Information as of 5 October 2026. You can use Outlook.com today; you cannot yet use privymail.eu. Later changes by Microsoft are not reflected.
This page sets Outlook.com beside privymail.eu. It is written by a competitor and is not a rating. What is said here about Outlook.com comes from Microsoft's own help pages, its services agreement and its imprint; we have not tested the service technically. The references are listed under "Sources". The comparison shows all services side by side.
In short
According to Microsoft, Outlook.com comes with 15 GB of free email storage; Microsoft names further features for Microsoft 365 subscribers, according to Microsoft only with a consumer subscription. privymail.eu is a mailbox without ads, run by an operator in Germany. Custom domains are part of it from the Pro plan.
What Microsoft states about Outlook.com
According to Microsoft:
- Free storage. Microsoft names 15 GB of free email storage for Outlook.com, separate from Microsoft cloud storage. Microsoft also names 5 GB of free cloud storage for files and photos in OneDrive, attachments in Outlook.com and the Microsoft 365 apps.
- More with a subscription. According to Microsoft, Microsoft 365 subscribers get additional features, including an ad-free interface, 100 GB of email storage and advanced email security. According to Microsoft, these benefits apply only to Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions and only if the subscription is associated with an Outlook.com account; according to Microsoft, the 100 GB is not available to trial subscribers. For Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers, Microsoft also describes an option to encrypt individual messages.
- Outlook and other mail apps. Microsoft gives the settings for adding an Outlook.com account to Outlook or to another email program that supports POP or IMAP. According to Microsoft, POP and IMAP access is disabled by default and can be enabled in the settings. For sign-in, according to Microsoft, Outlook.com requires "Modern Auth / OAuth2"; if the password is not recognised, or to add a smart device, you may need an app password, according to Microsoft.
What privymail.eu does differently
- IMAP and SMTP with app passwords. privymail.eu speaks IMAP and SMTP without additional software, in all paid plans. Mail apps sign in with separate app passwords: one per device, each individually revocable. More under Mail apps and open standards.
- Your own domain from the Pro plan. Domain Autopilot generates the necessary DNS records and keeps checking them. More under Your own domain.
- Subscriptions instead of advertising. The business model of privymail.eu is subscriptions; advertising and analysing your mail are not part of it. The free plan, too, comes without ads and without tracking.
- An operator in Germany. The operator is patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt) in Gelsenkirchen. Full details are in the imprint.
- Two levels of protection per folder. In the default Compatible mode, mail is stored encrypted with a separate key pair per account; the server processes plain text, however, while you are logged in. In Sealed mode, decryption happens on your device, and we cannot read the content. More under Security.
The features side by side
| Feature | Outlook.com (according to Microsoft) | privymail.eu (planned) |
|---|---|---|
| Where the provider is based | For users in the EU: Ireland (contracting entity Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited). The German imprint of microsoft.com names Microsoft Corporation, USA, as the provider of the offerings under the domain microsoft.com. | Germany (patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Gelsenkirchen; operator of this website) |
| Access with common mail apps (IMAP, SMTP) | Native. According to Microsoft, POP and IMAP access is disabled by default and can be enabled in the settings. For sign-in, according to Microsoft, Outlook.com requires "Modern Auth / OAuth2". | Native (IMAP, SMTP) in the default Compatible mode, in all paid plans |
| Your own domain | According to Microsoft, Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers have not been able to create a new address with a personalised domain for their Outlook.com mailbox since 30 November 2023; existing ones continue to work. For Outlook with a personalised email address, Microsoft points to its Microsoft 365 Business plans. Elsewhere, Microsoft answers the question whether the custom domain of a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription can be used with Outlook.com with "Yes"; for this, the domain has to be removed from Microsoft 365. | From the Pro plan |
| Stored mail the provider cannot read (by its own account) | No statement. For Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscribers, Microsoft describes an option to encrypt individual messages. | Option per folder ("Sealed", OpenPGP). In the default ("Compatible"), mail is stored encrypted, but the server processes plain text while you are logged in. |
| Free mailbox | Yes. Microsoft names 15 GB of free email storage for Outlook.com and, alongside it, 5 GB of free cloud storage, used among other things for attachments in Outlook.com. | Free plan with 1 GB of storage |
| Advertising | Microsoft names an ad-free interface as a benefit for Microsoft 365 subscribers; according to Microsoft, these benefits apply only to consumer subscriptions. According to its services agreement, Microsoft does not use what you say in email to target advertising to you. | No ads and no tracking, in every plan |
| Apps | Microsoft gives the settings for adding an Outlook.com account to Outlook or to another email program that supports POP or IMAP. | Webmail. In all paid plans, also any mail app that speaks IMAP and SMTP. |
The middle column reproduces what Microsoft writes about Outlook.com; "Native" is our word for a provider naming IMAP or POP3 for mail apps. "No statement" means that, on the date above, we found no statement by the provider in the sources listed below that stored mail is unreadable to it; it says nothing about the service itself. The privymail.eu plans are listed under Pricing.
Who each one suits
Outlook.com suits you if you need a mailbox today: you can use Outlook.com, and you cannot yet use privymail.eu. It also suits you if you work with Outlook, or if you have a Microsoft 365 consumer subscription and use the features for subscribers.
privymail.eu suits you if you want a mailbox without ads from an operator in Germany and if your address has to run under your own domain. The roadmap shows how far the service is.
Sources
What is said about Outlook.com is based on the following pages by Microsoft. The addresses are given as text because this website does not link to other sites. Retrieved on 5 October 2026.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/servicesagreement
https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/rechtliche-hinweise/impressum
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/pop-imap-and-smtp-settings-for-outlook-com
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/changes-to-microsoft-365-email-features-and-storage
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/send-encrypted-messages-with-a-microsoft-365-personal-or-family-subscription
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/premium-features-in-outlook-com-for-microsoft-365-subscribers
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/storage-limits-in-outlook-com
Reporting errors
If anything on this page is wrong or out of date, please write to us. How to reach us is on the Contact page.
Trademarks
The names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. There is no connection between those companies and privymail.eu.