With over 1 billion monthly active users and the might of almighty Google backing it up, Google Mail is definitely not to be sneezed at. At least not if you require access to other Google-fabulous services like Google Docs, Drive, Hangouts and much more which are lip-synced to your Gmail account and make the wonders of the web gloriously accessible and sweetly likable.
Best Alternatives to Gmail
At present, due to its overall excellence, Gmail has few rivals. However, if you do have something against Google, feel like expanding the horizons of your experience, or have taken the recent hysteria over the privacy of your personal data very much to heart, then you should be acquainted with this list of the best Gmail alternatives made available to us all by different email providers. While they might be somewhat limited in scope and popularity, won’t be nearly as orgasmic and just might soon have you tearing out handfuls of your hair, they do generally get the job done. Here’s the list; once you finish reading kindly hide it and make sure Google doesn’t see it!
1. Mail.com
Charming, sleek and capable, one of the best things we love about Mail.com is the freedom it gives you to choose from gazillions of domain names. Descriptive domain names like lovepizza.com, or tilldeathdouspart.com are certainly within reach with Mail.com. Apart from heart-stirring monikers you also get spam filters, mobile service, a mail collector, unlimited mail storage, an antivirus scan function and a 50 MB attachment limit. And did we mention its fab support for the likes of Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo. Which arguably makes it the best alternative to Gmail on this planet.
2. Yahoo Mail
It seems that reports about the death of the once great Yahoo Mail have been horribly exaggerated. Rather than dead and buried, it’s still very much alive and resurgent too, if news about it are to be believed. Extensively modified and upgraded it can be accessed on both mobile devices and PC, and comes with unlimited storage and the ability to import contacts from the likes of Gmail, Facebook, Outlook and lots more besides. As well, its famed Yahoo Instant Messaging service is still delish. With 1 TB of storage and tons of radical improvement, Yahoo Mail now rocks!
3. Hushmail
This baby works like a dream on a wide variety of mobile and PC platforms. On signing up you get encryption out of the box, a generous 25 GB of storage and no ads to distract and irritate you. Not to mention a list of rather funky domain names, the sort Santa might have forgotten on your porch from which you can pick and choose from. All in all, when you are looking to replace your Gmail account, Hushmail clearly got your back. If you find that 15 GB of storage by Google isn’t enough to force you to create a Gmail account, Hushmail maybe the alternative.
4. Outlook
Specifically made for die-hard Microsoft fanatics, Outlook is an email client well worth courting and getting hitched to. It comes with Office Web Apps, as well as Sky Drive for excellent productivity. Flexible as it is, it can be used to send and receive mail from other email accounts, and lets you import and gist with your Facebook homies via messaging. And is also additionally suitable for updating your Facebook status, publishing photos and the like and generally any other Facebook-worthy activity you feel like carrying out. With unlimited storage space, the sky is clearly the limit with Outlook, which clearly makes it worth a hot look. If you are seriously looking for alternatives to Gmail that lets you rock your social media empire, you can’t do much better than this.
5. AOL Mail
Once upon a time, AOL Mail gave quite stiff competition to the likes of Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Those days are not forever gone it seems as AOL Mail still offers excellent value. It has been thoroughly shaken up to make it extra competitive and enchanting, and comes with unlimited storage, and an attachment limit of 25 MB. You also get a list of email domain names to choose from, ranging from the functional to the truly funky. All these goodies are free, as are lots of customization options. Which includes seamless access and integration with and to your other email addresses. Talk about efficiency!
6. Proton Mail
Although Gmail reigns supreme, multiple contenders can’t wait to knock it off its throne. One such prospect is the CERN scientists developed Proton Mail. The email offers some of the best security features on the planet. It not only cares for the security of the mail in transit, but also caters to its security when at rest. Furthermore, the developer adopts a zero-trust policy where the encryption keys stay on your device and can’t be seen even by the developers. Another feature includes a self-destructing message tool that offers an auto-deletion function to your emails, ensuring that they delete themselves periodically. If privacy is your primary concern, you can delete your Gmail account today and start using Proton Mail instead.
7. Inbox.com
The goodies on offer at Inbox.com includes a 5 GB storage limit, and the ability to store, tweak and freely share your photos via an inbuilt photo module. Others include 50 MB attachment limit, calendars, photos, reminders and notes for jotting down anything that comes to mind. With no ads, as well as spam, virus and malware protection, Inbox.com is a top email client you really need to check out.
8. Tutanota
Of much more recent vintage than its rivals but no less sweet, Tutanota is designed to be as secure as possible. With all manner of governments and intelligence services intent on reading your emails and whatnot, Tutanota take care of that by superbly encrypting your mails, contacts and everything else from end to end. When you sign up, you also get around five domain names to pick from, 1 GB of free storage to store your bag and baggage, and a 25 MB file attachment limit. As secure as Fort Knox, surprisingly painless to use and with a rather attractive interface, Tutanota soon makes you start wondering why you and your entire village hadn’t signed up for it.
9. iCloud Mail
For Apple fans, no email client does it better than iCloud Mail. This beauty seamlessly connects to the Apple universe and works with an Apple Email ID. With it, you can flawlessly sync your emails across the endless variety of Apple devices and get nearer to the foretold Apple nirvana. It features a file upload limit of 20 MB, 5 GB of storage, is ad-free and astoundingly easy to use.
10. CounterMail
CounterMail might look like it got teleported here in the late 90s, but it has enough market experience and security features to make it a suitable alternative for Gmail. All in all, the email service is a bit crude with a redundant UI that is not only outdated but also hard enough to navigate. Despite that, it has some of the strongest encryption in play, making the service an absolute go-to for privacy-centered users. The CounterMail service uses OpenPGP and 4096-bit encryption. There is also a no-logs policy in play. The servers are located in Sweden and value privacy protection laws. Other than that, there is also the password manager and full disk encryption.
11. Fast Mail
Minimalistic, simplistic, customizable and uber-capable, Fast Mail got all you need in spades. Ad-free, its anti-spam filter can be tweaked just like you like it. As well, you can set it up so that important emails are always on top of the list where you can easily see them. With Fast Mail, sending automated email invites has never been easier. Additionally, it enthusiastically supports DNS hosting, addressing, aliases, time zones, IMAP/POP3/SMTP and some other exotic acronyms that all translate into fabulous services.
12. Facebook (Discontinued)
Who is not on Facebook these days? Apart from being the greatest, bestest and sweetest social media site in existence Facebook also offers mailing services via their @facebook.com email account. The service is available to all Facebook users and enables the sending and receiving of emails not only to your friends and fam on the social media site, but also to external email clients like Yahoo or Gmail. Could life be sweeter, or Facebook more alluring now that you know this? We think not.
While Gmail still rules, a lot of alternatives are still out there offering nearly equal excellent services. If you are one of those earnestly desiring to kick Google out of your life, just want to shake things up, or feel like tasting new tech experiences, then do sign up for a few. They are free, fun and rad. And best of all, I won’t rat on you to Gmail!