Posteo vs Runbox (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Runbox grades higher than Posteo: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Runbox grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Runbox
Norwegian paid email hosting with custom domains and no ads
Which one is for you
Pick Posteo if
- Fits if you want an ad-free mailbox that you pay €1 a month for directly
- Works for people who'd rather sign up without a name, address or phone number
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want email at your own domain, because custom domains are not supported
- Not for you if you like to try before you pay, as there's no free plan and no trial account
- Too light for anyone who wants cloud storage with their mailbox, since Posteo offers none
- Watch out: you prepay in euros with a €12 minimum top-up, and extra storage is €0.25 per GB a month
- Tight if you want an app of its own: there's no phone or desktop app, so you set up IMAP yourself
Pick Runbox if
- Fits if you want a paid inbox on your own domain at under €20 a year
- Works for people who want mail kept in Norway and read through ordinary mail apps
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, because after 30 days it is €19.95 a year at the least
- Tight if you send in volume: 500 outgoing and 5,000 incoming messages a day on every plan
- Tight if you need space, as Micro is 2 GB of mail and 1 domain
- Watch out: prices are in euros, billed per year or per 3 years, with no monthly option
- Watch out: the homepage quotes a dollar price that does not match the pricing page
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAPosteoFair | 2.4GPARunboxFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A€1 a month, prepaid, for 4 GB of storage, 3 aliases, 3 calendars, an address book and notes, where this category's middle is $8 and its cheapest quarter starts at $4. Extra storage is €0.25 per GB a month, and the minimum top-up is €12, about a year's fees. | AMicro is €19.95 a year, about €1.66 a month, under 60% of the $3.99 the cheaper quarter of email tools starts at. Larger plans climb to €179.95 a year, and there is no monthly billing. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free. There's no free plan and no trial account, so you pay before you see the inbox. Credit is refunded in full if you cancel within the first month, but a refund isn't a trial. | CNo free plan. You get a 30-day trial with no card needed, then it is €19.95 a year at the least. |
| Features | CThe private basics: everything you store can be encrypted, PGP and S/MIME work in webmail through plug-ins, calendars and contacts sync over CalDAV and CardDAV, and login takes passkeys. The gaps are its own, though: no custom domains at all, no cloud storage, and 4 GB to start. | COwn domains and aliases, open protocols, filters and folders. Every plan has daily limits of 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages, and Micro holds 2 GB. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. One account at one price means nothing to choose and no name or address to hand over, but PGP in webmail means installing the Mailvelope plug-in, and using your own mail app means setting up IMAP yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You point a domain at it and set up addresses and aliases, so there is some setting up before it works. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWebmail and a web app, and no phone or desktop app of its own on record. It does open in Thunderbird or Outlook over IMAP and POP3, with CalDAV and CardDAV for calendars and contacts and notes that sync with Apple Notes. | CWeb only on the listing, with standard mail protocols for other mail apps. No apps and no integrations are named. |
| Best for | a private mailbox for €1 a month | paid 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: Posteo and Runbox. How we grade
Price against what you get
Posteo starts at about $1.12 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Runbox starts at about $1.86 a month and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and Posteo starts $0.74 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 10 score higher than Posteo for less, and 13 score higher than Runbox 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
- Posteo is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Posteo also covers notes.
At a glance
| Posteo | Runbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | €1 per month, prepaid (minimum top-up €12) | €19.95 per year (€49.95 for 3 years) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Posteo e.K. | Runbox |
| Price read from | posteo.de | runbox.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Posteo
- Custom domains are not supported; addresses use Posteo's own domains such as posteo.de, posteo.net or posteo.com.
- There is no free plan and no trial account, though credit is refunded in full if you cancel within the first month.
- Payment is prepaid in euros, with a minimum top-up of €12, which is about one year's fees.
- It is used through webmail and a web app or through other mail apps over IMAP or POP3, and it offers no cloud storage.
Runbox
- Prices are listed in euros and billed per year or per 3 years; there is no monthly billing.
- There is no free plan; the first 30 days are a trial.
- Daily limits of 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages apply on every plan.
- The homepage quotes a dollar price that does not match the euro prices on the pricing page.
Key features
Posteo
- One flat-priced account
- €1 a month covers email with 4 GB of storage, 3 aliases, 3 calendars, an address book and notes. Storage can grow to 75 GB and aliases to 25 for small monthly add-on fees.
- Encryption of stored data
- Crypto mail storage encrypts saved email, attachments, metadata and notes, and the address book and calendar can each be encrypted with your own password at the press of a button.
- End-to-end encryption in webmail
- PGP through the Mailvelope plug-in and S/MIME through Posteo's own plug-in work inside the webmail interface, and incoming mail can be encrypted with either.
- Sign-up without personal details
- Registration asks for no name or address, payment data is kept separate from email accounts, and credit can be added by bank transfer, PayPal, credit card or cash.
- Calendar, contacts and notes
- Calendars sync over CalDAV and can be shared read-only by ICS link, contacts sync over CardDAV, and notes can be synchronized with Apple Notes.
- Passkeys and login protection
- Login supports two-factor authentication (TOTP), up to 5 passkeys and up to 5 app passwords. An extra protection mode blocks access from external programs over IMAP.
Runbox
- Own domains and aliases
- Each plan includes 100 aliases on Runbox domains and unlimited aliases on your own domains, with 1 to 100 domains depending on the plan.
- Open protocols
- Mail can be used through the web app or any client over POP, IMAP and SMTP, with contacts and calendar over CardDAV and CalDAV.
- Limits on every plan
- Messages up to 100 MB, 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages a day on all plans, with two-factor authentication.
- Norwegian hosting
- Data is hosted in Norway under Norwegian privacy rules, on servers the company says run on hydropower.
- Filters and folders
- Messages can be consolidated from other accounts and filtered, and a calendar and contacts are included.
Plans
Posteo
Email account€1
per month, prepaid from account credit
4 GB of storage, 3 aliases, 3 calendars, address book and notes. Extra storage costs €0.25 per GB a month and extra aliases or calendars €0.10 each.
Runbox
Micro€19.95
per year (€49.95 billed every 3 years)
2 GB email storage, 200 MB file storage and 1 email domain.
Mini€34.95
per year (€84.95 billed every 3 years)
10 GB email storage, 1 GB file storage and 5 email domains.
Medium€49.95
per year (€119.95 billed every 3 years)
25 GB email storage, 2 GB file storage and 10 email domains.
Max€79.95
per year (€189.95 billed every 3 years)
50 GB email storage, 5 GB file storage and 25 email domains.
Max100€119.95
per year (€284.95 billed every 3 years)
100 GB email storage, 10 GB file storage and 50 email domains.
Max250€179.95
per year (€424.95 billed every 3 years)
250 GB email storage, 25 GB file storage and 100 email domains.
Ways to pay less
Posteo
No public discounts listed.
Runbox
- Annual discount
3-year plans cost less per year
Paying for 3 years at once costs less than three single years: for Micro €49.95 instead of €59.85 and for Max €189.95 instead of €239.85.
- Other savings
60-day money-back guarantee
The homepage lists a 60-day full money-back guarantee on paid plans.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Posteo or Runbox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Posteo is cheaper to start with: about $1.12 a month, against about $1.86 a month for Runbox. Posteo starts at €1 per month, prepaid (minimum top-up €12), and Runbox starts at €19.95 per year (€49.95 for 3 years).
Which has a free plan, Posteo or Runbox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Posteo nor Runbox has a free plan. Runbox 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.