The Gmail Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Gmail in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Gmail
The Insider’s Guide
Google's email service, free for personal use with 15 GB of storage
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among email apps, read from Gmail’s own pages.
Made by Google · checked Oct 10, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02Insider tipsWhat most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
- 03What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 04What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 05Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 06After you payGetting your money back, getting out, and getting help
- 07The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 08Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 09About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Gmail’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Gmail’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
3.0
GPA, above 41 of the 51 other email apps we grade
Gmail is Google's email service, used in a browser and through Android and iOS apps. A personal account costs nothing and comes with 15 GB of storage shared with Google Drive and Google Photos, and it may show ads. The business version is not sold on its own: it is part of Google Workspace, which adds addresses at a company's own domain, pooled storage, admin controls and, depending on the edition, more Gemini features across the Workspace apps.
To get you started, here are 10 things to know about Gmail, taken from its own pages and our grades.
Sign in with a Google Account and the inbox is ready, on the web and on your phone.
- 1
Best for free email that ties into the rest of Google
If you want ad-free mail or a desktop app, look elsewhere.
- 2
Paid plans start at $7 a month for each person
As its pricing page puts it: $7 per user / month with a 1-year commitment (Workspace Business Starter).
- 3
There is a free plan
Free with a personal Google Account: 15 GB of storage shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. Free accounts may show ads, and asking Gemini to search the inbox needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.
- 4
It runs on 3 platforms
Web, iOS and Android.
- 5
Spam, phishing and malware blocking
Google says Gmail automatically blocks 99.9% of spam, phishing attempts and malware, and flags a suspicious message that could still be legitimate.
- 6
Gemini in Gmail
Drafts and polishes replies and summarizes long threads. Asking Gemini to search a personal inbox needs Google AI Pro or Ultra; Google's AI plans page also lists Gemini in Gmail under the cheaper Google AI Plus.
- 7
Smart Compose, Smart Reply and Nudges
Suggests replies and sentence completions as you type, and reminds you to answer or follow up on messages you have not dealt with.
- 8
Refunds: no set window
Gmail on a personal account is free; paying for it means paying for Google Workspace, so Google's account-wide billing rules apply. On the monthly Flexible Plan this is a fair deal: cancel at any time without penalty, pay only for the days you used, leftover credit refunded to your card.
- 9
A 3.0 GPA, above 41 of 51
That is against the other email apps we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 10
Keep it
To replace Gmail you would be making an email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Gmail at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $7 per user / month with a 1-year commitment (Workspace Business Starter)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 14-day Google Workspace trial for new customers, limited to 10 users; billing details required
- Runs on
- Web, iOS, Android
- Made by
- Category
- Email Apps
- Our grade
- 3.0 GPA, very good
- Store rating
- 4.7 on the App Store, 2,442,987 ratings
The report card
Best for free email that ties into the rest of Google
Gmail is Google's email service, free with 15 GB of storage and tied into Calendar, Drive and Meet. Free accounts may show ads, the 15 GB is shared with Drive and Photos, there's no Mac or Windows app, and an address at your own domain means buying all of Workspace from $7 a person a month. If you want ad-free mail or a desktop app, look elsewhere.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Business email starts at $7 a person a month on a one-year deal, or $8.40 without one, mid-range for this category, and buys the whole of Workspace whether you want Meet and Docs or not. 30 GB each on that plan, and 2 TB means $14. For the email alone, Zoho Mail starts at $1. |
| Free plan and trial | B | Free for good, with 15 GB, the spam filter, offline mail and both phone apps. What keeps it off the top mark: the 15 GB is shared with Drive and Photos, so it does fill up, and a free account may show ads. |
| Features | B | Spam blocking Google puts at 99.9%, tabs that sort your mail, suggested replies, nudges, undo send, Confidential Mode and offline mail, with Gemini drafting replies and summing up threads. The AI is the held-back bit, as searching a personal inbox with Gemini needs a paid Google AI plan. |
| Ease of use | A | 4.7 from about 2.4 million App Store ratings. Sign in with a Google Account and the inbox is ready, on the web and on your phone. Long-time users do grumble when an update moves things around. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | A browser, iPhone and Android, and that's it for Google's own apps. No Mac or Windows app. It does work inside Outlook, Apple Mail and Thunderbird, though, and there's an API if you like building your own tools. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Gmail is for
- Fits if you want a free address with 15 GB and can put up with ads
- Works for people whose calendar, files and video calls are already with Google
Who it is not for
- Skip it if ads in your inbox would bother you, since free accounts may show them
- Not for you if you want a mail app on your Mac or PC, because there isn't one, only a browser tab
- Tight if your phone backs up photos to Google, as they share the 15 GB, and a full account can stop mail
- Pricey if all you want is an address at your own domain, which means a $7 Workspace plan with apps you may not use
- Watch out: Gemini inbox search needs a paid Google AI plan, and the Workspace trial wants billing details first
Good to know
Good for
- Anyone who wants a free personal address with 15 GB of shared storage
- Organizations that want email on their own domain inside Google Workspace
- People who already rely on Google Calendar, Meet, Chat and Drive
Worth knowing
- Business email is only sold as part of Google Workspace, which also includes Calendar, Drive, Meet and Docs.
- The free 15 GB is shared with Drive and Photos. More space is a paid add-on: the US App Store listing shows 100 GB at $1.99 and 200 GB at $2.99, with no billing period given.
- Free accounts may show ads, though Google says it does not use Gmail content to personalize them.
- No desktop app is listed: Gmail runs in a browser and as Android and iOS apps, or through another mail client.
Part 02 · Tips
Insider tips
What most people miss: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches
7
Things most people miss, each from its own help pages
The things about Gmail that are easy to miss until they cost you: ways to pay less, settings worth changing and the catches at renewal or when you leave. Each one is from Gmail’s own pages, linked beside it.
Read on Oct 17, 2026. Read from Google's Gmail Help (search operators, keyboard shortcuts, undo send, smart features), Google Account Help (Takeout, inactive accounts) and Workspace billing help on 17 October 2026. Not tried out: these tips are what its own pages say.
- 1
Pay less
Search larger:10M before you pay for more storage
Type larger:10M in the search bar to list every email over 10 MB, add older_than:1y to keep it to ones over a year old, or try has:attachment filename:pdf. Bin what you don't need and empty Trash. A clear-out like that can buy you a lot of the free 15 GB back.
support.google.com - 2
Shortcut
Switch keyboard shortcuts on, or most of them won't work
Google's help page says the action shortcuts won't work unless shortcuts are turned on: Settings → See all settings, "Keyboard shortcuts on", then save. After that c writes a new email, e archives, r replies, / jumps to search and g then i takes you to the inbox. Press ? for the full list.
support.google.com - 3
Setting
Stretch Undo Send to 30 seconds
In Settings → See all settings, next to Undo Send, you can set the cancellation period to 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. Gmail holds the email that long before it really goes. Thirty seconds is the one we'd pick if you ever spot the typo just after hitting send.
support.google.com - 4
Privacy
Turning off smart features also turns off your inbox tabs
The "Turn on smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet" box in Settings → See all settings → General controls whether Google uses your mail to power those extras. Untick it and you lose the Primary, Social and Promotions tabs, Smart Compose, Smart Reply and the summary cards for trips and parcels.
support.google.com - 5
Leaving
Takeout can copy your mail out, and the download link lasts about a week
Google Takeout exports your mail with each message's labels kept in a header. You can have it sent as a link or dropped into Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box. The archive expires in about 7 days and can be downloaded 5 times. You can also set it to export every 2 months for a year.
support.google.com - 6
Leaving
A personal account unused for 2 years can be deleted
Google's policy says a personal account with no activity for 2 years may be deleted, mail and all. Reading an email, using Drive or signing in somewhere with Google counts as activity. Google sends warnings first, to the account and to your recovery address, so keep that address up to date.
support.google.com - 7
Renewal
On Workspace's yearly plan you can't drop users until it renews
Google's billing help says the Annual/Fixed-Term Plan only lets you reduce licences when the contract renews. Until then you pay for every licence you bought, and cancelling early means paying the rest of the contract with no refund. The Flexible Plan lets you remove users or cancel any time.
knowledge.workspace.google.com
Part 03 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$7
A month to start, for each person. There is a free plan too
Gmail has a free plan. Paid plans start at $7 per user / month with a 1-year commitment (Workspace Business Starter).
Personal Google Account
$0
Gmail for personal use with 15 GB of storage shared with Drive and Photos. No address at your own domain, and the account may show ads.
Business Starter
$7
per user / month, 1-year commitment ($8.40 flexible)
Google Workspace with email at your own domain, 30 GB of pooled storage per user and the Gemini assistant in Gmail.
Business Standard
$14
per user / month, 1-year commitment ($16.80 flexible)
2 TB of pooled storage per user, plus custom email layouts, mail merge and Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Meet and more.
Business Plus
$22
per user / month, 1-year commitment ($26.40 flexible)
5 TB of pooled storage per user, with Google Vault for retention and eDiscovery and advanced endpoint management.
Enterprise
Custom
No user limit, where the Business editions stop at 300. Adds S/MIME encryption and data loss prevention; priced through Google sales.
The free plan
Free with a personal Google Account: 15 GB of storage shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. Free accounts may show ads, and asking Gemini to search the inbox needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.
Trying it first
14-day Google Workspace trial for new customers, limited to 10 users; billing details required
Read from workspace.google.com on Oct 10, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Annual discount
Lower rate with a 1-year commitment
Business Starter costs $7 per user per month on the Annual/Fixed-Term Plan versus $8.40 on the Flexible Plan. Standard drops from $16.80 to $14 and Plus from $26.40 to $22.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.comOther savings
Introductory discount for the first 3 months
The US pricing page gives new Workspace customers up to 50% off their first 3 months. Read on 10 October 2026 it showed 30% off Starter and Standard and 50% off Plus; the split has differed between readings.
Stated on workspace.google.comBy country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
On 10 October 2026 the pricing page showed Starter at ₹270 per user a month to a reader in India, against $7 on the US page. Google's help center says it sometimes offers country-based discounts.
Stated on workspace.google.comNonprofit
Google Workspace for Nonprofits at $0
Eligible nonprofits get Google Workspace for Nonprofits at $0 per user, or Business Standard at $3.50 and Business Plus at $6.16 per user per month on a 1-year commitment.
Stated on google.comEducation
Education Fundamentals at no charge
Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is available at no charge to qualifying institutions. Education Plus is a paid edition.
Stated on edu.google.com
How its prices have moved
- Feb 1, 2025Business Starter: $6 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($7.20 flexible) → $7 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($8.40 flexible)The archived copy of the Google Workspace pricing page of 1 February 2025 shows Business Starter at $7; the copy of 1 January 2025 still shows $6, as every US dollar copy back to October 2020 did. Both give the price on a 1-year commitment.
- Feb 1, 2025Business Standard: $12 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($14.40 flexible) → $14 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($16.80 flexible)The archived copy of the Google Workspace pricing page of 1 February 2025 shows Business Standard at $14; the copy of 1 January 2025 still shows $12, as every US dollar copy back to October 2020 did. Both give the price on a 1-year commitment.
- Feb 1, 2025Business Plus: $18 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($21.60 flexible) → $22 per user / month, 1-year commitment ($26.40 flexible)The archived copy of the Google Workspace pricing page of 1 February 2025 shows Business Plus at $22; the copy of 1 January 2025 still shows $18, as every US dollar copy back to October 2020 did. Both give the price on a 1-year commitment.
What the app costs elsewhere
Each country’s App Store price for “100 GB”, against $1.99 in the United States, in dollars at the day’s rate.
| Country | Price there | In dollars | Against the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | ₺84,99 | $1.73 | 13% less |
| India | ₹ 889 | $9.19 | 8% less |
| Canada | $2.79 | $1.96 | about the same |
| Brazil | R$ 49,99 | $9.99 | about the same |
| Australia | $2.99 | $2.09 | about the same |
| South Africa | R34.99 | $2.12 | 6% more |
| Germany | 1,99 € | $2.23 | 12% more |
| United Kingdom | £1.79 | $2.37 | 19% more |
Part 04 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
3
Places it runs: Web, iOS and Android
Google's email service, free for personal use with 15 GB of storage. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: works offline, public API, AI features, email client, inbox filtering.
The AI is the held-back bit, as searching a personal inbox with Gemini needs a paid Google AI plan.
- Spam, phishing and malware blocking
- Google says Gmail automatically blocks 99.9% of spam, phishing attempts and malware, and flags a suspicious message that could still be legitimate.
- Gemini in Gmail
- Drafts and polishes replies and summarizes long threads. Asking Gemini to search a personal inbox needs Google AI Pro or Ultra; Google's AI plans page also lists Gemini in Gmail under the cheaper Google AI Plus.
- Smart Compose, Smart Reply and Nudges
- Suggests replies and sentence completions as you type, and reminds you to answer or follow up on messages you have not dealt with.
- Confidential Mode
- Set an expiry date on a message, require the recipient to verify by text, and remove the options to forward, copy, download or print it.
- Custom domain email and mail merge
- Workspace puts addresses on your own domain, with up to 30 aliases per user. Mail merge, from Business Standard, takes up to 1,500 recipients from a linked spreadsheet.
- Offline mail and other clients
- Gmail offline lets you read, reply to, delete and search messages without a connection. Accounts also work in Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.
Where it runs
- Web
- iOS
- Android
What it works with
- Google Calendar
- Google Meet
- Google Chat
- Google Tasks
- Google Drive
- Microsoft Outlook
- Apple Mail
- Mozilla Thunderbird
Gmail is made by Google.
Part 05 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
41/51
Other email apps it is graded above
Gmail's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 41 of the 51 other email apps we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on ease of use (A, above 48 of 51) and worst on value for money (C, above 11).
Its paid plans start at $7 a month for each person, against a middle price of $4.99 for the category: 27 of the 45 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 52 email apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Gmail’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 11 of 51
- BFree plan and trialAbove 37 of 51
- BFeaturesAbove 30 of 51
- AEase of useAbove 48 of 51
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 15 of 51
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 50 email apps. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Gmail is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Gmail you would be making an email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 3.0 is higher than 41 of the 51 other email apps we grade. It costs $84 a year.
What you could not
- An email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail.
- Filters that read every message as it arrives.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Google Calendar, Google Meet and Google Chat among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Gmail’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 06 · Refunds
After you pay
Getting your money back, getting out, and getting help
What happens once you have paid: whether you can get your money back, how to leave, and how to reach a person when something goes wrong. Each is graded from Gmail’s own terms and help pages.
Refunds and cancelling
Good · checked Oct 18, 2026
Gmail on a personal account is free; paying for it means paying for Google Workspace, so Google's account-wide billing rules apply. On the monthly Flexible Plan this is a fair deal: cancel at any time without penalty, pay only for the days you used, leftover credit refunded to your card. Take the cheaper 1-year commitment and the opposite is true: cancel early and you still owe the rest of the contract, with no refunds. Good on one plan, nothing on the other, so a B.
- Refund window
- No set window
- How you cancel
- Yourself, in settings
- Getting your money back
Google's Workspace billing help says it prorates the account and refunds unused credit, and that a credit balance left after you cancel everything is refunded automatically to the original payment method. On the Annual/Fixed-Term Plan you commit to the end of the term and payments through it are not refunded: the plan comparison page says cancelling early means paying the remaining balance, with no refunds.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.com- How to cancel Gmail
A Workspace subscription is cancelled by an administrator in the Google Admin console, under Billing and then Subscriptions, which needs the Billing management privilege. Google's page says to export user data first, and points Business editions signed up with a Gmail address to a separate article. A subscription bought through Google Play or the iPhone Settings app is cancelled in that store.
- Export anything you want to keep with the Data Export tool first
- Sign in to the Google Admin console and open Billing, then Subscriptions
- Click the subscription, then More, then Cancel Subscription
- Pick a reason for cancelling and click Continue to cancel
- Read the alternatives offered and click Continue to cancel again
- Tick the confirmation box, enter your email address and click Cancel My Subscription
- What you keep afterwards
Google's page says you lose access to the core Workspace services, Gmail among them, and that user Workspace data is deleted after cancellation and cannot be restored, so it tells you to download Gmail messages and the rest first with the Data Export tool. Cancelling does not by itself remove user accounts or groups. On an email-verified subscription you choose whether users keep their data as consumer accounts.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.com- Renewals
Google says an Annual/Fixed-Term contract renews automatically for another year if you do nothing, and that you are notified 30 days and 3 days before the renewal date. Auto-renewal can be switched off in the Admin console, in which case the service is suspended at the end of the term and can be restored by turning it back on. The Flexible Plan simply bills each month until it is cancelled.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.com
In your favour
- On the monthly Flexible Plan you cancel at any time without penalty and pay only for the days you used.
- Leftover credit is refunded to the card you paid with, automatically once everything is cancelled.
- Google warns you 30 days and again 3 days before a yearly contract renews, which few rivals do.
- An admin cancels the whole subscription in the Admin console, with nobody to phone or email.
Watch out for
- The $7 Business Starter price needs a 1-year commitment, and cancelling early still costs you the rest of the contract.
- On that annual plan you cannot cut licences mid-term either: you pay for all of them until renewal.
- Cancel and you lose Gmail itself, and the mail is deleted and cannot be restored, so export it first.
- A personal Google Account is free, so Gmail on one costs nothing and there is nothing to refund.
Customer support
Excellent · checked Oct 18, 2026
Pay for Workspace and you can reach a real person: an admin opens the console, types Contact support and is queued for a live agent, or sends email instead. Google states the hours, 24 hours a day in English in every country it serves, and a target of an initial reply within one business day. Add a huge help centre and a public community and that is an A. The catch is who it is for: the admin, and not free users at all.
Ways to get help
Live chat
A Workspace administrator clicks Get help in the Admin console, describes the problem, types Contact support and chooses Chat, then waits in a queue to be connected to a Google support representative. It needs the Support administrator privilege.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.comEmail
The same Get help flow in the Admin console offers Email instead of chat, which opens a support case with Google. It is for administrators with the Support administrator privilege, not for ordinary users.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.comHelp centre
The Gmail Help Center has written articles on setting up, sending, searching, filtering and troubleshooting Gmail on the web, Android and iPhone, open to anyone without signing in.
Stated on support.google.comCommunity or forum
The Gmail Community is a public forum where users and Google product experts answer questions. Administrators have a separate Workspace Admin community.
Stated on support.google.com
Not listed on Gmail’s pages: phone.
- When people answer
Google's support languages table gives English support as 24/7 for all countries, with local-language support 24/7 in many of them. A few languages are business hours only: German in Austria and Dutch and French in Belgium are listed as 9:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday, UTC+1.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.com- How fast it says it replies
Google says it investigates by priority level and time of submission, and that you can expect an initial response within 1 business day or less. It sets out four priority levels, from a critical outage affecting several users down to a cosmetic fault, but states no resolution time, saying that varies with the complexity of the issue.
Stated on knowledge.workspace.google.com- What depends on your plan
Standard Support comes with every Workspace edition. Enhanced Support, a paid upgrade on Business Standard and Plus and included in Enterprise, states a one-hour response time for the most critical cases and 24/7 cover for the top two priorities. Premium Support, a paid upgrade on Enterprise, states 15 minutes for the most critical cases and 24/7 cover for the top three.
Stated on workspace.google.com
In your favour
- Live chat with a Google agent is there on every paid edition, not just the expensive ones.
- English support is stated as running 24 hours a day, every day, in every country Google serves.
- Google states a target of an initial reply within one business day or less.
- The help centre and the public community are open to free users as well as paying ones.
Watch out for
- Only an administrator with the right privilege can contact support, so an ordinary user has to go through them.
- On a free personal Google Account there is no way to reach a person at all: articles and the forum only.
- Google states a first-reply target but no time by which anything will actually be fixed.
- The one-hour and 15-minute response targets cost extra on Business plans.
What these two grades rest on. Read on 18 October 2026: Google's Workspace admin help on cancelling, refunding remaining credit, renewing an annual contract and comparing payment plans, its pages on contacting Workspace support and on support hours, the Customer Care page, and the Gmail Help Center and community. These are account-wide Workspace policies, not rules for Gmail. Nobody here cancelled a plan or contacted support. They are graded apart from the five that make the GPA. How we grade refunds and support.
Part 07 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Microsoft Outlook, Proton Mail, Yahoo Mail, Fastmail and Zoho Mail
The 5 tools Gmail is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.6GPA
Microsoft Outlook
Free plan · from $1.99/mo
Microsoft's email and calendar app for desktop, mobile and web.
- Only Microsoft Outlook lists Windows and macOS apps.
- Microsoft Outlook also covers tasks and calendar.
- 3.0GPA
Proton Mail
Free plan · from $3.99/mo
End-to-end encrypted email service based in Switzerland.
- Only Proton Mail lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Proton Mail is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Gmail also covers inbox filtering.
- 2.6GPA
Yahoo Mail
Free plan · from $5/mo
Free email service with 20 GB of storage and AI inbox tools.
- Yahoo Mail also covers tasks.
- 2.8GPA
Fastmail
Free trial · from $3/mo
Paid, ad-free email with calendar, contacts and custom domains.
- Gmail has a free plan. Fastmail does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Fastmail lists Windows, macOS and Linux apps.
- Gmail also covers inbox filtering.
- 3.2GPA
Zoho Mail
Free plan · from $1/mo
Ad-free business email hosting with calendar, tasks and notes.
- Only Zoho Mail lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Gmail also covers inbox filtering.
- Zoho Mail also covers tasks and calendar.
Part 08 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
22
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Gmail free?
Gmail has a free plan. Free with a personal Google Account: 15 GB of storage shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
How much does Gmail cost?
Gmail lists 5 plans. Personal Google Account: $0.
What platforms does Gmail work on?
Gmail is available on Web, iOS and Android.
Does Gmail offer any discounts?
Gmail publicly lists the following: Lower rate with a 1-year commitment; Introductory discount for the first 3 months; Lower price shown to buyers in India; Google Workspace for Nonprofits at $0; Education Fundamentals at no charge.
How is Gmail rated?
Gmail's iPhone and iPad app averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2,442,987 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 7, 2026.
Does Gmail have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 10, 2026. Gmail is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Gmail have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 10, 2026. Gmail is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Gmail open source?
Gmail is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 10, 2026.
Does Gmail work offline?
Yes, according to its own site. What works without a connection differs by plan and platform, so check the vendor's page for the detail.
Does Gmail have an API?
Yes. Gmail offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Gmail integrate with?
Gmail's listing names Google Calendar, Google Meet, Google Chat, Google Tasks, Google Drive, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.
Does Gmail have a student discount?
Education Fundamentals at no charge. Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals is available at no charge to qualifying institutions.
Does Gmail have a free trial?
Yes. 14-day Google Workspace trial for new customers, limited to 10 users; billing details required.
Who makes Gmail?
Gmail is made by Google.
What are the alternatives to Gmail?
The closest alternatives to Gmail in our directory are Microsoft Outlook, Proton Mail, Yahoo Mail, Fastmail and Zoho Mail.
Does Gmail give refunds?
Google's Workspace billing help says it prorates the account and refunds unused credit, and that a credit balance left after you cancel everything is refunded automatically to the original payment method.
How do I cancel Gmail?
A Workspace subscription is cancelled by an administrator in the Google Admin console, under Billing and then Subscriptions, which needs the Billing management privilege.
What happens to my data if I cancel Gmail?
Google's page says you lose access to the core Workspace services, Gmail among them, and that user Workspace data is deleted after cancellation and cannot be restored, so it tells you to download Gmail messages and the rest first with the Data Export tool.
How do I contact Gmail support?
Gmail's pages list these ways to get help: live chat, email, help centre and community or forum.
How does Gmail compare with other email apps?
Gmail's GPA of 3.0 is higher than 41 of the 51 other email apps we grade, and level with 5.
Is Gmail good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Gmail C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $7 a month for each person, against a middle price of $4.99 for the category: 27 of the 45 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Gmail?
To replace Gmail you would be making an email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Gmail’s own pages on Oct 10, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Based on Google's Gmail pages, its Workspace pricing page and FAQ, and its help pages on billing and storage as of 9 October 2026, its App Store listing and reviews, and Hacker News threads about it. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-07-24.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Google. Prices change, so check workspace.google.com before you buy.
- workspace.google.com/products/gmail/
- workspace.google.com/gmail/
- knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/billing/compare-flexible-and-annual-fixed-term-payment-plans
- knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/getting-started/editions/business-editions
- workspace.google.com/pricing.html
- workspace.google.com/pricing
- web.archive.org/web/20261004021507/https://workspace.google.com/pricing/
- web.archive.org/web/20261007092156/https://workspace.google.com/pricing
- gemini.google/us/subscriptions/?hl=en
- workspace.google.com/faq/
- support.google.com/mail/answer/9312312?hl=en
- apps.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-by-google/id422689480
- play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gm&hl=en_US&gl=US
- developers.google.com/workspace/gmail/api/guides
- google.com/nonprofits/offerings/workspace/
- edu.google.com/workspace-for-education/editions/compare-editions/
Part 09 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Gmail, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/gmail
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Gmail: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 10, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/gmail
Know someone choosing between email apps?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/gmail/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded email apps after Gmail, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Email Apps Insider's GuideEvery one of the 52 email apps we grade, compared
- Microsoft Outlook Insider's GuideMicrosoft's email and calendar app for desktop, mobile and web3.6 GPA
- BlueMail Insider's GuideCross-platform email client with a unified inbox and built-in AI3.2 GPA
- Thunderbird Insider's GuideFree, open-source email app for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android3.2 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Gmail’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Gmail is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Google. Prices and plans change: check workspace.google.com before you buy.