Aside from a couple of months when I created a Gmail account for testing purposes, I’ve never really used Gmail, and I’ll never touch it again. That’s because I value my privacy and I hate when somebody or something else reads my emails, even when I don’t have anything to hide. As a result, I’ve tended to run my own email server, until the major email service providers (especially you, Google) made it incredibly difficult to do.
Then I switched to a third party email provider that won’t spy on me.
If you too are fed up with Gmail and are looking for something better, I’ve got 3 alternatives to Gmail that respect your privacy and won’t read your emails so they can figure out how best to serve you ads across the Web. All 3 email service providers mentioned in this article have paid plans, but the free plans sould be more than enough for most people.
What all the email services have in common is they are made by non-USA companies.
So without further ado, here are my top 3 alternatives to Gmail.
1. Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail is by an Indian company called Zoho Corporation, which is a software service provider with a wide range of software services. One of the factors that has made me a Zoho Mail user for the past several years is the quality of the user interface. It shows attention to detail that you rarely find in other applications.
Another reason that makes it a keeper is that you can have one custom email domain and 5 users under the free plan, with support several aliases per user.
Like to take Zoho Mail for a spin? The button to sign up for the Forever Free Plan is in the middle of this pricing plan page.
2. Tuta Mail
Tuta Mail is by Tuta, a German company that has a much smaller footprint than the company responsible for Zoho Mail. In fact, Tuta only offers email and a calendar service, but like Zoho Mail, the email can be encrypted and is free of ads. The storage available for the free plan is much smaller than the equivalent in Zoho Mail.
Follow this link to sign up for the free plan of Tuta Mail.
3. Proton Mail
After I got fed up with the hassles of running my own mail server, Proton Mail was the first third party email provider I used before I discovered Zoho Mail. Like Zoho Mail and Tuta Mail, Proton Mail offers encrypted email, but the free plan offers only 1 GB of storage for one email address and oen user.
Follow this link to explore other features and sign up for the free Proton Mail plan.
Here’s a comparison of a few of the most important features of the free plans of all three email services in tabular form.
| Features | Proton Mail | Tuta Mail | Zoho Mail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan name | Proton Free | Free | Forever Free |
| Number of users | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Number of email addresses | 1 | 1 | 1/user |
| Email aliases | 10 | 0 | 5/user |
| Number of calendars | 3 | 1 | At least 6 |
| Schedule/snooze emails | No | No | Yes |
| Labels/tags | 3 | 3 | Unlimited |
| Custom filters | 1 | 0 | Unlimited |
| Custom domain | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Automatic forwarding | No | No | No |
| Auto-responder | No | No | Yes |
| Mode of access | Web, mobile app | Web, mobile, desktop apps | Web, mobile |
