Fastmail vs MXroute (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fastmail grades higher than MXroute: 2.8 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Fastmail 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.
Fastmail
Paid, ad-free email with calendar, contacts and custom domains
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 MXroute if
- Fits if you run several domains and want one pool of storage
- Works for small agencies that resell mail
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try it free, as there's no free plan or trial
- Skip it if you're new to email, since the vendor expects you to know the basics
- Tight if you send in bulk, as each account is limited to 400 emails an hour
- Watch out: Small is 10 GB in total, shared across every account
- Watch out: monthly billing is only for the large tiers, from 300 GB at $20 a month
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFastmailGood | 1.6GPAMXrouteWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C$59 a year is about $4.92 a month, between the cheaper quarter and the middle of what email services charge. |
| 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. | FNo free plan or trial is listed on the page we read. |
| 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. | CUnlimited domains and accounts, its own webmail with calendar and contacts, spam filtering and reseller plans. Storage is shared and each account sends at most 400 an hour. |
| 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. The vendor expects you to know email basics, and support answers by ticket. |
| 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. | CA web service with its own webmail and standard protocols. No apps and no integrations listed. |
| Best for | paid private email on your own domain | mail hosting with unlimited domains and accounts |
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 MXroute. 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. MXroute starts at $4.92 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Fastmail scores higher and starts $1.92 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Fastmail for less, and 40 score higher than MXroute 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
At a glance
| Fastmail | MXroute | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly | $59 per year |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fastmail Pty Ltd | MXroute LLC |
| Price read from | fastmail.com | mxroute.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
MXroute
- Storage is shared across all accounts on the plan, and the Small tier is 10 GB in total.
- Each account is limited to 400 emails an hour.
- The vendor says it expects customers to know email basics and answers support by ticket.
- Monthly billing is listed only for some large tiers, from 300 GB at $20 a month; smaller plans are billed annually.
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.
MXroute
- Unlimited domains and accounts
- Every plan covers any number of domains and mailboxes, so the price follows storage, not seats.
- Standard protocols
- SMTP, IMAP and POP3, with plus addressing, forwarding, aliases and Sieve filters.
- Own webmail with calendar and contacts
- A browser mail client built by MXroute, with contacts and a calendar in its sidebar.
- Spam filtering
- Custom SpamAssassin rules built from log audits, plus a ruleset that blocks messages before delivery.
- Reseller plans
- A white-label control panel lets you resell mailboxes under your own branding and pricing.
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.
MXroute
Small$59
per year, for 10 GB of storage
10 GB total storage, unlimited domains and email accounts, 400 emails an hour per account.
Medium$69
per year, for 25 GB of storage
25 GB total storage with the same unlimited domains and accounts.
Large$79
per year, for 50 GB of storage
50 GB total storage. Larger storage tiers run from 100 GB at $100 a year up to 1 TB at $550 a year.
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.
MXroute
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fastmail or MXroute?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly, and MXroute starts at $59 per year. 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 MXroute?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Fastmail nor MXroute has a free plan. Fastmail has a free trial.
Which platforms do Fastmail and MXroute run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Fastmail lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web 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.