GMX Mail vs Zoho Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, GMX Mail and Zoho Mail share a 3.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and GMX Mail has no paid plan to buy, against $1 a month for each person for Zoho Mail.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
GMX Mail grades higher on the free plan. Zoho Mail grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zoho Mail
Ad-free business email hosting with calendar, tasks and notes
Which one is for you
Pick GMX Mail if
- Fits if you want a free second mailbox with lots of storage
- Works for people who want aliases and PGP encryption without paying
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: signup asks for your gender, date of birth and a recovery phone or email, and ends with a captcha
- Skip it if you want a custom domain, as the pages read don't mention one
- Not for you if you want a desktop email app, as only Android, iOS and iPadOS apps are listed
- Watch out: the pages read list no paid plan or support tier
Pick Zoho Mail if
- Fits if you run a small business and want addresses on your own domain for $1 a person a month
- Works for teams already on Zoho CRM or Projects, which plug into the inbox
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you just want a free personal inbox, because Gmail and Outlook need no domain and no setup
- Not for you if you want Apple Mail or Outlook on the free plan, which has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync and isn't in every data centre
- Tight if you never delete anything, as Mail Lite gives each person 5 GB, or 10 GB for $1.25
- Watch out: Mail Lite and Mail Premium are yearly only, and retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME start at $4 a person
- Watch out: the phone app gets reports of missing emails and a delete button that misbehaves
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAGMX MailVery good | 3.2GPAZoho MailVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, with 65GB of storage, 50MB attachments and up to 10 aliases. The pages read list no paid plan. | AMail Lite is $1 a person a month, billed yearly, where the low quarter of this category starts at $4 and the middle is $8. Even Workplace Standard, with the office apps and chat in it, is $3. Mail Lite has no monthly option, though. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no paid plan on the pages read. | CFree for up to 5 people on one domain, which is unusual, but the walls are close: 5 GB each, no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, so no Apple Mail, Outlook or Thunderbird, and Zoho only offers the plan in some data centres, so you may not be able to get it at all. |
| Features | BMailbox and attachments, aliases, a Mail Collector, filters, spam protection, PGP encryption, an organiser, contacts and office tools. The pages show no gap in the core email work. | BMail on your domain with SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI, a calendar, tasks, notes, shared drafts, Streams for commenting on an email, an admin console and a free migration tool. Retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME sit on the $4-and-up plans. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You sign up with personal details, then set up filters and the Mail Collector yourself. | B4.6 from about 8,000 App Store ratings, a notch under Gmail's and Outlook's apps. Short of top marks because there's homework first: you point your domain at Zoho before any mail arrives, and reviewers find settings split between inbox and admin screen. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iOS, Android and browser extensions. No desktop email app is mentioned and no API is listed. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with paid plans readable in Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird over IMAP. It plugs into Zoho CRM, Projects, WorkDrive and Cliq, and there's Zapier. The free plan has no IMAP, so it's Zoho's own apps only. |
| Best for | a free mailbox with 65GB | email on your own domain from $1 a head |
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: GMX Mail and Zoho Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
GMX Mail has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Mail starts at $1 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Zoho Mail scores higher, and starts $1 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than GMX Mail for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Mail 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
- GMX Mail also covers inbox filtering.
- Zoho Mail also covers tasks.
At a glance
| GMX Mail | Zoho Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB) |
| Free plan | Free email account with 65GB of mailbox storage, 50MB attachments and up to 10 alias addresses. | 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 | None listed | 15-day free trial of the highest edition, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | gmx.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
GMX Mail
- Signup asks for gender, date of birth and a recovery phone or email, and ends with a captcha.
- The pages read list no paid plan, so features such as a custom domain are not mentioned.
- Apps are listed for Android, iOS and iPadOS only; no desktop email app is mentioned.
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
GMX Mail
- Mailbox and attachments
- 65GB of mailbox space, which the site equates to about 500,000 emails, and attachments of up to 50MB.
- Alias addresses
- Create up to 10 alias addresses and manage them from one central mailbox.
- Mail Collector
- Pull mail from accounts at other providers into one GMX inbox.
- Filters and spam protection
- Folders and filter rules, with templates provided, a spam filter and virus scanning.
- PGP encryption
- Emails can be encrypted with PGP so only the people holding the decryption key can read them.
- Organizer, contacts and office
- A calendar with reminders, an address book and an online office for Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.
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
GMX Mail
Free$0
65GB of email storage, 50MB attachments, up to 10 aliases, spam filter and virus protection.
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
GMX Mail
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GMX Mail or Zoho Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, GMX Mail is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $1 a month for each person for Zoho Mail. GMX Mail is free, and Zoho Mail starts at $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB).
Which has a free plan, GMX Mail or Zoho Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both GMX Mail and Zoho Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do GMX Mail and Zoho Mail run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only GMX Mail lists a browser extension and only Zoho Mail lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.