AtomicMail vs Proton Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Proton Mail: it is third in our ranking of email apps, and they share a 3.0 GPA.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AtomicMail grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. Proton Mail grades higher on ease of use and platforms.
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
Proton Mail
End-to-end encrypted email service based in Switzerland
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 Proton Mail if
- Fits if you want email that the company running it can't read
- Works for leaving Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, as Easy Switch imports old mail on the free plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Free: 1 address, up to 1 GB (500 MB until setup is done) and 150 sent messages a day
- Not for you if you want Apple Mail, Outlook or the desktop apps without paying, as Bridge and the apps are paid
- Pricey if you subscribe inside the iPhone app, where Mail Plus is $5.99 a month against $4.99 on Proton's site
- Skip it if you forget passwords and won't write down a recovery phrase, as old mail can stay locked
- Watch out: some banks and shops refuse Proton addresses, the Linux app is beta, and there were outages in mid-2026
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAtomicMailVery good | 3.0GPAProton MailVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BMail Plus is $3.99 a month on the yearly plan, inside the lowest-priced quarter of a category whose middle is $8, for 15 GB, 10 addresses and your own domain. Gmail and Outlook do give you 15 GB for nothing, mind, and in the iPhone app it's $5.99. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free encrypted mailbox with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and no phone number needed. One person could live on it. | CFree for good with no ads. The caps are ones you'll meet, though: one address, up to 1 GB of mail and 150 sent messages a day, and the desktop apps are for paying customers after a 14-day trial. |
| Features | BEncryption, aliases, Hide My Email, recovery by seed phrase and custom-domain team mail. The listing shows no gap in the job. | CThe basics, with encryption that runs without any setup: tracker blocking, throwaway aliases, a calendar, snooze, send later and Easy Switch to import your old mail. The gap Proton names itself: there's no IMAP or SMTP at all without Bridge, and Bridge needs a paid plan. |
| 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. | A4.8 from about 48,500 App Store ratings, a touch above Gmail's own app. It works like any inbox, and Easy Switch brings your old mail over for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone and Android apps. No API or integrations are listed. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Mail through Bridge and the rest of Proton's suite. The desktop apps do need a paid plan, and the Linux one is still beta. |
| Best for | encrypted email with a free plan | email your provider can't read |
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 Proton Mail. 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. Proton Mail starts at $3.99 a month and scores 3.3.
Proton Mail scores higher, and starts $0.99 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than AtomicMail for less, and 1 scores higher than Proton Mail 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
- Proton Mail is open source, according to its own site.
- AtomicMail also covers email signature.
- Proton Mail also covers calendar.
At a glance
| AtomicMail | Proton Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated) | $3.99 per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly |
| Free plan | Encrypted email on atomicmail.io with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and recovery by seed phrase. | Proton Free: 1 email address, up to 1 GB of mail storage (500 MB until the setup steps are completed), a limit of 150 sent messages a day and 3 personal calendars. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AtomicMail Systems OÜ | Proton AG |
| Price read from | atomicmail.io | proton.me |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 4, 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.
Proton Mail
- The free plan is limited to 1 address, up to 1 GB of mail storage and 150 sent messages a day.
- Custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access through Bridge need a paid plan.
- The desktop apps need a paid plan; free accounts get a 14-day trial of them, and the Linux app is labeled beta.
- Buying in the iOS app costs more: the US App Store lists Mail Plus at $5.99 monthly, against $4.99 on Proton's site.
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.
Proton Mail
- End-to-end and zero-access encryption
- Messages are encrypted so that only you can read them. Proton states that not even it can read your email.
- Tracker blocking and aliases
- Blocks the email trackers that report what you open and click. Hide-my-email aliases keep your real address off sign-up forms: 10 on Free and Mail Plus, unlimited on Proton Unlimited.
- Custom domains and extra addresses
- Mail Plus supports 1 custom email domain and up to 10 addresses. Proton Unlimited raises that to 3 domains and 15 addresses.
- Easy Switch import
- Imports existing mail from Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or Apple accounts. The import assistant is included on the free plan.
- Proton Mail Bridge
- Paid accounts can use the Bridge app to read and send encrypted mail in Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird or Apple Mail over IMAP and SMTP.
- Calendar and scheduling tools
- Proton Calendar is included, with 3 personal calendars on Free and up to 25 on Mail Plus. Mail also supports scheduled sending, undo send and snooze.
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.
Proton Mail
Proton Free$0
1 address, up to 1 GB of mail storage, 150 sent messages a day, the Easy Switch import tool and 3 calendars.
Mail Plus$3.99
per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly
1 user with 10 addresses, 15 GB of storage, 1 custom domain, unlimited folders, labels and filters, and Bridge for IMAP/SMTP clients.
Proton Unlimited$9.99
per month, billed every 12 months ($119.88)
500 GB of storage, 15 addresses and 3 custom domains, bundled with Proton's VPN, password manager and cloud storage.
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.
Proton Mail
- Annual discount
20% off Mail Plus on the 12-month plan
Proton's pricing page lists Mail Plus at $3.99 a month when billed every 12 months ($47.88), against $4.99 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AtomicMail or Proton Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AtomicMail starts at $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated), and Proton Mail starts at $3.99 per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, AtomicMail or Proton Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both AtomicMail and Proton Mail have a free plan.
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.