AtomicMail vs Fastmail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AtomicMail grades higher than Fastmail: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AtomicMail grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Fastmail grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AtomicMail
Encrypted email with a free plan and custom-domain business plans
Fastmail
Paid, ad-free email with calendar, contacts and custom domains
Which one is for you
Pick AtomicMail if
- Fits if you want an encrypted mailbox with no phone number
- Works for small teams that want custom-domain mail at $3 or $6 a user
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you pay monthly, as Plus is $7 against $5 on annual billing
- Tight if you stay free: 10 aliases and no custom domain
- Watch out: the business prices don't say whether they assume annual billing
- Watch out: Atomic GPT and Atomic VPN limits on Plus and Business aren't stated
- Watch out: teams of 100 or more are sent to a contact form
Pick Fastmail if
- Fits if you're leaving free, ad-funded email and want your own domain
- Works for households of up to 6 people sharing one plan at $11 a month on yearly billing
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you won't pay for email, as there's no free plan after the 30-day trial
- Not for you if the phone app matters most, given its 3.8 App Store rating
- Tight if you pick Basic, which has 6 GB a user and leaves out custom domains, Snooze, Scheduled Send and outside apps
- Watch out: Fastmail doesn't refund unused subscription time, and listed prices exclude tax
- Pricey if you need more than 60 GB, as extra storage is a paid add-on up to 300 GB a user
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAtomicMailVery good | 2.8GPAFastmailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe free plan has unlimited storage and 10 aliases. Plus is $5 a month billed annually, a little under the middle of what email services charge. | BIndividual is $5 a month billed yearly ($60), or $6 monthly, for ad-free email with 60 GB, custom domains and Masked Email, and Family covers 6 people for $11. The $3 Basic plan drops to 6 GB with no custom domains, Snooze or outside mail apps. Prices exclude tax. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free encrypted mailbox with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and no phone number needed. One person could live on it. | CNo free plan. There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. After that every account is paid, and Fastmail doesn't refund unused subscription time. |
| Features | BEncryption, aliases, Hide My Email, recovery by seed phrase and custom-domain team mail. The listing shows no gap in the job. | BCustom domains with hundreds of extra addresses, Masked Email for sign-up forms, snooze, Scheduled Send, calendar and contacts, and JMAP, IMAP, POP, CalDAV and CardDAV so other apps can read it all. The mail job is covered, with an import tool for your old mail. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You set up a recovery seed phrase and your own aliases, and a lost phrase is yours to deal with. | C3.8 from about 580 App Store ratings, below most mail apps. That's the iPhone and iPad app, not the whole service. An import tool moves mail, calendars and contacts over from another provider. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone and Android apps. No API or integrations are listed. | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, all working offline. It opens in Apple Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird, connects to 1Password and Dropbox, and has a documented API. |
| Best for | encrypted email with a free plan | paid private email on your own domain |
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: AtomicMail and Fastmail. How we grade
Price against what you get
AtomicMail starts at $3 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Fastmail starts at $3 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
Fastmail scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than AtomicMail for less, and 2 score higher than Fastmail 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
- AtomicMail is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- AtomicMail also covers email signature.
- Fastmail also covers calendar.
At a glance
| AtomicMail | Fastmail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated) | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly |
| Free plan | Encrypted email on atomicmail.io with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and recovery by seed phrase. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AtomicMail Systems OÜ | Fastmail Pty Ltd |
| Price read from | atomicmail.io | fastmail.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AtomicMail
- Plus is $7 a month when billed monthly; the $5 price is for annual billing ($60 a year).
- Business Starter and Standard prices do not say whether they assume annual billing.
- Teams of 100 or more seats are sent to a contact form for an Enterprise plan.
- Atomic GPT and Atomic VPN are listed as included on Plus and Business plans; their limits are not stated.
Fastmail
- There is no free plan. After the 30-day trial every account is paid, and Fastmail does not refund unused subscription time.
- The Basic business plan has 6 GB per user and leaves out custom domains, Scheduled Send, Snooze and third-party mail apps.
- Storage beyond the plan allowance is a paid add-on, up to 300 GB per user.
- Listed prices are tax-exclusive.
Key features
AtomicMail
- Encryption
- Messages between Atomic users use ECIES encryption; mail to other providers can be encrypted with a password or as a file. The vendor says it cannot read encrypted content.
- Aliases and Hide My Email
- Free accounts get 10 aliases. Plus and the Business plans add Hide My Email addresses for sign-ups and newsletters.
- Private sign-up and recovery
- Accounts can be created without a phone number or a secondary email, and recovery uses a seed phrase.
- AI writing suite on Plus
- Plus includes a writing assistant, grammar checker, summarizer, translator, security helper and read-aloud.
- Custom-domain team email
- Business plans give each user an address on the company's own domain, with end-to-end encryption and per-user storage.
Fastmail
- Custom domains and extra addresses
- Use domains you own for your addresses, buy one through Fastmail, or pick one of its free domains. Fastmail says each account can create hundreds of additional addresses.
- Masked Email
- Creates stand-in addresses so that sign-up forms and logins never see your real one. A Masked Email API lets password managers create them too.
- Offline apps on every platform
- Apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, plus a browser app. Offline, you can read, draft and search mail and manage calendars and contacts.
- Snooze, Scheduled Send and pinning
- Snooze messages until they are needed, schedule sends for later, pin important messages to the top of the inbox and mute threads you do not want to follow.
- Calendar and contacts
- A built-in calendar with shared calendars and event invitations that can also display Google and iCloud calendars, and a contact list with VIP-only notifications.
- Open protocols and import
- Mail is reachable over JMAP, IMAP and POP, contacts over CardDAV and calendars over CalDAV. An import tool moves mail, calendars and contacts from another provider.
Plans
AtomicMail
Free$0
Encrypted mailbox with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and sign-up without a phone number.
Plus$5
per month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
15 aliases, Hide My Email, custom signature, AI writing tools and premium support.
Business Starter$3
per user / month, billing basis not stated
Your own domain, 15 GB per user, 5 aliases per user and Hide My Email.
Business Standard$6
per user / month, billing basis not stated
Your own domain, 50 GB per user, 10 aliases per user and 50 Hide My Email addresses.
Fastmail
Basic$3
per user / month, billed yearly ($36); $4 billed monthly
Business plan with 6 GB of storage per user, shared addresses and shared calendars. Custom domains, Snooze and third-party mail apps need Standard.
Individual$5
per month, billed yearly ($60); $6 billed monthly
One private inbox with 60 GB of total storage, custom domains, Masked Email, offline support and access from third-party mail apps.
Standard$5
per user / month, billed yearly ($60); $6 billed monthly
Business plan with 60 GB per user, addresses at a custom domain, shared addresses and calendars, Scheduled Send and third-party app access.
Duo$8
per month for 2 people, billed yearly ($96); $10 monthly
Two private inboxes with 60 GB each, plus addresses, calendars and an address book the two can share.
Professional$9
per user / month, billed yearly ($108); $10 billed monthly
Everything in Standard with 150 GB of storage per user and an email retention archive for legal compliance.
Family$11
per month for up to 6 people, billed yearly ($132); $14 monthly
Up to six private inboxes with 60 GB each at a flat rate, with controls for managing users' storage, privacy and security.
Ways to pay less
AtomicMail
- Annual discount
20% off Plus with annual billing
The pricing page shows Plus at $5 a month on annual billing against $7 billed monthly, saving $24 a year.
Fastmail
- Annual discount
Save $12 a year on Individual with yearly billing
Individual costs $60 for 12 months, the equivalent of $5 a month, against $6 when billed monthly. Paying yearly saves $24 on Duo, $36 on Family and $12 per user on the business plans.
- Other savings
Lower rates on 2- and 3-year terms
Paying for 24 or 36 months up front brings Individual to $114 or $168, the equivalent of $4.75 or $4.67 a month. The other plans have the same two- and three-year options.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AtomicMail or Fastmail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, they start at the same price. AtomicMail starts at $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated), and Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly.
Which has a free plan, AtomicMail or Fastmail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AtomicMail has a free plan. Fastmail does not, though it has a free trial.
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.