Productivity · alternatives
Alternatives to Fastmail
21 productivity tools sit alongside Fastmail in this directory. Below is what separates each from Fastmail on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 15
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- Fastmail starts at
- $3/month
Why people look past Fastmail
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Fastmail entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for Fastmail carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 15 of the 21 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Secure email that protects your privacy
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Per user per month.
Secure, green and ad-free. Email to feel good about.
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Per user per month.
AI-assisted email client from Readdle with a Smart Inbox and team collaboration features
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
Security-focused AI email client with end-to-end encryption and a lifetime purchase option
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
- Sold on a Per user per year, or one-time purchase model rather than Per user per month.
Mac launcher and automation tool sold as a one-time Powerpack licence rather than a subscription
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
- Starts $31 a one-time dearer, at £34/one-time.
- Sold on a One-time purchase model rather than Per user per month.
Free shared grocery list app with a simple icon-based interface, no subscription required for core use
- Can be used without paying; Fastmail cannot.
- Sold on a Free, with an optional paid Premium tier for extras model rather than Per user per month.
- 2 tiers to Fastmail's 3.
Every Fastmail alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fastmail (this page) | $3/month | Per user per month | 3 | |
| Proton MailIf end-to-end encryption by default matters more than JMAP speed or migration tooling | Free | Freemium | - | vs Fastmail |
| TutaIf you want a European, zero-knowledge encrypted host rather than a subscription-funded conventional one | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| Spark MailIf you want to keep your existing Gmail or Outlook account and just add a better client on top | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| Canary Mail | Free | Per user per year, or one-time purchase | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| Alfred | Free, then £34/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| Bring! | Free | Free, with an optional paid Premium tier for extras | 2 | vs Fastmail |
| Day One | Free | Free tier plus subscription | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| Bluemail | Free | Quote | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| Samsung Food | Free | Free, no subscription | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| Mealime | Free, then $5.99/month | Freemium subscription | 2 | vs Fastmail |
| Supernormal | Free, then $20/month | Per month by credits | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| MeetGeek | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Fastmail |
| Bluedot | Free, then $14/month | Per recording user per month | 4 | vs Fastmail |
| LibreOffice | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| Gamma | Free, then $12/month | - | 6 | vs Fastmail |
| Streaks | $5.99/one-time | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| AnyList | On request | Per user per year | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| Mimestream | $4.99/month | Per user per month | 1 | vs Fastmail |
| Paprika Recipe Manager | $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase, priced separately per platform | 2 | vs Fastmail |
| HEY | $99/year | Per user per month | 3 | vs Fastmail |
| RowShare | On request | Subscription | - | vs Fastmail |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Fastmail badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (15)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Proton Mail , Free
- Tuta , Free
- Spark Mail , Free
- Canary Mail , Free
- Alfred , Free, then £34/one-time
- Bring! , Free
- Day One , Free
- Bluemail , Free
What you would be giving up
Fastmail is most often brought in for someone who wants their email address tied to a domain they own rather than a free provider they do not, a small business wanting hosted mail on its own domain without running mail server infrastructure, a person leaving gmail specifically to stop an ad-funded provider processing their mail, a household migrating several accounts to one paid provider with shared billing. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Fastmail is broadly right and the question is cost, the Fastmail pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Productivity category lists everything the directory holds, and best productivity tools ranks them.
Fastmail runs on web, ios, android, macos, windows. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Fastmail alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Fastmail?
- 21 other productivity tools are listed in this directory, led by Proton Mail, Tuta, Spark Mail, Canary Mail. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Fastmail?
- 15 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Proton Mail, Tuta, Spark Mail, Canary Mail, Alfred.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Fastmail?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Fastmail?
- Fastmail is most often brought in for someone who wants their email address tied to a domain they own rather than a free provider they do not, a small business wanting hosted mail on its own domain without running mail server infrastructure, a person leaving gmail specifically to stop an ad-funded provider processing their mail, a household migrating several accounts to one paid provider with shared billing. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Fastmail?
- None of the productivity tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Fastmail alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Productivity, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Fastmail against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Fastmail covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every productivity tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Productivity category, 21 tools beside Fastmail. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.