Fastmail vs StartMail

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

StartMail

• People who want a paid, ad-free mailbox hosted in the Netherlands
• Using a separate alias for every sign-up to limit spam
• Sending encrypted mail to people who do not use PGP themselves

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.

StartMail

• There is no free plan, and the 7-day trial asks for a credit card or PayPal account at sign-up.
• The only app is for Android; the iOS app is listed as coming soon. Elsewhere it runs in the browser or in other mail apps over IMAP.
• Personal accounts are limited to one custom domain; unlimited domains and shared aliases need the Business plan.
• The feature list covers email and contacts only and does not mention a calendar or file storage.

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.

StartMail

Unlimited aliases

Extra addresses can be created and deleted at any time, on the StartMail domain or your own, and one-click burner aliases disappear on their own after an hour.

PGP encryption

One click encrypts a message with PGP or adds a PGP signature, and an IMAP mail client can be set up for end-to-end encryption with OpenPGP.

Password-protected email

Encrypted messages can be sent to people who do not use encryption: the recipient reads and answers them with a password you set.

Tracking and phishing protection

External images are hidden by default to block tracking pixels, a warning shows the full address before an external link opens, and your IP address is kept out of sent mail.

Custom domains and group subscriptions

Personal accounts can use one custom domain and Business accounts any number. Extra accounts for family or team members are 25% off, and Business groups can share aliases.

IMAP access and migration

Full IMAP and SMTP access for Thunderbird, Outlook, Apple Mail and similar apps, plus a migration tool that imports email and contacts from other providers.

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.

StartMail

• Personal$4.99

  per month, billed annually ($59.88); $6.99 billed monthly

  An address on the StartMail domain or one custom domain, unlimited aliases and 20 GB of storage. Annual plans can be paid in Bitcoin.

• Business$6.99

  per month, billed annually ($83.88); $8.99 billed monthly

  An address on your own domain, unlimited domains, 30 GB of storage and shared aliases on a custom domain within a group subscription.

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.

StartMail

• Annual discount

  Save $24 a year with annual billing

  Personal costs $59.88 a year ($4.99 a month) against $6.99 a month when billed monthly, and Business $83.88 a year against $8.99 a month. The pricing page puts the saving at $24.

• Other savings

  25% off additional accounts

  Any number of extra accounts for family members or colleagues can be added to a subscription as a group, each at 25% off the regular rate.