“Forward this email to 10 people or the girl from the Ring will come to haunt you.”
“Pshh. What is this 2002? DELETE!
Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel where we spill the tea,
dish the goss and give hard-hitting FACTS - on the latest tech trends. In today's episode,
we're going to be looking at the top 5 - email providers available today.
But first…
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let's look at the best email providers
We’ve got ProtonMail, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and iCloud Mail. You know, the usual suspects
I should start by explaining a little bit about how I'm going to be rating
these. There are three key features that I look for in an email provider.
Number one - above all else is security. I'm a guy who likes his privacy, and I
don't need some service provider going through my mail. I’d also love
it if it could keep a certain ghost from tracking well water all over my studio.
Number two is cost. Specifically, I like to know exactly what I'm paying for. Following that,
I also want to be assured that the free version of any email provider is up to par.
Finally, number three -is the ease of use. This may not be a big deal for some people,
but as of today, I’d like to be able to just create
an account and start forwarding spam emails to people I know right away.
Alright, first up, we've got ProtonMail.
So, how does ProtonMail hold up to this super strict criteria with all of that in mind?
Honestly, pretty well. It’s kind of our top pick.
So, let's start with privacy. ProtonMail is like a thick steel
vault when it comes to your emails. For starters, it's based in Switzerland,
where privacy policies are much stricter than other countries like - say - the US. Beyond that,
however, ProtonMail goes a step further by using public-key cryptography to encrypt your messages.
This means that nobody - and I mean nobody - but you can view your private messages. This is
due to the zero-access encryption of public-key cryptography. Also - all of your communications
between you and other ProtonMail users are encrypted from end-to-end.
Which means no long haired ghosts can escape my tv screen.
So, in terms of privacy and security, I will give ProtonMail 5 FBI Manhunts out of 5.
Now let's take a look at the cost.
ProtonMail offers you a free version (more on that soon) and a premium version at $5 per month,
or $48 per year. Now, these prices are fairly moderate - I wouldn't go
so far as to say that they're a bargain, but they are more reasonable than some
other premium email providers. The paid version offers you more storage space,
more messages per day, and a handful of other useful features to personalize the experience.
On the other hand, the free version is… well, let's just call it underwhelming.
For starters, you only get 500 megabytes worth of space and can
only send 500 messages per day. That may be enough for some, but it's a problem
for people like me who tend to let their unread messages pile up to obscene heights
Also, the free version only lets you add three tags to your emails,
so you can only sort them into three broad categories. The paid version
lifts this restriction, of course, but why do I have to pay to tag my emails?
So, when it comes to cost,
ProtonMail kind of drops the ball. I'm giving it two terabytes out of 5.
Finally, let's take a look at how this baby handles.
Setting up a ProtonMail account is pretty easy. Just pick a username like then come up with a
strong password like and you're pretty much good to go. You'll have to pass a Captcha as well.
The interface looks pretty attractive, but it can seem cluttered at times. Before doing
anything else, we recommend going to your settings and enabling two-factor authentication to get
OTPs whenever you want to access your account or private messages.
Other than some clutter on the homepage, ProtonMail is still nice to look at and
easy to use. I could start forwarding my spam mail to my friends and family
members straight away with no hassle. I'm giving it four chain emails out of 5.
Before we move on, we have links in the description so you knock
a few bucks off that already affordable subscription plan.
Up next is Gmail.
Gmail needs no introduction. Pretty much everyone has at least 3 or 4 inactive Gmail
accounts in addition to their primary account. But exactly how good is Gmail?
Security and privacy are up first, and honestly, they're both alright.
Like ProtonMail, Gmail offers end-to-end encryption when
communicating with other Gmail users. You can also enable two-factor authentication,
adding a security layer to your messages.
Beyond that, Gmail is good at catching spam messages and filtering them accordingly.
Of course, it isn't perfect, and it doesn't always get it right,
but it learns from its mistakes. You can even add additional spam filters for maximum effect.
Wish i’d gotten the memo earlier because now I have to look for a
ghost exterminator. If only there was a special word for that kind of thing?
Of course, Gmail is based in the US,
whose privacy policies are… eh. The company can't make you show them your messages,
but a lawyer with a subpoena can. Gmail also mines your messages for data to recommend ads,
which is gross. All of it is legal and technically above board, so what are you going to do?
I'd give Gmail's security features a middling 3 FBI Manhunts out of 5.
Now let's take a look at the cost, and this is where Gmail shines.
Gmail's free tier offers you 15 GB of storage (shared across all of your Google apps,
like Google Drive) and doesn't limit how many messages you can send. Beyond that,
Gmail has four different pricing plans ranging from $6 per month to $18 and beyond.
These plans have their own set of features and restrictions, but the Business Plan,
in particular, is pretty cool because it allows you to customize your domain name
to suit your business. You could have an email address like "saveme@imhaunted.com" for example.
Overall, I'm giving Gmail's pricing options a solid four terabytes out of 5.
Finally, let's take a look at Gmail's ease of use. What is there to say? It's Gmail.
You create an account in three steps, open up your Gmail app, and get immediately bombarded by spam.
Gmail has that Google aesthetic - which is… eh. Honestly,
I've just gotten a bit sick of Google's whole look.
Honestly, though, the worst part about using Gmail is that there's
no desktop app. You have to open it up in your browser, which is just gross.
Overall, I'm giving Gmail's ease of use three respectable chain emails out of 5.
Now if you’re a Google workspace user, you can find a link in the description that’ll
get you a subscription at a pretty neat discount.
Alright. Next, we'll be looking at Outlook.
So, Outlook exists in the Microsoft Cinematic Universe as its email provider.
A lot of Outlook's essential security features are locked behind a paywall.
This includes email encryption which is a huge knock to the service. Outlook also
doesn't check your emails for potential threats unless you pay for a subscription.
Damnit Outlook!
In terms of security and privacy, we're giving Outlook 0 FBI Manhunts out of 5. Ouch.
When it comes to pricing, Outlook offers three plans, including the free version, which gives
you 15 GB worth of storage space, the calendar feature, and access to the Android and iOS apps.
The tier up from that goes for $69.99 per year, which is a huge hike in price and doesn't offer
much other than 50 GB worth of storage. Up from that is the family plan which also gives you 50
GB worth of storage but allows up to 6 people to use it. This goes for $99.99 per year.
Yeah, price-wise, Outlook isn't looking too great either, but at least it offers you
15 GB worth of storage in the free plan. I'm thinking two terabytes out of 5 for this one.
Finally, let's look at the interface and how easy it is to use.
Outlook is pretty consistent with other Office apps. That means that anyone
who has ever used Word before will feel right at home. It's sleek and attractive.
Setting up your account is also pretty easy if you already have a Microsoft account.
Overall, it's a solid four chain emails out of 5.
Okay, now let's take a look at Yahoo.
The only people who use Yahoo nowadays are edge-lords who "aren't like other
girls or boys." Let's see if the service is any good at what it does.
When it comes to security, Yahoo drops the ball. It offers its version of
two-factor authentication in the form of a Yahoo Account Key. Not bad - but
where Yahoo slips up is not sending you an email whenever your account is
accessed from a new IP address or device or you know, a creepy 10 year old girl.
Seriously, that's one of the most basic features that any
email provider offers. But not Yahoo - uh-uh, Yahoo's too good for that.
Beyond that, Yahoo is pretty good at handling spam and keeping your inbox clear of clutter,
but really, it's clear that security isn't their
primary focus. We're giving it 1 FBI Manhunt out of 5.
Now let's look at how much Yahoo thinks it's worth.
Yahoo's free version offers you a whopping one terabyte of storage which is…
yeah, okay, that's pretty good. The web client also has many features baked into it,
which are all freely accessible. If you want to step your account up and earn
that good Reddit gold, you can opt for a business account at $1.19 per month.
In terms of pricing, we've got to hand it to Yahoo. Five terabytes out of 5.
Okay, now let's see how easy it is to use.
Making an account is as easy as you'd expect, so no worries. Beyond that,
Yahoo offers you a handy filing tool that seems only half-implemented because
you can't create any sub-folders. This can lead to a lot of clutter,
which will be pretty frustrating for people who like their email to be clean.
Unfortunately, even though Yahoo email launched in 2000 BC, it's still plagued by bugs and errors,
which drags the whole experience down. We're giving it two chain emails out of 5.
God, here we go again.
Finally, let's take a quick look at iCloud Mail.
This one's for all you scummy iOS users out there
You know who you are.
Honestly, iCloud Mail is pretty good all around. In terms of security, it offers you all of the
basics: two-factor authentication and encryption between iCloud users. It also features these neat
little security tokens, which act as an "account key." These security tokens are linked to your
account, so your device doesn't need to store your passwords. Pretty handy in case anyone gets a hold
of one of your devices. Overall, they don't go out of their way to ensure that your messages
are protected, not any more than other email providers. As such: 3 FBI Manhunts out of 5.
Pricing-wise, I think iCloud may take the cake here. Anyone with an Apple device automatically
gets access to an iCloud account with 5 GB of storage. This may not seem like a lot,
but keep in mind that you don't even need to have an Apple device to reap
the benefits. Once you've got your account, you can use it on any device you please.
Above that, there are three pricing plans which are… oh boy, they're good. For just
$0.99 per month, you get access to 50 GB worth of storage. For $2.99 a month,
you get 200 GB. And for $9.99, you get an insane two terabytes worth of storage space.
Think of all the… family-friendly Christian documents you could store.For pricing and cost,
we're giving this a whopping five terabytes out of 5.
Now let's look at how easy iCloud is to use and get used to. Once you've
registered an Apple device, you need to go into your settings and then select iCloud,
then Mail, and you'll be prompted to come up with your email address. Pretty neat.
Beyond that, iCloud Mail doesn't offer you much flexibility. Sure,
your account can be accessed from any device, but I found the filing system to be…
eh. What can I say? I like it when an email service lets me customise
my folders. For ease of use, iCloud Mail gets a solid three chain emails out of 5.
Okay. So there you have it - that's the list. I'm leaning towards ProtonMail because it
offers a better package overall. Plus, you all know that security is a big deal to me.
“Samara, if you’re going to stay here, you need to start paying rent.”