Top 12 Free Email Services

If you are looking for a free email service, you can be picky. You'll be rewarded with plenty of storage, effective spam filtering, a fast interface, desktop email program access and more. Find the top 10 free email services to choose from reviewed here.

PS: Looking for free email, you may also be interested in

• free POP3 and IMAP email services,
• free Windows email programs or
• free Mac email programs.

1. Gmail - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Gmail is the Google approach to email and chat. Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all your messages, and Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you find them precisely and see them in context without effort. POP and powerful IMAP access bring Gmail to any email program or device. Gmail puts contextual advertising next to the emails you read. Gmail Review | Gmail Resources | Gmail Screenshots | Gmail Tips

2. AIM Mail - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher AIM Mail, AOL's free web-based email service, shines with unlimited online storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface. Unfortunately, AIM Mail lacks a bit in productivity (no labels, smart folders and message threading), but makes up for some of that with very functional IMAP (as well as POP) access. AIM Mail Review | AIM Mail Tips

3. Yahoo! Mail - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Yahoo! Mail is your ubiquitous email program on the web with unlimited storage and RSS news feeds, SMS texting and instant messaging to boot. While Yahoo! Mail is generally a joy to use, free-form labelling and smart folders would be nice, and the spam filter could catch junk even more effectively. Yahoo! Mail Review | Yahoo! Mail Resources | Yahoo! Mail Tips

4. Inbox.com - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Inbox.com not only gives you 5 GB to store your mail online but also a highly polished, fast and functional way to access it via either the web (including speedy search, free-form labels and reading mail by conversation) or through POP in your email program. Unfortunately, IMAP access is not supported by Inbox.com, and its tools for organizing mail could be improved with smart or self-teaching folders. Inbox.com Review | Inbox.com Tips

5. Yahoo! Mail Classic - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Yahoo! Mail Classic is a comfortable, reliable and secure email service with unlimited storage. A pretty good spam filter keeps the junk out, and you can send rich emails using Yahoo! Mail's HTML editor. Yahoo! Mail Classic Review | Yahoo! Mail Resources | Yahoo! Mail Classic Tips

6. FastMail Guest Account - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher FastMail is a great free email service with IMAP access, useful features, one of the best web-based email interfaces and few ads. FastMail Review | FastMail Resources | FastMail Tips

7. Windows Live Hotmail - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Windows Live Hotmail is a free email service that gives you a 5 GB of online storage, fast search, solid security and an interface easy as a desktop email program. When it comes to organizing mail, Windows Live Hotmail does not go beyond folders (to saved searches and tags, for example), its spam filter could be more effective, and POP or IMAP access are missing. Windows Live Hotmail Review | Windows Live Hotmail Resources | Windows Live Hotmail Tips

8. Bluebottle - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher Bluebottle offers email accounts that are practically free of spam (using challenge/response filtering) and can be accessed on the web or using POP with any email program. Bluebottle could offer more tools for efficiently handling mail, though, online storage is in a somewhat short supply, and challenge/response filtering comes with its own share of problems, too. Bluebottle Review

9. BigString.com - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher BigString.com is a free 2 GB email service that includes rich secure and certified mail services and lets you password-protect, expire or edit sent messages, for example. Unfortunately, BigString.com is not equally well equipped for handling incoming mail and lacks organizing tools. BigString.com Review

10. HotPOP - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher HotPOP offers free, reliable email accounts you can use with any email program using POP3 and SMTP. In addition, HotPOP lets you forward incoming messages to multiple other addresses. Unfortunately, HotPOP lacks IMAP access and a web-based email interface and is a bit short on storage space. HotPOP Review

11. goowy mail - Free Email Service

View Full-Size Heinz Tschabitscher goowy mail is your rich Desktop email program on the web with a fast interface that lets you drag and drop, use context menus and enjoy lots of pleasant eye candy. In addition to email, goowy offers a calendar, an RSS feed reader and games done in a similar fashion. More features and online storage would do goowy mail good, though. goowy mail Review

12. My Way Mail - Free Email Service

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Heinz Tschabitscher

My Way Mail is a clean, fast and fun (though not particularly advanced) free email service.
It lacks secure messaging and other advanced, non-essential features, though.
My Way Mail Review | My Way Mail Tips