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The Best Alternatives to Gmail

The Best Alternatives to Gmail
Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

  • Updated:

Gmail is one of the world’s most popular email services. A sleek, user-friendly interface and seamless integration with the rest of Google’s products are its top strengths. But if you use Gmail for work or have concerns about your privacy and personal data security, you might be considering a more secure alternative.

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably looking for a new email service to replace the “Big G.” But it’s not easy to find a platform that can stand toe to toe with Gmail in terms of services while protecting your privacy.

To lend you a hand, we have a roundup of what we consider to be the best email platforms of 2020. They’re easy to use and secure, so you’ll have total peace of mind about your data. We hope you find it helpful!

Why should I use an alternative to Gmail?

Every day, millions of users trust in Gmail as their means of communication with the rest of the world. If you have a Gmail account, you’re probably well aware of the ease and countless advantages of this platform. However, although Gmail seems like the perfect email service, it has an Achilles heel: the privacy of your personal data.

As you may recall, back in 2018, Gmail faced one of its biggest privacy scandals. News outlets such as the prestigious Wall Street Journal reported Gmail’s practice of scanning your inbox to collect information about your tastes in order to display relevant ads. What’s more, Gmail allowed app developers to sift through your email so they could offer you a variety of deals. After this controversy, many Gmail users understandably lost all faith in Google and decided to switch services, choosing platforms that were more secure and respectful of their data.

But dubious privacy isn’t the only problem with your Gmail account. In terms of security, Gmail is not end-to-end encrypted, and this could be dangerous because third parties could get their hands on your emails. Finally, the platform only provides 10 GB of storage space for your email. That isn’t much, considering that you have to share it with the rest of Google’s services (Drive, Photos, etc.).

What features should I look for in a good email service?

Before we get to our favorite Gmail alternatives, let’s talk about what makes a good email service. Below are the key features that you should look for.

  • It should have end-to-end encryption- If you’re worried about security, make sure that all the messages you send are end-to-end encrypted. In other words, your intended recipient should be the only one who can read your message, and it shouldn’t be stored on any sort of external server. This is the same technology used by messaging services like WhatsApp.
  • It shouldn’t require you to provide personal data to open an account- Many email services are truly impressive but ask for an absurd amount of personal data when you try to open an account. If you value your privacy, think twice about providing all of the personal data that these online services request.
  • It shouldn’t have ads- Many free email services rely on ads for revenue. While they may seem harmless at first, they can become intrusive and annoying in the long run. What’s more, your email service probably shares your personal info, similar to Gmail, to tailor those ads to you.

The best Gmail Alternatives of 2020

1. ProtonMail

Let’s start our list with ProtonMail, one of the best Gmail alternatives out there. As the website boasts, it’s one of the world’s most secure email services, as all of its servers are in Switzerland.

To start using ProtonMail, you just have to create an account on the website (click here). You don’t need to provide a lot of personal information, nor do you have to download anything to use it on your PC, because you can check your inbox directly from the website.

As for privacy, all emails on ProtonMail are end-to-end encrypted to protect their content. That said, keep in mind that the “Subject” line of your emails isn’t encrypted, so never write any compromising information there.

Finally, it’s important to mention that ProtonMail’s interface is clean and intuitive, making it a perfect option for IT geeks and newbies alike.

ProtonMail can be used on the website or the apps for Android and iOS, which you can download below.

  • ProtonMail for Android

ProtonMail (Android) DOWNLOAD
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  • ProtonMail for iOS

ProtonMail (iOS) DOWNLOAD
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2. Tutanota

Tutanota is another great alternative to Gmail, especially if you’re concerned about keeping your data safe. You may not be aware of it, but Tutanota was the service that pioneered email with end-to-end encryption. With millions of happy users around the world, this service is worth keeping in mind.

Not surprisingly, one of Tutanota’s main strengths is its end-to-end encryption system. With years of experience in the sector, it works incredibly well. Tutanota protects all of the data in your emails, and unlike ProtonMail, it can even encrypt your “Subject” line. But that’s not all: even your calendar is end-to-end encrypted!

Another advantage of Tutanota is that you won’t have to deal with annoying ads. This email service is fully funded by donations and premium subscriptions, so you can write emails to your heart’s content without unnecessary distractions.

Get your free Tutanota account on the website by clicking here.

3. GMX

GMX (Global Mail Exchange) is an email platform that may seem a bit basic at first glance, but this excellent service has no reason to envy the greats in the sector. It provides a truly secure email service, a spam filter, antivirus software and even a calendar.

Once you open your account with GMX (click here to do that), you’ll get a total of 65 GB of storage space to use however you want. If that isn’t enough for you, don’t worry, because the service allows each user to create up to 10 different accounts.

Another of GMX’s strengths is that it includes a cloud storage service. You can use it to save all of your files and photos, which you can even access from your phone. To do that, you’ll need the app for Android or iOS:

  • GMX Cloud for Android

GMX Cloud (Android) DOWNLOAD
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  • GMX Cloud for iOS

GMX Cloud (iOS) DOWNLOAD
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Although GMX has a somewhat dated interface, it’s perfect if you’re looking for a secure email service that offers a lot of storage space. You can download its application for Windows below.

GMX Mail DOWNLOAD
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4. Outlook

No self-respecting list of Gmail alternatives would be complete without mentioning its age-old rival, Outlook. Microsoft’s email service has more than 400 million users around the world, and in addition to being quite secure, it’s seamlessly integrated with the rest of the company’s products.

Analyzing Outlook, we can see that it’s very similar to Gmail. Featuring an attractive, user-friendly interface and multiple tools to improve your productivity (a calendar, notepad, a contact list, etc.), it’s designed for all Windows 10 users.

In short, if you use Microsoft’s operating system, you can’t go wrong with Outlook. Providing 5 GB of space for your email, it can be integrated with products such as Skype or OneDrive. Click here to register your Outlook account and download the app below.

Microsoft Outlook DOWNLOAD
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5. Zoho Mail

To wrap up our list, Zoho Mail is an email service designed especially for companies and business, although it can also be used for personal email.

Zoho Mail’s excellent security features include end-to-end encryption and S/MIME message encryption. What’s more, as the website boasts, it’s a highly reliable service with a 99.9% uptime. That means you’ll never have to deal with your email server crashing again.

In short, Zoho Mail is a fast, user-friendly service. We highly recommend it if you have a business and are looking for an easy way to have an email address with your own domain.

You can visit the official website for Zoho Mail by clicking here and download the app for Android below.

Zoho Mail DOWNLOAD
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We hope our roundup of alternatives to Gmail has been helpful to you. Do you know of any that we didn’t include on this list? Tell us about them in the comments section!

Softonic Editorial Team

Softonic Editorial Team

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