Proton Mail vs Yandex Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Proton Mail: it is third in our ranking of email apps, and they share a 3.0 GPA.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Proton Mail grades higher on ease of use and platforms. Yandex Mail grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Proton Mail
End-to-end encrypted email service based in Switzerland
Yandex Mail
Free webmail inside the Yandex 360 suite with 5 GB of Disk space
Which one is for you
Pick Proton Mail if
- Fits if you want email that the company running it can't read
- Works for leaving Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, as Easy Switch imports old mail on the free plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Free: 1 address, up to 1 GB (500 MB until setup is done) and 150 sent messages a day
- Not for you if you want Apple Mail, Outlook or the desktop apps without paying, as Bridge and the apps are paid
- Pricey if you subscribe inside the iPhone app, where Mail Plus is $5.99 a month against $4.99 on Proton's site
- Skip it if you forget passwords and won't write down a recovery phrase, as old mail can stay locked
- Watch out: some banks and shops refuse Proton addresses, the Linux app is beta, and there were outages in mid-2026
Pick Yandex Mail if
- Fits if you want free mail with IMAP access and some Disk storage
- Works for people who use other Yandex 360 services too
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you hate ads, because free accounts see them and Personal removes them
- Skip it if you want an iPhone or Android app, as none was confirmed
- Watch out: the smart assistant in Mail is Personal and Family only
- Watch out: prices can differ by region; these are the figures shown to a US reader
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAProton MailVery good | 3.0GPAYandex MailVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BMail Plus is $3.99 a month on the yearly plan, inside the lowest-priced quarter of a category whose middle is $8, for 15 GB, 10 addresses and your own domain. Gmail and Outlook do give you 15 GB for nothing, mind, and in the iPhone app it's $5.99. | AA free mailbox, and Personal is $2.42 a month on yearly billing, under the $3 that opens the cheaper quarter of email tools. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree for good with no ads. The caps are ones you'll meet, though: one address, up to 1 GB of mail and 150 sent messages a day, and the desktop apps are for paying customers after a 14-day trial. | BA free plan with Mail, Disk and Telemost, 5 GB of Disk space and ads, which one person could live on. |
| Features | CThe basics, with encryption that runs without any setup: tracker blocking, throwaway aliases, a calendar, snooze, send later and Easy Switch to import your old mail. The gap Proton names itself: there's no IMAP or SMTP at all without Bridge, and Bridge needs a paid plan. | BSpam and virus protection, IMAP and SMTP, mail collection from other accounts and a paid assistant. The listing shows no gap in the core mail job. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 48,500 App Store ratings, a touch above Gmail's own app. It works like any inbox, and Easy Switch brings your old mail over for you. | BNo store rating on record, but you sign up and open the inbox with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Mail through Bridge and the rest of Proton's suite. The desktop apps do need a paid plan, and the Linux one is still beta. | CWeb only: no iPhone or Android app was confirmed, and the integrations are Yandex's own. |
| Best for | email your provider can't read | free webmail inside Yandex 360 |
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: Proton Mail and Yandex Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Proton Mail starts at $3.99 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Yandex Mail starts at $2.42 a month and scores 2.7.
Proton Mail scores higher, and starts $1.57 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email apps on the chart, 1 scores higher than Proton Mail for less, and 2 score higher than Yandex 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
- Proton Mail is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Yandex Mail also covers documents and file sharing.
At a glance
| Proton Mail | Yandex Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $3.99 per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly | $2.42 per month, billed annually ($28.99 a year, Personal) |
| Free plan | Proton Free: 1 email address, up to 1 GB of mail storage (500 MB until the setup steps are completed), a limit of 150 sent messages a day and 3 personal calendars. | Yandex Mail, Disk, Telemost and other Yandex 360 services with ads and 5 GB of Disk space. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Proton AG | Yandex |
| Price read from | proton.me | 360.yandex.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Proton Mail
- The free plan is limited to 1 address, up to 1 GB of mail storage and 150 sent messages a day.
- Custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access through Bridge need a paid plan.
- The desktop apps need a paid plan; free accounts get a 14-day trial of them, and the Linux app is labeled beta.
- Buying in the iOS app costs more: the US App Store lists Mail Plus at $5.99 monthly, against $4.99 on Proton's site.
Yandex Mail
- Free accounts see ads in Yandex 360 services; the Personal and Family plans remove them.
- The pages read list only web access for Mail; no iOS or Android app was confirmed here.
- The Mail smart assistant is a Personal and Family plan feature, not part of the free plan.
- Yandex's login and plans pages can show different prices by region; these are the US-reader figures.
Key features
Proton Mail
- End-to-end and zero-access encryption
- Messages are encrypted so that only you can read them. Proton states that not even it can read your email.
- Tracker blocking and aliases
- Blocks the email trackers that report what you open and click. Hide-my-email aliases keep your real address off sign-up forms: 10 on Free and Mail Plus, unlimited on Proton Unlimited.
- Custom domains and extra addresses
- Mail Plus supports 1 custom email domain and up to 10 addresses. Proton Unlimited raises that to 3 domains and 15 addresses.
- Easy Switch import
- Imports existing mail from Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or Apple accounts. The import assistant is included on the free plan.
- Proton Mail Bridge
- Paid accounts can use the Bridge app to read and send encrypted mail in Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird or Apple Mail over IMAP and SMTP.
- Calendar and scheduling tools
- Proton Calendar is included, with 3 personal calendars on Free and up to 25 on Mail Plus. Mail also supports scheduled sending, undo send and snooze.
Yandex Mail
- Spam and virus protection
- Yandex describes the mailbox as protected from spam and viruses, with a block list and white list you manage yourself.
- Mail from other accounts
- Yandex 360's page says Mail collects messages from your other mailboxes, and the help center covers importing from other providers.
- IMAP and SMTP access
- Any email client that supports IMAP and SMTP can connect, and OAuth sign-in is recommended where the client offers it.
- Smart assistant in Mail
- The Personal and Family plans list a smart assistant that searches and summarizes important emails.
- Bundled Yandex 360 services
- The same account covers Disk storage, Documents, Calendar, Notes and Telemost video calls.
Plans
Proton Mail
Proton Free$0
1 address, up to 1 GB of mail storage, 150 sent messages a day, the Easy Switch import tool and 3 calendars.
Mail Plus$3.99
per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly
1 user with 10 addresses, 15 GB of storage, 1 custom domain, unlimited folders, labels and filters, and Bridge for IMAP/SMTP clients.
Proton Unlimited$9.99
per month, billed every 12 months ($119.88)
500 GB of storage, 15 addresses and 3 custom domains, bundled with Proton's VPN, password manager and cloud storage.
Yandex Mail
Free$0
All Yandex 360 services with ads and 5 GB of Disk space.
Personal$2.42
per month, billed annually ($28.99 a year)
1 TB of Disk space, no ads and the Mail smart assistant; page shows $3.17 a month crossed out.
Family$3.04
per month, billed annually ($36.45 a year)
Personal features for up to 8 people, 1 TB of Disk space each; $3.80 a month shown crossed out.
For business$3.99
per employee / month, and up
Corporate mailbox from 100 GB per employee, Calendar, messenger and Telemost for 30+ participants.
Ways to pay less
Proton Mail
- Annual discount
20% off Mail Plus on the 12-month plan
Proton's pricing page lists Mail Plus at $3.99 a month when billed every 12 months ($47.88), against $4.99 billed monthly.
Yandex Mail
- Annual discount
Yearly payment lowers the monthly rate
The plans page shows Personal at $2.42 a month when paying $28.99 for a year and Family at $3.04 a month when paying $36.45 for a year.
- Other savings
Monthly Personal at $4.99 for three months
The Yandex 360 page shows a monthly Personal plan at $4.99 a month for the first three months, with $6.19 crossed out.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Proton Mail or Yandex Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Yandex Mail is cheaper to start with: $2.42 a month, against $3.99 a month for Proton Mail. Proton Mail starts at $3.99 per month, billed every 12 months ($47.88); $4.99 billed monthly, and Yandex Mail starts at $2.42 per month, billed annually ($28.99 a year, Personal).
Which has a free plan, Proton Mail or Yandex Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Proton Mail and Yandex Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Proton Mail and Yandex Mail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Proton Mail lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. 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.