Most Secure Email Providers to Try in 2020

January 3, 2020 By Johan Curtis 16 Comments 13 minutes

Emails are a very difficult means of communication to protect properly. After the information revealed by Edward Snowden, email security problems have become much more evident to the general public, since before users were not aware of the ease with which these communications are spied. Secure email providers such as Lavabit and Silent Circle decided to suspend operations and shut down their servers instead of complying with the NSA’s demands, as this went against their privacy policy.

Note: The Internet is not a safe place. So called secure email providers, advertisers and even government agencies collect user’s private data for their own interests. To protect and safeguard your personal data from preying eyes, use FastestVPN to encrypt your data when using email services.

The problem with protecting your email is that it must be encrypted end-to-end to prevent it from being intercepted while traveling on intermediary networks, and the recipient also needs to have the same encryption system. Although some of these systems are free, they are difficult to configure in general and try to convince the other user of the importance of carrying out the process, it can be useless. The way in which email protocols work also facilitates data leaks, because the mail remains in a service, waiting to be collected. However, if you still need to use email to send confidential data, or just want to keep your emails private, there are a few secure email services that you can rely on. Each email provider offers a high level of security and great features that can benefit you over other standard email services.

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Here are our top 10 secure email providers that you can use for messaging and communicating:

1. Posteo

Posteo is an independent secure email service providing great security, privacy, and sustainability on the internet. They offer sustainable and encrypted email accounts, including calendars and address books. Posteo is totally self-funded and ad-free. Posteo is said to be one of the most all-round and friendly encrypted email services. It is a great, cost-effective solution for those who want to encrypt their entire mail suite.

Features

Two-factor authentication (TOTP) available
Fetched by IMAP/POP3,
Address book and calendar (synchronizable)
Simply saved data encryption
Ad-free email account, ad-free website,
Easy signups
Pay anonymously by cash, bank transfer, or PayPal

Storage

2 GB storage (can be increased)
up to 50 MB of file attachment

Country

Its servers are based in Germany

Price

1 EUR per month
Additional storage: 0.25 EUR per GB per month

Cons

No end-to-end encryption
Not as secure as other encrypted services

2. ProtonMail

ProtonMail is the top-most rated secure email provider right now. It not only provides a secure email messaging service but also gives users the ability for quick setup and ensures that the user stays safe from email scammers. Although, signing up to ProtonMail as simple as other popular email platforms like Outlook or Gmail, ProtonMail actually offers built-in security for user protection against scammers and snooping eyes.

Features

End-to-end encryption for all messages
Users can send encrypted email messages to their contacts that don’t use ProtonMail
Useful self-destruct emails
The improved online web interface with features such as drag and drop messages, contact manager, and authentication logs.
Dedicated mobile applications for both iOS and Android.
Totally open source email service

Storage

Max attachment size: 25 MB
Mailbox storage: 500 MB (free), 5 to 20 GB.

Country

ProtonMail servers are located in Switzerland

Price

Free (No Ad), multi-tiered pricing starting from $4 per month to $75 per year.

Cons

Expensive top-end plans
Limited cloud storage

3. MailHippo

MailHippo is a highly-encrypted, secure and affordable platform for sending and receiving emails. Along with end-to-end encryption, MailHippo is compatible with any existing email address and supports any email provider, which makes it one of the best-encrypted email services available. MailHippo is very easy to use and doesn’t require any setup or complex configuration. Simply sign up to immediately start sending and receiving HIPAA-compliant encrypted emails.

The cloud-based platform uses industry-leading 256-bit AES encryption to secure messages while in transit and at rest. In addition, MailHippo equips each user with a complementary SendSafe® address, allowing the user to receive totally-secure emails from anyone.

MailHippo offers a number of affordable monthly price plans along with a Free Trial to let users make the most of their encrypted messaging service. All price plans can be cancelled anytime with no obligation, giving you complete control over how long you want to use the service.

Features

Use your current email address
No setup/configuration required – start sending in minutes
Message recall
Message expiration
Message preview
Auto type-ahead address book
SendSafe® Address
HIPAA Compliant (required for healthcare providers)
Online customer support

Storage

Unlimited email storage
Send large files up to 100 MB in size
10 GB of email attachment storage

Price

Basic plan starts at only $4.95/month
30 Day Free Trial

Cons

Storage is limited for the free version

4. Cyberfear

You may not have heard of it, but Cyberfear is promising. The service has taken several considerations to ensure the best user privacy. For starters, users have two passwords; one for logging into the account, and one for encrypting/decrypting the mailbox.

It is located outside of the jurisdiction of the Fourteen Eyes alliance network with a zero logs policy. One of the neat features is the option to setup aliases that serve as a mask for the actual email address. The alias is useful for registering for accounts online and avoid spam.

It is a paid option that will set you back $18 a year. Because of Cyberfear’s privacy-focused approach, payments encouraged through cryptocurrency.

Features:

End-to-end encryption
Safe jurisdiction
Cryptocurrency payment option
PIN-encrypted emails
Disposable aliases

Storage:

Country
Offshore location outside of USA

Price

$18 annually ($1.50 monthly)

Cons

Low inbox space

5. Tutanota

Tutanota is yet another web-based secure email service that focuses on providing the best security and experience to its users by providing a variety of features and solutions within the platform. Even though it is an open-source system, it also provides private users with a dedicated platform for their email. The security provided by Tutanota is immaculate and doesn’t cost much. It has a paid version that costs only 1 euro per month and a free one. In the free version you have 1 GB of space and few options. In the payment option, you can expand the space, use 5 or more aliases, use your own domains or make customizations. The developers of Tutanota declare that they do not use PGP in the encryption because for them the encryption of the matter is also important. Therefore they have developed a proprietary solution based on AES and RSA that encrypts attachments, text, and subject. They do not record IPs or email addresses, which are deleted.

Features

Tutanota supports all browsers
App is free for most personal users
Apps for both iOS and Android
Unlimited number of sent messages per day
Plus account starts at about $1.50 per month, making it extraordinarily cheap compared to most other secure email providers on the market
Premium account users can use their own domains with Tutanota
Expand your cloud storage and user count

Storage

Max attachment limit: 25 MB.
Mailbox storage: 1 GB

Country

Tutanota is based in Germany

Price

Free (No Ad)
€12 year (Premium)

Cons

Mobile app design is out-dated
Only AES-128 encryption

6. Mailbox.org

Mailbox.org is also a Germany based, secure email provider that offers powerful features. It offers a great number of features with an extremely user-friendly design. Moreover, it’s also compatible with mobile apps and third-party email clients. What’s more? There’s much more that you can enjoy with its encryption feature that lets you encrypt all your data on servers in Germany.

Features

Ad-free services
Custom domain name
Cloud storage
Encryption
Spam protection
Individual Price Plans

Storage

Max mail storage 25 GB
Cloud Storage 25 GB

Country

German

Price

€1.00/mo.

Cons

Enabled Registration Tracking
Doesn’t support mobile clients.

Note: The Internet is not a safe place. So-called secure email providers, advertisers and even government agencies collect user’s private data for their own interests. To protect and safeguard your personal data from prying eyes, use FastestVPNto encrypt your data when using email services.

Get FastestVPN

7. Mailfence

Mailfence is an encrypted email service based on the OpenPGP standard that offers end-to-end encryption and digital signing. It was launched in November 2013 by ContactOffice Group, which has been managing an online collaborative suite for professionals, universities and other organizations since 1999. Unlike other private and secure messaging services that can be found on the web, Mailfence does not lock users into their own “digital island“. It leaves its users absolutely free to communicate securely with anyone, whether with other Mailfence users, or any other email service (compliant with the OpenPGP protocol). But using Mailfence has many other benefits, as you can see in the table below.

Features

Supports two-factor authentication
Emails addresses are digitally signed to prove authorship
Doesn’t use ads
Email settings can be customized and tweaked as per user preferences
Blocks spam messages
Allow users to buy credits to send text messages and faxes
Contacts can be imported from Outlook, Gmail, CSV file, vCard, etc.
Includes file storage and calendar for documents

Allows users to send mail through the address they used to sign up, like their Gmail address

Storage

Max attachment limit: 10 MB (Free), 50 (Entry/Pro).
Mailbox storage: 500 MB (free), 5 GB (Entry) and 20 GB (Pro).

Country

Mailfence is a Belgium-based secure email service.

Price

Free (No Ad)
2,50€/month (Entry)
7,50€/month (Pro)

Cons

Free tier’s cloud storage limited
No dedicated mobile apps

8. Kolab Now

Kolab now is yet another Switzerland-based open-source encrypted email service that is focused on providing small and medium-sized enterprises with secure email services and a complete online office suite. Kolab Now allows you to pass confidential information through emails easily without any problems. It charges its users directly and offers various monthly and annual plans for an individual account. Kolab now stores all your emails and file on their server in Switzerland, keeping your data safe from your own government agencies, scammers, as well as advertisers. Although Kolab Now doesn’t provide end-to-end encryption, the features Kolab offers are one of the best in the email today. Kolab maybe not cheap, they do provide great all-round email privacy.

Features

Integrated app for taking notes
Email-tagged support
Contacts and calendars
Shared folders

Country

Kolab now’s servers are based in Switzerland

Price

Starting from $5 per month

Cons

It’s more of a productivity app rather than a secure email service
Rates are getting higher quickly

9. CounterMail

Countermail is all about user security. Although its interface looks pretty outdated, its system is regularly updated while its email security is second to none. Just like ProtonMail, it also offers end-to-end encryption between the sender and receiver and uses OpenPGP to keep your email messages safe and your email account secure. Since it uses diskless data servers, nobody will be able to read or write anything you send through these servers. CounterMail is very open and honest about how their system works and are always ready to display how secure their system is for everyone.

Features

Supports IMAP
Allows modification of different settings for your account
Doesn’t keep IP address logs
Includes a built-in password manager for password protection
Uses anonymous email headers
Supports email filters
Available for desktop and IOS

Storage

Cloud storage starts from 250mb up to user requirements.

Country

CounterMail is a Sweden-based email service

Price

3 months subscription will cost around $19
The yearlong subscription will cost around $59.

Cons

Dated website
Free tier limited to a week

10. Runbox

Not the most popular secure email service than the ones mentioned above, but RunBox is slowly catching up to the top email providers in terms of email encryption. Runbox uses various security tools to keep your data away from the cybercriminal who want to steal it. When you send an email using Runbox, they are sent through a secure encrypted connection, and everything sent between Runbox servers and your email address is also encrypted. The data stored on the Runbox server is locked in a vault (in Norway) where it is protected by the constitution. Runbox also provides annual plans using bitcoin for extra anonymity. Runbox uses two-factor authentication and with no external tracking cookies, it is almost impossible for scammers to hack into any Runbox email account.

Features

Create email aliases to use different email addresses with just one account
Powerful and reliable in processing and storing a large amount of data.
Professional management of emails such as spam filtering, customized sorting, forwarding, etc.
Integrated services
Strong email privacy protection
Spam and virus protection
Plenty of storage space
Universal access via Web, IMAP, WAP, etc.

Storage

Max attachment limit: 100 MB.
Mailbox storage: 10 GB

Country

Runbox is Norway-based secure email providers

Price

$19.95 per year or $49.95 per year with email & web hosting.

Cons

Less storage capacity
High subscription costs for businesses.
No mobile App

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If our ten suggestions are not what you were looking for then here’s an additional recommendation:

Startmail

Startmail is formed by the team of a private search engine called Start page. It is based in the Netherlands however, the company is following the Dutch law. All the emails are encrypted on Dutch servers. Startmail supports IMAP, SMTP and third-party app like Thunderbird.

Features

PGP encryption
Disposable email addresses
IMAP/SMTP compatible
Affordable plans

Storage

10 – 20 GB

Country

Netherlands

Price

$5.00/mo.

Cons

Doesn’t support custom mobile app
Code is not open source.

CTemplar

CTemplar is comparatively a new service or probably the newest option for you to try on. The company is based in Iceland and is getting popular because of the serious claim of being the world’s most secure and private email service. The reason behind the claim is Iceland’s strong privacy laws. Moreover, it also offers amazing security features with complete encryption protection.

Features

Instantly Delete Emails
Built-in Kill Switch
Anti-Phishing Protection
Dedicated Bare-Metal Servers
IP Removed from Emails

Storage

1 GB of email storage (For Free Accounts)

Country

Iceland

Price

$6.00/mo.

Cons

High cost plans for additional plans
Not compatible with MAP/SMTP and third-party email clients.

Bonus Tip

Using any secure email providers from the above list is up to you, but you can make your email even securer by using a VPN service. VPN creates a secure connection between your computer and the network (the email service provider). When you enable the VPN service, the internet traffic (emails, messaging, etc.,) travels through the VPN connection first. This means VPN secures your email, web browsing, chat, etc., from scammers and hackers.

So, if you have a VPN, enable it and keep yourself secure.

Conclusion

When it comes to privacy, there are not may email services that guarantee anonymity and security. To keep your emails as private as possible you should use any of the email services listed above. Apart from the list above, there are some other secure email providers that we have not mentioned like Fastmail, SAFe-mail, etc., but they are also very useful when it comes to email encryption.

All these secure email services listed here are much better at protecting your privacy than Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and others. If used properly, end-to-end encryption will keep your emails safe when you send them to other users.