Mailvelope vs Secure Message

Mailvelope adds client-side end-to-end PGP encryption to supported webmail. Its browser add-on works with Gmail, Outlook, WEB.DE, and other webmailers, and can encrypt or decrypt attachments within email, including with PGP/MIME. While composing, it can detect a recipient’s public key; signature mismatches can help identify phishing attempts. Users can export keys, manage multiple keyrings, and use Mailvelope or other key servers. The free private-user offering is independent from Google, but lacks PGP/MIME, Google Workspace integration, and customer service. Mailvelope states that it complies with GDPR and EU privacy laws. Business plans include a 14-day free trial without payment data. Monthly billing costs €3 per user per month; annual billing costs €32.40 per user per year. Paid subscriptions auto-renew and can be cancelled anytime. Business integrations include professional or premium email support options. Mailvelope is available as an extension and through the web.

Secure Message is a self-hosted inbound email gateway that filters mail before it reaches an existing mail server. Its Community features include Postfix content filtering, spam scoring, DNSBL, SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks, quarantine, mail logs and administrator MFA. Professional adds a recipient web portal: recipients open protected messages with a one-time code, without an account or app. Its rules can encrypt, redirect or block sensitive outbound messages, and recipient checks can use SMTP callout, LDAP or directory lookups. Stored messages, attachments and quarantine use Fernet encryption with AES-128-CBC and HMAC-SHA256; the key remains on the customer host. Access controls include TOTP administrator MFA, role-based access and audit logging, with logs exportable to CSV. Enterprise adds AI Autopilot tuning, eDiscovery and archive search, DLP and disclaimers; Autopilot and the classifier are off by default. The gateway can sit in front of Microsoft 365 or an existing mail server without mailbox migration. The single-node appliance runs on Debian 13, with 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM recommended as a starting point.