Free and paid plans include all security features, including end-to-end encryption, zero-access encryption, anti-phishing, anti-spam and 2FA. Own Android, iOS Apps and web interface. Paid plans enable custom domains. Accessible via Tor Network. Based in Switzerland, founded in 2013.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
ProtonMail
proton.me/mail 5.0 (6)
Rate ProtonMail: No account needed
Threat level
Covered
A covered pick. Anyone can use it as a private drop-in, with no setup or know-how. Enough for most people. Threat levels
Our take
Proton’s free tier is the honest on-ramp here, because you get the real end-to-end and zero-access encryption without paying first, and Swiss jurisdiction is a genuine plus. The friction is that encryption between Proton users is automatic but reaching outsiders means passwords or PGP, and IMAP needs the Bridge app on paid plans. Choose it if you want a mature, audited provider with apps on every platform and you can work within its walled-garden model.
GitHub at a glance
ProtonMail/WebClients
Stars
5,512
+ 60 this week
Last commit
12d ago
healthy
License
GPL-3.0
Latest release
proton-authenticator@1.1.6
1mo ago
Stars, last 35d
Website at a glance
proton.me
B+ score 80
Solid website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 2d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
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ProtonMail license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.