Riseup vs Tuta Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Tuta Mail grades higher than Riseup: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Riseup grades higher on the free plan. Tuta 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.
Tuta Mail
End-to-end encrypted email and calendar from Germany
Which one is for you
Pick Riseup if
- Fits if you do organising work and want an account that doesn't log your IP
- Works for people who already have an invite and want to skip ads and scanning
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to sign up without an invite, as you can't
- Tight if you hold lots of mail, with 1 GB, Trash emptied after 21 days and Spam after 7
- Not for you if you need end-to-end encryption by default, as you must add Mailvelope or OpenPGP
- Watch out: lose your password and your recovery code and the mail can't come back
Pick Tuta Mail if
- Fits if you want mail, calendar and contacts encrypted by default
- Works for non-profits and schools, who can apply for 50% off
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, with 1 GB, 3 labels and no inbox rules, offline support or schedule send
- Skip it if you'd only check in now and then, as free accounts are deleted after six months without a login
- Pricey if you want old mail moved in, since EML and MBOX import needs Legend at €8 and a desktop app
- Watch out: prices are in euros, and Tuta says the final amount moves with fees and exchange rates
- Skip it if you want other apps to talk to your mail, as no integrations or API are listed
How we grade them
| 2.4GPARiseupFair | 2.8GPATuta MailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BAccounts are free and the donate page asks $5 to $15 a month from those who can afford it. A donation isn't required. | B€3 a month paid yearly sits inside the cheapest quarter of paid email, which starts around $4 against a middle of $8. For that you get 20 GB, 15 extra addresses and 3 custom domains. Prices are in euros, and Tuta says the final amount moves with fees and exchange rates. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free account with 1 GB of storage that one person can live on, though you need an invite code to get one. | CFree includes the same encryption, but the box is 1 GB, one calendar and 3 labels, with no inbox rules, no offline support and no schedule send. A year of attachments will fill that. And the account is deleted if you don't log in for six months. |
| Features | CWebmail, IMAP and POP, mailing lists, a VPN and Tor services. No custom domains or calendars in the listing, and 1 GB is small. | CThe mail basics are covered, and the encryption reaches the calendar and address book too, with password-protected mail to people outside Tuta. But the listing names its own gaps: importing old EML or MBOX mail is Legend and Unlimited only, and desktop only, and inbox rules and offline are paid extras. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You need an invite code to sign up and you set up your own mail client. | A4.72 from about 3,700 App Store ratings, which is the top end of this category. Encryption is on from the first login and mail between Tuta users encrypts itself, so there's nothing to switch on. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA web service with IMAP and POP, plus Thunderbird, Mailvelope and Tor. No apps of its own. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, with Tuta running its own push service rather than Google's. Every device, then, but the listing has no integrations and no API at all, so nothing else on your computer talks to it. |
| Best for | free email for activists and organisers | encrypted email and calendar from €3 a month |
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: Riseup and Tuta Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Riseup has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Tuta Mail starts at about $3.35 a month and scores 3.0.
Tuta Mail scores higher, and starts $3.35 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 Riseup for less, and 2 score higher than Tuta 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
- Tuta Mail is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Riseup also covers vPN.
- Tuta Mail also covers calendar.
At a glance
| Riseup | Tuta Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | €3 per month, paid yearly (lowest paid personal plan) |
| Free plan | Accounts are free; Riseup asks for voluntary donations and suggests $5 to $15 a month for people who can afford it. | 1 GB of storage, one calendar and 3 labels, with end-to-end encryption. Free accounts are deleted after more than six months without a login. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Riseup | Tutao GmbH |
| Price read from | riseup.net | tuta.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Riseup
- Accounts need an invite code, so you cannot simply sign up.
- Email storage is capped at 1 GB, and Trash and Spam folders are emptied after 21 and 7 days.
- Mail is not end-to-end encrypted unless you add Mailvelope or your own OpenPGP; a stolen password exposes all mail.
- A lost password with no recovery code means the account and its mail cannot be recovered.
Tuta Mail
- The Free plan stops at 1 GB, one calendar and 3 labels, and leaves out inbox rules, offline support and schedule send.
- Free accounts are deleted if you do not log in for more than six months.
- Prices are set in euros. Tuta notes that the final amount can vary with payment platform fees and exchange rates.
- Importing existing mail from EML or MBOX files is limited to Legend and the Unlimited business plan, and works only in the desktop clients.
Key features
Riseup
- Individually encrypted mail storage
- Stored messages are encrypted and can only be unlocked with the user's password, so Riseup says it cannot read them.
- Hidden user ID and no IP logging
- The sender's account ID is hidden in outgoing mail, IP addresses are not put in headers, and the service says it does not log them.
- Webmail, IMAP and POP
- Read mail at mail.riseup.net or in a client such as Thunderbird over IMAP; POP lets you download and delete messages from the server.
- Tor onion services
- Every service has a Tor onion address, and mail to other activist providers can be delivered over Tor.
- Account tools
- Email aliases, filters, per-service passwords, a quota setting and a one-click data purge in the account system.
- Mailing lists and VPN
- The same group runs mailing lists, a VPN, a pad, file sharing and group wikis.
Tuta Mail
- End-to-end encryption by default
- All data in the mailbox is encrypted so that Tuta has no access to it, and mail between Tuta users is encrypted automatically. Tuta describes its encryption as quantum-safe.
- Password-protected emails
- Encrypted mail can be exchanged with people who do not use Tuta by agreeing on a shared password with the recipient.
- Encrypted calendar and contacts
- The calendar and address book are encrypted as well, down to contacts' email addresses and event notifications. Paid plans add calendar sharing and event invites.
- Custom domains and extra addresses
- The €3 plan includes 3 custom domains and 15 extra addresses, Legend 10 domains and 30 addresses. Paid plans also get catch-all and unlimited custom-domain addresses.
- Open-source apps on every platform
- The web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS clients are published on GitHub under GPLv3, and Tuta runs its own push notification service instead of Google's.
- Inbox rules, offline mode, schedule send
- Paid plans add unlimited inbox rules, search across the whole mailbox through an encrypted index, offline support, an autoresponder and scheduled sending.
Plans
Riseup
Riseup account$0
Free email with 1 GB of storage, funded by donations; the donate page suggests $5 to $15 a month for individuals who can.
Tuta Mail
Free€0
1 GB of storage, one calendar and 3 labels. No extra addresses, custom domains, inbox rules, offline support or schedule send.
Revolutionary€3
per month, paid yearly (saves €7.20 a year over monthly)
20 GB of storage, 15 extra addresses, 3 custom domains, unlimited calendars and labels, inbox rules, offline support and email support.
Essential€6
per user / month, paid yearly, excluding taxes
Business plan with 50 GB of storage, 15 extra addresses and 3 custom domains per user.
Legend€8
per month, paid yearly (saves €19.20 a year over monthly)
500 GB of storage, 30 extra addresses, 10 custom domains, EML and MBOX email import and priority email support.
Advanced€8
per user / month, paid yearly, excluding taxes
Business plan with 500 GB of storage, 30 extra addresses and 10 custom domains per user, with priority email support.
Unlimited€12
per user / month, paid yearly, excluding taxes
Business plan with 1000 GB of storage, unlimited custom domains, email templates, custom branding and a login on your own website.
Ways to pay less
Riseup
No public discounts listed.
Tuta Mail
- Annual discount
Lower price when paid yearly
The pricing page lists a yearly saving over monthly billing of €7.20 on the €3 personal plan and €19.20 on Legend. On the business plans the saving is €14.40 to €28.80 per user.
- Nonprofit
50% discount for non-profits
Registered non-profit organizations can apply for a 50% discount by contacting Tuta's sales team from the organization's email address with proof of their status.
- Education
50% discount for schools
Schools for general education can apply for the same 50% discount by sending a short description, a website link and proof of their status.
- Other savings
Free for open source projects
Open source teams can apply for a free version of Tuta by email from an official GitHub address or an address linked to the project's website.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Riseup or Tuta Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Riseup is cheaper to start with: it is free, against about $3.35 a month for Tuta Mail. Riseup is free, and Tuta Mail starts at €3 per month, paid yearly (lowest paid personal plan).
Which has a free plan, Riseup or Tuta Mail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Riseup and Tuta Mail have a free plan.
Which platforms do Riseup and Tuta Mail run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Tuta 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.