Fastmail vs Runbox (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fastmail grades higher than Runbox: 2.8 against 2.4 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 features and platforms. Runbox grades higher on value for money. 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
Runbox
Norwegian paid email hosting with custom domains and no ads
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 Runbox if
- Fits if you want a paid inbox on your own domain at under €20 a year
- Works for people who want mail kept in Norway and read through ordinary mail apps
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, because after 30 days it is €19.95 a year at the least
- Tight if you send in volume: 500 outgoing and 5,000 incoming messages a day on every plan
- Tight if you need space, as Micro is 2 GB of mail and 1 domain
- Watch out: prices are in euros, billed per year or per 3 years, with no monthly option
- Watch out: the homepage quotes a dollar price that does not match the pricing page
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAFastmailGood | 2.4GPARunboxFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | AMicro is €19.95 a year, about €1.66 a month, under 60% of the $3.99 the cheaper quarter of email tools starts at. Larger plans climb to €179.95 a year, and there is no monthly billing. |
| 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. | CNo free plan. You get a 30-day trial with no card needed, then it is €19.95 a year at the least. |
| 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. | COwn domains and aliases, open protocols, filters and folders. Every plan has daily limits of 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages, and Micro holds 2 GB. |
| 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. You point a domain at it and set up addresses and aliases, so there is some setting up before it works. |
| 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 on the listing, with standard mail protocols for other mail apps. No apps and no integrations are named. |
| Best for | paid private email on your own domain | paid email on your own domain |
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 Runbox. 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. Runbox starts at about $1.86 a month and scores 2.0.
Fastmail scores higher, and starts $1.14 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 13 score higher than Runbox 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 | Runbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly | €19.95 per year (€49.95 for 3 years) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fastmail Pty Ltd | Runbox |
| Price read from | fastmail.com | runbox.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.
Runbox
- Prices are listed in euros and billed per year or per 3 years; there is no monthly billing.
- There is no free plan; the first 30 days are a trial.
- Daily limits of 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages apply on every plan.
- The homepage quotes a dollar price that does not match the euro prices on the pricing page.
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.
Runbox
- Own domains and aliases
- Each plan includes 100 aliases on Runbox domains and unlimited aliases on your own domains, with 1 to 100 domains depending on the plan.
- Open protocols
- Mail can be used through the web app or any client over POP, IMAP and SMTP, with contacts and calendar over CardDAV and CalDAV.
- Limits on every plan
- Messages up to 100 MB, 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages a day on all plans, with two-factor authentication.
- Norwegian hosting
- Data is hosted in Norway under Norwegian privacy rules, on servers the company says run on hydropower.
- Filters and folders
- Messages can be consolidated from other accounts and filtered, and a calendar and contacts are included.
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.
Runbox
Micro€19.95
per year (€49.95 billed every 3 years)
2 GB email storage, 200 MB file storage and 1 email domain.
Mini€34.95
per year (€84.95 billed every 3 years)
10 GB email storage, 1 GB file storage and 5 email domains.
Medium€49.95
per year (€119.95 billed every 3 years)
25 GB email storage, 2 GB file storage and 10 email domains.
Max€79.95
per year (€189.95 billed every 3 years)
50 GB email storage, 5 GB file storage and 25 email domains.
Max100€119.95
per year (€284.95 billed every 3 years)
100 GB email storage, 10 GB file storage and 50 email domains.
Max250€179.95
per year (€424.95 billed every 3 years)
250 GB email storage, 25 GB file storage and 100 email domains.
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.
Runbox
- Annual discount
3-year plans cost less per year
Paying for 3 years at once costs less than three single years: for Micro €49.95 instead of €59.85 and for Max €189.95 instead of €239.85.
- Other savings
60-day money-back guarantee
The homepage lists a 60-day full money-back guarantee on paid plans.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Fastmail or Runbox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly, and Runbox starts at €19.95 per year (€49.95 for 3 years). 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 Runbox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Fastmail nor Runbox has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Fastmail and Runbox 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.