# privymail.eu and Proton Mail > This page sets Proton Mail beside privymail.eu: what Proton states about itself, the features of privymail.eu, sources and date. > **Information as of 5 October 2026.** You can use Proton Mail today; you cannot yet use privymail.eu. Later changes by Proton are not reflected. This page sets Proton Mail beside privymail.eu. It is written by a competitor and is not a rating. What is said here about Proton Mail comes from Proton's own websites, help pages and legal texts; we have not tested the service technically. The references are listed under "Sources". The [comparison](https://privymail.eu/en/compare.md) shows all services side by side. ## In short With Proton Mail, according to Proton, nobody else can access the messages and attachments in the inbox, not even Proton; subject lines and sender and recipient addresses are, according to Proton, encrypted but not end-to-end encrypted. According to Proton, desktop mail apps can be connected to the account through the Proton Mail Bridge app, currently only with a paid Proton Mail plan. privymail.eu takes the opposite route: mail apps work without additional software, and you choose individually which folders are unreadable to us as well. ## What Proton states about Proton Mail According to Proton: - **Zero-access encryption by default.** According to Proton, nobody else can access messages and attachments in the inbox, not even Proton. Subject lines and sender and recipient addresses are, according to Proton, encrypted but not end-to-end encrypted. - **Its own apps, open source and audited.** There are apps for the web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux. The download page labels the apps for macOS and Windows "Free trial" and the app for Linux "Beta Free trial"; the pricing page lists the desktop app in the Proton Free plan as a "14-day free trial". According to Proton, all its apps are open source and have been independently audited by third-party experts. - **An encrypted calendar.** According to Proton, Proton Calendar automatically secures all events with end-to-end encryption; events received from people who use other calendars are, according to Proton, secured with zero-knowledge encryption. In both cases, title, description, location and people invited are encrypted, according to Proton. - **A free plan.** The pricing page names "Proton Free" with 1 GB of storage and one encrypted email address. In the questions on the same page, Proton writes that the free plan comes with 500 MB of Mail storage, which can be increased up to 1 GB. According to Proton, Proton Mail is funded entirely by paying subscribers. - **Help with moving.** Under the name "Easy Switch", Proton describes importing messages, calendars and contacts, including from Gmail. ## What privymail.eu does differently - **Your mail app without additional software.** privymail.eu speaks IMAP and SMTP without additional software, in the default Compatible mode and in all paid plans. The price: the server processes plain text while you are logged in. Compatible is therefore neither zero access nor end-to-end encryption. More under [Mail apps and open standards](https://privymail.eu/en/standards.md). - **Zero access as a choice per folder.** Folders in Sealed mode are encrypted with OpenPGP. Decryption happens on your device, and we cannot read the content. An ordinary mail app does not open Sealed folders directly. The limits of both modes are on the [Security](https://privymail.eu/en/security.md) page. - **Calendar and contacts over open protocols.** Calendar and address book synchronise over CalDAV and CardDAV, in all paid plans. - **Your own domain with Domain Autopilot.** Custom domains are available from the Pro plan. The Autopilot generates the necessary DNS records and keeps checking them. More under [Your own domain](https://privymail.eu/en/domains.md). - **An operator in Germany.** The operator is patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt) in Gelsenkirchen. Full details are in the [imprint](https://privymail.eu/en/legal.md). ## The features side by side | Feature | Proton Mail (by its own account) | privymail.eu (planned) | |---|---|---| | Where the provider is based | Switzerland (Proton AG, Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva) | Germany (patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Gelsenkirchen; operator of this website) | | Access with common mail apps (IMAP, SMTP) | Through the Proton Mail Bridge app for macOS, Windows and Linux, according to Proton currently only with a paid Proton Mail plan. With a business plan, according to Proton, SMTP can also be set up on business applications or devices. | Native (IMAP, SMTP) in the default Compatible mode, in all paid plans | | Your own domain | Yes, with a paid plan | From the Pro plan | | Stored mail the provider cannot read (by its own account) | Default ("zero-access encryption"). According to Proton, nobody else can access messages and attachments in the inbox, not even Proton. Subject lines and sender and recipient addresses are, according to Proton, encrypted but not end-to-end encrypted. | Option per folder ("Sealed", OpenPGP). In the default ("Compatible"), mail is stored encrypted, but the server processes plain text while you are logged in. | | Apps | Apps for the web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux. The download page labels the apps for macOS and Windows "Free trial" and the app for Linux "Beta Free trial"; the pricing page lists the desktop app in the Proton Free plan as a "14-day free trial". | Webmail. In all paid plans, also any mail app that speaks IMAP and SMTP. | | Calendar | Proton Calendar. According to Proton, event details, including the title, description, location and people invited, are encrypted so that not even Proton can see them. | Calendar and contacts over CalDAV and CardDAV, in all paid plans | | Free plan | "Proton Free". The pricing page names 1 GB of storage and one encrypted email address; in the questions on the same page, Proton names 500 MB of Mail storage, which can be increased up to 1 GB. | Free plan with 1 GB of storage, without ads and without tracking | The middle column reproduces what Proton writes about itself. The privymail.eu plans are listed under [Pricing](https://privymail.eu/en/pricing.md). ## Who each one suits **Proton Mail** suits you if you need a mailbox today: you can use Proton Mail, and you cannot yet use privymail.eu. It also suits you if you want a provider that, by its own account, cannot access the messages and attachments in your inbox, and if you work with Proton's apps or set up the Bridge for the mail app on your computer. **privymail.eu** suits you if your usual mail app has to reach your mailbox without additional software and if you need zero access only for individual folders. The [roadmap](https://privymail.eu/en/roadmap.md) shows how far the service is. ## Sources What is said about Proton Mail is based on the following pages by Proton. The addresses are given as text because this website does not link to other sites. Retrieved on 5 October 2026. ``` https://proton.me/legal/terms https://proton.me/support/imap-smtp-and-pop3-setup https://proton.me/support/custom-domain https://proton.me/support/proton-mail-encryption-explained https://proton.me/mail/download https://proton.me/community/open-source https://proton.me/calendar https://proton.me/mail/pricing https://proton.me/easyswitch ``` ## 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](https://privymail.eu/en/contact.md) page. ## Trademarks The names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. There is no connection between those companies and privymail.eu. --- - privymail.eu: patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt) · Germany - This page as HTML: https://privymail.eu/en/compare-proton/ - Deutsche Fassung: https://privymail.eu/compare-proton.md