AtomicMail vs StartMail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AtomicMail grades higher than StartMail: 3.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 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, features and platforms. They get the same grade on 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
StartMail
Paid private email from the Netherlands with unlimited aliases
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 StartMail if
- Fits if you want a paid, ad-free mailbox hosted in the Netherlands
- Works for people who want a separate alias for every sign-up
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you won't give payment details for a trial, as it asks for a card or PayPal up front
- Skip it if you want an iPhone app today, because the iOS app is still listed as coming soon
- Too light for anyone who wants a calendar or file storage along with their email
- Tight if you need more than one custom domain on Personal, as unlimited domains need Business at $6.99
- Watch out: there's no desktop app, so outside Android you use the browser or set up IMAP yourself
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAtomicMailVery good | 1.8GPAStartMailWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CPersonal is $4.99 a month billed annually ($59.88), or $6.99 monthly, for 20 GB, unlimited aliases and one custom domain. That's the ordinary band for this category, and dearer than other private mailboxes: Posteo and mailbox both start at €1 a month. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free encrypted mailbox with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and no phone number needed. One person could live on it. | DNo free plan. There's a 7-day free trial, but a credit card or PayPal account is required at sign-up, so you hand over payment details before you've sent a single email. |
| Features | BEncryption, aliases, Hide My Email, recovery by seed phrase and custom-domain team mail. The listing shows no gap in the job. | CUnlimited aliases, with burners that vanish after an hour, one-click PGP, password-protected mail for people without it, hidden external images and full IMAP with a migration tool. But its own feature list covers mail and contacts only, with no calendar and no file storage. |
| 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. | CNo rating on record. Encrypting is one click and a migration tool brings your old mail and contacts over, but on anything but Android you're in the browser or setting up IMAP in another mail app yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone and Android apps. No API or integrations are listed. | CThe browser and an Android app, and that's the lot: no desktop app, and the iPhone app is still listed as coming soon. Full IMAP and SMTP access means Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail or K-9 Mail can fill the gap. |
| Best for | encrypted email with a free plan | private email with an alias for every sign-up |
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 StartMail. 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. StartMail starts at $4.99 a month and scores 2.0.
AtomicMail scores higher and starts $1.99 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than AtomicMail for less, and 42 score higher than StartMail 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.
- StartMail also covers inbox filtering.
At a glance
| AtomicMail | StartMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated) | $4.99 per month, billed annually ($59.88) |
| Free plan | Encrypted email on atomicmail.io with unlimited storage, 10 aliases and recovery by seed phrase. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial; a credit card or PayPal account is required at sign-up |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AtomicMail Systems OÜ | StartMail B.V. |
| Price read from | atomicmail.io | startmail.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 6, 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.
StartMail
- There is no free plan, and the 7-day trial asks for a credit card or PayPal account at sign-up.
- The only app is for Android; the iOS app is listed as coming soon. Elsewhere it runs in the browser or in other mail apps over IMAP.
- Personal accounts are limited to one custom domain; unlimited domains and shared aliases need the Business plan.
- The feature list covers email and contacts only and does not mention a calendar or file storage.
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.
StartMail
- Unlimited aliases
- Extra addresses can be created and deleted at any time, on the StartMail domain or your own, and one-click burner aliases disappear on their own after an hour.
- PGP encryption
- One click encrypts a message with PGP or adds a PGP signature, and an IMAP mail client can be set up for end-to-end encryption with OpenPGP.
- Password-protected email
- Encrypted messages can be sent to people who do not use encryption: the recipient reads and answers them with a password you set.
- Tracking and phishing protection
- External images are hidden by default to block tracking pixels, a warning shows the full address before an external link opens, and your IP address is kept out of sent mail.
- Custom domains and group subscriptions
- Personal accounts can use one custom domain and Business accounts any number. Extra accounts for family or team members are 25% off, and Business groups can share aliases.
- IMAP access and migration
- Full IMAP and SMTP access for Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail and similar apps, plus a migration tool that imports email and contacts from other providers.
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.
StartMail
Personal$4.99
per month, billed annually ($59.88); $6.99 billed monthly
An address on the StartMail domain or one custom domain, unlimited aliases and 20 GB of storage. Annual plans can be paid in Bitcoin.
Business$6.99
per month, billed annually ($83.88); $8.99 billed monthly
An address on your own domain, unlimited domains, 30 GB of storage and shared aliases on a custom domain within a group subscription.
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.
StartMail
- Annual discount
Save $24 a year with annual billing
Personal costs $59.88 a year ($4.99 a month) against $6.99 a month when billed monthly, and Business $83.88 a year against $8.99 a month. The pricing page puts the saving at $24.
- Other savings
25% off additional accounts
Any number of extra accounts for family members or colleagues can be added to a subscription as a group, each at 25% off the regular rate.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AtomicMail or StartMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AtomicMail starts at $3 per user / month (Business Starter, billing basis not stated), and StartMail starts at $4.99 per month, billed annually ($59.88). 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 StartMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AtomicMail has a free plan. StartMail does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do AtomicMail and StartMail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AtomicMail lists macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS apps. Both list a web app and an Android app. 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.