Top 10 E-Mail Providers

Free email services remain the center of web activity, driving communication for work and personal use. From social networking update alerts to the sending and receiving of documents, email has truly become a necessity for modern correspondence.

Gmail:

Arguably the best free email services available to date. Gmail is heavily integrated with its Google applications and the Gmail Labs team is constantly adding new features that enhance its service. While newer than most other free email services, Google was an established tech company prior to launching its email service and already had other applications with which it could be integrated. This resolve to provide access to cloud computing through cross-app cooperation gives

Yahoo Mail:

Yahoo Mail search is one of the most useful features when it comes to tracking down messages. Automatic filters help one sift through search results, giving one-click access to documents, senders, and more. Yahoo is also looking to make its email service more socially aware to allow one to better connect with other Yahoo users via your email inbox. Connected with many of Yahoo’s other applications, ones email persona can be tied with much of the other Yahoo activity which could ultimately spread across the social web. Other tools for speedy organization and inbox skimming have been introduced with recent Yahoo Mail updates giving users more professional ways in which to use Yahoo for their emailing needs.

 

Hotmail:

Acquired by Microsoft, it has undergone several updates since it first emerged on the scene. As such, it features integration with other landmark Microsoft products such as Outlook. Security and anti-spam measures ensure that messages are only accepted from known senders. This leaves a good amount of manual management from the user however, as they need to confirm messages from new senders.

AOL:

This wasn’t always free, but it is now. As a long-standing company in the email business, AOL has a lot of familiarity and experience in dealing with email. Its ability to keep up however, still falls short. On the organization side, AOL could use a little innovation to improve features like folders and labels.

Inbox:

This is a solid free email service that comes with a lot of features and 5GB of storage space. Security is good but it lacks a phishing filter and access via IMAP is not available. Other features include typical standards such as calendar, notes, and notifications but the service also comes with games and ecards. Unlike most free email services Inbox.com doesn’t display advertisements while viewing the email.

Fastmail:

This free email service is ad-supported, comes with 10MB of storage, a maximum file size of 10MB, and a mail storage quota of 10MB. Its free account doesn’t include email forwarding, POP3 access, and the address book storage is limited to 100 contacts. Upgraded email plans include more storage space, greater access, and no advertisements.

 

Mail:

A free email service that includes unlimited storage space, great security and spam protection, and the ability to access the email messages from the mobile phone. One can choose from over 250 different personal email address domains, customize the look of the inbox with various skins as well add email apps. The free email plan also comes with a calendar, address book, and online chat interface but does not offer IMAP or POP3 access. Paid email plans offer more features and access minus the hassle of annoying advertisements.

Lycos Mail:

Used to be a free email service provider but now charges $19.95 per year to give users 5GB of storage, POP3 and IMAP access, spam filtering, and anti-virus support. Other notable features include domain and address blocking abilities and no ads.

Care2:

An environmentally conscious business that provides free email service as well as other things. Care2 donates 5% of its earnings to various nonprofit organizations. It free email plan comes with 5GB of storage space, 10MB maximum file size for attachments, anti-spam and anti-virus filters, POP3 access, auto-replies, spell-check, address book for contacts, and personalized webmail names.

Zenbe:

A next generation email service that integrates the social web and collaboration tools to take plain old email to the next level. It offer a 30-day free trial for all email service plans and access to their Share Flow collaboration service that allows one to connect and share files and comments with their team. Zenbe Mail comes with calendars, Postini spam and virus protection, and it allows you to use your own domain.