What Is Free Private Email?
Private email providers go beyond regular email services by taking more steps to protect your data and information. The best private email services do everything they can to keep the content of your messages secure.
Different private email accounts come with different security-related features along with other tools that you might expect with a conventional email provider. We’ll explain the differences between a few of the most private email services you can find.
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1. Zoho Mail
Zoho offers a mail service targeting professionals and users who take their privacy seriously, and there are also Zoho applications for things like chatting, notes, and calendar, which you can integrate with your email account.
Unlike email services like Gmail, Zoho is a private email service and doesn’t scan your keywords for marketing or advertising purposes. The free subscription limits you to 5 GB of email storage, but it’s still a strong option that is accessible on mobile.
With Zoho, your email messages are in good hands, hosted in secure data centers with impeccable physical security, advanced DoS and DDoS control, and sophisticated intrusion-detection systems in place.
All emails are stored on Zoho Mail servers in an encrypted format, and all communication between email clients and Zoho Mail happens over SSL, which means that your data cannot be tampered with during transit.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Integration of Zoho’s web-based online office suite
- Doesn’t scan email messages for marketing purposes
👎🏼 Cons:
- California, where Zoho Mail is based, is within the jurisdiction of the Five Eyes
2. Neo
Neo has curated a robust business email hosting suite specifically designed to empower small businesses, freelancers, and creators with a secure & private communication platform for their sensitive business exchanges. Packed with potent features, Neo assures users of a protection level akin to enterprise-grade security, which acts as a sturdy shield for all accounts against potential threats. Additionally, its sophisticated anti-spam feature drastically diminishes the deluge of junk mail, thereby reducing susceptibility to viruses.
In addition, Neo broadens its business email offerings to users lacking a domain name by providing a complimentary domain with a .co.site extension. Going above and beyond, Neo presents users with a free single-page website, aiding them in developing their brand persona and boosting their reputability.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Provides superior security through encryption to protect against threats like spam, malware, ransomware, phishing, and more
- Features two-factor authentication for additional account safety
- Offers high-quality apps for web, Android, and iOS, providing a perfect blend of security and speed
- Alongside the email account, users are gifted with a free one-page website and a .co.site domain name
👎🏼 Cons:
- The email service lacks functionality to be accessed in offline mode
- This email service does not have predictive text
3. PreVeil
PreVeil Email provides individuals and SMEs with a compliant, end-to-end encrypted email platform that integrates with their existing services like Outlook, Gmail, and AppleMail. Users keep their existing email addresses and can communicate from their desktop, mobile, browser, or an app.
Free users get up to 5GB of data storage. A paid enterprise subscription provides admin capabilities and includes 10TB of storage. PreVeil’s platform also includes Drive’s file storage and sharing capabilities that integrate with Windows Explorer and MacFinder.
All emails and files on PreVeil are secured with end-to-end encryption which ensures information is only encrypted and decrypted on a user’s device - never on the server. Even if an attacker compromises the server, they only get gibberish. Nobody but the intended recipients can read the data - not even PreVeil.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Protects all data with end-to-end encryption
- Meets CMMC, NIST, DFARS, and ITAR compliance requirements
- Users keep their existing email address
- Integrates with commonly used applications like Outlook and Gmail
👎🏼 Cons:
- Limited storage for free users
- Administrative capabilities only come with the paid version
4. ProtonMail
ProtonMail is one of the leaders among secure email providers, and it’s a great starting point for users interested in protecting their information. You don’t need to supply any sensitive or personal information to create an account, making the entire website anonymous and secure (learn more about how to send anonymous emails).
You can access your free private email on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device with ProtonMail, and it does not store the IP address you use to sign in. Furthermore, it offers some of the best security features of any email service, including Secured Socket Layer connections, hardware-level security, open-source cryptography, and end-to-end encryption.
According to the people behind it, ProtonMail does not have access to its users’ information, and there have been multiple independent audits that have confirm this to be true. However, ProtonMail’s tamper-proof architecture makes it impossible to integrate the service with third-party clients, which makes it difficult to deploy it in the enterprise setting. Likewise, account recovery is impossible, so caution is advised when changing security settings.
The free version of ProtonMail is limited to 500 MB of email storage space and 150 messages per day. Additionally, it doesn’t include all features that are available to paying customers, such as custom email filters, autoresponder, catch-all email, and multi-user support.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Excellent security
- Doesn’t ask for any personal information during sign up
- Passed multiple independent security audits
👎🏼 Cons:
- The free account comes with major limitations
5. Tutanota
Tutanota is a private email service with options for both private and business users, and the free plan provides more than enough features for most individuals. You’ll be limited to a Tutanota domain name, a single user, and 1 GB of email storage.
Like Zoho Mail, Tutanota also offers notes and calendar tools, both of which are just as encrypted as its email service. Tutanota is completely open source and offers applications for both Android and iOS devices.
Tutanota uses two-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption for additional security, and even free users have access to an ad-free interface. You can also utilize email filtering features to keep unwanted content from cluttering your inbox.
👍🏼 Pros:
- End-to-end encryption
- Clients for all major operating systems
- Encrypted calendar
- No IP logging
👎🏼 Cons:
- Limited free account
- Based in Germany, where the NSA has facilities
6. MsgSafe.io
MsgSafe.io protects its users by allowing them to create an unlimited number of virtual email addresses. Each virtual email address can be a different online persona that lets you communicate with others without disclosing your main email address. If you're a business owner, you can use one virtual email address for communication with business partners and customers and a different email address for communication with employees.
All emails are automatically protected with end-to-end encryption, which ensures that even MsgSafe.io staff can't read your email messages, let alone a third party. If you have your own domain name, you can bring it with you to MsgSafe.io and set it up with ease. Just like all MsgSafe.io users, you will instantly benefit from advanced email analysis and filtering, whose purpose is to keep unwanted emails at bay.
The free version of MsgSafe.io includes 1 GB of email storage space, and you can upgrade at any time if you need more. All plans include unlimited incoming emails, GPG and S/MIME support, secure 1:1 audio and video chat, and multiple other useful features.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Virtual email addresses
- Custom domain name support
- Secure 1:1 audio and video chat
👎🏼 Cons:
- Limited free plan
7. Mailfence
Since ContactOffice Group launched Mailfence in November 2013, this encrypted email service has managed to earn excellent reputation with users and security experts alike. For starters, its servers are based in Belgium, a country that requires all surveillance requests to go through a court.
Because Mailfence combines OpenPGP (the most widely used email encryption standard in the world) with digital signatures, users always know who they’re communicating with and can rest assured, knowing nobody can read their private correspondence.
In addition to standard email features, Mailfence also provides contacts, calendar, documents, and secure online collaboration. The web-based client works great on screens large and small, but Mailfence is also working on a dedicated mobile app, and it should be out fairly soon.
Included in the free plan is 500 MB of email storage space, 500 MB of storage space for documents, one secure collaboration group, and support for two-factor authentication. The most affordable paid plan costs just 2,50 € per month, and it adds POP, SMTP, and IMAP access, as well as custom domain names.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Digital email signatures
- Many extra features
- Mobile app in the works
👎🏼 Cons:
- The free plan includes only 500 MB of email storage space
8. Yandex
Yandex is another secure option for your next email account which doesn’t require a phone number to register. Rather than two-factor authentication, Yandex uses your fingerprint and an app-specific PIN number to further secure your account.
Like Tutanota, Yandex automatically filters emails so that you only see content from real senders. Other messages are moved to separate folders. You can also thoroughly personalize the interface and access up to 10 GB of storage, more than is available with the free plans for either Zoho Mail or Tutanota.
Yandex offers a polished app for Android and iOS. It also includes built-in antivirus features, a customizable interface, and a timer tool allowing you to set up messages to send in advance. Yandex is a great free option for private users.
👍🏼 Pros:
- Robust two-factor authentication
- Doesn’t require a phone number when signing up
- App for Android and iOS
👎🏼 Cons:
- Based in Russia, a country that’s known for spying on its citizens and requesting sensitive information from internet service providers
9. GMX
GMX may not be as well-known as some of the other items on this list, but its features match and in some cases exceed those of its competitors. In addition to strong filters for viruses and spam content, GMX provides up to 65 GB of storage for emails for free users, more than any other free service on this list.
GMX offers mobile applications optimized for both iOS and Android, making managing your inbox just as easy on a smartphone as it is on a computer. You’ll have access to the full set of GMX tools no matter what device you’re using.
GMX enables users to attach up to 50 MB of files in each email. You can also import your contact list directly from other applications, including Facebook. GMX uses ad revenue from its app and website for funding, but these ads aren’t as intrusive as they are with some other email providers.
👍🏼 Pros:
- 65 GB of storage space for emails
- Support for large attachments
- App for iOS and Android
👎🏼 Cons:
- The English version doesn’t support two-factor authentication
Bonus: The Benefits of Clean Email
No matter what email provider you decide on, Clean Email is a great way to keep your inbox de-cluttered and filter incoming content based on your unique needs. It can help you spend less time managing your inbox and looking through generic content and spam.
Clean Email provides numerous helpful productivity features including the ability to unsubscribe from multiple email lists at the same time. You can set up custom spam filters that will be applied to future emails, such as labeling, moving, archiving, and removing based on different senders.
Clean Email’s Cleaning Suggestions tool categorizes your emails and asks what you’d like to do with each set. Social media notifications, for example, can be archived, removed, or kept in your primary inbox, allowing you to clean up your inbox with just a few clicks.
While Clean Email does offer premium subscriptions, you can manage up to 1000 emails at no cost. We take your privacy seriously and never sell, share, or track our users’ data.
Privacy Guard is a fantastic tool from Clean Email that helps you protect yourself from hackers, thieves, and other criminals looking to make use of your personal data. Whether stealing credit card numbers, identity information, or bank accounts, these thieves take advantage of data breaches and email spam to try to make your life more difficult (learn more about email spam checkers).
Privacy Guard feature will help you find out if your email account was compromised during any known security incidents and data breaches. If found, you will be recommended to take immediate actions such as protecting your mailbox with multi-factor authentication, setting a new password, etc. To use the Privacy Guard feature, follow the steps below:
- Launch the Clean Email app with your account.
- Click “Privacy Guard” on the left pane of the home screens.
- When the check is completed, you will be notified if your email address was found across known data breaches.
- If found, you will be advised to take immediate actions to protect your personal data.
Wondering how to become an email guru? Follow our guides on how to stop email spoofing, what a disposable email address and the email security best practices are.
Conclusion
You can’t go wrong with any of the private email services on this list, and all of them offer powerful security features to ensure that your data stays out of the wrong hands. No matter which one you choose, you can be confident that your information is more secure than it would be with a more popular email provider.
Free Private Email Providers - FAQs
What is a private email address?
A private email address is one that is hosted by a private server that can offer stronger privacy, security, and stability than many public domains. When you use certain email providers such as Google or Hotmail, you are subject to the rules and regulations of their public servers. Private servers let you enjoy a more secure experience, allowing you to run your email as you want it.
Which free email is best for privacy?
There are many great email providers that offer free options. Zoho Mail is likely the best one thanks to all of its features and functionality. This is a service provider for professional and personal users alike, valuing privacy and security over advertising and tracking. You can even benefit from chat applications, notes, and an intuitive calendar that helps you plan your days, weeks, months, and even years.
How can I get a free anonymous email account?
If you want an anonymous email account for any purpose, you simply have to register with a provider that does not require personal information. ProtonMail is one such service that allows you to remain anonymous while making use of a fully functional mail address. All you have to do is sign up for a username, create a password, and then complete your account setup. Your information is completely secure, and you don’t need to give anything like a credit card number, real name, or backup mail address.
How can I get a private email address?
If you want a private email that is not subject to the rules of many public providers, simply sign up for one with a free or paid private email service. Some of our favorites include Zoho Mail, ProtonMail, Mailfence, and MsgSafe.io. They all have specific benefits, so choose the one that works best for your needs. If you want privacy, security, and ease-of-use, these are truly the way to go, and provide many advantages over public services like Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.
How do I create private email in Outlook?
Using your private email account in Outlook is easy. First, open up Outlook on your preferred device. Then, navigate to Account Information, and click “Add Account.” Type in the email address that you have set up with your private service provider. After this, a new screen will pop up for your password. Enter your password and hit “Connect.” Choose POP3 or IMAP to set up your server settings. IMAP is preferable for many because it allows you to access your account from any device, but some people still use POP3 if they want to benefit from additional security.
