10 Best Free Business Email Providers for Companies & Entrepreneurs
Explore top free business email services for startups and SMEs, offering secure, efficient, and cost-effective email solutions.
If you’re a startup or a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME), you know that swift communication between you and your customers, partners, and stakeholders is key to success.
One main aspect of keeping communication efficient is email and, in consequence, finding the right email provider for your business.
With budget constraints, security, and specific email features often being the main concern, finding the best free business email provider isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. In this article, we explore the 9 best email service providers that offer free email without compromising on quality and features.
Why Do You Need a Free Business Email?
Although using a free business email comes with some limitations, it’s still a great solution for small and medium-sized businesses or entrepreneurs.
For starters, using a free business email provider is an easy solution to create an email address dedicated to your business instead of receiving your business communication on your personal email.
While the free email address will contain the name of the email provider of your choice (for example, @gmail.com or @outlook.com), you can still customize the first part of your address to match your brand name. However, if you want a fully customized email address, you’d have to go with a pro version of your chosen email service.
Aside from helping you keep your business communication organized in a dedicated inbox, free business email providers offer security features, such as spam filtering and email blocking. Moreover, many providers, like Gmail or Outlook, also come with mobile apps, making it easier for you to access your inbox on the go.
What are the features that defines the Best Free Business Email?
With non-business inboxes, emails can get easily lost or land in your spam folder, where you’ll likely never find them. A good business email provider should offer a smooth email experience that makes sending and following up on emails faster, more efficient, and stress-free.
When choosing your business email hosting provider, take into account the following features:
- Usability: Most of all, you need an email service provider that offers a smooth and seamless experience. Look for an email platform that is easy to use, reliable, and efficient.
- Security: Of course, security is key when it comes to business communication. A reliable email service provider offers advanced security features that protect sensitive data and follows security protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance).
- Reliability: A good email provider should have an average uptime of 99.9%. When picking your email service, check its delivery rates and ensure that the emails sent via this provider don’t end up in the spam folder.
- Custom Domain Support: Allows using your company’s website domain for a professional appearance.
- Ample Storage: Sufficient mailbox and cloud storage for archiving important communications.
- Email Protocols (POP3/IMAP): Flexibility to use preferred email clients like Apple Mail or Outlook.
Top 10 Free Business Emails for Businesses
There’s an abundance of free business email providers on the market, and it can be challenging to decide which is the right one for you. To make the decision easier for you, here’s a list of the 10 best free business emails with their features, pros, and cons.
1. Neo – Best for Creating Business Email without Domain (Easiest Set-up)
Neo is a business email platform for small businesses and entrepreneurs, offering them professional email addresses. For users without a personal domain, Neo provides email services using a free domain name along with a one-page website to help establish their brand identity and enhance their credibility.
Neo provides its customers with a quick and effortless setup and powerful tools to boost their branding. Its features include AI smart write, email campaigns, appointment scheduling, read receipts, email templates, scheduled sending, and follow-up reminders. These functionalities enhance productivity, allowing Neo’s users to focus on their main objectives.
Neo Features:
Neo’s features are extremely useful for small business owners, freelancers and start-ups.
- Upto 100 GB Storage
- Custom Email Address
- Customizable Domain & One Page Site
- Read Receipts
- Email Templates
- Follow-up Reminders
- Priority Inbox
- Anti-spam Security
- Two-Factor Authentication
Pros:
- Quick and straightforward setup process.
- Cost-effective for Small businesses
- AI Smart Write feature increases productivity in writing emails.
- Includes features like email templates, scheduled sending, and follow-up reminders to enhance efficiency.
- Helps manage time by prioritizing important emails.
- Security Features: Provides robust security measures, including anti-spam filters, two-factor authentication, and blocking unwanted contacts.
Cons:
- The free domain is a “co.site” which may not be as prestigious as a custom “.com” or similar TLD.
- Does not have an offline emailing feature
- Neo does not offer predictive text like Gmail
- The page website design is basic
Neo Pricing
Neo is free for 15 days, and after 15 days basic plan starts at $1.25 per month per user.
Neo Reviews
Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: 3.8/5
2. Gmail – Best for Sending Emails on the Go
Gmail is the most popular free email service provided by Google, with over 1.8 billion active users worldwide. Gmail is part of the Google Workspace, together with other Google apps like Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Meet, and Drive. This is precisely the main benefit of using Gmail: it integrates perfectly with Google’s ecosystem and makes the email experience smarter and more efficient.
Anyone can create a Gmail account. However, if you need a custom email domain, you’ll need to opt for the Google Workspace subscription at a cost.
Gmail Features
Gmail is renowned for its intuitive interface, ease of use, and mobile app that makes it easy to access your inbox on the go. Here are some of its features:
- 15GB of storage on the free version
- Spam filtering and malware detection
- Advanced phishing protection
- Confidential mode
- Integrations with other Google apps
Pros:
- Easy to set up
- Intuitive interface
- Mobile app
- Offline mode
- Advanced security features
Cons:
- Lack of end-to-end encryption
- Concerns over data collection & usage
- Limited customization
- Dependence on the Google ecosystem
Gmail Pricing
Gmail is free to use. However, for more advanced features and a custom email domain, you’ll need a Google Workspace subscription, which starts at $6 per user per month.
Gmail Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.8/5
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
3. GMX Mail – Best For Departments & Teams
GMX Mail is a completely free email provider that comes with 65GB of storage and supports up to 10 alias email addresses, making it an ideal email provider for companies with several departments or teams. What’s more, it allows you to collect emails from various email providers into one inbox with its Mail Collector feature.
GMX Mail Features
GMX Mail offers users quite a generous amount of storage, as well as some additional organization tools like Online Office and Organizer. Some of GMX Mail’s features include:
- 65GB of free storage
- Send attachments up to 50MB in size
- Mail Collector
- Create up to 10 alias email addresses
- Antivirus security on all devices
- Spam filter
- PGP email encryption
Pros:
- Comes with a mobile app
- Advanced email security
- Plenty of free storage
Cons:
- The interface isn’t very intuitive.
- It comes with advertisements
GMX Mail Pricing
GMX Mail is completely free. Instead of charging its users a direct fee, it makes money from advertisements.
GMX Mail Reviews
Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: N/A
4. Microsoft Outlook – Best For Microsoft Users
Outlook is a free email provider by Microsoft. Because it seamlessly integrates with other apps from the Microsoft Office 365 suite, it brings together email, calendar, contacts, attachments, and more handy tools. If you’re already using other Microsoft tools, Outlook will indeed be a great choice for you. However, if you aren’t using any Microsoft tools, you might not benefit from Outlook as much.
Outlook Features
Outlook supports multiple accounts, and its built-in analytic engine automatically prioritizes important emails based on your communication patterns. Aside from that, it offers other handy features like:
- Scheduling emails
- Do Not Disturb settings
- A focused inbox to prioritize important emails
- Quick swipe controls
- Smart folders
Pros:
- Seamless integration with the Office 365 suite
- Email and calendar apps are completely free
- Available for Windows, Mac, web and mobile
- Enterprise-grade security
Cons:
- Some users may find the interface less intuitive compared to other email apps.
- The search function could be improved, as some users report difficulties in finding specific emails.
Outlook Pricing
Outlook is free to use. However, it has multiple plans for the Microsoft 365 subscription, starting at $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year.
Outlook Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.5/5
G2 Rating: 4.5/5
5. Yahoo! Mail – Best For a Smart Email Experience
Yahoo! Mail is a free email service provided by Yahoo Inc., which you might know for its search engine and its news. Yahoo Mail has been around since 1997, and so far, it has gained over 225 million monthly active users. Its email service is completely free and focuses on making your email experience more productive, with features like one-click unsubscribes and free trial reminders.
Yahoo! Mail Features
Although it’s completely free, Yahoo! Mail offers a range of features that can make your email experience smarter and more efficient.
- See your subscription list
- Unsubscribe from newsletters in one click
- Connect multiple inboxes (even from other providers)
- See a summary of your shopping orders
- Free trial reminders
- Find attachments fast
- View by sender
- Customize your inbox’s look
- Privacy dashboard to manage your preferences
Pros:
- Great email organization features
- Inbox customization
- Completely free to use
- Connect multiple emails into one account
- Mobile app
Cons:
- It doesn’t connect with other apps like Calendar or Notes
- The web app can be complicated to navigate
- The free version displays ads in your inbox
Yahoo! Mail Pricing
Yahoo! Mail is completely free to use. However, if you want more features and an ad-free inbox, you can subscribe to Yahoo Mail Plus for $5 per month.
Yahoo! Mail Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.2/5
G2 Rating: 3.8/5
6. ProtonMail – Best For Email Security & Privacy
ProtonMail is a business email provider based in Switzerland, known for its strong privacy focus. ProtonMail offers advanced end-to-end and zero-access encryption for your emails and keeps your email communication private and secure.
Overall, ProtonMail is available for free, but you can update to a paid version to access more features.
ProtonMail Features
ProtonMail’s main focus lies on the security and privacy of your emails. But aside from its excellent security features, it also comes with other benefits, such as:
- Intuitive web app
- Inbox customization
- Email organization with labels, filters, and folders
- Create multiple alias email addresses
- Advanced inbox search
- Access to ProtonDrive, ProtonCalendar, and ProtonVPN
Pros:
- Advanced security and privacy for your emails
- Mobile app for Android and iOS
- Access to other Proton apps
Cons:
- Limited storage on the free version
- Questionable amount of emails you can send
- Loading time may be slow
ProtonMail Pricing
ProtonMail offers various pricing plans for individuals, families, and businesses. The pricing plans for individuals start at €3.99 per user/month (billed annually). The pricing plans for businesses start at €6.99 per user/month (billed annually).
ProtonMail Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.6/5
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
7. AOL Mail – Best User-Friendly Inbox
AOL Mail is a free email service provided by AOL, which is part of the Yahoo Inc. company. AOL Mail has been around for a long time, but it’s still an active email service. Overall, AOL Mail offers a very basic inbox and a suite of features that you can get with other, better providers.
AOL Mail Features
AOL Mail offers the standard features of any free email service with generous storage and some smart features. Here are some of the AOL Mail’s main features:
- Generous storage capacity of 1TB
- Powerful spam filters
- Integration with other AOL services, like news & weather
- Custom themes for inbox personalization
- Support for multiple inboxes
- Smart features, like 1-tap unsubscribe
- Rich contact cards on the mobile app
Pros:
- User-friendly and intuitive web app
- Great email organization features
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
- Supports over 70 languages
Cons:
- Lack of customization
- Pretty basic in its functionalities
- Ads displayed in your inbox
- Your AOL Mail account will be deactivated after 90 days of no use and deleted after 180 days of no use.
AOL Mail Pricing
AOL Mail is completely free to use.
AOL Mail Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.1/5
G2 Rating: N/A
8. Guerrilla Mail – Best Disposable Temporary Email Address
Founded in 2006, Guerrilla Mail has so far processed 16,138,174,984 emails. Guerrilla Mail is an email provided by Go-Guerrilla, an open-source mini SMTP server. Guerrilla Mail is the perfect weapon against spam, as it offers temporary email addresses for privacy protection.
You can use Guerrilla Mail to prevent spam or if you don’t want to give out your real email address. The emails sent to your Guerrilla Mail inbox are only kept there for an hour. Guerrilla Mail is not intended for primary business use.
Guerrilla Mail Features
Aside from providing an anonymous, disposable email address, Guerrilla Mail doesn’t do much else.
Pros:
- 100% free, forever
- 100% anonymous at all times
- It’s easy to navigate and create a temporary email address
- Emails are deleted one hour after being delivered or opened to ensure maximum privacy
Cons:
- Emails are deleted one hour after being delivered or opened, so you can easily miss them
- Anyone can access any inbox if they have its address
- Lack of any advanced features
Guerrilla Mail Pricing
Guerrilla Mail is completely free to use.
Guerrilla Mail Reviews
Capterra Rating: N/A
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
9. Mail.com – Best For a Creative Domain Name
Mail.com is another free email service suitable for businesses and entrepreneurs. It offers a wide range of domain names for your email address, such as @mail.com, @usa.com, or @engineer.com (and other names of professions).
It’s free to use, but there’s a premium version with more advanced features. The free version, however, lacks the modern features that other free email providers offer their users. What’s more, the free inbox is supported by ads, which can be a bit annoying to some users.
Mail.com Features
Mail.com offers a free business email with a variety of domain names you can choose from. Here are some of its features:
- Free email & cloud storage
- Intuitive apps for Android and iOS devices
- More than 100 domain names available
- Online document editor
- Send attachments of up to 30 MB
- Access all emails in one inbox with Mail Collector
- Instant email notifications with MailCheck
Pros:
- Free business email
- One login for multiple accounts
- Access all your email accounts in one place
- 65 GB of free email storage
- Access to apps like Online Office and Organizer
- Reliable spam filters
Cons:
- Free inbox lacks advanced features
- Free inbox is supported by too many ads
- No customer support
Mail.com Pricing
Mail.com is free to use. However, there is a premium version starting at $9.99 for 3 months if you want access to more advanced features, like an ad-free inbox, telephone support, and more cloud storage.
Mail.com Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.1/5
G2 Rating: N/A
10. Mailfence – Best For Advanced Email Privacy
Mailfence is a privacy-focused email service provider based in Belgium, offering OpenPGP encrypted emails. It offers strong security features to protect your email privacy, with no ads, no trackers, and no government surveillance. It also has advanced spam filters and message encryption to prevent any privacy slip-ups.
Mailfence Features
Without a doubt, security and privacy features are Mailfence’s main focus. It also offers an integrated tool suite with calendars, documents, and groups on the free version. Aside from that, it offers the following features on its paid plans:
- Web, POPS, IMAPS, SMTPS, and mobile accesses
- Email aliases
- Your own domain name
- Access to third-party mailboxes
Pros:
- Advanced security and privacy features
- Message encryption
- Access to a calendar feature
- Digital signatures and OpenPGP keys
Cons:
- Basic inbox that lacks personalization
- The web app isn’t very intuitive
- Features on the free plan are limited
Mailfence Pricing
Mailfence is free to use. There are paid plans starting at $3.50 per month (billed yearly) if you need access to advanced features and more storage.
Mailfence Reviews
Capterra Rating: 4.3/5
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Consider Canary Mail – A Paid Option With More Features
Selecting the right email service depends on your business needs. When choosing one, you should consider factors like storage requirements, security features, domain name options, and additional tools offered.
While using a free business email provider can often be enough, your business will undoubtedly benefit much more from a paid email provider that allows you to create your own domain name. For startups and SMEs, using a custom domain name that matches their brand name is key to presenting themselves as trustworthy businesses they are.
If you’re open to investing in a professional email service, consider Canary Mail.
Best Free Business Email, the Comparison Table
| Features | Neo | Gmail | GMX mail | Microsoft Outlook | Yahoo Mail | Proton Mail | AOL Mail | Guerrilla Mail | Mail.com | Mailfence |
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| Free Version |  |
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| Storage | 100GB | 15GB | 65GB | 15GB | 1TB | 1GB | 1TB | – | 65GB | 1GB |
| Pricing | $1.25/month | $6/month | Free | $1.99/month | $5/month | $3.99/month | Free | Free | $9.99/3 month | $3.50/month |
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| One click Unsubscribe | |
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| No Ads | |
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Free Business Email Providers, the Bottom Line
Overall, choosing a free business email provider that is separate from your personal inbox can help you streamline your business communication. Each of the best free business email services we’ve reviewed in this article offers a different set of strengths and weaknesses you must take into account when selecting the right option for you.
Free Business Email Address, the FAQs
What are the limitations of using a free email provider for business purposes?
Free email providers typically come with limitations such as limited storage space, fewer customization options, and sometimes ads within the inbox. Plus, customer support may be limited.
Can I use a free business email for multiple users in my business?
Yes, many free email providers offer options for creating multiple user accounts under a single domain, but there may be limits to how many accounts you can create. Larger businesses that require lots of email addresses under the same domain name will need to upgrade to paid mailbox.
Are free email providers secure enough for handling sensitive business information?
While free email providers implement basic security measures such as encryption and spam filtering, not all of them offer the same level of security and compliance features as paid options.
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