Finding the right web hosting provider for your business can be a daunting task. With so many providers to choose from, it can be hard to distinguish which one has the features and services that align with your business goals. 

HostPapa has been around for more than a decade and has been providing web hosting services to small to medium-sized businesses. This blog post will take a closer look into HostPapa and its services, and help you decide if it’s the right hosting provider for you.

• You can sign up for HostPapa here

What is HostPapa?

HostPapa is a popular web hosting provider that was established in 2006. Since then, it has grown to become a global leader in hosting solutions, serving over 500,000+ customers in more than 100 countries. 

HostPapa offers a variety of hosting plans such as shared, VPS (Virtual Private Server), reseller, and WordPress hosting. Also, it provides domain registration, website builder tools, email hosting, ecommerce solutions, and more. 

What sort of hosting plans does Hostinger offer? 

HostPapa offers a variety of hosting plans to cater to the different needs of its customers. Here are some of the hosting plans by HostPapa.

Web Hosting 

HostPapa's web hosting plan is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses that are looking for an affordable and reliable web hosting solution. With HostPapa's web hosting plan, you'll get a free domain name, unlimited disk space, and bandwidth as well as personalized email addresses to help you create a branded email experience. The web hosting plan also comes with a user-friendly control panel, enabling you to easily manage your website from anywhere.

Optimized WordPress Hosting 

HostPapa's optimized WordPress hosting plan is an excellent option if you want to build a website on WordPress. This plan includes a pre-installed WordPress environment, automatic WordPress updates, as well as enhanced performance through optimized settings. Additionally, you will benefit from having your website hosted on servers that are specifically designed for WordPress, ensuring your website performs at optimal speed and reliability. 

Managed WordPress Hosting 

HostPapa's managed WordPress hosting plan goes a step further by providing dedicated customer support for WordPress issues, ensuring you have a hassle-free experience. With this plan, HostPapa takes care of WordPress updates, security patches, and daily backups. This allows you to focus on growing your business while HostPapa handles the technical aspects of your website. 

VPS Hosting 

HostPapa's VPS hosting plan is perfect for businesses that require more resources and flexibility than what's offered with shared hosting. With a VPS hosting plan, you will have dedicated resources, including CPU, RAM, and storage, allowing for faster website performance, better security, and the ability to scale your website as your business grows. HostPapa also provides full root access and the ability to choose your own operating system, giving you more control over your website. 

Reseller Hosting 

HostPapa's reseller hosting plan is designed for businesses that want to provide web hosting services to their own clients. With this plan, you'll be able to host multiple websites under one account, allowing you to offer hosting services to your customers, while HostPapa takes care of the technical aspects. Also, HostPapa's reseller hosting plan comes with a white-label solution, enabling you to customize the hosting experience for your customers under your own brand name. 

Does HostPapa have a website builder?  

HostPapa offers what is called a "Do-It-Yourself (DIY) online Website Builder" which allows you to create, publish, and optimize a beautiful website. The HostPapa website builder is user-friendly and doesn't require any technical skills. With HostPapa website builder, you can build a web store. This is perfect for anyone who wants to sell products online. The website builder is ecommerce enabled, allowing you to set up an online store with ease. It has 45+ payment gateways, so customers can pay through any preferred channel. 

HostPapa's website builder features free domain registration. This means that you won't have to pay extra for a domain name, which can be a significant cost when starting a website. Plus, the website builder allows for up to 1000 pages, so you won't feel limited in what you can create. The mobile-friendly, responsive design templates ensure that your website looks great and functions well on any device, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Advanced HTML & CSS editing feature of the website builder is available for users who have more technical skills or specific customization needs. The website builder also provides header/footer code injection for those who want even more design control. 

HostPapa's performance 

HostPapa's hosting is exceptionally reliable, with an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. This means that your website will always be up and running, providing your customers with an uninterrupted browsing experience. HostPapa's servers are secure and equipped with the latest technologies, ensuring that your website's performance is always at its optimal level.

How fast is HostPapa? 

HostPapa uses SSD (solid-state drives) on its servers. SSDs are much faster than traditional hard drives as they rely on flash memory rather than spinning disks to store data. 

HostPapa also uses a Content Delivery Network (CDN) that caches website content on servers located all over the world thereby increasing website speed. This reduces website load times for visitors from different locations. 

Another thing I noticed during my testing was HostPapa’s use of the LiteSpeed web server. This is a high-performance, HTTP web server that is designed to work with popular CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. LiteSpeed has proven to be faster than other web servers like Apache and Nginx, especially when running PHP-based websites like WordPress. 

An uptime test via UptimeRobot that ran on HostPapa’s main website for over a month didn’t show a single trace of downtime and showed only a few major oscillations in response time. Considering that HostPapa guarantees that their uptime will never drop below 99.9%, we can only confirm that. 

How easy is HostPapa to use? 

The first impression of a hosting provider is crucial. With HostPapa, getting started was a breeze. I was able to sign up for an account, choose a domain name, and set up my email within minutes. The dashboard layout is straightforward, and the icons and menus are self-explanatory. I appreciate that HostPapa provides video tutorials and a knowledge base to guide users. 

HostPapa uses cPanel as its control panel, which is a popular choice among hosting providers. I was glad to see that HostPapa had customized its cPanel interface to match its branding and added some useful features like softaculous, a tool that automates software installations. The control panel is organized, and the icons are labeled clearly, making it easy to manage my website files, databases, emails, and backups.

If you’ve selected one of the shared hosting plans, the first thing you’ll notice will probably be the absence of an option for monthly billing. Instead, you’ll be able to select between billings for 12, 24 or 36 months only, which seems unnecessarily inflexible. 

On a more positive side, all plans offer a decent value for money and the customers can choose from a few (not too specified) server locations: the US, Canada and Europe. Additionally, at a rather high price you can throw in a couple of add-ons labeled as “website essentials”. A few of these may come already check marked, but you can unselect each of them easily enough.

After this, you are able to choose a new domain name or transfer an existing one, free of charge. To continue, you’ll have to provide HostPapa with a number of rather regular personal information, pick a payment method and finalize the purchase. All in all, it’s a pretty straightforward process.

All details about your order will be displayed on the far right side of the screen in a transparent manner, with both individual and total expenses shown, which is always good to see. 

Plans and pricing

HostPapa claims its goal is to provide every customer with a fully-featured hosting package at the lowest possible cost without compromising the quality. All of the above should come together with the help of top-notch customer service and powered by renewable green energy. With this in mind, we were expecting budget-friendly prices and that's more or less what we got.

The shared hosting Start plan begins at $2.95 per month (if you sign up to a 3-year subscription), supports hosting up to two websites and includes a free domain, starter website builder (two pages limit), 100GB of SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth. This sounds like a pretty good value for money.

Although all customers are entitled to cancel HostPapa’s services at any moment, there is a 30‑day risk-free money‑back guarantee. However, it applies to shared and reseller web hosting plans only, which seems a bit reductive. 

As for the payment method, HostPapa accepts credit/debit cards and PayPal.

Given that HostPapa doesn’t support Windows hosting, you’ll be using Linux-based cPanel, which is intuitive and easy-to-use, even for average users. From there you’ll be able to install WordPress in no time via Softaculous app installer, and the same goes for hundreds of popular apps, such as Joomla or PrestaShop.

At a minimum, HostPapa offers a basic version of its great drag-and-drop website builder with all its plans, but there is a catch. This product is only offered to users whose domains have been registered with HostPapa. Therefore, if you already have a registered domain elsewhere, you need to transfer to HostPapa before using a website builder or sign up for a new hosting plan. Unfortunately, if you have multiple domain names on your account and want a website builder with each of them, you’ll need to pay for each instance of website builder individually. 

How good is HostPapa's support? 

HostPapa offers several ways to access its customer support team. One of the most convenient options is the Knowledge Base, which is a comprehensive library of articles and video tutorials that cover everything from setting up your account to troubleshooting technical issues. 

The video tutorials are especially helpful for visual learners and provide step-by-step instructions for many common tasks. In addition to the Knowledge Base, HostPapa also offers live chat support. This is an excellent way to get quick assistance if you have a question or need help with something. 

The live chat support team is available 24/7, so you can get help whenever you need it. If you prefer to speak to someone over the phone, HostPapa's customer care center is available to you. You can call at any time, and the HostPapa team of technical experts will be happy to help you with any issue you may have. 

HostPapa also offers email and fax support, which is useful for users who prefer to communicate in writing. In general, HostPapa's customer support team is responsive, helpful, and professional.

The competition

HostNoc is a fellow Canadian web host provider which, much like HostPapa, offers a wide range of well-rounded and adaptive hosting solutions to global customers and at budget-friendly prices. While HostNoc throws in free daily backups and a constant security monitoring, HostPapa adds free domain registration to all of its plans. Since both competitors seem to be affordable, trustworthy and reliable, the choice may be a matter of personal preference.

If competent customer support is an important factor for you, both HostPapa and Hostgator will meet the criteria. However, when it comes to hosting plans, Hostgator will provide every user with a free SSL certificate, while you’ll need to pay an extra for it with HostPapa. 

Bluehost is another strong rival to HostPapa and one of the most popular global hosting options. However, Bluehost doesn’t offer reseller hosting as an option, while HostPapa does, so if that’s what you’re looking for, the choice is clear. 

Doteasy is another Canada-based provider which aims to provide quality yet affordable hosting solutions to the international clientele. In contrast to HostPapa, Doteasy provides monthly billing for shared hosting plans. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive and exclude a money-back guarantee.

Final verdict: Is HostPapa right for you? 

One thing that stands out to me about HostPapa is its customer service. I have had my fair share of frustrating experiences with other service providers who would take days to get back to me on support inquiries, but HostPapa was different during testing. Its support team was incredibly responsive and helpful. HostPapa offered efficient live chat support, and whenever I had an issue with my website, I was always able to reach someone within minutes.

Another factor that made HostPapa stand out was its user-friendly dashboard. I found it incredibly easy to navigate and customize my website without needing any technical expertise. This was especially useful since I didn't have a lot of experience with website building before using HostPapa. The website builder was drag-and-drop, and I could easily add and remove pages, install eCommerce features, and integrate various plugins.

HostPapa's uptime was impressive, and my website never experienced any downtime. I didn't need to worry about losing traffic due to site unavailability. Additionally, HostPapa's pricing was affordable compared to other service providers. I found great value in the Starter plan, and as my site grew, I could quickly upgrade to a more powerful plan if I want.

HostPapa FAQs

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The most popular email clients, such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, are free. But, nothing is really free. In exchange for using a free email client, you give them permission to harvest your data for advertising purposes, and this data can be abused. As the popular saying goes, “If you’re not paying, then you’re the product.”

Many people aren’t comfortable with handing over their data to boost massive advertising operations, so they seek secure email alternatives. Posteo is regarded as one of the best secure email providers. It was founded in 2009 and gained prominence in 2013 following global surveillance disclosures. The platform claims to have over 500,000 active email accounts currently. Posteo is a German company based in the capital of Berlin.  

Posteo: Plans and pricing

Posteo has very simple pricing. It costs just $1 per month to get access to a secure email account. This low price makes it one of the most affordable yet robust secure email platforms you can choose.

There’s no free version of Posteo, but that’s excusable given the low price for the premium subscription. Note that there’s no free trial and you must pay for 12 months of subscription at a time.

If you're not satisfied with the service, you can request a refund within 14 days of opening your account. 

Posteo: Features

Posteo offers many helpful features, including

End-to-end email encryption

End-to-end encryption refers to a secure method of communication that prevents any third party from accessing data while it’s in transit from one server to another. Posteo’s connection is always encrypted; there’s no room for any unencrypted connection. 

End-to-end encryption prevents any third parties, including hackers or advertisers, from accessing your data. Even Posteo can not look at the email contents because of the end-to-end encryption.

A good thing about Posteo is that you don't need to provide any personal information during the signup process. The platform also has an anonymized payment system. You don't use your card or bank transfer to pay directly. Instead, you buy anonymized account credits that you then use to fund your account. 

Posteo says all its servers' hard disks are encrypted to prevent unauthorized access. It also backs up content daily, so you can be sure of not losing any important message. 

Two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is a security feature that requires at least two modes of identification before granting access to your account. You can enable this on your Posteo account using authenticator apps or special hardware keys such as YubiKey.

Alias email addresses

Alias addresses are additional email addresses routed to your own account. You can create multiple alias addresses on Posteo, and any message sent to them will be forwarded to your main email address. The first two alias addresses are free but any additional one costs $0.10 per month.

Calendar

Posteo offers a calendar app that you can use to plan your schedule. You can create multiple calendars, e.g., a different one for your work schedule and another for your weekend schedule. If you already have a calendar on another platform, you can download it as an ICS file and export the data to Posteo to continue. 

You can share your Posteo calendar with other people. You can also receive reminders for appointments you place on this calendar. The calendar is encrypted like your emails, so you’re sure unauthorized parties won’t get hold of your schedule.

Storage

A Posteo subscription comes with 2 GB of storage. You can increase it to a maximum of 20 GB, and each extra gigabyte costs $0.25 per month. A maximum of 20 GB is pretty low when you compare Posteo to other platforms. For instance, Proton Mail offers 500 GB of storage on every paid plan. Yet, Posteo’s relatively low storage is understandable given its low price.

Spam filter

You can filter your messages rigorously. You can create different filter addresses for different services, e.g., example+amazon@posteo.net for Amazon messages and example+Facebook@posteo.net for emails related to Facebook.

Posteo also has built-in filters to detect spam and malware and block them before they cause harm.

Posteo: Interface and in use

Posteo is a very simple product. Its interface is minimal and uncluttered, which makes it easy to understand. Customers often praise Posteo for its simplicity, making it an ideal secure email solution for non-technical users.

The drawback is that Posteo does not have any native mobile or desktop app, unlike its competitors; it’s primarily web-based. You can still log into your Posteo address on a third-party email client app, but that’s a complicated process that non-technical users may have issues with. 

Posteo is a multi-lingual tool, supporting over 60 languages.

Posteo: Support

Posteo offers email support to subscribers. The company's support team is active on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (GMT) and usually responds within 48 hours. You also have access to a collection of user guides and help pages to rectify your issues. 

True to its privacy roots, Posteo has no ticketing system, so it doesn't log support requests to create a customer profile.

Posteo: The competition

Proton Mail is the main competitor to Posteo we’d like to highlight. This service offers much more features than Posteo; a Proton Mail subscription also gives you access to a calendar tool, a virtual private network (VPN) service, and 500 GB of cloud storage for your files. Expectedly, it’s a more expensive tool, with pricing starting from $11.99 per month for the premium plan  

Posteo: Final verdict

Posteo is a simple, secure email provider. It’s ideal to choose if you want access to a basic secure email and protect your privacy. The platform is very affordable compared to the competition. Yet, you won’t have access to as many features as you’d find on rival email services. 

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Mailbox.org is rated as one of the best secure email providers in the world.

Many email providers offer their services for free. But you’ll be right to wonder while someone is offering something for free. In exchange for using these free services, you give the owner access to your data, which they can use for advertising or sell it directly to earn revenue. Many people are not convenient with this arrangement and seek secure email providers that don’t harvest their data. Mailbox.org is one such provider.

Mailbox.org was launched in 2014 in the wake of global surveillance revelations spearheaded by whistleblower Edward Snowden. It was a rework of JPBerlin, a German email hosting service. JPBerlin began over two decades ago and has enough experience in providing email services; Mailbox.org built on this experience to offer an email platform focused on security and privacy.

Many individuals and businesses around the globe now use Mailbox.org as their email provider.

Mailbox.org: Plans and pricing

Mailbox.org doesn’t offer a free plan, which is a disadvantage. But its most basic plan costs just $1 per user per month, which is very affordable. This Light plan gives you access to 2 GB of email storage and 3 alias addresses.

The next plan, Standard, costs $3 per user per month. It gives you access to 10 GB of email storage, 5 GB of extra cloud storage, and up to 50 alias addresses.

The most expensive plan, Premium, costs $9 per user per month. It gives you 25 GB of mail storage, 50 GB of extra cloud storage, and up to 250 aliases on a custom domain. It also includes priority email and telephone support.

You can take advantage of the 30-day free trial period to test your plan before making a payment. You’re free to upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time.

Mailbox.org: Features

Mailbox.org offers many valuable features, including

End-to-End Email Encryption

End-to-end encryption is a security protocol preventing any unauthorized party from accessing data while it’s being transmitted. When you hit the send button, your email is encrypted on Mailbox.org’s mail servers and can only be decrypted on the recipient’s servers using a secret key. Without that key, no one can decrypt your email contents. 

End-to-end encryption implies that Mailbox.org’s administrators can not even read the contents of your emails. Neither can they provide the contents to any legal body that requests it. 

Cloud storage

Mailbox.org offers extra cloud storage for your files. You can keep photos, videos, audio, documents, etc., securely on Mailbox.org’s servers. The Standard plan offers 5 GB of cloud storage and the Premium plan offers 50 GB of cloud storage, which is enough for most people. Unfortunately, the Light plan offers no extra cloud storage apart from the 2 GB allocation for emails.

Alias address

An alias is an extra email address that forwards to your main address. It allows you to interact with people or applications without giving out your main address. For example, if your main address is Joe@mailbox.org, you can create an alias of joe+edu@mailbox.org for educational emails, john+work@mailbox.org for work emails, and joe+shopping@mailbox.org for online shopping emails. The key is the “+” symbol followed by anything you want. 

Users on the Light plan can create just 3 email aliases. Users on the Standard plan can create 25 aliases on a Mailbox.org domain and up to 50 on a custom domain. Users on the Premium plan can create 25 aliases on the mailbox.org domain and up to 250 aliases on a custom domain. 

Custom domain

Many individuals and businesses need emails with a custom domain name because it makes them look more professional. Mailbox.org allows you to use a custom domain; you just need to change the MX records on your domain registrar to forward to Mailbox.org’s mail servers. 

Calendar

Mailbox.org offers a calendar tool that you can use to plan your schedule. You can create and monitor your schedule meticulously with this tool. You can create multiple calendars for different purposes, e.g., one for holidays and another for school time. You can also share your calendars with other Mailbox.org users.

Contacts

Mailbox.org offers a tool to help users store and manage their contacts. You can create a contact at any time and retrieve their information whenever needed. You can share your contacts with other Mailbox.org users and import existing contacts from other email platforms.

Video conferencing

Mailbox.org offers a secure video conferencing tool as one of its complementary features. You can make video calls with other Mailbox.org users and be sure no third party is prying on the conversation.

Mailbox.org: Interface and in use

Mailbox.org has a simple interface that you’ll likely find easy to navigate. The interface is minimal and uncluttered, and you can switch between different features easily. The drawback is that Mailbox.org does not have a mobile or desktop app, unlike some competitors.  

Mailbox.org: Support

Mailbox.org provides direct support to customers via email. You can open a ticket on the website or message the company’s support email directly. Typical users should expect a response within 48 hours while users on the Premium plan should expect a response within 24 hours. Premium plan subscribers can also access telephone support.  

Mailbox.org: The competition

Proton Mail is one of the main competitors to Mailbox.org. It offers a broad range of features; a subscription gives you access to encrypted email, a calendar tool, cloud storage, and a virtual private network (VPN) service. It has a mobile app, unlike Mailbox.org. The drawback is that Proton Mail is a more expensive tool. 

Mailbox.org: Final verdict

Mailbox.org is a good secure email service to use. It offers broad features, an intuitive interface, and is relatively affordable. The main drawback is that there’s no mobile app, unlike most popular email tools.  

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Most email platforms that we use are free. But, you’ll be right to suspect that nothing is really free. In exchange for using these free services, you give the providers access to your data, which they can use to build sophisticated advertising algorithms or sell the data directly to third parties to earn revenue. “If you’re not paying, you’re the product” is a quote to note.

Many people aren’t convenient with giving a third party access to their email data, so they seek the best secure email service alternatives. SecureMyEmail is a platform that provides such a secure alternative. 

SecureMyEmail is not a standalone email service. Instead, it is an encryption tool that works with your existing email provider. For instance, you can download the app on your mobile phone and encrypt your Gmail or Yahoo Mail messages. You can start for free and upgrade later if you need to encrypt multiple email addresses.

SecureMyEmail was developed by Witopia, an American software company. 

SecureMyEmail: Plans and pricing

SecureMyEmail offers a free plan, which is a notable advantage. The free plan allows you to encrypt just one email address. You can download the encrypted email software and connect your existing email address, e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook. This plan is limited to just one address, so it’s suitable for testing the features to see if you’ll like to be a long-term user.

You need to pay for a premium plan if you want to encrypt more than one address. You can encrypt up to 8 addresses on a single paid plan. This plan costs $3.99 monthly or a discounted rate of $29.99 annually. When we checked the website, SecureMyEmail was also offering a lifetime subscription for $100, but this plan was time-limited. 

If you represent a business or any organization that wants to use SecureMyEmail to encrypt a lot of emails, you can contact the company’s sales team for a quote.

SecureMyEmail offers a 30-day free trial to test the premium features before making your final decision. 

SecureMyEmail: Features

SecureMyEmail offers many helpful features including: 

End-to-End Email Encryption

End-to-end encryption is a security protocol preventing any third party from accessing data while it’s being transmitted from one server to another. SecureMyEmail adds an end-to-end encryption layer atop your email client. Your mail will be encrypted on SecureMyEmail’s servers and can only be decrypted on the recipient’s servers using a private key. If anyone intercepts the information in transit, it’ll be useless to them because they don’t possess the private keys to decrypt it.

End-to-end encryption means that even SecureMyEmail’s administrators can not access your email contents, and they can neither provide it in response to a legal request.

This platform uses the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption protocol to protect user emails. This protocol is what encrypts and decrypts email contents, including text, photos, attached documents, etc., and facilitates private conversations.

Digital Signature

You can add digital signatures to your email to protect your identity and prevent impersonation. It’s akin to signing a hardcopy letter with your unique signature so that the recipient is sure that it’s from you.

SecureMyEmail lets you cryptographically "sign" an email with unique security keys. This way, the recipient's server can always verify that it comes from your address and not an impersonator. This feature is very helpful for business and legal communications, e.g., sending instructions for a wire transfer.

Mobile and Desktop Apps

SecureMyEmail offers mobile and desktop apps to make things easier for users. You can download the iOS app from the Apple App Store or Android app from the Google Play Store. You can also download the Windows or macOS app directly on the website.

After downloading the app, you can use your existing email address to sign in and start sending encrypted emails. You can keep your existing email client’s interface or use a custom one that SecureMyEmail provides. The platform’s interface is simple to use and understand, so you shouldn’t have a problem navigating it.

You can manage up to eight personal or work email addresses on a single account. Anything above that figure needs another subscription to cover the next eight accounts.

SecureMyEmail’s servers are based in Switzerland, a country with strict privacy laws. 

SecureMyEmail: Interface and in use

SecureMyEmail has a simple interface that you’ll likely find easy to navigate. The interface is uncluttered, which makes it easy to switch between different features. However, you may face some difficulties trying to connect to your email client for the first time; you can consult the Knowledge Base for help here.

SecureMyEmail offers mobile and desktop apps that you can easily download and use. 

SecureMyEmail: Support

SecureMyEmail offers direct support through email. You can fill out a contact form on the official website, and the company’s support team will respond via email. Before that, you can consult the Knowledge Base, which contains extensive information about SecureMyEmail, and the FAQ section that provides answers to commonly asked questions.   

SecureMyEmail: The competition

Proton Mail is a major competitor to SecureMyEmail and is one of the most popular secure email services out there. Proton Mail is a standalone email client that is easy to sign up and use - you don’t need to stress yourself integrating it with your existing email client at the beginning. This platform offers broad features and a better user interface but is more expensive than SecureMyEmail.  

SecureMyEmail: Final verdict

SecureMyEmail is a great tool to use because you can integrate it with your existing email client. You can still keep the email interface you’re used to while adding an encryption layer via SecureMyEmail. 

This platform offers a free plan that you can use to protect a single email address. You’ll need to pay to protect extra emails but that’s fair given the features SecureMyEmail provides, and the price is relatively affordable at $3.99 monthly. 

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The most popular email platforms are free to use, such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail. However, there’s a popular saying that “if something is free, you’re the product.” In exchange for free email, you allow the provider to harvest your data for advertising purposes to earn revenue, and many people are not comfortable with this arrangement.

The best secure email providers offer an alternative for privacy-minded users, and Proton Mail is one of the best examples. Founded in 2013 and based in Geneva, Switzerland, Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption for email content. It encrypts your data before they get sent to its mail servers, unlike other common email services.

Proton Mail can not access the content of emails by design. However, your email’s subject lines are not encrypted because of the protocol Proton Mail uses. The platform offers a free account with limited messaging and storage, and you can pay to upgrade your features.

Proton Mail: Plans and pricing

Proton Mail offers a free account that gives access to 1 email address, 1 GB of storage, and a maximum of 150 messages daily. You need to subscribe to the Unlimited plan to upgrade to 15 email addresses, unlimited messages, support for 3 custom email domains, and 500 GB of storage.

The Unlimited plan has different pricing for individuals, families, and businesses. The Individual plan costs $11.99 per month, the Family plan costs $29.99 per month for up to 6 users and 3 TB of storage, and the business plan costs $11 per user per month. You’ll get significant discounts on the unit price if you pay for 12 or 24 months in one go.

You can pay using a credit card, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer. If you’re not satisfied with the service, you can ask for a full refund within 30 days of your payment.

Proton Mail: Features

Proton Mail offers many useful features, including:

End-to-End Email Encryption

End-to-end encryption is a private communication protocol that prevents any third party from accessing data while it’s in transit from one server to another. The data is encrypted on the sender’s server and only the recipient’s server can decrypt it. This feature means that even Proton Mail can’t access your email content. If anyone asks for it, the company is unable to provide it.

However, subject lines are not encrypted in Proton Mail because the platform adheres to the OpenPGP standard. In PGP, the subject line is part of the header packet and can not be end-to-end encrypted.

Cloud Storage

A Proton Mail subscription includes access to ProtonDrive, the platform’s cloud storage solution. The Unlimited plan gives users access to up to 500 GB of storage for their emails and other types of files. For instance, you can store your images and videos on ProtonDrive and access them from any device as long as you have the correct login details.

ProtonDrive is also encrypted, so you can share files securely. You can view the version history of your files; ProtonDrive stores up to 200 versions of each file for up to 10 years.

ProtonVPN

A Proton Mail subscription also includes access to the platform’s virtual private network (VPN) service. To the uninitiated, VPN software protects your browsing information by masking your IP address. It allows you to browse the internet anonymously and access content that may be blocked in your region via the IP address system.

For instance, you can be in Romania and choose an IP address hosted on a server in the United States. This way, you can access subscription services and content exclusive to U.S.-based people.

ProtonCalendar

A Proton Mail subscription includes access to the company’s online calendar tool. You can use this tool to plan your schedule rigorously and share it with family, friends, colleagues, etc. You can host multiple calendars for different purposes. For example, you can have a distinct one for your work schedule and another for your weekends.

A good thing about a Proton Mail subscription is that it unlocks access to a broad suite of services. You can not only send encrypted emails but you also have access to broad cloud storage, a VPN service, and a calendar to plan your schedule.

Proton Mail: Interface and in use

One of the things that Proton Mail is famous for is offering a good user experience. The platform has a very intuitive interface that you’ll likely find easy to use. You can switch between different features without hassles, with a visually appealing interface that’s pleasing to work with.

You can access Proton Mail from the web or download the app on your smartphone (iOS and Android) or desktop. The desktop solution is a "bridge" app that lets you access Proton Mail from your existing email client such as Microsoft Outlook for Windows and Apple Mail for macOS.

Proton Mail: Support

Proton Mail offers direct customer support through email. You can fill out a contact form on the official website and wait for an email response or message its support email directly. You also have access to complimentary support resources including user guides, manuals, and FAQs.

Proton Mail: The competition

There’s no shortage of secure email solutions competing with Proton Mail. Two notable competitors are Tutanota and Hushmail. Tutanota is a German email platform that uses its own end-to-end encryption standards, unlike Proton Mail which uses open-source standards to foster trust.

Hushmail is a Canadian email service offering end-to-end encryption for your messages. Pricing starts from $50 per year for personal use, making it a more affordable solution than Proton Mail but with fewer features.

Proton Mail: Final verdict

Proton Mail is one of the best secure email platforms you can choose. Its encryption has been tested several times by law enforcement and found secure. For instance, Proton Mail won a 2021 Swiss court victory ruling that secure email services aren't subject to data retention requirements imposed on telecoms services.

A slight drawback is that Proton Mail is not built for high-volume messaging. Many popular websites also block people from using a Proton Mail address to sign up for their services.

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