mailbox vs MXroute (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, mailbox grades higher than MXroute: 2.6 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
mailbox grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on 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
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 MXroute if
- Fits if you run several domains and want one pool of storage
- Works for small agencies that resell mail
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try it free, as there's no free plan or trial
- Skip it if you're new to email, since the vendor expects you to know the basics
- Tight if you send in bulk, as each account is limited to 400 emails an hour
- Watch out: Small is 10 GB in total, shared across every account
- Watch out: monthly billing is only for the large tiers, from 300 GB at $20 a month
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAmailboxGood | 1.6GPAMXrouteWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | C$59 a year is about $4.92 a month, between the cheaper quarter and the middle of what email services charge. |
| 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. | FNo free plan or trial is listed on the page we read. |
| 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 domains and accounts, its own webmail with calendar and contacts, spam filtering and reseller plans. Storage is shared and each account sends at most 400 an hour. |
| 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. The vendor expects you to know email basics, and support answers by ticket. |
| 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. | CA web service with its own webmail and standard protocols. No apps and no integrations listed. |
| Best for | paid, ad-free email hosted in Germany | mail hosting with unlimited domains and accounts |
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 MXroute. 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. MXroute starts at $4.92 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
mailbox scores higher and starts $3.80 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 6 score higher than mailbox for less, and 40 score higher than MXroute 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 | MXroute | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | €1 per month, annual payment only (€12 a year, Light) | $59 per year |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of any plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Heinlein Hosting GmbH | MXroute LLC |
| Price read from | mailbox.org | mxroute.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 13, 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.
MXroute
- Storage is shared across all accounts on the plan, and the Small tier is 10 GB in total.
- Each account is limited to 400 emails an hour.
- The vendor says it expects customers to know email basics and answers support by ticket.
- Monthly billing is listed only for some large tiers, from 300 GB at $20 a month; smaller plans are billed annually.
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.
MXroute
- Unlimited domains and accounts
- Every plan covers any number of domains and mailboxes, so the price follows storage, not seats.
- Standard protocols
- SMTP, IMAP and POP3, with plus addressing, forwarding, aliases and Sieve filters.
- Own webmail with calendar and contacts
- A browser mail client built by MXroute, with contacts and a calendar in its sidebar.
- Spam filtering
- Custom SpamAssassin rules built from log audits, plus a ruleset that blocks messages before delivery.
- Reseller plans
- A white-label control panel lets you resell mailboxes under your own branding and pricing.
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.
MXroute
Small$59
per year, for 10 GB of storage
10 GB total storage, unlimited domains and email accounts, 400 emails an hour per account.
Medium$69
per year, for 25 GB of storage
25 GB total storage with the same unlimited domains and accounts.
Large$79
per year, for 50 GB of storage
50 GB total storage. Larger storage tiers run from 100 GB at $100 a year up to 1 TB at $550 a year.
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.
MXroute
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, mailbox or MXroute?
As of Nov 13, 2026, mailbox is cheaper to start with: about $1.12 a month, against $4.92 a month when paid by the year for MXroute. mailbox starts at €1 per month, annual payment only (€12 a year, Light), and MXroute starts at $59 per year.
Which has a free plan, mailbox or MXroute?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither mailbox nor MXroute has a free plan. mailbox has 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.