Everyone needs an email account (with the best email service) because times have changed. Networking, job recruitment, downloading resources, file transfer, transactions and vice versa, everyone needs an email address at any costs.
Even with office and work based chat platforms rising, everyone relies on email for a lot of things. Unfortunately, not all email service providers give email services without any costs. And the free ones available are not usually the easiest ones to use, as they don’t have all the needed features. Also, not everyone can have a business email account.
Then comes the issue of email hosting because cyber attacks are on the rise and are targeting servers too.
Is it a challenge looking for free email service providers?
It is indeed challenging for many users looking for an email service provider at no added expense that can balance the correct features with correct usability. To help make the search easier, this post will be explaining different kinds of email accounts that can be set up and the providers that can host email accounts without a cost.
The kinds of email accounts and vendors present
There are two main kinds of email service providers to select from i.e. webmail and your usual email clients. Let us now understand them both briefly.
Email clients
Email clients are basically software applications installed on computers for managing email people send and receive. For accessing them, clients interact with remote email servers. Email clients which are commonly used nowadays are Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird and iCloud Mail.
The advantage of using them is that they can provide some of the best small business email hosting as they can provide a well-set business email account.
Webmail client
Basically, webmail is that email which users access exclusively on the internet. It hence exists mostly on the cloud instead of a physical computer. There is no need for an installed application to bring the email, as users manage their inbox right from the internet browser they are using.
Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail are key examples. They are ranked among the top-notch free and private email service providers. Now is a good time to have a look at some of the best free email service providers (and five of the best email accounts for business purposes too):
The best free and private email service providers
Lets examine some of the best free email service providers (and five of the best email accounts for privacy as well) any user can utilize. Some of them have both webmail and email clients included as well as top notch email hosting, plus the best small business email hosting packages.
For each of the email service providers listed, their unique features are highlighted to help users get the best one:
Gmail
One of the best features of Gmail is that it provides native file collaboration. A lot may think of it as the obvious top choice but it is quite versatile in nature (and hence the undisputed best email service) . It has the second-highest market share (just behind Apple iPhone’s native email app) in the market of email service providers.
Gmail is quite popular thanks to its patented communication options in the inbox that do not involve email. It is a regular inbox tool users can access once they have created a Google Account. Since it is built in, and well integrated, with the Google Suite; users can access a range of free apps that will allow users to chat, conduct video conferences and share files with people in their contact list.
Google Hangouts was once available from the left side bar of the inbox (then later right but now it is disbanded for Google Chat). Users can customize the way their inbox is displayed. Moreover, Gmail has one of the best email hosting and a package for the best small business email hosting, providing a safe and secure business email account.
Unlike other email accounts, users can use their Gmail address to log in and manage their YouTube account easily. They can also utilize Google Drive and Google Docs when it comes to accessing and editing shared documents and spreadsheets.
Offering a generous amount of 15GB of free email storage, Gmail does everything to make everyone’s inbox more organized and more viewable. It has advanced filters pushing emails into different folders when they come. They are quite affordable. Here are some great features of Gmail:
- Users can practically un-send emails.
- 15GB of free email storage is offered.
- Easily accessible from any device connected to the internet.
- It offers 99.9% protection from the wrong kind of emails.
- It provides text suggestions helping users type emails faster.
AOL
AOL (America Online) provides infinite storage (and was at one time the best email service). It gives users a nostalgic feeling as it was once a really popular email service that was a bit late in keeping up with today’s standards. Now it provides free email accounts and top-notch user experience (and good email hosting).
Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, and the latter delivers users email from its classic news-driven homepage. It even comes with contemporary spam filters and virus protection users expect. Users can also send text and instant messages from different windows in their email inbox.
AOL (being among popular email service providers in the United States) has an edge over Gmail, and that is in terms of infinite storage. Additionally, users can also import email contacts from either a CSV, TXT or a LDIF file. Hence no one has to make a list of contacts from ground zero.
Here are some of its key features:
- Infinite storage.
- It is quite customizable.
- It even has a grammatical spelling checker to remove errors.
Outlook
Outlook is able to offer multiple app integrations being an email client (it does provide a good business email account). Users using multiple platforms to connect with other users. Hotmail.com may be an outdated domain but those who still like it can thank Outlook for this domain name, which now seems to be quite ancient (yet it is among the best email service providers).
There is however more good news: Microsoft decided to reform and reinvent their long standing email service and the free Outlook.com email address has numerous advanced features ready for them. THis is why it offers a typically good business email account.
It meanwhile does tout a calendar and a message filter resembling that of Gmail, Outlook also integrates with numerous other popular communication apps. Surprisingly, it is ranked among the best email service providers around despite not being like Gmail.
For instance, users can connect to Skype, Facebook, PayPal, PowerPoint and other task-management software (Trello). This makes it quite easy to reach and work with users who are not on Outlook, without having to leave the inbox. It also offers the best small business email hosting.
Outlook offers 15GB of free storage for each user and it also offers a super-clean interface. Here are some of its key features:
- Add-ins can be added with Outlook, just as with Excel and Word.
- It provides easy access to other Microsoft apps, such as Skype.
- Provides users aliases, adding anonymity to emails.
- Emails are organized in a very good manner.
- Top-class email organization.
- A worthwhile search feature.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! is best suited for creative professionals and for those who are sending and receiving attachments frequently via email. It has a very good history with media and attachments. It was acquired by Softbank Group of Japan in June 2019 and was considered the best email service in its peak time..
Yahoo! Mail is just right behind AOL in terms of storage space (i.e. it provides 1 Terabyte for free). Moreover, it does have a few social media integrations up its sleeve. It also has some of the best small business email hosting to offer.
Yahoo! Mail has made it easy to find each picture, video and document they have ever attached or received through email, in their tabs, present on the sidebar of the inbox. This makes the platform quite appealing to those who are regularly sharing documents, and even want to make an album of each photo shared.
Here are some of its salient features:
- Easy connectivity with Yahoo Calendar.
- Organizes emails in the best fashion possible.
- Provides users with customizable themes for their inboxes.
- Quick notifications for new emails in the inbox.
