Free email providers: which ones let you keep your own mail
There are fewer genuinely free alternatives to Gmail, Outlook.com and iCloud Mail than you might expect, and fewer still let a mail app in. This guide looks at each free plan for one question: can you take a full copy of your own mail?
Updated
Checked on 3 November 2026, on each provider's own help and pricing pages. Free plans change often. Where a provider's pages do not say something, this guide says so rather than guess. Stow's support for providers other than Gmail, Microsoft and iCloud is in development and not released yet.
Why mail app access matters
A mail app such as Apple Mail, Thunderbird or Stow reads your mailbox over IMAP, the standard way for an app to fetch mail from a server. If a provider offers IMAP, you can take a complete copy of your mail whenever you like, with any app you choose. If it does not, you depend on whatever export the provider offers, if any.
Stow connects over IMAP with encryption from the first byte (port 993), checks the server's certificate the way your Mac does, and signs in with a password or an app password. It does not use local "bridge" apps, which some private email services run on your Mac to provide IMAP. What Stow needs from a server has the details.
The short answer
- Free and open to mail apps: Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, GMX, WEB.DE, Libero and mail.de. All are funded by advertising, and most ask you to turn IMAP on or make an app password first.
- Free to use, but mail apps cost extra: mail.com, Proton Mail, Aster Mail, Mailfence and Zoho Mail (for new free accounts).
- No mail app access on any plan: Tuta and Atomic Mail.
The free services that focus on privacy are the ones that keep mail apps out. Some offer an export instead, which gives you files rather than a mailbox an app can keep up to date.
Free plans side by side
| Free plan | Mail storage | IMAP for mail apps | Before a mail app can sign in | Export your own mail | Stow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yahoo Mail | 20 GB | Yes, no paid plan named | An app password | Through IMAP only | Yes |
| AOL Mail | Not stated | Yes, no paid plan named | An app password | Through IMAP only | Yes |
| GMX (gmx.com) | 65 GB | Yes, free | Turn IMAP on, and an app password | Through IMAP | Yes |
| GMX FreeMail (gmx.net) | 1 GB | Yes, free | Turn IMAP on, and an app password | One message at a time (.eml), or IMAP | Yes |
| WEB.DE FreeMail | 1 GB | Yes, free | Turn IMAP on, and an app password | One message at a time (.eml), or IMAP | Yes |
| Libero Mail | Not stated | Yes, no paid plan named | Your password, or an app password with Libero's two-step sign-in | Through IMAP only | Yes |
| mail.de FreeMail | 1 GB, shared with online storage | Yes, free | Not stated | Through IMAP only | Yes, with Other server |
| mail.com | 65 GB | Premium only | Premium, then turn IMAP on | Not offered on free | Premium only |
| Proton Mail Free | 500 MB, 1 GB after the setup checklist | No: through Proton Mail Bridge on paid plans only | Not possible on free | Export Tool: .eml files plus JSON | No |
| Aster Mail Free | 10 GB | No: through Aster Bridge on paid plans only | Not possible on free | MBOX file, free on every plan | No |
| Mailfence Free | 500 MB | Paid plans only | Not possible on free | Not on free | No |
| Zoho Mail, free | 5 GB | Not for new free accounts | Not possible on new free accounts | A folder at a time, .eml files in a zip | No |
| Tuta Free | 1 GB | No, on any plan | Not possible | From Tuta's desktop app; format not stated | No |
| Atomic Mail | Unlimited, as advertised | Not yet; "working on" it | Not possible | Not stated | No |
For comparison: Gmail's free 15 GB is shared with Google Drive and Photos, and iCloud Mail's free 5 GB is shared with the rest of iCloud. Both, and Outlook.com, let mail apps in on their free plans, and Stow archives all three.
Free plans Stow can archive
Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail
Yahoo and AOL belong to the same company and work the same way. Mail apps need an app password, made on your Account Security page. Yahoo only lets you make one in a browser you have been signed in to for several days, and not in a private window; its customer care cannot override this, and if you are refused it suggests webmail or the Yahoo app instead. Yahoo's free plan includes 20 GB. AOL's pages do not give a figure.
Yahoo empties Trash after 7 days and Spam after 30. Neither offers a download of your mail other than through IMAP, and both publish a separate IMAP server for downloading a whole mailbox. See Yahoo's app password page and Yahoo's storage page.
GMX and WEB.DE
GMX and WEB.DE are run by the same company and have the same two steps: turn IMAP on in settings (it is off by default) and make an app password. Both turn IMAP off again if no app uses it for a long time. GMX's international service (gmx.com, gmx.co.uk) gives 65 GB; the German FreeMail plans at gmx.net and WEB.DE give 1 GB. WEB.DE asks for a mobile number when you register.
In webmail you can save one message at a time as an .eml file. There is no folder or mailbox export, so IMAP is the way to keep everything. See GMX, GMX Deutschland and WEB.DE.
Libero
Libero recommends IMAP and uses the same server for all its Italian domains. Your normal password works, unless you turn on Libero's two-step sign-in, in which case you make one app password for all your mail apps. Libero's pages do not state the free storage. See Libero's mail app page.
mail.de
mail.de's FreeMail plan lists IMAP access, with 1 GB shared between mail and online storage. Stow has no ready-made setting for it, so you would choose Other server and type the server name from mail.de's help. See mail.de FreeMail.
Free plans where mail apps cost extra
mail.com
mail.com is GMX's sister service, with 65 GB on the free plan, but IMAP is a Premium feature. Free users have no export of their mail either. With Premium, Stow works. See mail.com's IMAP page.
Proton Mail
Proton encrypts your mail so that only its own apps can read it. Other mail apps reach it only through Proton Mail Bridge, an app on your computer that is available only with a paid plan. Stow does not use Bridge. Proton's Export Tool, which Proton says is available to everyone, saves your mail as .eml files with JSON details alongside. See Proton's IMAP page.
Aster Mail
Aster gives 10 GB on its free plan and asks for no phone number or recovery email. Like Proton, other mail apps reach it only through Aster Bridge, on paid plans (Star and above). Unlike most services here, Aster lets every plan, free included, export the whole mailbox as a standard MBOX file from its settings. See Aster's pricing and help.
Mailfence
Mailfence's free plan has 500 MB of mail storage, no IMAP and no mail backup: Mailfence says the backup option is not available on Free. Paid plans include IMAP. See Mailfence's FAQ and export page.
Zoho Mail
Zoho's free plans give 5 GB per user, but Zoho says IMAP is not available to newly signed-up free users. Older free accounts may still have it. Zoho's settings can export a whole folder as .eml files in a zip. See Zoho's IMAP page and pricing.
Free plans with no mail app access
- Tuta has no IMAP on any plan, because its encryption cannot work over IMAP. Its free plan gives 1 GB, and its desktop apps can export your mailbox. Tuta's announcement does not state the file format. See Tuta's Thunderbird post and export announcement.
- Atomic Mail advertises unlimited storage on its free plan, with no phone number needed, and said in December 2025 that it is working on IMAP. It documents no export. See Atomic Mail's pricing.
Stow cannot archive these, or the exports from the services above. If you use one, keep the provider's export somewhere safe and backed up.
Free accounts that close themselves
Several free plans delete mail, or the whole account, if you stop signing in. An archive on your own computer is not affected by any of this.
- GMX (gmx.com): after 6 months without signing in, access may be limited and messages may be deleted; the address may be released after a year (terms).
- WEB.DE: content may be deleted after 6 months without signing in. Signing in from a mail app counts (terms).
- mail.com: free accounts are marked for deletion after 6 months without signing in (mail.com).
- Proton Mail: free accounts unused for more than 12 months may be deleted (Proton).
- Mailfence: free accounts are suspended after 7 months without use and deleted 5 months later (Mailfence).
Choosing a free provider
If being able to take your mail with you matters, choose a provider that offers IMAP on the plan you will actually use, and check it before you move years of mail there. Of the free plans, Yahoo, AOL, GMX, WEB.DE, Libero and mail.de let a mail app in. If privacy from the provider matters more, the services that offer it keep other apps out on their free plans, and Aster is the only one of them with a full MBOX export for free.
Stow is designed to keep a complete, encrypted, searchable copy of your mail on your Mac: Gmail, Microsoft and iCloud Mail first, and the IMAP providers above once that support is released.
Stow is coming soon. Join the waitlist and we will email you once, the day it launches.