Fastmail Email vs Proton Mail

Fastmail Email provides email, calendars, contacts, and file storage for individuals, families, and businesses. Mail tools include search, pinning, snooze, scheduled sending, offline support, and private memos on messages. Fastmail says its paid service has no ads, personal-data mining, or third-party sharing. It says customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest, supports TLS 1.3 and Perfect Forward Secrecy, and offers two-step verification and passkeys. Customers can choose the EU or US as their primary data residency. Fastmail offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, plus a browser app. Access protocols include JMAP, IMAP, POP, SMTP, CardDAV, CalDAV, and WebDAV; OAuth is documented for third-party clients. Fastmail does not provide end-to-end encryption in its own apps, though PGP or S/MIME can be used through supported third-party apps. Plans range from Basic at $4 a month to Family at $14 a month, with different storage and account allowances. The service is paid, has no free plan, and offers a 30-day trial. Every plan includes 24/7 expert support from real people.

Proton Mail is an encrypted email service available on the web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Its free plan lists 1 GB of storage and one email address, although its FAQ says storage starts at 500 MB; the free tier is described as having the same security level as paid plans. The service uses end-to-end and zero-access encryption, with open-source apps and independent audits. It blocks email trackers and includes phishing and spam protection, password-protected messages, and link confirmation. Users can schedule, undo, or snooze emails and organize messages with folders, labels, and categories. Easy Switch imports email, calendars, and contacts from other providers. Paid plans support external email clients through IMAP and SMTP using Proton Mail Bridge. Mail Plus lists 15 GB of storage, 10 extra email addresses, and one custom domain. Paid subscriptions include a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the desktop app has a 14-day free trial. Paid plans display monthly billing; the listed starting price is 3.99 /user/mo.