the quality to acceptable up to 10 alias email addresses, each from wrong 1 account. This tin beryllium utile successful galore situations — some personally and professionally.

For instance, you could usage 1 alias for each of your online purchases and logins — to support selling emails abstracted from your backstage messages. From a concern perspective, aggregate email addresses tin assistance negociate role-based emails specified arsenic [email protected] oregon [email protected]

Notable Features:

• Protection from suspicious/spam emails. GMX offers a beardown spam filter to support your inbox from suspicious messages.
• 65GB escaped email storage. You tin store thousands upon thousands of emails without worrying that you’ll soon scope an precocious limit.
• Easy-to-use email filter templates. Have you ever recovered creating email filters a hassle? GMX offers premade filters for you to use.
• External email relationship integration. GMX allows you to usage a message collector for keeping and managing each your emails (even from different work providers) successful a azygous place.

10. Trustifi

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Unique Feature: Data Loss Prevention

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone who doesn’t privation to take betwixt having a unafraid and functional inbox.

Trustifi combines the champion of a productive and unafraid email supplier successful 1 place.

With disposable whitelisting and blacklisting options, you tin easy take whom you let to nonstop you messages. Trustifi is besides compliant with HIPAA/HITECH, PII, GDPR, FSA, FINRA, LGPD, CCPA, and more, truthful you don’t person to interest astir losing your relationship overnight.

You tin adjacent usage the Trustifi add-on to adhd an other information furniture to your Gmail oregon Outlook inbox.

Notable Features:

• Ransomware and fraud detection. With Trustifi’s fraud detection feature, you tin spot that the emails you person are from morganatic senders.
• Ability to acceptable expiry dates connected sent emails. This is simply a highly adjuvant diagnostic for businesses that regularly nonstop time-bound contracts and documents.
• External email relationship integration. Trustifi seamlessly integrates with different email systems oregon work providers, making it casual to negociate each your emails successful 1 place.
• End-to-end information encryption. No third-party supplier gets entree to your email, ever, making this 1 of the astir backstage options connected the market.

11. Mailfence

Unique Feature: Legal Protection

Sign up here.

Type of email: Webmail

Who should usage it: Anyone looking for a unafraid email relationship that integrates with different tools.

Mailfence is simply a unafraid browser-based email work supplier based successful Belgium. Given the strict privateness laws successful Belgium, each your information is locked distant from immoderate third-party access.

Their escaped program gives you 500 MB of email space. But to genuinely bask the champion of Mailfence, you’ll person to hop connected a paid program that starts astatine €2.50/month.

You’d beryllium capable to make up to 10 aliases connected the paid program and person 5GB of email space, among galore different features.

With Mailfence, it’s casual to signifier your time and concern due to the fact that you’d beryllium capable to easy integrate your email relationship with your contacts, calendar, and documents.

Notable Features:

• 500MB escaped email storage. Though little than different providers, 500MB is capable retention for the casual email user.
• Legal protection. Because of strict Belgian privateness laws, Mailfence offers an unparalleled level of ineligible protection.
• End-to-end information encryption. With Mailfence’s True OpenPGP end-to-end encryption, nary third-party supplier gets entree to your email, ever, making this 1 of the astir backstage options connected the market.

How to Make an Email Account

No substance which supplier you choose, creating an email is simply a elemental process. But, it’s inactive important to cognize champion practices truthful you tin person 1 that fits your needs the best. The intent of an email is to supply a abstraction for you to person easy, unafraid communications. Follow the steps beneath to make an email:

1. Choose An Email Provider

Select an email supplier based connected your needs arsenic a user. Think astir which features, specified arsenic top-tier security, email scheduling capabilities, oregon integrations, are the astir important to you. Also, see however overmuch retention you volition request and what benignant of supplier works best.

2. Choose a Username

Select a username based connected the intent of the account. If it is simply a nonrecreational account, past your sanction with a important fig volition do. The sanction of your concern volition bash if it’s a concern account. You mightiness besides see your [email protected] for nonrecreational accounts.

3. Create a Password

Email providers mostly person minimum requirements for however unafraid your password indispensable be. These often see a fig oregon a peculiar character. Follow these guidelines and take a password that is precise unsocial and has a assortment of letters, numbers, and characters to marque it precise secure.

4. Secure Your Account

Many email providers see ways to adhd other information to your account. Take vantage of these features to support your relationship and information safe. Setting up two-factor authentication is simply a large spot to start.

5. Write a Signature

Set up an email signature for your account. This saves a batch of clip arsenic you are penning emails and helps support your closing consistent. Include accusation similar your name, your title, and your interaction information.

Making the Most of Your Email

And with that, you person immoderate of the champion options for escaped email accounts this year. But who knows? Your adjacent email code could beryllium wholly antithetic portion giving you conscionable what you request to succeed.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful March 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.