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17 Best Encrypted Email Services 2020

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How often do you use email services? Each of us checks mail on a daily basis and sometimes, it happens even several times a day. But have you known that a password you use for your email account does not guarantee you the utmost security? Some services do spy on their users giving information about them to third parties. They scan both received and sent messages, so you cannot be confident that only you and your recipient will get access to them. It is enough only to imagine people’s surprise when they find out that their personal messages can be read by others! Therefore, many users switch to privacy and look for the best encrypted email service where tracking is absent or brought to the minimum.

Look: this article has analyzed both free and paid encrypted email services for every user to be able to choose the most suitable example.

Table of Contents

What is an Encrypted Email Service?

Email services are used by 4 billion people and only 6% of them are considered to be encrypted. What are encrypted emails and why do so many people decide to use such services?

Encryption is one of the ways to obscure data. It allows scrambling the text contained in the email, so nobody can read it without an encryption key. The last one is also a kind of password to be provided if you want to read the text of the message.

You may wonder that popular email services such as Gmail and Hotmail do encrypt data they transfer, but the encryption keys, in this case, belong to services and users can only hope that their personal messages won’t be sold to or stolen by anyone.

Encrypted email services use so-called end-to-end encryption that allows only users to control inbox and they can get access to their mailbox only when they enter a private key. Other ways to encrypt emails are Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption when users encrypt their messages manually and two-factor authentication that creates one more obstacle on the way of hackers – they should have your mobile phone or a backup key to enter your mailbox. It means that the use of encrypted email services prevents others from the possibility to read your messages even if they try to get unauthorized access to them and you can keep your privacy without making an additional effort if you use the following service.

Best Paid Encrypted Email Providers

Paid encrypted email

If you are among those people who want to feel 100% confident that there isn’t anyone else to read their personal messages apart from the sender and recipient, you should definitely use one of the best encrypted email services. This list of services includes only paid examples with a variety of additional features for the utmost privacy protection.

PrivateRelay

A good service to have your data locked down is PrivateRelay. Its servers are located in France and there is a guarantee of no data sharing, selling, and user profiling. There is not only an email feature that downloads automatically and alerts of new messages but also several more features such as contact management, calendars, tasks, sharing, etc. All the data processing is fully encrypted and the service guarantees a seamless synchronization between several devices.

Emails have a number of additional features including:

If you want to start using the service, you need to register and purchase a package for the price that starts from €1.84 per month. Nowadays, the service is used by over 80,000 people in 198 countries.

Neomailbox

This service offers to get a risk-free account to protect yourself from profiling, identity theft, and privacy invasion. Neomailbox is one of the longest-running services with a 16-year experience that offers multi-level security for the protection of people’s communications. It allows using a person’s domain name and enabling flexible messaging. There is an unlimited number of addresses to use and anonymous surfing for users. The company servers are located in Switzerland and guarantee excellent SSL and OpenPGP encryption, and IP address protection. It is enough to install it and you get not only an offshore secure email but also privacy in using search engines.

The service is paid and it is possible to buy only a yearly subscription for $49,95. As a result, you will get a 1Gb mailbox and an account valid for one year. The largest mailbox of 40Gb will cost users $249,95 per year.

Kolab Now

Users can safeguard their data using Kolab Now service. It offers emails, calendars and many more features to both business and personal use. This is fully open-source software that guarantees end-to-end encryption and the following functions:

There are easy-to-use address books, individual and shared calendars, the possibility to save and share files in the cloud or even collaborate on them, etc. The service is also developed by the Swiss company and is mostly meant for small and middle-sized businesses. The individual account will cost users CHF 4.41 per month, while a corporate account is a bit more expensive – CHF 5.38 per month.

CounterMail

Looking for a secure email provider, choose CounterMail. It guarantees automatic and transparent encryption with a strong encryption protocol called OpenPGP with 4096 bits encryption keys. Its main features look as follows:

It is possible to use CounterMail for free but only for a week. There is a trial version for users who sign up for the platform. All the variety of features is available only for users of the Premium Account. They get 4GB of storage space and it will cost from $29 for 6 months to $79 for 24 months of use. Users should also pay $15 for a domain option if they want or buy extra storage space if they need more.

Hushmail

One more way to achieve data security is to use Hushmail, an encrypted email service used by different small businesses. It offers to get a secure alternative to an old-fashioned paper form and use ready-made templates called Hush Secure Forms to promote brand awareness. This service works perfectly on iPhone supporting two-step verification, Face ID and Touch ID, and multiple accounts and aliases.

It was created by a Canadian company that has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years already. The personal Premium plan offered to individual users costs $49.98 per year and includes 10Gb of storage, 2 secure web forms, private, ad-free accounts, unlimited email aliases, multiple layers of security, etc. It is also possible to get this service for a free 14-day trial and ask for a full refund within 60 days.

LuxSCI

Do you want to get a product of the US company with 20 years of experience in the IT industry? LuxSCI is the best encrypted email service that was created mainly for businesses and offers HIPAA compliant communications. The service features configurable security controls, custom isolated infrastructures, disaster recovery options, and the SecureLineTM email security solution, so its security can be hardly questioned by anyone. There are secure forms that allow collecting digital signatures, surveys, and responses, while an encrypted email service allows having multiple users, full-disc encryption, and backups. More pricey plans also offer account and server isolation, and use of multiple servers. The price range is between $1 and $10 for one user of a shared account, but there should be a minimum of $50 amount to be able to order it. Users can also ask for a free demo version to try this service.

Runbox

One of the best-encrypted email service providers operating nowadays is undoubtedly Runbox. It offers both personal and business email services protected by Norwegian privacy legislation. You can forget about surveillance and get integrated services that unite email, domain, and web hosting services. What is interesting, the servers of this company use renewable energy and you can transfer your existing email to Runbox easily too. The service offers plenty of storage space up to 15Gb and to send and receive messages of up to 100Mb in size. Users can get multiple accounts if they wish and can access them from anywhere and with any client, via Web, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, WAP and more. The service can be tried for free for 30 days before you choose a plan suitable for you. All subscription rates are annual and range from $19.95 for a micro plan to $79.95 for Max one.

Librem mail

This is a development of Purism company launched in spring 2019. It is a part of Librem One, a private network that is going to change the world according to developers. Librem mail offers you an end-to-end encrypted email account, making sure that all end-to-end encrypted communication is kept private. It is guaranteed by using OpenPGP cryptography. The service does not limit users in the amount of communication and deletes all the emails after 30 days. There are two new features added recently:

What is interesting, you can set up a simple email account on Librem and then enable encryption if you wish.

Private-Email

Do you want to have secure webmail? Private Email can help you with this. It is a secure, reliable, web-based solution for your email needs starting from $11.88 per year. There is a fast, lightweight interface for managing your email, contacts, and calendar and you can ensure this if you try this tool for free which is also available.

In addition to email, the service offers anti-spam protection, collaboration tools, cloud-based storage solution to save, sync, and share your documents, pictures, and other media, spreadsheets, customizable information center that shows scheduled appointments, mailbox quota, new messages, and news from your social networks and many other great features. There is round the clock support for solving any issues and an easy start taking only three steps:

As a result, you will get a functional and easy to use mailbox for reasonable money.

StartMail

Why not protect yourself from unwanted intrusions and mass surveillance? Choose one of the best data protection encrypted email services called StartMail. It features one-click PGP encryption that is fast and easy to use, state-of-art security like PFS (TLS 1.1 & 1.2) and extra-secure vaults to keep your communications and data safe and the possibility to send emails anyone without limitations. The main benefits of StartMail look as follows:

The service is a development of the Dutch company following local strict privacy laws and regulations. Despite the fact that the service is paid, it is possible to try it for free too. If you like it, a yearly plan will cost you $59.95 no matter whether it is a personal or business one.

Mailbox.org

Let your email remain your private matter with Mailbox.org. It is a reliable service that offers email and cloud storage solutions with German reliability and accuracy. Its servers are powered by eco-friendly energy and you can achieve security and forget about ads thanks to them.

The service allows moving your custom email to Mailbox.org and including your address book and calendar if you wish. Users can take advantage of their own domain and create aliases if they wish.

If you are interested in this service, you can be given 30 days for its free trial, it is enough to enter the website. Paid packages are also reasonably priced since you can get 2 GB Mail storage, 100 MB Cloud storage, 3 e-mail aliases, Mobile sync, User forum & email helpdesk for only €1 a month. Team Mail and Business Mail will cost you €2,50 per user and €25 monthly respectively.

Best Free Secure Email Providers

Free email providers

ProtonMail

Being one of the most reliable service providers, ProtonMail is an open-source product of the Swiss company operating both on a computer and mobile devices. It guarantees its users end-to-end encryption, so only those people will be able to get access to your messages who have a unique key of yours. The utmost security of this service is also confirmed by the fact that it is impossible to recover your mailbox if you forget or lose your password. When it comes to the features of this service, they look as follows:

Being an open-source service, it is possible to use it free of charge but with certain limitations. The maximum amount of storage space is only 500Mb and the maximum number of messages sent and received per day is 150. Custom domains and other additional features such as email filters, autoresponder, multiple addresses, multi-user support and others are included only in paid packages. The price range is between €5 and €30 per month depending on the package.

Mailfence

One more protected and confidential email service is Mailfence. It guarantees users a non-traceable mailbox with modern security protection. This is an encrypted mailbox compatible with any OpenPGP service. Users can send letters with a digital signature and such letters are impossible to fake. It is possible to access email from Web, POP, IMAP, SMTP, and mobile device, use your own domain, create pseudonyms, and get a number of additional features such as:

The service is easy to use and confidential as well as guarantees the utmost protection to everyone. It was created by the company with 20 years of experience and offers reasonable pricing plans including a free one. You can use Mailbox for free if your data amount does not exceed 500MB, you do not have pseudonyms, and you use only a web version. Paid plans offer more features and range from €2.50 per month for Entry plan to €25 per month for Ultra plan.

Tutanota

One of the leading services to provide secure email is called Tutanota. It is open-source software that allows signing up for free and getting a number of benefits. The service features end-to-end encryption and 2FA and works perfectly not only on the computer but also mobile applications. It does not log IP addresses and strip IP addresses from emails sent and received, and in addition to mailbox, users get an absolutely free calendar with event notifications.

Tutanota is a product of the German company based in Hanover.

Since the service is free, it is necessary to sign up to be able to use it. A free version is rather limited offering users only 1Gb of storage, one user, limited search, and use of only service domains. Two paid plans offer a more diverse functionality including pseudonyms, user domains, unlimited search, email support, etc., but you should pay from €1.20 to €6 on a monthly basis.

Posteo

It is an innovative email service provider based in Germany. You can get a sustainable, ad-free and secure account with the following characteristics:

The service has the following features: list” or “conversation” view, signatures, upload multiple files, sender identities, drag and drop, fast search, HTML emails, forwarding, and autoreply, etc. Moreover, you can securely bring up to three external email accounts including their folder structures across to Posteo. Additionally, you will get a comfortable address book, calendar feature, and absolutely free usage. The project is funded on donations and you can take advantage of this best free encrypted email service without a necessity to pay anything.

Criptext

Looking for the best free secure encrypted email service? Context can be an alternative you will appreciate, undoubtedly. It is a secure email service that does not collect user data. The tool is open source so it is constantly updated and therefore, can be used for free. It features end-to-end encryption for user emails to be locked with a unique key and stored on the device only. Criptext also utilizes the Signal Protocol library for better privacy. One more benefit of this service is no storage in the cloud, so nobody can get access to your mailbox except for you. Other great features are a possibility to take back an email within an hour from the time it was sent to the wrong person and real-time tracking you can know once your email is read. The service works perfectly on any device, so don’t waste an opportunity to try it.

SCRYPTmail

If you consider user privacy important, try to use SCRYPTmail service. It is an end-to-end encrypted email with no stored metadata. It guarantees privacy and anonymity with A-grade HTTPS encryption. Every email is encrypted by AES with a 256-bit key and this key is encrypted with a public key of the intended recipient. Since SCRYPTmail is an open-source service, it is possible to use it free of charge. However, you can find a ‘donation’ button on the website of you want to support the developers. To start using this service, it is necessary to create an account via one of the supported browsers and get your special token that is necessary for resetting passwords or secret phrases.

Conclusion

It can be a difficult task to choose the only encrypted email service since the functionality, a number of features, pricing are incredibly various. However, a short summary we have provided on every service will help you to evaluate the basic features and benefits as well as decide if there is any sense to pay for a service when there are free alternatives too. Make your correct choice and keep your privacy without much effort!

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