Don’t you agree with the fact that a big portion of our internet time revolves around email? You may be concerned that probably some malicious hackers are watching everything you do online. I faced a similar threat some years back. Then, how did I protect my mails from unwanted attention and threat? I found that the solution to this issue was encryption.
Most people use regular free email services like Gmail. And these work just fine for average users. However, if you need to be highly secure with the messages you send and receive, you should definitely consider secure email services that offer encryption.
Although there are some ways to secure your email by the help of encryption software, I personally found them difficult to implement. Therefore, I went for the most user-friendly and secure web-based encrypted email services that helped me increase my level of online privacy.
In this article, I will recommend a better alternative to popular email services such as Gmail or Yahoo. So, let’s get started.
Mailfence: Secure and Private Email Service
After using a couple of email services, I came to realize that Mailfence is the most secure of all genuine private email service providers in the marketplace. It is a free secure email service with a concept of privacy as a right and not a feature. It is one of the oldest privacy-focused companies offering end-to-end encrypted email. Founded in Belgium, Mailfence focuses on transparency and offers many valuable features that will impress you.
Features
• No tracking
• No advertising
• Custom email domain
• Legal protection
• Digital signatures
• Two-factor authentication
• End-to-end encryption
Why Choose Mailfence?
The reason I recommend Mailfence is its security-centric nature that features end-to-end encrypted email ensuring that nobody can read your messages apart from the intended ones, not even Mailfence.
In contrast to any other web-based secure and private email service such as Protonmail or Tutanota , Mailfence provides users with absolute freedom to communicate privately with anyone, be it another Mailfence users or any other (OpenPGP complaint) email service user. There are many other benefits of using Mailfence as your private email service. Have a look!
• Ease of Use
It is a browser-based service with no plug-ins and no add-ons. You can easily create and manage your keys in a single place.
• High Privacy
Mailfence ensures that your browser does cryptography. With Mailfence, you are protected by Belgian law. No third-party can access your data.
• Better Security
This private email service offers true OpenPGP end-to-end encrypted email on a secured infrastructure.
• Freedom of Access
You can choose which emails to encrypt and communicate securely with anyone using the OpenPGP standard.
Need Something More Than Just Secure Email?
I believe that an email platform should be more than just email. We as users always expect a complete package while upgrading from regular free service. Well, Mailfence goes an extra step by offering additional services in its email-suite comprising of messages, calendar, contact and secure document management. What else can one ask for?
Feature Comparison between Mailfence and Other Privacy-Conscious Webmail
If you still have second thoughts about the service, let’s take you through a face-off challenge between Mailfence and other popular secure email service providers.
- Privacy and Security
| Feature | Others | MailFence |
|---|---|---|
| End-to-end encryption | ✖ | ✔ |
| Digital signatures | 🌓 | ✔ |
| Full PGP inter-operability with other solutions | ✖ | ✔ |
| Integrated Keystore | ✖ | ✔ |
| Multiple OpenPGP keypair support | ✖ | ✔ |
| Seamless PGP public key server connection | ✖ | ✔ |
| PGP key management(import,export,delete) | ✖ | ✔ |
| OpenPGP on the same platform is not allowed | ✖ | ✔ |
| Full reversibility & Key revocation | ✖ | ✔ |
2. Email
| Feature | Others | MailFence |
|---|---|---|
| IMAP(S)/POP(S) support | ✖ | ✔ |
| ActiveSync Exchange support | 🌓 | ✔ |
| High priority/Read receipt | ✖ | ✔ |
| Tags/Categories | ✖ | ✔ |
| Alias | ✖ | ✔ |
| Filters | ✖ | ✔ |
| Message footer signatures | ✖ | ✔ |
| Add own domain | ✖ | ✔ |
3. Collaborative Suite
| Feature | Others | MailFence |
|---|---|---|
| Document management and storage | 🌓 | ✔ |
| Calendar | 🌓 | ✔ |
| Calendar polls | ✖ | ✔ |
| Contact management | 🌓 | ✔ |
| WebDAV support | 🌓 | ✔ |
| Data import/export | 🌓 | ✔ |
| Groups | ✖ | ✔ |
| Group (shared) mailbox | ✖ | ✔ |
| Groups calendar | ✖ | ✔ |
| Groups documents | ✖ | ✔ |
| Groups contacts | ✖ | ✔ |
| Groups member instant messaging | ✖ | ✔ |
Reference Index:
✔ – Provided
✖ – Not Provided
🌓 – Provided by some
MailFence Pricing
→ FREE Plan
- 500 MB emails
- 500 MB documents
- Encryption
- Support: email
→ Entry (2.5 Euros/ month)
- 5 GB emails (10 Alias)
- 12 GB documents
- Encryption
- Support: email + tel
- POP, IMAP, SMTP, iOS, Android, ActiveSync
- Users management
- Custom email domain,DKIM, SPF, DMARC
→ Pro (7.5 Euros/ month)
- 20 GB emails (50 Alias)
- 24 GB documents
- Encryption
- Support: email + tel
- POP, IMAP, SMTP, iOS, Android, ActiveSync
- Users management
- Custom email domain,DKIM, SPF, DMARC
→ Ultra (25 Euros/ month)
- 50 GB emails (100 Alias)
- 70 GB documents
- Encryption
- Support: email + tel
- POP, IMAP, SMTP, iOS, Android, ActiveSync
- Users management
- Custom email domain,DKIM, SPF, DMARC
→ Business plans are also available that can be tailored to your needs. Check out the plans here for a detailed picture.
Final Thoughts
Switching to an end-to-end encrypted email account is a change worth making and I have experienced it. Besides, it’s important while choosing a private email service to evaluate their encryption methods. My objective was to defend my emails against all possible threats and the Mailfence security team just did it for me. Try it out for yourself. It’s worth it.
