16/08/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 16/08/2024 18:01
Published: August 16, 2024
When I was growing up, your first email address was a rite of passage (I see you, smileygirl747 and thegrouchy1). Today, it's simply a necessity for many daily activities. Need a free email address?
There are dozens of free email service providers available that offer security, ample storage space, and accessibility on both your mobile devices and desktops. But they each have their use cases, and I'd recommend them for different reasons.
In this guide, I'll explain what each free email account entails, as well as which options offer the best privacy. You'll also learn about the best email service providers that host your account and integrate with your business website for free right now.
(But if you're looking for the best email marketing services, check out this article instead.)
Table of Contents
There are two main types of email service providers to choose from for personal emails: email clients and webmail.
Most options offer both alternatives to best match the end-user's needs, but it's still important to understand the different terms.
Email clients are software applications you install onto your computer to manage the email you send and receive. To access this email, the client interacts with a remote email server.
Examples of email clients include Mozilla Thunderbird and Apple Mail.
Webmail is an email you access only from the internet, so it exists primarily on the cloud rather than your computer. Instead of an installed application fetching your email, you can manage your inbox right from your internet browser.
Examples of webmail providers include Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail.
Now, let's explore the best free email service providers (and the best free email accounts for privacy) you can use - both webmail and email clients included.
I've highlighted unique features for each email service provider to help you find the best fit, but remember, regardless of which you choose, you can use our free email signature generator to add that little extra professional touch.
Create a free email signature with our easy-to-use tool.
Who should use it: Anyone who already uses and loves the rest of Google's products.
It might seem like an obvious top pick, but Gmail is too versatile not to get our first slot.
Gmail is the most popular email provider globally, with an estimated 1.8 billion users. And according to Litmus Labs, it has the second-highest email client market share.
Ironically, however, one reason Gmail is so popular has nothing to do with email.
Gmail is an email inbox tool you can access once you have a Google account. Since it's built into Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), creating a Gmail account is more than creating an email account.
With Gmail, you can access a suite of free applications to chat, run video conferences, and share files with the people on your contact list. These applications include Google Play, Google Spreadsheet, Google Docs, and more.
For example, Google Hangouts, available from your inbox's left sidebar (or the right - you can customize how your inbox is displayed), lets you text and video chat with other Gmail users if you don't want to send an email.
Note: You can also use a free product like HubSpot Meetings to schedule meetings without back-and-forth emails.
Like most email accounts today, Gmail also has an intuitive calendar where you can set meetings and reminders.
Setup experience: First, Google built Gmail's privacy settings into the user agreement. So, if you have specific security preferences, cater to them before using your new email account.
After you create your email address, Gmail redirects you to a homepage with more privacy settings.
This section asks about your YouTube preferences because the platforms are connected through your Google account.
Unlike other email accounts, you can use your Gmail address to log in to and manage your YouTube account. You'll also use this account to collaborate on shared documents and spreadsheets from a cloud-based Google Drive.
I like Gmail's offer of 15 GB of free email storage. This allows me to keep things that are important without worrying too much about hitting the limit.
This email service also has extensive customization options as well. Personalizing your inbox is more than selecting graphics or themes - it lets you decide how you want your email inbox to function.
You can also choose whether you want a reading pane, which emails show up at the top of your inbox, and more.
Pro tip: Google offers a number of free AI tools in Gmail that you can use to be more productive.
Some of these tools, like Tabbed Inbox, which automatically organizes your received messages into different buckets, still need work, but others are quite useful.
For example, Smart Compose uses generative AI to make suggestions about what to write next as you're composing an email, while Summary Cards organize and showcase all of the crucial information from transactional emails.
If you are a member of the Workspace Labs program, you can also play around with the "help me write" feature to create emails from simple prompts.
Who should use it: Anyone who uses email for most of their communication.
"You've got mail!"
America Online (AOL) - I feel nostalgic just typing those words - was many's first introduction to email in the United States. And it has quietly kept up with today's standards for a good user experience, making it still one of the best free email accounts available.
Operating as a division of Yahoo! Inc., AOL delivers your email from its classic news-driven homepage and offers the contemporary spam filters and virus protection you'd expect from an email provider.
You can also send text and instant messages from specific windows in your email inbox.
And AOL does have something over Gmail: more storage. Also, you can import email contacts from a CSV, TXT, or LDIF file, so you're not creating your "buddy list" from scratch.
Setup experience: The sign-up experience is simple, but it seems arbitrary that there is a limit on characters in the email address. This provider also requires a phone number for verification. I got an error message on my first try signing up.
On the second try, everything went smoothly, and I could easily create my new AOL email account.
Onboarding is quick and simple - it's just choosing a theme and text settings. Then, the homepage for my new email account was full of news and ads, which I wasn't expecting.
There was also an ad at the top of my inbox. When I clicked "Compose" to create a new email, a helpful set of pop-ups showed me how to create emails with their tools.
The AOL inbox also offers spaces to save contacts, photos, documents, subscriptions, and travel.
Who should use it: Anyone who uses many platforms to connect with others.
If you ever cringed at the sight of a "Hotmail.com" email address, you can thank Outlook for keeping it alive and well.
Microsoft bought Hotmail in 2012 and relaunched it as Outlook. But there's good news: The tech giant reinvented the free email service and added many advanced features.
While it touts a calendar and message filter like Gmail, Outlook also integrates with several popular communication apps.
For example, you can connect Skype, Facebook, PowerPoint, PayPal, and even task management software such as Trello. This makes it easy to reach and work with non-Outlook users without leaving your inbox.
Another perk: Outlook offers 15 GB of free storage for each user, along with a super-clean interface.
Setup experience: Creating an email address was super easy. However, the verification puzzle wasn't very intuitive. So, if you take a non-traditional approach to puzzles, this step may take longer than you expect.
When I opened my Outlook inbox, an ad was already at the top with many others on the right sidebar.
The second email was a "welcome" with details about the Outlook mobile app, extra tools, security, and how to personalize your inbox. Then, a "Get Started" panel appeared in the inbox with a six-point checklist for setup.
If customizing your inbox is important, make some time to set up your Outlook inbox.
You can access personalization choices not in this checklist, like dark mode, notifications, and accessibility, by clicking on the gear icon at the top left of your Outlook inbox.
Who should use it: Creatives and anyone who sends and receives attachments frequently via email.
Yahoo! Mail, another well-known platform, sits beside AOL in storage space, but this should be no surprise, as Yahoo! and AOL are under the same parentage. It offers a whopping 1 TB for free, along with a few key social media integrations.
You can have custom background themes and search for key information from your inbox with Yahoo! Mail.
Yahoo! Mail makes it easy to find every photo, video, and document you've ever attached or received via email in the tabs on your inbox's sidebar.
This makes the platform appealing to those who share documents regularly or want an album made of every photo they've ever shared.
Create a free email signature with our easy-to-use tool.
Setup experience: Overall, this was a similar sign-up experience to AOL. I ran into the same error messages, too. The theme selection pop-up was also similar, but there wasn't an option to choose larger or smaller text.
Once you've completed the theme selection, you'll be in your Yahoo! Mail inbox. Again, there is already an ad at the top of your inbox and an ad on the right sidebar.
The "Views" menu on the right side works the same way it does on AOL, but it also includes sections for "Emails to myself," "Shopping," "Wallet," and "Receipts." As someone who frequently sends myself emails as reminders, this is a helpful addition.
If you want more personalization, click the gear icon at the top right. Scroll past themes, message layout, inbox spacing, and message tabs, then click on "More Settings."
Who should use it: People who use a Mac or iPhone and want everything in one system.
If you're Team Apple, iCloud Mail may be on your list of email service providers as the email address is often needed for Apple tools.
Their free email account has 5 GB of storage that you can use to sync your photos, files, or email.
However, it's important to note that because the storage is shared between all of your apps and devices, you may eat into your email storage allowance for the month.
Upgraded plans start at $0.99 a month and go up to $9.99 a month.
While it's free to create an iCloud email address, you'll need two things to create an account:
If you have both things, it's easy to create your new iCloud email account.
You can use this account through the Mail app on your Apple computer desktop or online through iCloud Mail.
The features of these two interfaces are slightly different. For example, it's easiest to create an out-of-office auto-reply email online.
One of the most significant advantages of using iCloud over other email providers is the ease of integration.
Apple builds its desktop and iPhone mail apps with all email clients in mind, but it pays special attention to making the experience delightful for iCloud users.
Who should use it: Anyone looking for a simple but customizable email inbox.
Thunderbird is a free email client from Mozilla (known primarily for Firefox) that offers a quick email inbox setup and a simple, easy-to-use user interface.
However, it is important to note that it isn't free to create an email address on this platform. If you need one, the tool allows you to create an email address via Mailfence or gandi, but at a cost.
If you've already created a free email account on another service, like Gmail, however, you can use this tool to create, check, and send emails from multiple accounts.
The app offers customizable features, such as theme settings and app extensions, to improve your email experience. The email app also allows you to open multiple emails in tabs, like how you would open various web pages in Firefox browsers.
Setup experience: To use this tool, you'll need to download Thunderbird, so it may not be a fit if you're looking for an online email platform.
It's exciting that this is an open-source tool, but the many pop-ups and donation requests added to the confusion I was feeling as I tried to set up my email.
Pro Tip: While Thunderbird will charge you to create a Mailfence email account during sign up you can create one for free directly on Mailfence's site. More on this later.
Who should use it: Small businesses or entrepreneurs that would like a more unique and custom domain without the price tag.
Mail.com may not be as popular or well-known as Gmail, but it offers many of the same features.
It has the basics like anti-virus and spam security and dedicated apps for your mobile devices, but also up to 10 alias addresses per account (think help@ or support@), a massive amount of storage, a calendar, and online office tools like a word processor and spreadsheet tool.
But what's its biggest differentiator? That's got to be its option to choose from over 100 custom domains.
Mail.com's options make you look a little more polished and established than a Gmail or Outlook email address, but they are still short and memorable.
You can choose from general options like mail.com or myself.com or even industry or profession-focused options like engineer.com or musician.org.
Who should use it: Users claiming offers or testing out forms
As a marketer, it may be blasphemous for me to include this option on our list, but hey, it can be extremely useful.
As the 10 Minute Mail website reads, "the website you are registering with could be selling your personal information; you never know where your e-mail will be published. An email address with a 10-minute lifespan is the best solution to prevent this."
Ever needed to test out a form on your website or wanted to claim an offer from a website that has questionable security? Or maybe you've wanted to snoop on a competitor's strategy without anyone knowing. 10 Minute Mail is here to help.
Every time you visit the no-frills webmail provider, you'll be given a randomized temporary e-mail address and inbox that expires after 10 minutes.
Once the clock runs out, you can't access the address or inbox - but you can extend the time by 10 minutes as many times as you need to, with the click of a button.
Create a free email signature with our easy-to-use tool.
Who should use it: Startups and small businesses.
This is the first of the free email accounts for privacy to make our list, but it holds a ton of potential for businesses.
Most of Zoho's plans are paid, some for as little as $1 a month. But they have a free forever plan, too.
The first thing you'll notice about Zoho is its user-friendliness. From integrating with Google Drive, Box, and other cloud-based file managers to its built-in task manager, this email service offers a simple way to accomplish all your daily tasks.
To create an email account, you need to either add a domain you own or purchase one. Then, you have to verify your domain. This can feel complicated if you just want to create a quick personal email account.
But if you're looking for a free email account for your business, the real difference-maker is the ability to use a custom domain to create free email addresses for up to five users.
The first user to sign up will become the super admin for emails on your custom domain.
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 hard to use? ProtonMail is easy to use on any device, with no software to encrypt your emails, as with most webmail platforms. Like other email services on this list, its inbox interface is easy to understand.
And, the tool offers quick color-coded labels to help you further organize emails that require the most care and protection.
Setup experience: Creating an account was easy, and the captcha was simple and quick to complete. For Gmail users, Proton quickly suggests forwarding their Gmail accounts to this service.
The onboarding is also inviting and easy to understand. It offers helpful suggestions like changing app logins to your new Proton email address.
This tool is simple and intuitive, and it was easy to create useful folders and labels for my new email inbox.
Who should use it: Anyone who needs multiple emails with one central inbox.
While you may not have heard of GMX Mail, it's been around for quite a while (since 1997) - and it has many features that I think make it worth considering.
Now, at a glance, the GMX website will look identical to Mail.com and, frankly, I can't explain to you why. But both are well-known and trusted email service providers with their share of differences.
Like Mail.com, GMX offers 65 GB of storage and alias addresses, but its big differentiator is privacy.
It allows for email encryption, and data is secured only in Europe according to European data protection standards - arguably some of the best in the world.
It also offers a spam filter and virus and malware scans.
Setup experience: Once I logged in, there was a big ad at the top of the inbox. This was partly confusing because the inbox and other sections have a small font that could be hard for some users to read.
To address this, their instructions recommended I adjust the text size of my browser, which wasn't what I was hoping for.
When you open an email, it opens a new window with a much larger font. This is good, because it makes the email easier to read, but overall it created a disorienting user experience.
Who should use it: Any individual looking for free encrypted emails without ads
Tuta is a great choice for folks looking for a free private email service provider. They also have business accounts available for a small cost.
This service places a premium on security with end-to-end encryption of internal and external emails, calendars, and contacts using quantum-safe encryption.
It also promises not to scan or track your emails, which we certainly believe as there are no ads on the platform.
Other security features include two-factor authentication (2FA), session handling, and phishing protection.
Setup experience: After signing up, one of the first screens you'll see is a recovery code. Once you log into your inbox, you'll see three emails from Tuta.
Each email details what sets this service apart and its dedication to security.
From there, you can click the settings gear at the bottom left of your screen to see menus for updating templates, appearance, and other email settings.
This tool is super simple, so there aren't many of the extras that other platforms have, but if you're focused on privacy, this is a plus. The interface is easy to understand and use for its primary function: receiving and sending email.
Who should use it: Anyone looking for a secure email account that integrates with other tools.
Mailfence is a secure browser-based email service provider based in Belgium. Given the strict privacy laws in Belgium, all your data is locked away from third-party access.
Their free plan gives you 500 MB of email space, which is admittedly quite limited, but if you're not sending big files, you can make it work.
Fortunately, if you exceed this, you can still enjoy Mailfence for as little as €2.50 a month.
On the paid plan, you can create up to 10 aliases and have five GB of email space, among many other features.
With Mailfence, it's easy to organize your day and business because you'd be able to easily integrate your email account with your contacts, calendar, and documents.
Setup experience: The landing page after account creation has lots of text to read, which can be a little overwhelming compared to other simpler email services. But the interface is clean and simple once you're in the inbox.
Some functionality isn't super intuitive. For example, to create a folder, you click the three dots to the right of your email address at the top.
Based on my experience in other email services, I would expect to add a new folder where the "Tags" option is in Mailfence's interface.
Get Started with HubS's Free Email Integration
Who should use it: Anyone looking for a free way to connect email accounts to customer management or marketing tools.
Like Thunderbird, HubSpot's free email integration offers an exciting, free way to improve your email experience.
As noted above, many of these free email tools are siloed systems for email creation and management. But what if you want to send beautifully designed newsletters or manage contacts with email?
If you're creating a free email account for your business, this tool can connect your email to customer relationship management, marketing, and more. This can help your team do more from their email inboxes.
You can track customer conversations, use sales automation for new leads, and send gorgeous marketing emails to your contact list.
Create a free email signature with our easy-to-use tool.
Setup experience: Signing up with an existing email, like Gmail, is quick and simple. As soon as you log in, you'll learn how to send free marketing emails and connect your email to HubSpot's free CRM.
The step-by-step onboarding process offers a lot of information, so make sure you're ready to start using this tool when you sign up.
No matter which provider you choose, creating an email is a simple process. But it's still important to know best practices so you can have one 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 email:
Select an email provider based on your user needs. Consider which features, such as top-tier security, email scheduling capabilities, or integrations, are the most important to you.
Also, consider how much storage you will need and what type of provider works best.
Select a username based on the purpose of the account. If it is a professional account, then your name with a significant number will do.
The name of your business will do if it's a business account. You might also consider [email protected] for professional accounts.
Email providers generally have minimum requirements for how secure your password must be. These often include a number or a special character.
Follow these guidelines and choose a password that's unique and has a variety of letters, numbers, and characters to make it extra secure.
Many email providers include ways to add extra security to your account. Take advantage of these features to keep your account and data safe. Setting up two-factor authentication is a great place to start.
Set up an email signature for your account. This saves a lot of time as you are writing emails and helps keep your closing consistent. Include information like your name, your title, and your contact information.
HubSpot's free email signature generator includes all of these along with social media links and a headshot.
This is a tricky question with no direct answer. The best email service provider is one that addresses your unique needs.
For instance, if you want an ESP with a large storage space, Yahoo! Mail may be ideal because it offers you one TB. If you want an ESP that seamlessly works with Google's products, Gmail will be your top pick.
If you are a Microsoft fan, you would want to opt for Outlook. And, if you seek an ESP with uber-high privacy and security, ProtonMail may be best for you.
Whether you're an individual or a business owner, your choice of ESP can impact your email deliverability. A reliable ESP ensures your emails land in your recipients' inboxes and avoid the spam folders.
If you have a business, you'd want an ESP that goes beyond delivering emails. At some point, you'd need email templates, automation capabilities, and analytics to track your subscribers' email engagement.
While many ESPs falter at this, HubSpot, a platform used by 194,000+ customers in over 120 countries, excels.
Several variables must be considered when choosing an email service provider for your team. First, you need to identify your needs and select those that are most important. These needs could include integration options, ease of automation, and customization.
With these needs, you can research ESPs, evaluate their features, check their pricing, and read customer reviews. If your preferred ESPs offer trials, take advantage of that and test them.
Every team has hopes of scaling in the future, so consider picking an ESP that can work irrespective of your team's size.
And with that, you have some of the best options for free email accounts this year. But who knows? Your next email address could be entirely different while giving you just what you need to succeed.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
Create a free email signature with our easy-to-use tool.