Best Email Encryption Services
$87 per month billed annually ($1,044)
Yes
PDF watermarking, Message revocation: You can revoke access to your encrypted emails anytime, Control forwarding: Allows you to view and manage who can forward your encrypted emails
Unlimited
$7.99 per user, per month
No
End-to-end encryption, Self-destructing emails, Doesn’t require personal data during signup
1 GB-500 GB
$3.60 for the first month, then $6 every month after
No
Provides OpenPGP encryption, Unlimited aliases, Provides disposable email addresses for spam prevention
10 GB
$3.99 per month
Yes
End-to-end encryption, Zero-knowledge encryption: Not even SecureMyEmail can access your emails or attachments, Cross-platform compatibility: Available on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and web browsers
Unlimited
€1/month ($1.10/month)
Yes
Phishing detection, End-to-end encryption, Session handling
1 GB-10 GB
Humans have been encrypting communication since ancient Egypt and Greece. Naturally, the methods we use in the digital age differ from those of the past, but the fundamentals of secure and private communication still hold ground.
Today, encryption is vital to email, which we regularly use to send personal information and sensitive data, such as financial or confidential business documents, back and forth. This information needs to be kept secure, and the best way to do so is through an encrypted email service.
In this guide, we've rounded up a list of the best email encryption services available for personal and business use. We reviewed these services, listed their pros and cons and determined which service best fit different individual or business use cases.
Our Top Picks For Best Email Encryption Services
- Virtru – Best For Secure File Sharing
- ProtonMail – Best For Business Plans
- StartMail – Best For Disposable Email Addresses
- SecureMyEmail – Best For Existing Email Accounts
- Tutanota – Best All-In-One Solution
Best Email Encryption Services Reviews
Best For Secure File Sharing: Virtru
Why we chose it: Virtru excels as a secure file-sharing service thanks to access controls that let you set permissions on a per-user basis and control which users can view, edit or revoke access to shared files.
Virtru allows you to send encrypted files not only via email, but also through other apps or software, making it a versatile solution for secure file sharing. The platform's multiple layers of security ensure your data remains safe from unauthorized access and cyber threats. Besides end-to-end encryption, Virtru encrypts data directly on your device, providing an extra layer of protection in case your device is compromised.
Boasting highly granular access controls, Virtru grants users the ability to revoke access to emails and files, the option to delete messages automatically after a set time limit and detailed auditing and reporting capabilities. The platform also integrates seamlessly with popular email clients like Gmail, Microsoft 365, Salesforce and Zendesk. However, its integration with CRM tools may be a security concern for some users.
Virtru's user-friendly and intuitive interface design makes encrypting emails and sharing files easy, even for inexperienced users. Users in online review sites rate Virtru highly for its ease of use and responsive support team. Virtru email encryption also complies with HIPAA and CJIS requirements, providing additional peace of mind for businesses that handle sensitive data.
Virtru email encryption advertises three plan levels: Starter, Business and Enterprise. The Starter and Business plans start at $87 per month and $104 per month, respectively. Both plans come with five user accounts, and their monthly cost will rise as you add more users. The Enterprise plan is intended for larger organizations, with pricing available upon request.
Best For Business Plans: ProtonMail
Why we chose it: ProtonMail offers a wide range of plans with features tailored to businesses of all sizes. This allows you to scale your email services as your needs change while your business grows.
ProtonMail's entry-level business plan, the Mail Essentials, starts at $7.99 per user per month. True to its name, the plan includes key features for a business email service, such as multiple email addresses per user, shared calendars, and contact group management. The Business plan, a more comprehensive option, starts at $12.99 per user per month and comes with additional email addresses, custom email domains, storage and VPN connections.
For businesses seeking a customized solution, the Enterprise plan can be tailored to meet specific requirements. Interested parties can contact ProtonMail's sales team for a personalized quote.
Multiple tough layers of security make ProtonMail one of the most secure email encryption services available. It features end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption, ensuring that even ProtonMail cannot access your user data. Moreover, since the company is based in Switzerland, it isn't required to collect or store its users' personal information.
This level of protection comes at a cost: ProtonMail is not compatible with email clients or services that don't support encryption. Also, users in parts of the world far from Switzerland may see slower response times.
ProtonMail's intuitive web interface and mobile app make it easy to use even for the most technologically challenged. Its Windows, Mac and Linux bridge app allows seamless integration with desktop email clients. Other benefits of using ProtonMail include the ability to set message expiration and opt out of sharing user data with third-party libraries.
Best For Disposable Email Addresses: StartMail
Why we chose it: StartMail's alias feature lets you create disposable email addresses for temporary communication that can be deleted at any time, ensuring your actual email address remains secure.
StartMail offers a variety of email security tools, including TLS encryption, which encrypts data during transmission between servers, and PGP encryption, which only allows the intended recipient of an email to view its contents. Its plans also come with several privacy and inbox organization tools, such as spam filtering, virus scanning, contacts management and calendar integration. However, the main highlight of the platform is its alias feature.
This feature can be used to create (and delete) unlimited, unique custom aliases that can help keep your main address exclusive while preventing spam and phishing attempts. You can also create one-click burner aliases that automatically disappear after one hour. These are ideal for when you need an email to sign up for a service but want to keep your personal email private.
StartMail has two plan options: Personal and Custom Domain. Both plans offer 10 GB of storage, unlimited aliases and access to the client on an unlimited number of devices. The Custom Domain differs in that it includes an email address with your own domain, which means aliases can also have your domain name, and lacks the 7-day free trial period of the Personal plan.
The Personal plan costs $3.60 the first month and then $6 every month after that, while the Custom Domain plan is $4.20 the first month and then $7 every month that follows. Both plans are discounted when you opt for annual billing.
Best For Existing Email Accounts: SecureMyEmail
Why we chose it: SecureMyEmail is compatible with a number of email providers and can also work as an email client, which means you may continue using your existing email addresses.
SecureMyEmail is an excellent choice for existing email accounts thanks to its compatibility with different email addresses and clients, including Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. The platform boasts a simple setup process and requires neither technical skills nor PGP key knowledge. Although it doesn't have a web interface, which may be an inconvenience for some users, the platform's user-friendly mobile app makes it easy to access wherever you are on your Android or iOS device.
SecureMyEmail has relatively affordable pricing: The company standard plan costs $3.99 per month, $29.99 per year or $99.99 for a lifetime subscription. It offers unlimited encrypted emails, aliases and devices, plus support for eight email addresses. Other features include self-destructing emails, password protection, digital signatures, offline email access and cloud backup.
For larger organizations with more demanding email needs, SecureMyEmail advises that they contact the company's Sales Team for questions or invoicing.
SecureMyEmail has plenty of positive reviews, with consumers on online review sites praising it for its encryption. As long as a user's email service supports IMAP they can send encrypted emails to anyone without the fear of third parties reading or tampering with the message. However, email services that block PGP encryption will disable this feature, which is not ideal for SecureMyEmail.
Best All-In-One Solution: Tutanota
Why we chose it: Tutanota's built-in end-to-end encryption and à la carte business model make it an excellent solution for all types of businesses, especially for those with extensive customization needs.
Because Tutanota offers six plans in total — three for personal use, three for businesses — customers can more accurately choose a plan that aligns with their email encryption needs. Furthermore, Tutanota clients can pick and choose from a variety of add-ons for their plan. For example, you can increase the amount of storage or number of aliases to your plans, and you can add useful features such as an end-to-end encrypted contact form, shared email templates and an autoresponder.
All Tutanota plans, besides its free option, come with a variety of helpful email and security tools, including end-to-end encryption, offline access, multi-language support and auto-sync across devices. They also include spam protection, two-factor authentication and a local encrypted index of your emails, making it one of the most secure email services available. While Tutanota offers a desktop client with a user-friendly interface, some users may find the platform's 48-hour verification process and limited search functionality disappointing.
Tutanota's Free plan comes with 1 GB of storage and one calendar, which is fine if you're looking for a basic encrypted email service. The Premium and Team plans offer more advanced features like custom domains, shared mailboxes and white labeling. Lastly, its Pro plan — designed for full-fledged businesses — is the company's most comprehensive email plan, with priority support and customizable logos.
Other Email Encryption Services We Considered
PreVeil
PreVeil is an encrypted email and file-sharing service that uses end-to-end encryption and public key infrastructure (PKI) technology to protect your data from phishing or spoofing and password, server and admin attacks. It also uses a "wrapped keys" system that ensures only authorized users can access the data even if the server is breached. PreVeil offers four plans.
Why PreVeil didn't make the cut: PreVeil is a relatively new encrypted email service, meaning information about it is limited. Moreover, PreVeil offers neither integration for third-party libraries nor support for multiple languages.
CounterMail
CounterMail offers a high level of email security and privacy with end-to-end encryption, OpenPGP compatibility and diskless servers. It also offers anonymous email headers, secure forms and IMAP support. The service has a seven-day free trial if you want to test out how it works, too.
Why CounterMail didn't make the cut: CounterMail clunky interface makes it difficult for users to navigate the platform. In addition, it doesn't offer advanced features, which are expected of email encryption services, such as anonymous email aliases.
Hushmail
Using Hushmail, you can send encrypted messages to Hushmail users and individuals with email clients such as Gmail, Outlook Mail or other comparable providers. The email service offers encryption, web forms, and e-signatures for personal and business use. It also uses OpenPGP encryption to secure email communication for Hushmail users or a secure website for non-Hushmail users.
Why Hushmail didn't make the cut: Hushmail requires you to provide personal information to sign up — a big reason why we left it out of our list. Hushmail also lacks many of the advanced privacy and security features provided by its competitors.
Email Encryption Services Guide
We put together this guide to help you understand what email encryption is, how it works and what to consider when choosing an email encryption service.
What Is Email Encryption?
Email encryption is an authentication protocol that scrambles the original details of an email and converts it into an unreadable format. Think of it as a puzzle that only you and your intended recipient can solve. It ensures that only those authorized to decode the email can view and read its contents.
How Does Email Encryption Work?
Secure email encryption requires the sender and receiver of an email to both have a "key" for it to work. The key, which is a series of numbers and letters, is used to send, receive and access the email. This process uses public key infrastructure, which combines a public key known to both parties and a private key that only you know.
You can randomly generate a public key and share it with your intended recipient(s). A sender uses the recipient's public key to encrypt the email, while the recipient uses a private key to decrypt it.
There are two main methods you can use to set up email encryption-transport layer security (TLS) and end-to-end encryption:
- Transport layer security. For TLS, the sender encrypts the email. It can only be decrypted at the email server. The receiver has to continuously use TLS encryption until they receive it as the end-user. TLS counters 'man-in-the-middle' attacks.
- End-to-end encryption. For end-to-end email encryption, the sender uses a recipient's public key to secure the email while the receiver uses a private key to decrypt the email.
Email encryption services provide a crucial layer of security for sensitive information, but it's important to remember that protecting your data goes beyond just encrypting your emails.
As you look for the best email encryption services, we recommend exploring the best VPN services to protect your internet connection, as well. It's also a good idea to use the best antivirus software alongside an email encryption service to ensure your personal information stays safe from malicious attacks.
Important Factors To Keep In Mind When Choosing An Email Encryption Service
Security Features
Any weakness in email security can open the doors for malicious actors to strike.
Your email encryption service provider should provide advanced security features, such as:
- Two-factor (2FA) authentication. For a 2FA, you need a username, password and one-time code sent via SMS to your cell phone to access your account
- Anti-malware, antispam, antivirus and other advanced tools to protect against phishing and spoofing attacks
- Application-specific passwords for third-party applications that don't support 2FA
- Encryption. Encryption locks your email content behind an algorithm that can only be unlocked using either symmetric or asymmetric protocols. For symmetric encryption, you need a single key to encrypt email attachments and decrypt the ciphertext. You need two unique sets of keys to encrypt and decrypt emails in asymmetric encryption
The Location Where The Service Is Registered
The location of your email encryption service provider determines how it responds to government requests for data. In some countries like the US and UK, the government can collect and share intelligence data gathered from email services. This means your encrypted emails are more vulnerable to unauthorized access.
In contrast, other countries have stronger data protection laws and a solid track record of safeguarding user privacy, meaning your emails will be safer from intrusive government surveillance.
How Easy It Is To Use
Choosing an encryption service that requires you to jump through multiple hoops just to send a secure email can be frustrating and time-consuming. An encryption service should be easy to use and integrate flawlessly with your email client.
Whether You Want To Make A New Account Or Keep Your Existing One
Does the email service allow you to choose between creating a new account or using your existing one? Email encryption services should let you create a new address if your existing one is compromised. At the very least, it should help you export data from your existing account and configure it within the new platform.
Mobile Access Availability
The best email encryption services offer apps for macOS, Android and iOS with end-to-end encryption. This will let you access data remotely without compromising the platform's security protocols. Email encryption apps should also provide fast search engines and continuous email access even during a planned downtime or sudden outage.
How We Chose The Best Email Encryption Services
We evaluated the following factors to choose the best email encryption services:
- Ease of use: Email encryption services should have adequate support and resources to help users fix issues. We chose services with user-friendly interfaces that are easy to navigate.
- Pricing: We assessed the plans advertised by different email encryption services and chose the services whose prices are reasonable in relation to the level of features and functionality they provide.
- Layers of security: We considered various security features, such as encryption protocols, two-factor authentication and compliance with legal standards, to determine the best email encryption services from a security standpoint.
- Range of features: We favored email encryption services that work seamlessly with popular email clients like Gmail or Outlook and also include a wide variety of features to serve different user needs.
- Customer rating: We thoroughly examined user reviews on well-known online sites. By analyzing these, we were able to gain valuable insights into the real-world experiences of users, which helped us make a more informed evaluation of each service's performance and overall satisfaction level among consumers.
- Brand reputation: We researched the histories of the companies behind each service and the public perception of the service to come up with a list of reputable brands.
