Best Email Apps in 2026: 9 Email Apps and Services Compared

Gmail is our pick for most people, simply because it works everywhere and costs nothing to start. A standard Google Account includes up to 15 GB of free storage, which is shared with Google Drive and Google Photos, so a large photo library can eat into your mail space.

Google's own product page lists Smart Compose, follow-up reminders, confidential mode (expiry dates, and blocking forwarding, copying and printing), offline reading and replying, and support for multiple accounts. Gemini can summarize long threads and help draft replies, although searching your inbox in everyday language requires a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan. Google also states that it does not use mail content to personalize ads.

The honest catch is the shared storage. When the 15 GB fills up you cannot upload to Drive or back up to Photos, so you will end up paying for a Google One plan or cleaning out old mail. Gmail is also the default choice rather than the most private one.

Outlook.com is the natural home if you already live in Word, Excel and Teams. Microsoft says a free account includes 15 GB of mailbox storage plus 5 GB of OneDrive storage, and it works on the web, in desktop apps and on mobile.

The upgrade path is cheap and clear. Microsoft 365 Basic costs $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year in the US and brings 100 GB of mailbox storage, 100 GB of cloud storage, an ad-free inbox and advanced security features. That is a low price for an ad-free mailbox with that much storage.

The trade-off is ads. On the free tier Microsoft says ads appear in your inbox with an ad label, and removing them requires a subscription. If that bothers you, budget for the $19.99 Basic plan or pick a provider that sells itself as ad-free.

Apple Mail comes with iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Apple's guide describes it as a single app for sending, receiving and managing all your email accounts. It sorts messages into Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and lets you block specific people or groups. Writing Tools can summarize selected text using Apple Intelligence, though Apple notes this is limited by language and region.

If you want an Apple-hosted address, iCloud Mail comes with 5 GB of free iCloud storage. iCloud+ plans in the US run $0.99 per month for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB and $9.99 for 2 TB, and Hide My Email and Custom Email Domain are listed on every iCloud+ tier.

It is a very good fit if everything you own is Apple. The honest limit is the 5 GB free allowance, which is shared with backups and photos, so most people on iPhone end up paying for iCloud+ regardless of email.

Proton Mail is the privacy specialist in this list. Its plans use end-to-end and zero-access encryption, and also include password-protected emails and encrypted contacts. The free plan gives you one address, 500 MB of storage (up to 1 GB after completing Proton's setup checklist), 3 folders and 3 labels, and a 150-message daily sending limit.

Mail Plus is $3.99 per month billed yearly ($47.88), with 15 GB of storage, 10 addresses, one custom domain, unlimited folders and labels, and 10 hide-my-email aliases. Proton Unlimited at $9.99 per month billed yearly gives 500 GB and bundles Proton's VPN, Pass and Drive. The page also shows higher monthly-billing rates, $4.99 for Mail Plus and $12.99 for Unlimited.

The catch is the free tier, which is small and limited. If you plan to keep years of mail, you will almost certainly need a paid plan.

Fastmail is a paid provider that behaves like a quiet, well-run utility. The Individual plan is $6 per month, or $5 per month on yearly billing, for one user and 60 GB of storage. It includes a private inbox, custom domains, Masked Email, offline support, Scheduled Send, Snooze and access from third-party apps.

Duo (2 users) is $10 per month and Family (up to 6 users) is $14 per month on monthly billing, with each person getting 60 GB. Every plan has a trial of up to 30 days, and longer 24 and 36-month terms lower the monthly rate.

It is the best match if you want to leave Gmail but would like a real company running the service and a normal email workflow. The catch is simple: there is no free version, and cheaper options exist if you do not need the extras.

Spark is an email app, not a provider, so you add your Gmail, Outlook, iCloud or other accounts and read them together. The free plan includes Smart Inbox, unlimited email accounts, smart notifications, essential email tools and a calendar.

Paid plans are Plus at $10 per month ($99 per year billed annually) and Pro at $20 per month ($199 per year). Plus adds advanced email tools, Spark AI and an AI assistant, custom templates and 40 AI meeting notes per month. Pro adds unlimited AI meeting notes, autopilot rules, read statuses and advanced team collaboration.

It is a strong pick if you juggle personal and work accounts on a phone and laptop. The honest drawback is the pricing step: for personal use the free plan is probably enough, and the paid tiers are aimed more at heavy users and teams.

HEY is a paid email service with a strong opinion about how your inbox should work. Its Screener asks you to approve or reject each first-time sender, approved mail lands in the Imbox, receipts go to Paper Trail, and newsletters appear in The Feed. It also includes a calendar and apps for web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

HEY for You is $99 per year (about $8.25 per month) with annual billing only. That includes a @hey.com address of your choice, 100 GB of storage, spy pixel blocking and a HEY World personal blog. The company says it will not use personal data to sell ads. The trial is 30 days with no credit card.

It suits people who want less email, not more. The catch is that it asks you to change habits and gives you a new @hey.com address, so it is a bigger switch than installing a new app.

Thunderbird is a free, open source email program funded by user donations. It shows messages, calendars and contacts in one app, supports a unified inbox, and uses filters and tags for organization. According to its site, it collects no personal data and shows no ads.

It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and on Android through Google Play or F-Droid. Because it is just the app, you still need an account with Gmail, Fastmail or another provider.

Choose it if you like a traditional desktop client and want something that will not sell you anything. The honest drawback is that you set up your own accounts, and its feature list on the download page is shorter than that of paid apps like Spark.

Tuta is an encrypted email provider based in Germany. It says it encrypts all data end-to-end with post-quantum cryptography, makes its clients open source, and has an ad-free interface. Its free plan has 1 GB of storage, 1 calendar and 3 labels.

Paid plans are Revolutionary (20 GB, unlimited calendars and labels, 15 extra addresses and 3 custom domains) and Legend (500 GB, 30 extra addresses and 10 custom domains). The pricing page we checked showed family pricing of EUR 3 and EUR 8 per user per month; third-party sites quote about the same, but confirm in your own currency.

It is the most budget-friendly encrypted option here for people who only want secure mail. The catch is the small free allowance and the smaller ecosystem. We also did not see support for third-party mail apps listed on its pages, so plan on using Tuta's own apps.