AOL Mail vs Microsoft Outlook (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Microsoft Outlook: it is first in our ranking of email apps, and it grades higher too, 3.6 against 3.2.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AOL Mail grades higher on the free plan. Microsoft Outlook grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft's email and calendar app for desktop, mobile and web
Which one is for you
Pick AOL Mail if
- Fits if you want a free address with a phone app
- Works for people who already have an AOL account
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a mail-only app, as it bundles news and weather
- Watch out: the app says it uses Nielsen measurement software, switchable off in settings
- Watch out: the App Store lists in-app purchases without saying what they are
- Skip it if you want a desktop mail client, as only web, iOS and Android are listed
Pick Microsoft Outlook if
- Fits if you have three or four email addresses and want them in one app with your calendar
- Works for offices on Microsoft 365, where mail, calendar and Teams sit together
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if ads in your inbox would wind you up and you won't pay $1.99 a month to lose them
- Pricey if you want Copilot: it's on the $9.99 plan, and only for Microsoft addresses and the account owner
- Pricey if your business wants its own email domain and the desktop apps in one plan, at $23.50 a person
- Watch out: there's no Linux app, and on Windows the new Outlook lacks macros and old add-ins
- Too light for sorting mail on your phone, where reviewers say rules and subfolders need a computer
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAAOL MailVery good | 3.6GPAMicrosoft OutlookExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree to sign up for, including the web inbox and the mobile app. No paid plan is on record. | AMicrosoft 365 Basic is $1.99 a month, or $19.99 a year, when the middle for this category is $8 and its lowest-priced quarter is $4. That takes the ads out and lifts your mailbox from 15 GB to 100 GB. Proton's lowest paid plan is $3.99 and stops at 15 GB. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole service is free, with no cap on record. | BA free plan, not a trial: 15 GB for mail, apps for your phone and your computer, and your Gmail, Yahoo and iCloud accounts in the same place. What holds it back is the price you do pay, ads sitting in the inbox, plus a 15 GB ceiling. |
| Features | CMail, contacts, device lock and spam blocking in over 70 languages. The listing gives little else: no paid plan, no storage figure and no custom-domain option. | BFocused Inbox, Sweep, snooze, a calendar, contacts and to-do lists in one window, parcel and flight tracking, Office files from the inbox. The fine print keeps it off the top mark: Copilot is on the $9.99 plan and Microsoft addresses only, and Focused Inbox on Windows skips Gmail. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but you sign up and start using it with nothing to set up. | A4.79 from about 9.3 million App Store ratings, the most ratings in this category. Computers are messier: Windows has a new Outlook and a classic one, and Microsoft keeps a help page called "What version of Outlook do I have?" |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb plus iPhone, iPad and Android apps. No desktop client is named and no API is listed. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, where Gmail lists no desktop app at all. It plugs into Teams, OneDrive, Word and Excel as well. No Linux app, though. |
| Best for | free webmail with a companion phone app | all your inboxes and a calendar in one app |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AOL Mail and Microsoft Outlook. How we grade
Price against what you get
AOL Mail has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Microsoft Outlook starts at $1.67 a month when paid by the year and scores 3.7.
Microsoft Outlook scores higher, and starts $1.67 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than AOL Mail for less, and none scores higher than Microsoft Outlook for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Microsoft Outlook also covers tasks and calendar.
At a glance
| AOL Mail | Microsoft Outlook | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year (Microsoft 365 Basic) |
| Free plan | AOL Mail is free to sign up for, including the web inbox and the AOL mobile app. | Free Outlook for 1 person: email and calendar on the web, desktop and mobile apps, 15 GB of mailbox storage, 5 GB of cloud storage and core spam filtering. The free inbox shows ads. |
| Free trial | None listed | One-month free trial of the Microsoft 365 business plans, credit card required; Personal and Family also offer a free trial |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AOL Media LLC | Microsoft |
| Price read from | mail.aol.com | microsoft.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AOL Mail
- The App Store listing shows in-app purchases without stating what they are, so no paid plan is recorded here.
- The mobile app bundles news and weather and says it uses Nielsen measurement software, which can be switched off in settings.
- AOL's own page lists only web, iOS and Android; no desktop mail client is named.
Microsoft Outlook
- Free accounts show ads in the inbox; a Microsoft 365 Basic, Personal or Family subscription removes them.
- Business Basic has only web and mobile Outlook. Apps for business ($10.00) adds desktop Outlook without business email; Business Standard with Copilot ($23.50) has both.
- On home plans, Copilot in Outlook currently works only with outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com and msn.com addresses, and only for the subscription owner.
- Microsoft lists Outlook for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and the web. No Linux app is listed.
Key features
AOL Mail
- Free AOL account
- Signing up for an AOL account gives access to AOL Mail, news and weather without a fee, according to AOL's FAQ.
- Mobile app with swipe actions
- The iPhone and iPad app lets you swipe to delete, move, mark or flag messages and assign custom left and right swipe actions.
- Contacts in one place
- The app shows AOL contacts together with the contacts stored on the phone.
- Device lock
- The iOS app can be protected with Touch ID or Face ID.
- Support by phone
- AOL's mail page lists a phone number for help from experts around the clock, alongside an online help page.
Microsoft Outlook
- Several accounts in one app
- The desktop and mobile apps take Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud and other mail services alongside work or school accounts, and switch between them without leaving the app.
- Focused Inbox, Sweep and snooze
- Focused Inbox and Sweep clear clutter out of the main view. Messages can be snoozed until later or flagged as important.
- Calendar, contacts and to-do lists
- Email, calendars, contacts and to-do lists sit in one view. Outlook can schedule events, set reminders, and track packages and flights on supported platforms.
- Copilot in Outlook
- Drafts a message from a prompt, adjusts tone, length and clarity, and summarizes long threads. Included with Microsoft 365 Personal and Family, with usage limits.
- Mailbox protection
- Outlook scans attachments and links for threats on Microsoft email addresses. Paid plans add mailbox encryption, checks on suspicious links and removal of dangerous attachments.
- Office files from the inbox
- Open, edit or send Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from the inbox, and attach OneDrive files as links.
Plans
AOL Mail
Free$0
AOL Mail, news and weather at no charge; the mobile app lists in-app purchases.
Microsoft Outlook
Outlook$0
For 1 person: email and calendar on web, desktop and mobile, 15 GB of mailbox storage, 5 GB of cloud storage and core spam filtering, with ads.
Microsoft 365 Basic$1.99
per month, or $19.99 per year
For 1 person: ad-free Outlook, 100 GB of mailbox storage, 100 GB of cloud storage and advanced Outlook security features.
Business Basic$7.00
per user / month, paid yearly ($5.40 without Teams)
Custom business email on Exchange for up to 300 users, with the web and mobile versions of Outlook only and 1 TB of cloud storage per user.
Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
For 1 person on up to 5 devices at once: the Outlook desktop app with Copilot, 1 TB of cloud storage and Microsoft Defender.
Microsoft 365 Family$12.99
per month, or $129.99 per year
The Personal benefits for 1 to 6 people, who share 2 TB of cloud storage between them. AI features are for the subscription owner only.
Business Standard with Copilot$23.50
per user / month, paid yearly ($20.30 without Teams)
Adds desktop versions of Outlook and the other Office apps, plus Copilot grounded in work data. Business Premium with Copilot is $32.00.
Ways to pay less
AOL Mail
No public discounts listed.
Microsoft Outlook
- Annual discount
About 16% lower with yearly billing
Paying yearly costs $19.99 for Microsoft 365 Basic, $99.99 for Personal and $129.99 for Family, against $1.99, $9.99 and $12.99 a month.
- Education
Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal
College and university students who verify their status get 50% off Microsoft 365 Personal, which includes the Outlook desktop app with Copilot. Eligibility is re-verified each year.
- Nonprofit
Business Basic free for eligible nonprofits
Microsoft lists Business Basic as a grant, free for up to 300 users. Nonprofit staff pricing is $3.50 per user / month for Business Standard and $5.50 for Business Premium, paid yearly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AOL Mail or Microsoft Outlook?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AOL Mail is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $1.67 a month when paid by the year for Microsoft Outlook. AOL Mail is free, and Microsoft Outlook starts at $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year (Microsoft 365 Basic).
Which has a free plan, AOL Mail or Microsoft Outlook?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both AOL Mail and Microsoft Outlook have a free plan.
Which platforms do AOL Mail and Microsoft Outlook run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Microsoft Outlook lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.