Fastmail vs Hushmail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fastmail grades higher than Hushmail: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fastmail grades higher on value for money, features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Fastmail
Paid, ad-free email with calendar, contacts and custom domains
Hushmail
Encrypted email and e-signable forms for healthcare practices
Which one is for you
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
Pick Hushmail if
- Fits if you're a clinic or practice that needs a signed BAA and encrypted forms
- Works for a small office that wants email and forms in one place
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need forms, as Basic has none and Essentials includes 3
- Watch out: the figures are for the Healthcare plans, and Small Business, Law and Personal plans have their own prices
- Watch out: done-for-you form building costs $25 per form
- Watch out: the page offers monthly, yearly and 2-year terms, and the listing's billing term isn't shown
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFastmailGood | 2.2GPAHushmailFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CHealthcare Basic is $11.99 an account a month, between the category's middle of $7 and its dearer quarter at $14. Forms sit on dearer plans at $14.99 and $17.99. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CA 14-day free trial on each plan, and no free plan. The listing doesn't say whether a card is needed. |
| Features | 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. | CEncrypted email, secure forms, e-signatures, your own domain and aliases, and done-for-you forms. Gaps: forms aren't in Healthcare Basic and Essentials has only 3. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo store rating on record. A web service where you set up your domain, forms and templates. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb and an iOS app, with Outlook and Squarespace connections. No desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | paid private email on your own domain | encrypted email for healthcare and law offices |
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: Fastmail and Hushmail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Fastmail starts at $3 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hushmail starts at $11.99 a month and scores 2.3.
Fastmail scores higher and starts $8.99 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Fastmail for less, and 25 score higher than Hushmail 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
- Fastmail also covers calendar.
- Hushmail also covers templates and forms.
At a glance
| Fastmail | Hushmail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly | $11.99 per account / month |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial on each plan |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fastmail Pty Ltd | Hushmail |
| Price read from | fastmail.com | hushmail.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Hushmail
- The plans shown are the Healthcare ones; Small Business, Law and Personal plans have their own prices on the same page.
- The page offers monthly, yearly (1 month free) and 2-year (3 months free) terms; the figures read above were the default view.
- Forms are not in Healthcare Basic, and Essentials includes only 3.
- Done-for-you form building costs $25 per form.
Key features
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.
Hushmail
- Encrypted email
- A toggle encrypts a message, and recipients can open it with a Google, Apple or Microsoft account and send secure replies.
- Secure forms and e-signatures
- Essentials and Growth include encrypted web forms, questionnaires such as the PHQ-9, and single-party e-signatures.
- Compliance claims
- The vendor says every healthcare plan covers HIPAA with a signed Business Associate Agreement, and lists Canadian and GDPR terms.
- Own domain and aliases
- Accounts can use a @hushmail.com address or your own domain, with unlimited aliases and use in mail apps like Outlook.
- Done-for-you forms
- Customer care builds a secure web form on request for $25 per form.
Plans
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.
Hushmail
Healthcare Basic$11.99
per account / month, billing term not shown
HIPAA-compliant encrypted email, a signed BAA and email archive. Does not include forms.
Healthcare Essentials$14.99
per account / month, billing term not shown
Adds 3 forms, e-signatures, email templates and scheduling.
Healthcare Growth$17.99
per account / month, billing term not shown
25 forms, custom branding, an additional security package and priority email support.
Ways to pay less
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.
Hushmail
- Annual discount
1 month free on yearly billing
The pricing page tags yearly billing with 1 month free and billing every 2 years with 3 months free.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fastmail or Hushmail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly, and Hushmail starts at $11.99 per account / month. 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, Fastmail or Hushmail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Fastmail nor Hushmail has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Fastmail and Hushmail run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Fastmail lists macOS, Windows, Linux and Android apps. Both list a web app and an iOS 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.