mailbox vs Migadu (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, mailbox grades higher than Migadu: 2.6 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
mailbox grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
mailbox
Paid, ad-free email with cloud storage and office tools from Germany
Migadu
Swiss email hosting with unlimited addresses at a flat price
Which one is for you
Pick mailbox if
- Fits if you want paid, ad-free email with servers in Germany
- Works for families, as up to 10 mailboxes can share calendars, contacts and Drive storage
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free mailbox, because all you get free is a 30-day trial
- Tight if you pick Light, with 2 GB of mail storage, no Drive storage and support for contract questions only
- Not for you if you want the provider's own phone app, as mail runs in the browser or in other mail apps
- Watch out: Light must be paid a year in advance, and prices are in euros
- Pricey if you're a business, as the calculator adds a service package from €25 a month on top of each user
Pick Migadu if
- Fits if you own a domain and want many addresses without per-mailbox prices
- Works for people who are comfortable setting up DNS records
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need 2FA on mailboxes or encryption, as its own page says it has neither
- Skip it if you want phone or chat support, as it offers neither
- Tight if you send in volume: daily limits apply, and it says it's meant for human email, not bulk
- Watch out: Micro lacks mailbox limit settings, welcome messages and multi-administrator access
- Watch out: the interface is English only
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAmailboxGood | 2.2GPAMigaduFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ALight is €1 a month, paid as €12 a year, and Standard with 20 GB, custom domains, Drive storage and the office suite is €3 a month paid annually. Against an $8 middle for this category, that's under almost everything here. Prices are in euros, and Light is 2 GB with support for contract questions only. | BMicro is $19 a year, about $1.58 a month, but it's limited to 200 incoming and 20 outgoing messages a day. Mini at $9 a month is where limits loosen. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, since the service carries no advertising. Any plan can be tried free for 30 days, and nothing on record says whether the trial asks for payment details. | CA free trial with no card, though the listing doesn't state its length. No free plan. Refunds are 100% within 14 days. |
| Features | BWebmail over IMAP, POP3 and SMTP, PGP and S/MIME handled inside the webmail, aliases, and calendar, contacts and tasks on every plan, with Drive storage, a browser office suite and video meetings on the higher ones. The mail job is covered. | CUnlimited addresses and domains, standard protocols, setup help and forwarding. Gaps its own page lists: no 2FA on mailboxes, no encryption, a basic calendar and an English-only interface. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Webmail opens in any browser, but there's no app to install, so using your own mail app means setting up IMAP yourself, and on Light support only answers contract, credit balance and password questions. | CNo store rating on record. You point your domain's DNS at it and use standard mail apps, with no first-party apps. |
| Platforms and integrations | CThe browser is the only place mailbox has an app of its own. It speaks IMAP, POP3, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV, so other mail apps can connect, but the integrations on record are just Mailvelope and OX Drive, which is what phones use for files. | CWeb only on the listing, plus standard IMAP clients. No phone or desktop app of its own, and no integrations listed. |
| Best for | paid, ad-free email hosted in Germany | unlimited addresses 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: mailbox and Migadu. How we grade
Price against what you get
mailbox starts at about $1.12 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Migadu starts at $1.58 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
mailbox scores higher and starts $0.46 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 5 score higher than mailbox for less, and 11 score higher than Migadu 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
- mailbox is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- mailbox also covers tasks, documents, video calls and file sync.
At a glance
| mailbox | Migadu | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | €1 per month, annual payment only (€12 a year, Light) | $19 per year (Micro, no monthly option) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of any plan | Free trial, no credit card required; length not stated |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Heinlein Hosting GmbH | Migadu |
| Price read from | mailbox.org | migadu.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
mailbox
- There is no free plan; any plan can be tried free for 30 days.
- The €1 Light plan is paid a year in advance and has 2 GB of mail storage, no Drive storage and support limited to contract questions.
- There are no mailbox apps of its own for mail: it runs in the browser or in other mail apps, and file sync on phones uses the separate OX Drive app.
- Prices are in euros. Private prices include VAT, business prices are net, and the business calculator adds a service package from €25 a month.
Migadu
- Its own drawbacks page lists no 2FA on mailboxes, no encryption, basic calendar, English-only interface and no phone or chat support.
- Daily incoming and outgoing limits apply per plan, and Migadu says it is meant for human email use, not bulk sending.
- The Micro plan lacks mailbox limit settings, welcome messages and multi-administrator access.
- Refunds are 100% within 14 days, though extensive use may be deducted.
Key features
mailbox
- Webmail with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP
- Mail is read in the browser or in any mail app over IMAP, POP3 and SMTP. Standard and Premium add a tabbed inbox, email statistics and collection from external POP3 accounts.
- PGP and S/MIME encryption
- The Guard feature handles PGP and S/MIME inside webmail, and incoming mail can be kept in a PGP-encrypted inbox. Mailvelope and mailbox's own PGP key server are supported on every plan.
- Aliases and custom domains
- Light includes 3 @mailbox.org aliases, Standard and Premium 25. The two higher plans add custom domains with 50 or 250 aliases and 25 or 50 disposable addresses.
- Drive cloud storage
- 10 GB on Standard and 100 GB on Premium, expandable for a fee, with password-protected download links that expire, WebDAV access and optional encryption with your own PGP key.
- Office, calendar and contacts
- Text documents, spreadsheets and presentations are edited in the browser on Standard and Premium. Calendar, contacts and tasks are on every plan and sync over CalDAV and CardDAV.
- Meet video conferencing
- Browser-based video meetings with breakout rooms, screen sharing, chat and surveys. Guests join from an invitation link without an account or an install.
Migadu
- Unlimited addresses and domains
- Plans are flat per account; extra mailboxes, addresses and domains cost nothing, and usage across them counts toward one quota.
- Standard protocols
- Webmail, SMTP, IMAP4 and POP3, with no proprietary protocols or clients, so any current mail client works.
- Setup help
- Migadu says it can set up your DNS for email for you at no extra fee, and includes a built-in DNS service.
- Soft storage limits
- Storage allowances are soft, so mail does not bounce for a full mailbox; daily message limits are enforced.
- Forwarding and auto-responders
- Messages can be forwarded to up to 25 other addresses, and an auto-responder handles absences.
Plans
mailbox
Light€1
per month, annual payment only (€12 a year)
2 GB of mail storage, 3 @mailbox.org aliases, calendar and address book. Support covers contract, credit balance and password reset questions only.
Standard€3
per month, paid annually (€36); €4 paid monthly
20 GB of mail and 10 GB of Drive storage, 25 aliases, custom domains with 50 aliases, online document editing and family accounts.
Premium€9
per month, paid annually (€108); €12 paid monthly
50 GB of mail and 100 GB of Drive storage, custom domains with 250 aliases, replies within 24 hours on business days and a phone callback service.
Business€1 to €12
per user / month, net, plus a service package
Business Light, Standard and Premium accounts at €1, €4 and €12 a user, with a service package: Silver €25, Gold €75 or Platinum €250 a month.
EnterpriseCustom
For large companies with advanced requirements, quoted on request.
Migadu
Micro$19
per year, no monthly option
5 GB, 200 incoming and 20 outgoing messages a day, with some features unavailable.
Mini$9
per month, flat per account
30 GB, 1,000 incoming and 100 outgoing messages a day, best-effort support.
Standard$29
per month, flat per account
100 GB, 3,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages a day, with office-hours support.
Maxi$99
per month, flat per account
500 GB, 10,000 incoming and 2,000 outgoing messages a day, with 24x7 priority support.
Ways to pay less
mailbox
- Annual discount
Save 25% when paying annually
Standard costs €3 a month when paid annually (€36) against €4 paid monthly, and Premium €9 a month (€108) against €12. The prices page labels both as a 25% saving.
Migadu
- Annual discount
Yearly plans save at least a month
Mini, Standard and Maxi cost $90, $290 and $990 per year, which the pricing FAQ says saves at least one month against monthly billing.
- Nonprofit
Discounts for non-profits and students
The pricing FAQ says non-profits get a significant discount on request, and students do too with a valid student ID.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, mailbox or Migadu?
As of Nov 12, 2026, mailbox is cheaper to start with: about $1.12 a month, against $1.58 a month when paid by the year for Migadu. mailbox starts at €1 per month, annual payment only (€12 a year, Light), and Migadu starts at $19 per year (Micro, no monthly option).
Which has a free plan, mailbox or Migadu?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither mailbox nor Migadu has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
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.