33Mail vs DuckDuckGo Email Protection

33Mail creates private email aliases and forwards messages sent to them to an existing email address. An alias is created automatically when email first arrives, and users can block an alias to stop receiving its messages. With anonymous replies enabled, users can reply to forwarded mail through 33Mail; the service removes header information relating to their actual email address. Premium accounts can use a custom domain by pointing its MX record to 33Mail. The service is web-based and also lists a browser extension. Lite is free and includes 10MB monthly bandwidth, with alias creation limited to five per 30-minute period. Premium costs $1 a month and includes 50MB monthly bandwidth, 20 anonymous replies per day, one custom domain, and one additional username. Pro costs $5 a month; Enterprise costs $50 a month. Attachments up to 10MB count toward bandwidth, which is measured over a rolling 30-day window. 33Mail says it warns users who exceed their bandwidth limit and treats dropping emails as a last resort. Its terms say user data is used to provide the service and is not shared with third parties except as needed for law enforcement requests. Brothers Ian and Andrew Clarke conceived the service, which forwarded its first email in August 2010.

DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free forwarding service that removes multiple types of hidden email trackers while working with an existing email account. Users select a personal @duck.com address, and messages sent there are checked against DuckDuckGo’s block list before forwarding to a regular inbox. The service can also create distinct private Duck Addresses that can be turned off individually if they attract spam or other unwanted mail. DuckDuckGo browsers and extensions can recognize email fields and fill in either the personal or a generated private address. Forwarded messages can arrive in accounts such as Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail or Proton, but Email Protection does not include a separate inbox. DuckDuckGo says it forwards messages without retaining the emails or their headers on its systems. Replies use the Duck Address, though the service cannot guarantee that message text will not expose the forwarding address or other identifiers. It is listed for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web and browser extensions.