Fastmail vs Zoho Mail
We give Fastmail a 3.2 GPA and Zoho Mail a 3.6, out of 4.0. Zoho Mail grades higher on the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
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
Zoho Mail
Ad-free business email hosting with calendar, tasks and notes
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAFastmailVery good | 3.6GPAZoho MailExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIndividual is $5 a month billed yearly, or $6 monthly, well under what paid email usually starts at, with 60 GB, custom domains and Masked Email in the price. Family covers up to 6 people for $11. The $3 Basic business plan is thinner: 6 GB and no custom domains. | AMail Lite is $1 a person a month for email on your own domain. Google Workspace starts at $7. Even Workplace Standard, with the office apps and chat thrown in, is $3. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan. There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, which is a decent stretch to look around. After that every account is paid, and Fastmail doesn't refund unused subscription time. | BFree for up to 5 people on one domain, with 5 GB each, which is rare. But there's no IMAP or POP, so no Apple Mail or Outlook, and Zoho only offers it in some data centres. |
| Features | ACustom domains with hundreds of extra addresses, Masked Email for sign-up forms, snooze, Scheduled Send, a calendar and contacts. It speaks IMAP, POP, CalDAV and CardDAV, so other apps work with it, and an import tool brings your mail, calendars and contacts over from another provider. | AEmail on your domain plus a calendar, tasks, notes, shared drafts and comment threads on emails. Zia, the AI helper, is on every paid plan. Only the compliance tools need Mail Premium. |
| Ease of use | C3.8 from about 580 App Store ratings, well short of most mail apps. That's the iPhone and iPad app, mind, not the whole service. The import tool should take some of the pain out of moving in. | B4.6 from about 8,000 App Store ratings, a notch under Gmail's and Outlook's apps. You have to point your domain at Zoho before any mail turns up, and some reviewers find the settings fiddly. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, with offline support. It works in Apple Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird, plugs into 1Password and Dropbox, and has an API. That's about as open as email gets. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. Paid plans also work in Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird over IMAP. It plugs into Zoho CRM and Projects, and there's Zapier and an API. |
| Best for | paid private email on your own domain | cheap 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 Zoho Mail. How we grade
Where they differ
- Fastmail starts at $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly. Zoho Mail starts at $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB).
- Zoho Mail has a free plan. Fastmail does not, though it has a free trial.
- Zoho Mail also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Fastmail | Zoho Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $3 per user / month, billed yearly (Basic); Individual is $5, billed yearly | $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB) |
| Free plan | None | Forever Free Plan: email hosting for one domain and up to 5 users, with 5 GB of mail storage each. IMAP, POP and ActiveSync are not included, and it is available only in select data centers. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 15-day free trial of the highest edition, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Fastmail Pty Ltd | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | fastmail.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Zoho Mail
- Small businesses that want low-cost email on their own domain
- Teams that already use other Zoho apps such as CRM or Projects
- Organizations that want to choose the country their mail is stored in
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.
Zoho Mail
- The free plan covers one domain and 5 users, has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access, and is offered only in select data centers.
- Mail Lite and Mail Premium are sold on yearly subscriptions only. Monthly billing exists only for the Workplace plans.
- Email retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME are limited to Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.
- Zoho states 24x7 support by email, phone and live chat for paid plans, and guided migration by a dedicated agent only for companies with more than 50 users.
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.
Zoho Mail
- Email on your own domain
- Addresses at your company's domain with group addresses and email and domain aliases. SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI are built in.
- Calendar, tasks, notes and bookmarks
- A calendar, contacts, ToDo, notes and bookmarks sit inside the mailbox, so events and tasks are handled in the same window as mail.
- Streams and shared drafts
- Streams lets a team comment, assign tasks and post announcements around email. Drafts, single emails and whole folders can be shared for review or delegation.
- Zia AI assistant
- Zia drafts replies and summarizes long threads, and Zoho Mail can be connected to AI apps through Zoho Mail MCP.
- Admin console and compliance
- Role-based access, security policies, audit logs and two-factor authentication for admins. Retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME come with Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.
- Migration tools
- A free automated tool moves email, contacts and calendars from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or any IMAP provider, with migration specialists available at no extra charge.
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.
Zoho Mail
Forever Free$0
One domain and up to 5 users with 5 GB of mail storage each. No IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access; offered only in select data centers.
Mail Lite$1
per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)
Custom-domain email with 5 GB of mail storage per user, or 10 GB for $1.25, plus calendar and tasks. No file storage.
Workplace Standard$3
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
30 GB of mail storage per user plus WorkDrive, the office apps, Cliq, Meeting and Vault. File storage starts at 100 GB per team.
Mail Premium$4
per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)
50 GB of mail storage and 50 GB of retention storage per user, with email retention and eDiscovery, S/MIME and mobile access management.
Workplace Professional$6
per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
100 GB of mail and 100 GB of retention storage per user, 1 TB of team file storage, the Premium compliance tools and Zoho Connect.
Workplace EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits across the Workplace products, with Active Directory cloud sync and endpoint controls. Priced through Zoho sales.
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.
Zoho Mail
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
Zoho's pricing FAQ cites a discount of roughly 20% for annual billing. Workplace Standard is $3 per user / month billed annually against $4 monthly, and Workplace Professional $6 against $7.
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for nonprofits
The pricing FAQ says non-profit and charitable organizations get special pricing, arranged by contacting Zoho sales.
