# Runbox review (2026): is it worth €19.95 a year? > Norwegian paid email hosting with custom domains and no ads Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Runbox is a paid email service hosted in Norway. Plans differ by storage, number of domains and file space, and every plan offers webmail plus POP, IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV access. The company describes itself as independent and employee-owned, and says its servers run on renewable hydropower. - **Category:** Email Apps - **Made by:** Runbox - **Website:** https://runbox.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a free plan, because after 30 days it is €19.95 a year at the least. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Runbox is a paid product with a free trial, starting at €19.95 per year (€49.95 for 3 years). - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial, no credit card required. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://runbox.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Runbox before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **3-year plans cost less per year** (Annual discount): 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. Source: https://runbox.com/pricing - **60-day money-back guarantee** (Other savings): The homepage lists a 60-day full money-back guarantee on paid plans. Source: https://runbox.com ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - People who want paid, ad-free email on their own domain - Users who prefer Norwegian or European data hosting - Households sharing a few domains across several aliases ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Runbox is paid email hosting from Norway, with your own domain and aliases from €19.95 a year. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial, every plan caps you at 5,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages a day, and it is a web service with no apps on the listing. - **Value for money: A.** Micro 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: C.** No free plan. You get a 30-day trial with no card needed, then it is €19.95 a year at the least. - **Features: C.** Own 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: C.** No 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: C.** Web only on the listing, with standard mail protocols for other mail apps. No apps and no integrations are named. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Runbox's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among email apps - Runbox's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 26 of the 70 other email apps we grade, and level with 12. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 51 of 70) and worst on features (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at about $1.86 a month, against a middle price of $4.92 for the category: 9 of the 56 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 13 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/email ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Runbox 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 costs $22.29 a year. - You could make: Calendar: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: An email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Email client, Calendar ## Alternatives - [Fastmail](https://toolgpa.com/tools/fastmail): Paid, ad-free email with calendar, contacts and custom domains. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/fastmail-vs-runbox) - [Posteo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/posteo): Ad-free, green-powered email from Berlin for €1 a month. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/posteo-vs-runbox) - [mailbox](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mailbox-org): Paid, ad-free email with cloud storage and office tools from Germany. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mailbox-org-vs-runbox) - [Mailfence](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mailfence): Private email from Belgium with built-in OpenPGP encryption. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mailfence-vs-runbox) - [StartMail](https://toolgpa.com/tools/startmail): Paid private email from the Netherlands with unlimited aliases. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/runbox-vs-startmail) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://runbox.com/pricing - https://runbox.com Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/runbox Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).