Best 21 Private Email Providers to Keep Your Online Conversations Safe
The necessity to protect your privacy online is always present and even more so when it comes to email communication. If your email provider is not secure enough to guard your personal data against cyber attackers, it’s high time to use an encrypted email service.
In this article, we’ll introduce 21 secure email providers that will protect your personal information from third parties determined to abuse your online privacy.
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1. CTemplar
CTemplar is a secure email service based in Iceland that is run by a small team of data security pros with a clear mission of protecting their user’s email privacy from hackers, corporations and governments.
The email service uses OpenPGP end-to-end encryption protocol and 4096-bit RSA encryption keys to keep your emails safe.
Features:
- End-to-end encryption (E2EE);
- No data retention policy;
- Zero data access;
- Built-in kill switch;
- JS injection protection;
- 100% audited and open-sourced code;
- Anonymous signup;
- Mailboxes not linked to IP addresses.
Price:
- Free – $0 (requires invitation code);
- Prime – $8/month;
- Knight – $12/month;
- Marshall – $20/month;
- Champion – $50/month.
2. ProtonMail
ProtonMail is a well-known encrypted email provider founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 2013. It provides strong end-to-end encryption, full anonymity to the user and hardware-level security
Features:
- E2EE;
- Zero data access;
- Anonymous sign up;
- Anonymous payment options;
- Self-destructing messages;
- SSL encryption;
- Symmetric encryption with other email clients.
Price:
- Free – €0;
- Plus – €5/month;
- Professional – €8/m;
- Visionary – €30/m.
3. Tutanota
Tutanota is a German-based encrypted email service provider that can be used on desktop, laptop, or mobile devices. In addition, the provider also includes end-to-end encryption and allows you to send encrypted messages to other email accounts, such as Gmail.
Features:
- E2EE;
- Encrypted calendar;
- Open source;
- Anonymous email;
- GDPR-compliance;
- No ads or tracking;
- Strips IP addresses from emails.
Price:
- Free – €0;
- Premium – €1.20/month;
- Teams – €4.80/m.
4. Zoho Mail
Zoho is a powerful software suite that provides a number of products, including a secure email account in Zoho Mail and it can be used as a business or private email account.
Features:
- S/MIME encryption;
- 2FA;
- Custom domain email addresses;
- Filters;
- Easy migration.
Price:
- Mail Lite – €0.90/month;
- Workplace – €3/month;
- Mail Premium – €3.60/month.
5. Mailfence
Mailfence is a secure and private email service that includes OpenPGP encryption, zero data access, AES-256 encryption keys and no ads or tracking with which you can create a free anonymous email account.
Features:
- E2EE;
- Digital signatures;
- OpenPGP keystore;
- Anonymous payment options;
- 2FA support;
- POP, IMAP and SMTP support;
- IP addresses removed from headers.
Price:
- Free – €0;
- Entry – €2.50/month;
- Pro – €7.50/m;
- Ultra – €25/m.
6. CounterMail
CounterMail is an encrypted email provider that enables you to send private and secure email messages at any time and from any device.
Features:
- E2EE;
- Dynamic aliases;
- IMAP server support;
- Custom domain name;
- Man-in-the-Middle protection;
- Diskless web servers;
- Desktop and mobile compatible.
Price:
- 6-month plan – $4.83/month;
- 1-year plan – $4.08/m;
- 2-year plan – $3.29/m.
7. Hushmail
Hushmail is a private email provider that uses PGP encryption to encrypt your email data, multiple email accounts and electronic signatures and works on your laptop or mobile device.
Features:
- PGP end-to-end encryption;
- Secure web forms;
- HIPAA-compliant;
- Multiple email accounts;
- Electronic signatures;
- 2-step verification.
Price:
- Hushmail for healthcare – $9.99/month;
- Hushmail for small business – $5.99/m;
- Hushmail for law – $9.99/m;
- Hushmail for personal use – $49.98/year.
8. FastMail
Formerly owned by Opera Software, FastMail is a private mail service available in 36 different languages and can be used by individuals and businesses.
Features:
- Masked email;
- Email aliases;
- Custom email domains;
- No ads or tracking;
- Web and mobile apps;
- Email calendar.
Price:
- Basic – $3/month;
- Standard – $5/m;
- Professional – $9/m.
9. Kolab Now
Kolab Now is a Swiss-based, open source secure email app that works on multiple devices, including laptop, browser and mobile, as well as different OS (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android).
Features:
- E2EE;
- Import contacts;
- Sync contacts using ActiveSync or CardDAV;
- Email response template;
- Open source;
- GDPR, HIPAA compliant;
- Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) support.
Price:
- Just email – €4.68/month;
- Full Kolab – €8.43/m.
10. Posteo
Posteo is a green-powered secure email service provider that promises to encrypt your data “with the click of a button” and anonymous signup and payment.
Features:
- E2EE;
- Green-powered;
- No ads;
- 2FA support;
- IMAP and POP3 support.
Price:
Email account – €1/month (plus more for additional features)
11. StartMail
StartMail is a Dutch-based private email provider that allows you to send encrypted emails to anyone, have unlimited aliases and pay anonymously using Bitcoin.
Features:
- PGP email encryption;
- Unlimited aliases;
- Supports Bitcoin;
- IMAP and SMTP support.
Price:
- Personal Account – $35.99/year (currently on discount).
12. Trustifi
Trustifi is a secure email solution that includes strong protection from malware and ransomware as well as phishing, spoofing and detection. Unfortunately, this is a US-based provider.
Features:
- E2EE;
- 2FA support;
- Whitelist and blacklist;
- Phishing, spoofing and fraud detection;
- Malware and ransomware protection;
- Recall, block, modify, set expiration date for sent and delivered mail.
Price:
- Request a quote.
13. Runbox
Runbox is a secure email and domain hosting service with servers based in Norway, virus and spam protection and end-to-end encryption.
Features:
- Ad free;
- SSL;
- IP whitelist and blacklist;
- Spam filter;
- Virus filter;
- POP3, IMAP, SMTP and WAP support;
- 2FA support.
Price:
- Micro – $19.95/year;
- Mini – $34.95/y;
- Medium – $49.95/y;
- Max – $79.95/y.
14. Mailbox
Mailbox.org is a free private email service that includes encrypted cloud storage, PGP, spam and virus protection and the ability to manage multiple inboxes.
Features:
- Email messages encrypted at rest (server-side);
- PGP encryption support;
- POP, IMAP, SMTP support;
- Custom domains;
- Open source;
- MitM protection.
Price:
- Light – €1/month;
- Standard – €2/m;
- Premium – €9/m.
15. Mailvelope
Mailvelope is not an email service itself, but rather a web browser extension that allows you to send encrypted emails with OpenPGP. This means that (in theory at least) you can encrypt emails with your own email provider.
Features:
- Encrypt emails with your own email provider;
- Available as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox extension;
- Open source;
- Zero data access.
Price:
- Free.
16. Criptext
Criptext is a free secure email service that has some interesting features, such as the ability to unsound messages for up to an hour after sending and real-time email tracking (to know if your emails have been received and read). Keep in mind that it is still in beta though.
Features:
- No servers. Instead, Criptext is a delivery service between the sender and the recipient;
- Emails are stored on the user’s device, so Criptext has no way of seeing them;
- Unsend emails for up to 1h;
- Real-time email tracking;
- Available on multiple OS (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android);
- Uses Signal Protocol Library.
Price:
- Free – $0.
17. Librem Mail
Librem One is a security and privacy bundle that includes mail, chat, social and VPN tunnel. Librem Mail is an end-to-end encrypted email service that can be used on any device and also automatically deletes unencrypted emails after 30 days.
Features:
- Can communicate with anyone inside/outside the domain;
- Deletes unencrypted emails after 30 days;
- E2EE;
- Bundle includes mail, chat, social and VPN tunnel.
Price:
- Get everything (one user)- $7.99/month;
- Family pack (five users) – $14.99/m.
18. Vivaldi
Vivaldi is a free and secure web browser that also includes a free private email service that enables you to manage email, calendar and contacts from secure data centers in Iceland.
Features:
- No ads;
- IMAP, POP3 support;
- Manage events;
- Saved searches as filters.
Price:
- Free.
19. Thexyz
Thexyz is an encrypted email and DNS hosting service for businesses with which you can be anonymous while sending emails, chat securely and sync your calendar and contacts with your webmail or phone.
Features:
- Secure IM chat;
- Email aliases;
- Contact and Calendar synced with webmail or phone;
- Spam protection;
- Available in 11 different languages;
- Email reminders.
Price:
- Premium webmail – $2.95/month;
- MobileSync and Cloud Drive – $4.95/m;
- Microsoft Exchange – $14.95/m.
20. Soverin
Soverin is a private email service with multiple domain support, and the ability to manage your emails, calendars and contacts directly from the dashboard.
Features:
- TLS/SSL encryption;
- IMAP and CardDAV support;
- Custom email domain address;
- Sustainable energy sources;
- No ads.
Price:
- Soverin – $3.25/month.
21. Private-Mail
Private-Mail enables you to send and receive secure email messages through encrypted email and cloud storage. The email service works on desktop and mobile devices and supports OpenPGP encryption and MitM protection.
Features:
- Desktop and mobile apps;
- OpenPGP support;
- Contacts and calendar sync;
- Self Destruct Email;
- Sync across devices.
Price:
- Standard – $8.95/month;
- Private-Mail Pro – $15.95/m.
Conclusion
There you go. 21 secure email services that you can check out to protect your sensitive data over email.
Which one do you like the most?
FAQ
A “private email” is simply put an email service or app that protects your personal data using encryption.
To open your own private email account, you need to sign-up for a secure email service.
Some important features of a private email include:
1. End-to-end encryption (encryption in transit and at rest)
2. Secure server location (not US, UK, Canada, or other 5Eyes/9Eyes/14Eyes countries)
3. Zero data access (including the provider)
4. Anonymous signup and payment methods
5. Easy to use
Depending on the provider, a private email can be free of charge or cost anywhere from $1 to $50 per month, depending on the features and storage that the plan offers. Most anonymous email services offer a couple of plans to choose from.