Fastmail vs Purelymail (2026): which should you pick?

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 Purelymail if

• Fits if you have a few domains and want one low flat fee for all of them
• Works for people who just want plain mailboxes

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you send marketing mail or newsletters, as the terms ban it and accounts may be removed without refund
• Tight if you send a lot, as sending is capped at about 3,000 external messages a day, and less on trials
• Watch out: there's no 24/7 support staff
• Watch out: some small mail servers may block its mail for a day or two

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.

Purelymail

• Marketing mail, mailing lists, spam and domain warm-up are banned by the terms, and accounts breaking them may be removed without refund.
• Sending is limited to roughly 3,000 external messages a day, and trial accounts have much lower sending limits.
• The vendor says it has no 24/7 support staff and that some small mail servers may block its mail for a day or two.
• It lists automatic alias generation as not yet supported, and says its own interface is not always intuitive.

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.

Purelymail

Unlimited custom domains and users

Any number of users on any number of your own domains at no extra charge, with routing rules and catch-alls.

Standard mail access

IMAP with IDLE, POP3 and SMTP work with third-party apps, and Roundcube webmail is provided.

Filters and spam control

Sieve filters or webmail rules, with SpamAssassin spam filtering that can learn.

Calendar, contacts and files over DAV

CalDAV, CardDAV and WebDAV give basic calendar, contact and file sync.

Encryption and 2FA

Mail is encrypted at rest, and you can set the account so the vendor cannot read it without your password. Two-factor sign-in is supported.

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.

Purelymail

• Simple pricing$10

  per year, for all users and domains on the account

  One flat fee with no hard limits on users, custom domains or storage; heavy use may be moved to advanced pricing.

• Advanced pricing$10

  one-time credit purchase at sign-up, then used as you go

  Pay per resource: $4 a year account fee, $0.56 per GB of storage a year, $0.23 per 1,000 emails sent externally.

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.

Purelymail

No public discounts listed.