You demand an email account — whether it's for networking, job recruitment, downloading resources, transferring files, setting reminders, meeting with colleagues, or something else.

Even with the rise of office chat platforms, yous still depend on email for a surprising number of things. Simply unfortunately, not every electronic mail service is completely free. And even the gratuitous ones might not be the easiest to utilize or accept all the features yous need.

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It can be a claiming to discover an email service provider at no cost that balances the correct features with usability. To help make your search easier, we put together a listing of the different types of email accounts you lot tin gear up, followed past the all-time electronic mail service providers you can host your business relationship on right now for free.

Types of Email Accounts

There are ii principal types of email service providers to choose from: Email clients and Webmail.

Let's briefly go over these different types of providers.

Email clients you've likely heard of include Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and iCloud Mail.

Examples of webmail providers include Gmail, Yahoo! Post, and Hotmail.

Now, take a look at seven of the best free email service providers (and five of the best electronic mail accounts for privacy) you can get your hands on today — both webmail and email clients included. For each email service provider, we've highlighted a unique feature to help yous find the best fit.


1. Gmail: Best for Offline Accessibility

Best Free Email Accounts: Gmail

Unique Feature: Native File Collaboration

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should employ information technology: Anyone who already uses and loves the rest of Google's products.

Information technology might seem like an obvious top pick, but Gmail is just likewise versatile non to get our first slot. According to Litmus Labs, Gmail has the 2d-highest e-mail provider market share (backside Apple tree iPhone'south native electronic mail app).

Ironically, one of the reasons Gmail has go then popular is because of all the advice options in your inbox that don't involve e-mail.

Gmail is a regular email inbox tool you can admission one time you take a Google account. Since it's built into Google Suite, y'all can also access a group of free apps that allow you to chat, video conference, and share files with the people in your contact list.

Google Hangouts, bachelor from your inbox's left sidebar (or the correct — yous tin can customize how your inbox is displayed), lets you text and video conversation with other Gmail users for the things that might not warrant an email message.

Like most other email accounts today, Gmail also has an intuitive calendar where you can gear up meetings and reminders.

Pro Tip: You can also employ a gratuitous product similar HubSpot Meetings to easily schedule meetings without back-and-forth emails.

Unlike other electronic mail accounts, you can apply your Gmail address to log into and manage your YouTube business relationship, as well as collaborate on shared documents and spreadsheets right from a cloud-based Google Drive.

Offer a generous 15 GB of gratuitous email storage, Gmail does everything it tin to make your inbox less chaotic, including avant-garde filters that automatically push emails into split folders as they arrive. And none of these functions costs a dime.

Notable Features:

  • Allows yous to un-transport emails
  • 15GB gratis email storage
  • Accessible from any cyberspace-connected device
  • 99.9% protection from suspicious/spam emails
  • Texts suggestions that help you write emails faster

ii. AOL: All-time for Interface Organization

aol best free email account and service providerBest Free Email Accounts: AOL

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Unique Feature: Unlimited Storage

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Type of e-mail: Webmail

Who should use it: Anyone who uses e-mail for almost of their advice.

America Online (I feel nostalgic just typing those words) has quietly kept upwardly with today'due south standards for a good user experience and is now in one case once again 1 of the best gratuitous email accounts bachelor to you lot.

Purchased past Verizon in 2015, AOL delivers your e-mail from its classic news-driven homepage and comes with the contemporary spam filters and virus protection you'd expect from your email provider. You can likewise transport text and instant letters from specific windows in your email inbox.

AOL does have something over Gmail, though: unlimited storage. Additionally, yous can import email contacts from a CSV, TXT, or LDIF file, so y'all're not creating your "buddy list" (become it?) from scratch.

Notable Features:

  • Unlimited storage
  • Highly customizable
  • Offers a spellchecker to reduce errors

3. Outlook: Best for Multiple App Integrations

Best Free Email Accounts: Outlook

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Unique Feature: Multiple App Integrations

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Type of email: Email client

Who should use it: Anyone who uses many different platforms to connect with others.

If you lot ever cringed at the sight of a "Hotmail.com" e-mail address, yous tin can thank Outlook for this outdated domain name.

But there'south good news: Microsoft has reinvented its longstanding email service, and your free Outlook.com e-mail address has many advanced features waiting for you.

While it touts a calendar and message filter similar to Gmail, Outlook too integrates with several other pop communication apps.

For example, you can connect Skype, Facebook, PowerPoint, PayPal, and even task-management software such as Trello — making it very easy to accomplish and work with non-Outlook users without leaving your inbox.

Outlook offers xv GB of free storage for each user, along with a super-clean interface.

Notable Features:

  • Like with Excel or Give-and-take, you lot can use Add together-ins with Outlook
  • Easy admission to other Microsoft apps like Skype
  • Provides aliases that add anonymity to your email
  • First-class electronic mail arrangement
  • Great search feature

4. Yahoo! Mail: Best for Lots of Storage

Best Free Email Accounts: Yahoo Mail

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Unique Feature: Media and attachment history

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should employ it: Creatives and anyone who sends and receives attachments frequently via e-mail.

Yahoo! Mail, another well-known platform, sits just behind AOL in storage space with a whopping 1 TB (that's a terabyte) for complimentary, along with a few primal social media integrations.

You tin have custom background themes and search for key information from your inbox with Yahoo! Mail.

Yahoo! Mail service makes information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to find every photo, video, and document you've ever attached or received via email in their tabs on your inbox's sidebar. This makes the platform especially appealing to those who share documents regularly or just want an anthology made of every photo they've ever had shared.

Notable Features:

  • Connects seamlessly with Yahoo Calendar
  • Outstanding email organization
  • Customizable themes
  • Instant notifications for new emails
  • Decent security to keep your account prophylactic and secure

5. iCloud Mail: All-time for Data Encryption

Best Free Email Accounts: iCloud Mail

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Unique Characteristic: Characterization senders every bit VIPs

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Blazon of e-mail: Webmail

Who should use information technology: people who use Mac and want everything on one system.

If yous're a Mac user, you may want to consider using iCloud Mail service equally your e-mail provider. Their gratis electronic mail account comes with 5GB of storage that you tin employ to sync your photos, files, or email.

However, it's important to note that storage is shared betwixt all of your apps and devices — then if you take a lot of photos on your iPhone, you may consume into your e-mail storage allowance for the month. Upgraded plans first at $0.99/calendar month and become upwardly to $9.99/month.

One of the most significant advantages of using iCloud over other electronic mail providers on this list is the ease of integration. Apple tree builds its desktop and iPhone mail apps with all e-mail clients in heed, merely it pays special attention to making the experience delightful for iCloud users.

Notable Features:

  • Search functionality
  • Power to label senders equally VIP to automatically filter of import messages and salvage time
  • One-click "Unsubscribe" feature
  • 5GB costless e-mail storage

six. Mozilla Thunderbird: Best for Managing Multiple Accounts

Best Free Email Accounts: Mozilla Thunderbird

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Unique Characteristic: Customization features and the power to open multiple emails in tabs

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Type of electronic mail: Email clients

Who should employ it: Anyone looking for a uncomplicated only customizable electronic mail inbox.

Thunderbird, a free email awarding from Mozilla, known for Firefox, offers a quick e-mail inbox setup and a simple, like shooting fish in a barrel-to-use user interface.

The app offers customizable features, such as theme settings and app extensions to improve your e-mail experience. The email app also allows you to open multiple emails in tabs, similar to how you would open up various web pages in Firefox browsers.

Notable Features:

  • It has a large extension library
  • Integrates with Google Calendar to make task and coming together scheduling easier
  • Smart email organisation to reduce cluster

vii. Yandex Postal service: Best for Translating Emails

Best Free Email Accounts: Yandex Mail

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Unique Feature: 10 GB of free cloud storage

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Blazon of email: Webmail

Who should use it: anyone seeking a free email with additional storage capabilities.

Yandex is a Russian web company that offers a global email tool. You lot tin sign up for a gratis account with the tool, link it to your Facebook, Twitter, or Gmail accounts, and personalize your email inbox.

Like many of the other providers on this listing, Yandex'southward electronic mail inbox tin be gear up to filter or prioritize emails so you see messages from real people. It can also recognize keywords in messages and bailiwick lines and organize emails into categorized inboxes. Additionally, users who sign upwards for Yandex post go 10 GB of costless cloud storage.

Notable Features:

  • Auto-reminder for unreplied mails
  • In-built translator
  • Read receipts on sent emails
  • 10 GB free cloud storage

8. Zoho

Best Free Email Accounts For Privacy: Zoho

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Unique Feature: 25 Business Addresses

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Type of electronic mail: Webmail

Who should use it: startups and pocket-sized businesses.

This is the commencement of the costless electronic mail accounts for privacy to make our list, but it holds a ton of potential for businesses.

The beginning matter you'll discover about Zoho is its user-friendliness. From integrating with Google Drive, Box, and other cloud-based file managers, to its built-in job managing director, this email service offers a elementary way to attain all of your daily tasks.

The real divergence-maker, though, is the ability to customize the domain name for up to 25 connected email addresses. Want to replace "@zoho.com" with the proper noun of your business'southward website? You can exercise and so under Zoho Lite, which gives y'all 5 GB for gratuitous — all under username@yourdomainname.com.

Notable Features:

  • Doesn't scan your inbox for advertising purposes
  • Emails are in an encrypted format
  • Notifies you if your messages don't deliver
  • Integrates hands with the Zoho CRM

9. ProtonMail

Best Free Email Accounts For Privacy: ProtonMail

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Unique Feature: Encrypted e-mail

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: Anyone who sends and receives sensitive information.

ProtonMail offers just 500 MB of free space, but for the worthy trade of encrypted email, allowing you to send messages that nobody else can see and disappear after a month.

What's the catch? Is the service difficult to use? ProtonMail is easy to use on any device without any software needed to encrypt your emails, as with near webmail platforms. Its inbox interface is as like shooting fish in a barrel to understand at a glance as the other e-mail services on this listing.

And the tool offers quick color-coded labels to assist you further organize which emails deserve the most intendance and protection.

Notable Features:

  • No personal data is required to open an account
  • Compatible with other email providers
  • Optimized inbox to heave productivity
  • Cease-to-end data encryption

x. GMX Mail

Best Free Email Accounts For Privacy: GMX Mail

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Unique Characteristic: Allonym email addresses

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: Anyone who needs multiple emails with ane central inbox.

While y'all may not have heard of GMX Post, it's been around for quite a while (since 1997) — and it has a agglomeration of features that brand information technology worth considering.

Offset off, GMX offers 65 GB of storage. That's a lot of storage for a free email service. In fact, they claim that it allows yous to keep about half a million messages in your Inbox!

Another feature worth noting is the ability to transport large attachments. While many services have low caps for your email attachments, GMX Mail allows you lot to send files up to 50MB. That'due south great if y'all share a ton of photos, presentations, or other large files from your business relationship.

But the feature of GMX Mail that really sets it apart is the ability to prepare to ten allonym e-mail addresses all from inside i account. This can be useful in many situations — both personally and professionally.

On a personal annotation, you lot could apply ane alias for all of your online purchases and logins — to go on marketing emails separate from your private messages. From a business perspective, multiple email addresses can assist manage part-based emails such as support@yourdomain.com or sales@yourdomain.com.

Notable Features:

  • Spam filter to protect your inbox from suspicious messages
  • Like shooting fish in a barrel-to-apply inbox direction templates
  • Post collector for keeping all your emails (fifty-fifty from other service providers) in a single identify

11. Trustifi

Best Free Email Accounts For Privacy: Triustifi

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Unique Feature: Data loss prevention

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should apply it: Anyone who doesn't want to choose between having a secure and functional inbox.

Trustifi combines the all-time of a productive and secure email provider in one place.

With available whitelisting and blacklisting options, you tin can hands choose who you allow to ship you messages. Trustifi is also compliant with HIPAA/HITECH, PII, GDPR, FSA, FINRA, LGPD, CCPA, and more than, so you don't take to worry about losing your account overnight.

You tin can even use the Trustifi addition to add together an extra security layer to your Gmail or Outlook inbox.

Notable Features:

  • Ransomware and fraud detection
  • Ability to set decease dates on sent emails
  • Seamless integrations with other e-mail systems or service providers
  • Stop-to-end email encryption

12. Mailfence

Best Free Email Accounts For Privacy: Mailfence

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Unique Characteristic: Legal protection

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Type of email: Webmail

Who should use it: Anyone looking for a secure electronic mail account that integrates with other tools.

Mailfence is a secure browser-based email service provider based in Belgium. Given the laws in Belgium, all your data is locked away from whatsoever third-party access.

Their costless programme gives you 500 MB of e-mail space. Simply to truly savor the best of Mailfence, you'll take to hop on a paid plan that starts at €2.fifty/month.

Yous'd be able to create upwardly to 10 aliases on the paid program and have 5GB of email infinite, among many other features.

With Mailfence, information technology's piece of cake to organize your day and business considering you'd be able to easily integrate your email account with your contacts, calendar, and documents.

Notable Features:

  • Quick integration with a suite of tools
  • True OpenPGP end-to-end encryption

How to Make an Email

No thing which provider you lot choose, creating an email is a simple process. But, it'due south still important to know best practices and then you can have ane that fits your needs the best. The purpose of an email is to provide a space for you to have easy, secure communications. Follow the steps below to create an e-mail:

1. Cull An Email Provider

Select an email provider based on your needs equally a user. Think virtually which features, such every bit top-tier security, e-mail scheduling capabilities, or integrations, are the near important to you. Also, consider how much storage y'all will demand and what type of provider works best.

2. Cull a Username

Select a username based on the purpose of the account. If information technology is a professional account, then your proper name with a significant number will practise. The name of your business will do if information technology'southward a business account. You might also consider your proper name@businessname.com for professional person accounts.

3. Create a Password

Email providers generally accept minimum requirements for how secure your password must be. These frequently include a number or a special character. Follow these guidelines and choose a password that is very unique and has a variety of letters, numbers, and characters to make it very secure.

4. Secure Your Account

Many email providers include ways to add together extra security to your account. Take reward of these features to keep your account and data safe. Setting upwards two-gene hallmark is a great identify to start.

five. Write a Signature

Prepare an electronic mail signature for your account. This saves a lot of time equally you are writing emails and helps continue your closing consistent. Include data similar your name, your championship, and your contact data.

Making the Most of Your E-mail

And with that, yous take some of the best options for gratis email accounts this year. But who knows? Your next email address could be entirely unlike while giving you just what you need to succeed.

Editor's annotation: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Originally published Jan 12, 2022 ten:00:00 AM, updated January 12 2022