Comparison of webmail providers Computer Science 482 regular-tuition-program.pts-ptn.net

The following tables and gallery compare general and technical information for a number of webmail providers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information.

1 General information
2 Unique features
3 Language support
4 Features
5 References

General information

General information on Webmail providers and products


Product	Owner	Release	Cost	Mailbox storage	Attachment limit	Language support	Browsers supported	POP3^[a]	IMAP	SMTP	SSL	Account expiration (inactivity)	URL
AOL Mail	AOL Inc., USA	2004 Aug	Free (ads)	Unlimited	25 MB	English	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	--	3 months	[2]
BlueTie	BlueTie, Inc., USA	1999	$5.99/month	10 GB	25 MB	English	IE 6+; Mozilla 2+, Safari 3+	Yes	Yes	Yes	--	Never	[3]
ContactOffice	ContactOffice Group S.A.	2000	Free to €50/month^[1]	100 MB to 10 GB	25 MB	8	All	Yes	Paid	Paid	Yes	12 months	[4]
FastMail.FM	Opera Software Ltd., Australia	1999 Jan	$4.95/year to $119.95/year^[2]		10 to 50 MB^[b]	English	All	Paid	Yes	Paid	SSL, TLS^[4]	4 months	[5]
Gmail	Google Inc, USA	2004 Apr	Free (ads) on gmail.com, $5/user/month on the user's domain^[5]	10+ GB (growing)^[6]	25 MB^[7]	52	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	TLS, HTTPS, MS Exchange	9 months^[c]	[6]
GMX Mail gmx.com	United Internet AG, Germany	1997 Jan	Free (ads)	Unlimited^[9]	50 MB	3	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	--	6 months^[10]	[7]
GMX.net FreeMail^[11]	United Internet AG, Germany	1997 Jan	Free (ads)	1 GB^[12]	20 MB	German	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	--	6 months	[8]
GMX.net ProMail^[13]	United Internet AG, Germany	1997 Jan	€2.99/month	5 GB	50 MB	German	?	Yes	Paid	Yes	--	if payment stopped	[9]
GMX.net TopMail^[14]	United Internet AG, Germany	1997 Jan	€4.99/month	10 GB	100 MB	German	?	Yes	Paid	Yes	--	if payment stopped	[10]
Hushmail	Hush Communications Ltd., Canada	1999 May	Free (no ads) $34.99 year (Premium)	25 MB (free), 1 GB+ (premium)	20 MB, total 25 MB/mail ^[15]	English	All	Paid	Paid	?	--	3 weeks (free), None (paid)	[11]
iCloud	Apple Inc., USA	2011 Oct	Free (no ads) or $20/year, $40/Year, or $100/year^[d]	5 GB (free), 10, 20, or 50 GB yearly^[e]	20MB	4	iOS 5+, Safari, IE, Firefox, Chrome, iWork^[18]	No^[19]	Yes^[19]	Yes^[19]	SSL, TLS^[19]	Never	[12]
Lycos	Daum, Korea	1995 Jan	Free (ads) Premium: $19.95 yearly	3 GB (free) 5 GB	35 MB	Any	?	Plus only	Plus only	?	--	?, but can be as short as 30 days	[13]
Mail.com^[20]	United Internet AG, Germany	1995	Free (ads in interface) or $3.95/month or $19.95/year	Unlimited	50 MB^[f]	3	All	Yes^[22]	Yes^[22]	Yes	--	12 months (free account)^[23]	[14]
Mail.ru	Mail.ru, Russia	1998 Jan^[24]	Free (ads) $5 monthly (no ads)	Unlimited	30 MB^[g]	4		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	6 months	[15]
Microsoft Hotmail Hotmail Plus Outlook.com	Microsoft, USA	1996 July	Free (ads)	Unlimited	25 MB (10 GB SkyDrive)	106	All	Yes	No	Yes	MS Exchange	9 months (Outlook Plus: never)	[16] [17]
Ovi Mail	Nokia, Finland	2008 Dec	Free (provided by Yahoo!)	1 GB	20 MB	15	Internet Explorer, Firefox, Ovi Suite	Yes	Mobile only	?	--	?	[18]
Pobox	IC Group, Inc, USA	2004	$50 year ^[26]	50 GB	25 MB	70	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	if payment stopped	[19]
Rediffmail	Rediff, India	1997	Free and paid: 399 (US$7.30)/year for POP3; 50 (US92¢)/month for mobile	Unlimited	25 MB	11	All	399 (US$7.30)	Yes	?	--	2 months (mails deleted), 3 months (deactivation)	[20]
Runbox	Runbox Solutions AS, Norway	1999	$19.95 per year or $49.95 per year with email & web hosting	10 GB^[27]	100 MB	2	All	Yes	Yes	?	SSL	Never	[21]
Sify	Sify, India	1998	Free (Mail platform supported by Gmail)	10 GB	25 MB	English	All	Yes	Yes	?	--	3 months	[22]
Yahoo! Mail Free	Yahoo!, USA	1997 Oct	Free (ads)	Unlimited^[h]	25 MB	27	IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome^[29]	most countries or YPOPs!	Mobile only^[i]	Yes	Yes^[31] except classic version.	6 months +2 months/yr active^[32]	[23]
Yahoo! Mail Plus^[33]	Yahoo!, USA	1997 Oct	$19.99/yr (no ads)	Unlimited	25 MB	27	IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome	Yes	Mobile only^[j]	Yes	Yes^[31]	if payment stopped	[24]
Yandex Mail	Yandex LLC, Russia	2000 June	Free (ads) (can be turned off)	Unlimited^[34]	30 MB, unlimited number of files up to 2 GB each using Narod ^[35]	6	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	SSL	6 Months ^[36]	[25]
Zoho	ZOHO Corporation, USA	2008 Oct	Free (personal) for 3 users; $24/user yearly; $36/user yearly	5 GB "Lite". "Standard": 10 & 15 GB	20 MB	16	Firefox 2.0+, IE 6+, Chrome	Yes	Yes	Yes	--	120 days (free account); Never (paid)	[26]
Product	Owner	Release	Cost	Mailbox storage	Attachment limit	Language support	Browsers supported	POP3	IMAP	SMTP	SSL	Account expiration (inactivity)	URL

Notes

^ In addition to the POP3 support listed here, almost all Web mail providers can be accessed with POP3 using the third-party tool FreePOPs.
^ Additionally there are monthly total transfer ("bandwidth") limits.^[3] e.g., 80 MB/month for the free account (as of September 2009).
^ Gmail accounts may or may not be deleted after 9 months of inactivity. There is no guarantee they will remain after then.^[8]
^ 15 GB cost $20/yr, 25 GB cost $40/yr, 55 GB cost $100/yr^[16]^[17]
^ shared between file and email storage, customizable ratio
^ Help in Mail tour.^[21]
^ When a user's mail box contains more than 500 MB, they will receive an email with a proposal to increase the volume by 2 GB by solving a CAPTCHA^[25]
^ Yahoo! Mail had announced free, unlimited storage space for all its members, starting May 2007.^[28]
^ Can be used on non-mobile devices via third-party software.^[30]
^ Can be used on non-mobile devices via third-party software.

Unique features

Unique features in webmail products
Name	Features
AOL Mail	N/A
BlueTie	N/A
ContactOffice	N/A
Excite	N/A
FastMail.FM	One time passwords;^[37] Different From and "envelope from" addresses (no "on behalf of ..." issue);^[38] spam filter; spam detection;^[39] deletion of selected attachments.
Gmail	Account verification via SMS or voice call in some countries;^[40] Messages grouped into "conversations"; "Normal" view via Settings; Labels instead of folders; Undo send (implemented as a delayed send)
GMX Mail gmx.net	N/A
GMX Mail gmx.com	N/A
Hushmail	N/A
Lycos	N/A
Mail.com	organizer
Mail.ru	file storage, filters, antivirus, labels, folders, SMS verification, mobile verification. mobile alerts, pop3 mails accumulate
MobileMe	N/A
Ovi Mail	As of May 2011, content is provided by Yahoo!^[41]
Rediffmail	sign-in via Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Mobile Sync; Indrive.
Runbox	N/A
Windows Live Hotmail	One-time password, Mobile alerts
Yahoo! Mail	tabs (allowing to compose and view emails/settings/contacts etc. at the same time.
Yandex Mail	email for own domains (Yandex PDD), labels, folders, scheduled email delivery, SMS verification, sign-in via Twitter, VK, Facebook, Google Profile
Zoho	sign-in via Facebook, Google, Google Apps, Yahoo!

Language support

Supported languages
Name	Languages supported
AOL Mail	English
BlueTie	English
ContactOffice	English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish.
Excite	English
FastMail.FM	English Interface. All languages supported in message display/composition. Right to left directionality support.
Gmail	52
GMX Mail gmx.net	German
GMX Mail gmx.com	English, French, Spanish
Windows Live Hotmail	48
Hushmail	English
Lycos	Any
Mail.com	English, French, Spanish
Mail.ru	Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Uzbek
iCloud	English, Spanish, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Czech, Hungarian (All iCloud languages)
Ovi Mail	15 languages
Rediffmail	English, Indian languages: Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Nepali.
Runbox	English, Norwegian
Yandex Mail	English, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Tatar, Azerbaijani
Yahoo! Mail	27^{[citation needed]}
Zoho	English (US), French, Spanish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Turkish.

Features


Service name	Automatic forwarding	E-mail client access¹⁴	client E-mail for other server	Integration with IM service	Domain Name customization	Interface script technique	Virus scanning	Filters out emails with executable attachments	Custom "From:" Address	Address modifiers (subaddressing)	Server hosted public keyring (for encryption)	Shared key encryption
AOL Mail	No	Yes (POP3, IMAP, SMTP)	Yes⁰	AOL Instant Messenger	No¹	JavaScript/ Ajax	Yes (McAfee)	No		?	No	No
Bigfoot Communications	Premium account only	Yes (POP3, IMAP, SMTP)	Yes (POP3 only)	XMPP	Yes	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	No
FastMail.FM	Paid accounts only	Yes (IMAP)⁷	Paid accounts (POP3, Hotmail)	XMPP	Enhanced and group (Business/ Family) accounts	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax (Optional user supplied custom css+JavaScript)	Paid accounts (ClamAV)	Configurable with user filtering rules	Yes Editable while composing + saved personalities	Yes userid followed by "+" followed by tag available on all accounts; subdomain addressing (e.g. <tag>@<userid> .fastmail.fm) available on paid accounts	No	No
Gmail	Yes	Yes (POP3, IMAP) SSL/TLS supported SMTP restricted¹⁸	Yes (POP3 only)	Google Talk^beta (XMPP), AOL Instant Messenger	Yes (Google Apps $5.00 monthly/ $50.00 annually)	HTML/ JavaScript/ Ajax²	Yes	Yes, including .exe files in zip files	Yes, limited. Feature restricted to preconfigured addresses. Addresses not registered in advance with Gmail are blocked.	Yes userid followed by "+" followed by tag	No	No
GMX Mail	No	Yes (POP3, IMAP¹⁷, SMTP) SSL/TLS supported	Yes (POP3 only)	XMPP	Yes	HTML/ JavaScript/ Ajax	Yes (McAfee and Symantec)	?	Yes	?	No	No
Hushmail	No	Extra cost⁸	?	No	$1.99/$3.99 monthly through Hushmail Business	Java or HTML	No but the text based email stops most viruses, PGP encryption	?	Yes, unlimited email aliases for Premium members	?	Yes	Yes
Mail.com	No	Yes (POP3, IMAP, SMTP) SSL/TLS supported	Yes (POP3 only)	Google Talk (XMPP)	No	HTML/ JavaScript/ Ajax²	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	No
Mail.ru	Yes	Yes (POP3, IMAP)	Yes (POP3 only)	custom	?	HTML/ Ajax (Beta)	Yes (Kaspersky)	?	Yes	?	No	No
rediff	No	Plus members only	?	Rediff Bol	Yes	JavaScript/ Ajax²	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	No
Runbox	Yes	Yes (IMAP, POP, SMTP) SSL/TLS supported	Yes (POP3, Hotmail, Gmail) SSL/TLS supported	XMPP, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, MSN, ICQ, IRC^[42]	Yes	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax	Yes (ClamAV)	If discarded by virus scanner	Yes Selectable while composing; saved identities	Yes userid followed by "+" or "-" followed by tag	No	No
Seznam.cz	Yes	Yes (POP3, IMAP, SMTP) SSL/TLS supported	Yes (POP3 only)	No	No	HTML/ JavaScript	Yes (ESET-NOD32)	?	Yes	?	No	No
Windows Live Hotmail	Yes	Partial (POP3, SMTP)³	Yes (POP3 only)	Windows Live Messenger	Yes⁴	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax	Yes	?	Yes	userid followed by "+" followed by tag^[43]	No	No
Yahoo! Mail	Plus accounts only	Plus members only In some countries free accounts (POP3 only)¹⁰	Yes (POP3 only)	Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger	$35 yearly	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax	Yes (Norton AntiVirus)	No	Yes & only 10 addresses	Yes alias userid (chosen by user) followed by "-" followed by tag	No	No
Yandex Mail	Yes	Yes (POP3, IMAP, SMTP, SSL)	Yes (POP3 only)	Ya Online, any XMPP IM	Yes (Free, Yandex PDD supports up to 1000 mailboxes without verification of legal use)	HTML/ JavaScript/ CSS/Ajax	Yes (Dr.Web)	No	Yes, only from confirmed addresses^[44]	No	No	No
Zoho	Yes	Yes (POP, IMAP, SMTP)	Yes (POP)	XMPP, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger	Yes (business accounts)	Ajax	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	No
Service name	Automatic forwarding	E-mail client access¹⁴	client E-mail for other server	Integration with IM service	Domain Name customization	Interface script technique	Virus scanning	Filters out emails with executable attachments	Custom "From:" Address	Address modifiers	Server hosted public keyring (for encryption)	Shared key encryption

Note 0: Through AOL Easy Transfer

Note 1: Through AOL My eAddress

Note 2: HTML interface available for legacy browsers or users with JavaScript disabled

Note 3: Since March 12, 2009, POP3 technology rolled out to Hotmail customers worldwide. Additionally, the proprietary DeltaSync-protocol is available.

Note 4: Through Windows Live Custom Domains

Note 7: IMAP only for free and Member accounts, IMAP and POP for Full and Enhanced

Note 8: IMAP access available for $14.99 for the first year and $29.99 yearly thereafter

Note 9: Forwarding and POP3 access with "Platinum" ($34.95 yearly) and above

Note 10: Through Yahoo! Mail Plus ($19.99 yearly);^[45] or through YPOPs!

Note 12: Free of charge, but web-mail only.

Note 14: Most mail services that do not support POP3 access can be accessed through the FreePOPs mail proxy software.

Note 15: Yahoo! Mail Plus ($19.99 yearly) features^[46]

Note 16: Mobile-compatible, simplified HTML interface available for legacy browsers, users with JavaScript disabled, and users with mobile devices.

Note 17: IMAP only available for paid accounts.

Note 18: Gmail restricts the FROM field to registered addresses. E.g. Disposable addresses forbidden.

Note 19: HTML-only backwards compatible.

References

^ "Virtual office - Individual version". ContactOffice. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. http://www.contactoffice.com/virtual-office/en/product/versions/personal.jsp?tab=pricing#showPricingDetails. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
^ "FastMail service plans". accessdate=15 May 2012. http://www.fastmail.fm/pages/fastmail/docs/pricingtbl.html.
^ Why FastMail.FM tracks bandwidth
^ "Opportunistic SSL/TLS encryption on outgoing emails". FastMail.FM. http://blog.fastmail.fm/2010/01/29/opportunistic-ssltls-encryption-on-outgoing-emails/.
^ "Google Apps Pricing". http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/pricing.html. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
^ "Top 10 reasons to use Gmail - 6. Lots of space". http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about.html. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
^ "Gmail: Maximum attachment size". Google.com. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=8770.
^ ""Do Gmail accounts go dormant and expire?" Google Help Forum". 2010-10-20. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=56abbf1fbd0629c9&hl=en. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
^ "File Size is Never a Problem". http://www.gmx.com/email-large-files.html. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
^ GMX.com: 13. Term and Termination: 13.3. You agree that in the event that GMX determines, in its sole discretion, that you have not logged in for more than six months, GMX may [...] erase such materials from GMX's Equipment
^ GMX FreeMail
^ http://www.computerbase.de/news/2012-02/gmx-lockt-kunden-mit-groesserem-e-mail-postfach/ (German)
^ GMX ProMail
^ GMX TopMail
^ Help.hushmail.com
^ Storage Upgrade Options
^ iCloud pricing per year: $20 for 10GB, $40 for 20GB, $100 for 50GB (update: UK and EU prices)
^ iCloud: System requirements
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d iCloud: Mail server information. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
^ mail.com free mail: State of the art in global communication
^ "Mail Tour". O.aolcdn.com. http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/affinity/en-us/?d=mail.com&ncid=txtlnkusonbo00000001. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
^ ^a ^b Email Client Support
^ Mail.com: 2. TERM AND TERMINATION: 2.4 If your account is not a Premium Services account it may be suspended after twelve months of inactivity.
^ Mail.Ru Group: Главная (Russian)
^ Объем почтового ящика - Mailbox quota (Russian) (Help information in Russian only.)
^ "Pobox service plans". accessdate=16 Nov 2012. http://www.pobox.com/pricing.
^ Runbox: Feature list. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
^ "Yahoo! Mail goes to infinity and beyond"
^ Which browsers does Yahoo! Mail support? Yahoo! Help
^ Yahoo IMAP Connector
^ ^a ^b "How to secure Yahoo Mail Web sessions with SSL". CNET. http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57562895-285/how-to-secure-yahoo-mail-web-sessions-with-ssl/. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
^ Do you close accounts due to inactivity? - Yahoo! Help
^ Yahoo! Mail Plus
^ http://help.yandex.com/mail/?id=1114209
^ http://help.yandex.com/mail/?id=1114254
^ http://legal.yandex.com/rules/
^ "Alternative Logins". FastMail.FM. http://www.fastmail.fm/help/features_alternative_logins.html.
^ "Personalities". FastMail.FM. http://www.fastmail.fm/help/preferences_personalities.html.
^ "Backscatter". FastMail.FM. http://www.fastmail.fm/help/spam_virus_protection_backscatter.html.
^ "Frequently Asked Questions on Account Verification via SMS or voice call". http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=114129.
^ [1] Ovi Mail migration to Yahoo
^ Runbox: IM documentation. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
^ Hotmail: One can organize their inbox using plus addresses. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
^ http://help.yandex.com/mail/?id=1114258
^ "How do I receive my Yahoo! Mail using a different email program? | Yahoo! Mail Classic Help". Yahoo!. http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/classic/mailplus/pop/pop-35.html. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
^ "How does Yahoo! Mail Plus compare to free Yahoo! Mail?"

Comparison of webmail providers

Contents

General information

Unique features

Language support

Features

References