7 Best Secure Email Services

Overview

The video reviews seven privacy-focused email options, emphasizing that email is inherently vulnerable and that providers differ in encryption, openness, payment choices, and ease of use.

It also notes that CalDAV and CardDAV contacts and calendar syncing do not provide end-to-end encryption, even when a provider describes those features as encrypted.

Providers

1. Posteo

Germany-based Posteo offers zero-access encryption for inbox storage and supports encrypted contacts and calendars. It runs on clean energy and accepts cash by mail, but not Bitcoin.

Limitations include no custom domains or Tor onion service, standard inbox capacity, and relatively few premium features.

2. Soverin

Based in Amsterdam, Soverin supports custom domains, catch-all addresses, Bitcoin payments, and two-factor authentication.

The reviewer notes that it is not open source, has no mobile app or onion service, and does not appear to use zero-access encryption for inbox storage. Contacts and calendars are not end-to-end encrypted. There is no free trial; a year costs about €29.

3. mailbox.org

German, ad-free, and powered by green energy, mailbox.org offers plans starting at about €1 per month, a 30-day trial, custom domains, and catch-all support.

Its secure.mailbox.org address requires TLS between mail servers. Messages are not sent if the receiving server cannot establish a TLS connection. The service accepts cash by mail but not cryptocurrency. It is not open source, and contacts and calendar data are not encrypted.

4. Disroot

Disroot offers many services beyond email. Its email service supports custom domains, though users must apply for each one, and accepts Bitcoin and PayPal.

Drawbacks include no onion service or mobile app, no zero-access inbox encryption, and no encryption for contacts and calendar data.

5. Tutanota

German and open source, Tutanota has free and paid plans. The reviewer says it provides zero-access encryption for stored email, contacts, and calendar data. It offers mobile apps, including through F-Droid and iOS.

Tutanota can send password-protected encrypted messages to people outside the service, but it does not use PGP and cannot receive externally encrypted email in the same way. Paid plans accept credit cards and PayPal, but not cryptocurrency. The service has no onion service.

6. Proton Mail

Swiss-based Proton Mail is open source and offers a free tier, mobile apps, an onion service, and zero-access encryption for stored mail.

The narrator highlights that its infrastructure has undergone a source-code audit and that its popularity brings ongoing scrutiny from security researchers and attackers. Its main drawback is that higher-tier paid plans can be expensive.

7. Self-hosted email

The narrator considers self-hosting the most secure option in principle because users control their data and mail infrastructure. However, it is costly and difficult to configure correctly, and misconfiguration can make it less secure than mainstream email.

Self-hosting may suit technically experienced users or particular use cases, but it is not recommended for most people. For those who do self-host, Mailcow is suggested as a place to start.

Overall

The video presents managed providers as the more practical choice for most users, while stressing that features such as zero-access storage do not make every aspect of email end-to-end encrypted.

Main speaker/source: The video’s narrator, from the Mental Outlaw channel.