Fastmail vs Roundcube (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fastmail grades higher than Roundcube: 2.8 against 2.0 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, ease of use and platforms. Roundcube grades higher on the free plan.
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 Roundcube if
- Fits if you run your own mail server and want a webmail screen for it
- Works for hosting companies and admins who give users webmail
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a mailbox, because it only reads mail from your own IMAP and SMTP servers
- Not for you if you do not run a server, since you install and update it yourself
- Tight if you want a calendar or two-factor sign-in without plugins, as both are third-party
- Watch out: the site warns about scam emails that pretend to come from Roundcube
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFastmailGood | 2.0GPARoundcubeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CThe software costs nothing, but it is only free if you host it, which needs a server, PHP 8.1 or newer and a database. Software you host yourself is graded C. |
| 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. | BThe whole application is free with no user or message limit. You still pay for the server and mail service it runs on, so it is not free to a person with nothing. |
| 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. | CA mail client with an address book, shared folders, plugins and skins. It provides no mailbox, and calendar, two-factor sign-in and keyboard shortcuts come from third-party plugins. |
| 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. | DSelf-hosting, with a web server and database to set up and keep updated. No store rating on record. |
| 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. | CWeb only, in over 80 languages, with a responsive skin. Nextcloud is the only integration listed. |
| Best for | paid private email on your own domain | webmail you host yourself |
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 Roundcube. 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. Roundcube has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
Fastmail scores higher, and starts $3 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Fastmail for less, and none scores higher than Roundcube 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
- Roundcube is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Fastmail also covers calendar.
At a glance
| Fastmail | Roundcube | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly | Free |
| Free plan | None | The whole application is free, with no limit on users or messages, but you host it yourself. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fastmail Pty Ltd | Roundcube project |
| Price read from | fastmail.com | roundcube.net |
| 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.
Roundcube
- It is a client only: it needs your own IMAP and SMTP servers and does not provide a mailbox.
- You install and update it yourself on a web server with PHP 8.1 or newer and a database.
- The site posts a warning about scam emails that pretend to come from Roundcube.
- Calendar, two-factor authentication and other extras come from third-party plugins.
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.
Roundcube
- Full email client in the browser
- Drag-and-drop message management, threaded lists, MIME and HTML mail, spell checking and multiple sender identities.
- Address book
- Contacts with groups, find-as-you-type address entry and LDAP connectors.
- Shared folders and ACLs
- Supports shared and global IMAP folders and access control lists for them.
- Plugins and skins
- A plugin API and skin templates. Third-party additions listed include a calendar module, two-factor authentication and keyboard shortcuts.
- Security features
- Brute-force login prevention, XSS protection, OAuth login and support for PGP encryption.
- Multi-device interface
- A responsive skin, light and dark modes, three-column view and a translation into over 80 languages.
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.
Roundcube
Roundcube Webmail$0
Free under the GPL with unlimited users and messages; you supply the web server, database and mail servers.
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.
Roundcube
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fastmail or Roundcube?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Roundcube is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $3 a month for each person for Fastmail. Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly, and Roundcube is free.
Which has a free plan, Fastmail or Roundcube?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Roundcube has a free plan. Fastmail does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Fastmail and Roundcube run on?
As of Nov 12, 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.