Fastmail vs Yahoo Mail

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

Yahoo Mail

• People who want a free address with 20 GB of storage
• Clearing out newsletters and bulk mail quickly
• Managing Gmail, Outlook and AOL accounts from one inbox

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.

Yahoo Mail

• The free plan shows ads. Removing them needs Yahoo Mail Plus at $5 per month.
• Auto-forwarding to another account is a Plus feature, and free accounts are limited to 3 temporary addresses.
• Only Plus states that the account will not expire, or its mail be deleted, after long periods of inactivity.
• The US App Store listing shows other in-app purchases with no billing period, such as a 100GB plan at $1.99 and a 1TB plan at $9.99, which the Plus page does not describe.

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.

Yahoo Mail

Primary inbox

Puts the most important messages in a Primary tab so that newsletters and promotions stay out of the way.

AI summaries and AI compose

Summarizes long emails into key points and action items, and helps write messages in a professional, casual or friendly tone.

Planner

Turns emails into tasks and events. The mobile app gathers flights, reservations and bill due dates into one view, next to an existing Gmail calendar.

One-tap unsubscribe and delete by sender

Lists mailing-list subscriptions in one place for opting out, and bulk-deletes every message from a chosen sender.

Other accounts in the same inbox

Add Gmail, Outlook, AOL and other mailboxes and manage them from Yahoo Mail, including on the free plan.

Orders and package tracking

The mobile app shows tracking numbers and delivery updates at the top of the inbox and groups receipts and orders for later lookup.

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.

Yahoo Mail

• Standard$0

  20 GB of storage with ads. Add Gmail, Outlook or AOL accounts, see all attachments in one place and unsubscribe from mailing lists in one tap.

• Plus$5

  per month

  Ad-free mail with 200 GB of storage, up to 500 temporary addresses, auto-forwarding, an account that does not expire when inactive and 24/7 account support.

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.

Yahoo Mail

• Other savings

  Up to 20% off when bundling Yahoo Plus plans

  Buy More Save More takes 10%, 15% or 20% off the subscription fee for people who hold more than one eligible Yahoo Plus subscription, such as Yahoo Finance Plus. Terms are shown at checkout.