privymail.eu

European alternatives to Gmail

This overview names four European mail services for a personal mailbox and privymail.eu, based on the providers' own statements, with sources.

Information as of 5 October 2026. This overview is written by a competitor of the services named. You can use Proton Mail, Tuta Mail, mailbox.org and Posteo today; you cannot yet use privymail.eu.

You are looking for a provider in Europe for your personal mailbox. This page names four services that exist today and sets privymail.eu beside them. What is said here about the other services and about Gmail comes from their own websites and help pages; we have not tested the services technically. We leave out prices because they change often.

What matters

Four questions set the services apart. None of them has an answer that is right for everyone.

  1. Where is the provider based? Where a provider is based helps determine which law applies to it. Of the four services, three are based in Germany and one in Switzerland. According to Google, Google's services are provided in the European Economic Area and Switzerland by Google Ireland Limited in Ireland; according to Google, it belongs to the group of companies of Google LLC, USA.
  2. Does your mail app work with it? Apps such as Thunderbird and Apple Mail speak IMAP and SMTP. Not every service offers these protocols, and one offers them only through its own desktop app.
  3. Do you want your own domain? An address under your own domain moves with you when you switch. An address under a provider's domain stays with that provider.
  4. Who can read stored mail? The providers describe this differently. Two of the services write that they themselves cannot access your emails either, and name exceptions; the other two name encryption that you switch on yourself. What each provider states is in its section below.

The comparison shows all features side by side.

privymail.eu (planned)

Based in: Germany (patchletter UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Gelsenkirchen).

It suits you if your usual mail app has to stay and you want to use your own domain. privymail.eu speaks IMAP and SMTP without additional software, in all paid plans; custom domains are available from the Pro plan. The Free plan comes with 1 GB of storage, without ads and without tracking.

Bear in mind: you cannot yet use privymail.eu; if you want to switch today, choose one of the four services below. In the default Compatible mode, the server processes plain text while you are logged in. Only folders in Sealed mode are unreadable to us, and an ordinary mail app does not open those directly. More under Security and Mail apps and open standards.

Proton Mail

Based in: Switzerland (Proton AG, Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva).

It suits you if you want a provider that, by its own account, has no access to the messages and attachments in your inbox, and if you want to work with Proton's apps. 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. Proton names apps for the web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux. The free plan is called "Proton Free"; the pricing page lists the desktop app there as a "14-day free trial".

Bear in mind: according to Proton, desktop mail apps can be connected to the account through the Proton Mail Bridge app. According to Proton, it is available for macOS, Windows and Linux, not for mobile devices, and currently only with a paid Proton Mail plan. According to Proton, your own domain also requires a paid plan. More in the one-to-one comparison privymail.eu and Proton Mail.

Tuta Mail

Based in: Germany (Tutao GmbH, Hanover).

It suits you if your data has to be stored end-to-end encrypted, as the provider states, and you want to work with Tuta's apps. According to Tuta, all user data is stored end-to-end encrypted and the decryption key is available only to the user; metadata such as sender and recipient addresses is excepted. Tuta names its own apps for the web, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS and Windows and, among its personal plans, the "Free" plan with 1 GB of storage.

Bear in mind: Tuta states that it does not offer IMAP, POP3 or SMTP and points to its own apps and to add-ons for Thunderbird. According to Tuta, your own domain is available in all paid subscriptions, not in the Free plan. More in the one-to-one comparison privymail.eu and Tuta Mail.

mailbox.org

Based in: Germany (Heinlein Hosting GmbH, Berlin).

It suits you if your usual mail app has to stay and you want to use your own domain. The mailbox.org pricing page lists IMAP and POP3 in the Light, Standard and Premium plans. As compatible email programs, the help pages list Thunderbird, Outlook and Apple Mail; according to the help pages, mailbox.org does not provide support for programs that have not been officially tested or approved. According to mailbox.org, custom domains are available in the Standard and Premium plans for private customers (Light only within family accounts). mailbox.org refers to a BSI C5 certificate and ISO 27001 certification.

Bear in mind: according to mailbox.org, the PGP-encrypted inbox is an option that you activate yourself. According to mailbox.org, only people with the private PGP key and the corresponding password can then access new messages in the inbox; existing messages remain unaffected. To the question "Can I use mailbox free of charge?", the pricing page answers that you can try a plan for 30 days at no cost. More in the one-to-one comparison privymail.eu and mailbox.org.

Posteo

Based in: Germany (Posteo e.K., Berlin).

It suits you if you do not need a domain of your own and your usual mail app has to stay. By its own account, Posteo supports IMAP, POP3 and SMTP, is ad-free and is funded solely by its users. According to Posteo, you do not have to enter any personal information such as your name or address during sign-up.

Bear in mind: by its own account, Posteo does not offer custom domains. By its own account, Posteo is not free and offers no trial account; if you cancel within the first month, any credit already paid is refunded in full, according to Posteo. Crypto mail storage is an option that you switch on yourself: according to Posteo, the encrypted data is then no longer readable by the provider either; if you forget your password, you no longer have access to your emails, according to Posteo. More in the one-to-one comparison privymail.eu and Posteo.

What you give up when you leave Gmail

Three things that can be backed by sources:

  • The address. A new mailbox has a new address. If you remove Gmail from your Google Account, the Gmail address cannot be used by anyone in the future, according to Google; if you change your mind, you may be able to recover the address and your emails, according to Google.
  • The link with other Google services. According to Google, Gmail is connected with Google Meet, Google Calendar and Google Chat, and the storage of a Google Account is shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos.
  • Free storage of this size. Google names up to 15 GB per Google Account, shared across Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos. Tuta names 1 GB of storage for its "Free" plan and writes in its help pages that the actual free storage is much higher because Tuta compresses emails. Proton names 1 GB of storage for "Proton Free" and writes in the questions on its pricing page that the free plan comes with 500 MB of Mail storage, which can be increased up to 1 GB. The privymail.eu Free plan also comes with 1 GB.

More in the one-to-one comparison privymail.eu and Gmail.

How a switch works

The steps are similar with every provider. What Gmail can do along the way is described in Google's help pages.

  1. Set up the new mailbox. Choose a service that you can use today. The Gmail mailbox stays in place for now.
  2. Take your existing mail with you. According to Google, you can export and download your data from Google products, including email and calendar; this does not delete it from Google's servers. According to Google, you can also add Gmail to other email clients; your messages and labels are then synced with the client. According to Google, IMAP access is always turned on for personal Google Accounts, and Gmail no longer supports third-party apps or devices that require you to share your Google username and password. Some providers describe their own help with moving, for example Proton ("Easy Switch") and Posteo (the "Posteo migration service").
  3. Set up forwarding. According to Google, you can have all new messages, or only certain types of messages, forwarded to another address. According to Google, spam is not forwarded.
  4. Make the new address known. Change the address wherever it is on record: with your bank, insurer, public authorities and online accounts. Forwarding shows you who still writes to the old address.
  5. Decide about the old mailbox last. If you remove Gmail from your Google Account, Gmail deletes your emails and settings after 30 days, according to Google; Google advises downloading your data first.

Questions

Can I take my address @gmail.com with me?

An address under your own domain moves with you when you switch; an address under a provider's domain stays with that provider. That is a general rule for email addresses, not a statement by Google. According to Google, you can export and download your email and have new mail to the old address forwarded.

Do I have to give up my Google Account?

According to Google, you can remove your Gmail address from your Google Account; afterwards you can still access your Google Account and other services that are not affected. To continue to use other Google services with the account, you need an address that is not a Gmail address, according to Google.

Is there a free mailbox with a European provider?

Yes. Proton names the "Proton Free" plan and Tuta the "Free" plan. How much storage comes with them and what else these plans include is listed on the providers' pricing pages.

Sources

What is said about the other providers is based on the following pages of those providers. The addresses are given as text because this website does not link to other sites. All pages were retrieved on 5 October 2026.

Proton Mail

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/mail/pricing
https://proton.me/easyswitch

Tuta Mail

https://tuta.com/imprint
https://tuta.com/security
https://tuta.com/pricing
https://tuta.com/blog/tuta-add-on-in-thunderbird
https://tuta.com/support#imap
https://tuta.com/support#custom-domain
https://tuta.com/support#free

mailbox.org

https://mailbox.org/en/legal-information/
https://mailbox.org/en/prices/
https://mailbox.org/en/about-us/
https://kb.mailbox.org/en/private/faq/compatible-web-browsers/
https://kb.mailbox.org/en/private/custom-domains/using-emails-with-a-custom-domain/
https://kb.mailbox.org/en/private/encryption/your-encrypted-mailbox/

Posteo

https://posteo.de/en/site/legal_notice
https://posteo.de/en/site/features
https://posteo.de/en/help/how-do-i-set-up-posteo-in-an-email-client-pop3-imap-and-smtp
https://posteo.de/en/site/faq
https://posteo.de/en/site/encryption

Gmail

https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en&gl=de
https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en&gl=us
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229?hl=en
https://workspace.google.com/intl/en/products/gmail/
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9312312?hl=en
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/10957?hl=en
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/61177?hl=en

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.