Fastmail vs mailbox

Fastmail

• People leaving free, ad-funded email for a paid private service
• Using your own domain for personal or family addresses
• Small businesses that want email without a full office suite

mailbox

• People who want paid, ad-free email hosted in Germany
• PGP or S/MIME users who want encryption inside webmail
• Families: up to 10 mailboxes can share calendars, contacts and Drive storage
• Small businesses wanting mail, files and video calls from one European provider

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.

mailbox

• There is no free plan; any plan can be tried free for 30 days.
• The €1 Light plan is paid a year in advance and has 2 GB of mail storage, no Drive storage and support limited to contract questions.
• There are no mailbox apps of its own for mail: it runs in the browser or in other mail apps, and file sync on phones uses the separate OX Drive app.
• Prices are in euros. Private prices include VAT, business prices are net, and the business calculator adds a service package from €25 a month.

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.

mailbox

Webmail with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP

Mail is read in the browser or in any mail app over IMAP, POP3 and SMTP. Standard and Premium add a tabbed inbox, email statistics and collection from external POP3 accounts.

PGP and S/MIME encryption

The Guard feature handles PGP and S/MIME inside webmail, and incoming mail can be kept in a PGP-encrypted inbox. Mailvelope and mailbox's own PGP key server are supported on every plan.

Aliases and custom domains

Light includes 3 @mailbox.org aliases, Standard and Premium 25. The two higher plans add custom domains with 50 or 250 aliases and 25 or 50 disposable addresses.

Drive cloud storage

10 GB on Standard and 100 GB on Premium, expandable for a fee, with password-protected download links that expire, WebDAV access and optional encryption with your own PGP key.

Office, calendar and contacts

Text documents, spreadsheets and presentations are edited in the browser on Standard and Premium. Calendar, contacts and tasks are on every plan and sync over CalDAV and CardDAV.

Meet video conferencing

Browser-based video meetings with breakout rooms, screen sharing, chat and surveys. Guests join from an invitation link without an account or an install.

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.

mailbox

• Light€1

  per month, annual payment only (€12 a year)

  2 GB of mail storage, 3 @mailbox.org aliases, calendar and address book. Support covers contract, credit balance and password reset questions only.

• Standard€3

  per month, paid annually (€36); €4 paid monthly

  20 GB of mail and 10 GB of Drive storage, 25 aliases, custom domains with 50 aliases, online document editing and family accounts.

• Premium€9

  per month, paid annually (€108); €12 paid monthly

  50 GB of mail and 100 GB of Drive storage, custom domains with 250 aliases, replies within 24 hours on business days and a phone callback service.

• Business€1 to €12

  per user / month, net, plus a service package

  Business Light, Standard and Premium accounts at €1, €4 and €12 a user, with a service package: Silver €25, Gold €75 or Platinum €250 a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For large companies with advanced requirements, quoted on request.

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.

mailbox

• Annual discount

  Save 25% when paying annually

  Standard costs €3 a month when paid annually (€36) against €4 paid monthly, and Premium €9 a month (€108) against €12. The prices page labels both as a 25% saving.