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Cybersecurity · head to head

BigID vs Fastmail

BigID logo

BigID

Cybersecurity

Data discovery and classification across cloud, on-premise and unstructured stores

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fastmail logo

Fastmail

Productivity

Paid email hosting with custom domains, calendar and contacts, run without ad-based revenue

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: BigID pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.; Fastmail it does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
  • They diverge on capability: BigID covers Structured and unstructured scanning, Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigID and Fastmail actually diverge.

Attributes where BigID and Fastmail differ
AttributeBigIDFastmail
Starting priceOn request$3/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWeb, API, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityProductivity

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigID

  • Structured and unstructured scanning
  • Identity correlation
  • Data security posture management
  • Access intelligence
  • Privacy request support
  • Retention and minimisation
  • AI data controls
  • Policy and remediation workflow

Only in Fastmail

  • Custom domain hosting
  • Masked email
  • Unlimited aliases
  • Integrated calendar and contacts
  • Migration tools
  • JMAP support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigID

  • A bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migrationnot Fastmail
  • A privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s recordsnot Fastmail
  • A security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker doesnot Fastmail
  • A company building retrieval augmented AI that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a modelnot Fastmail

Fastmail

  • Someone who wants their email address tied to a domain they own rather than a free provider they do notnot BigID
  • A small business wanting hosted mail on its own domain without running mail server infrastructurenot BigID
  • A person leaving Gmail specifically to stop an ad-funded provider processing their mailnot BigID
  • A household migrating several accounts to one paid provider with shared billingnot BigID

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigID

  • Pricing scales with data sources and volume, so the cost rises exactly as the estate you need to scan grows, and the modules shown in a demo, including AI security posture and headless deployment, are frequently separate licences that appear only in the final quote.
  • Scanning large unstructured estates is slow and computationally expensive, so most organisations sample rather than scan everything, which reintroduces uncertainty into the very question they bought the tool to settle.
  • Classification accuracy on messy unstructured content requires tuning, and out of the box false positives on things like reference numbers create a large triage backlog that a small governance team cannot clear.
  • It discovers and reports but does not remediate, so realising value requires a separate process and often separate tooling to actually delete, restrict or move the data it flags.
  • It is built for large enterprises and both the price and the administrative overhead are disproportionate below a few thousand employees, where a lighter DSPM tool covers the security use case for far less.

Fastmail

  • It does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
  • Moving to Fastmail is a real migration with DNS changes for a custom domain, unlike installing a client such as Spark or Bluemail over an existing account.
  • There is no free tier at all, so a user just wanting to try it commits to a paid trial rather than a permanently free option.
  • Storage limits on the entry Basic plan are modest next to the free allowance Gmail gives, and heavy attachment users will need Standard or above.
  • Being based in Australia means it falls under Australian data access law, which some privacy-focused buyers weigh differently from Swiss or German jurisdictions used by Proton Mail and Tuta.

Pricing, plan by plan

BigID

On request
  • BigID Platform$undefined/year
    • Priced by number of data sources and data volume
    • Discovery and classification core
    • Optional DSPM, access intelligence and AI security modules licensed separately

Fastmail

$3/month
  • Basic$3/month
    • 6GB storage
    • No custom domain support
    • Core mail, calendar and contacts
  • Standard$5/month
    • 60GB storage
    • Custom domain support
    • Masked email and aliases
  • Professional$9/month
    • 150GB storage
    • Multiple custom domains
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose BigID if

  • You need structured and unstructured scanning.
  • You work on Web, API, Self-hosted.
  • You also want identity correlation.
BigID review

Choose Fastmail if

  • You need custom domain hosting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want masked email.
Fastmail review

Questions people ask

Is BigID or Fastmail better?
Neither clearly leads. BigID starts at On request and Fastmail at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigID or Fastmail?
BigID starts at On request and Fastmail at $3/month.
Does BigID or Fastmail run on more platforms?
BigID runs on Web, API, Self-hosted. Fastmail runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
What is BigID best used for?
BigID is most often used for a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration, a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records, a security team wanting to find sensitive data sitting in publicly readable object storage buckets before an attacker does, a company building retrieval augmented ai that must exclude regulated personal data from the index it feeds to a model. Of those, a bank that has to prove which of thirty year old file shares contain customer identifiers before a data centre migration and a privacy team that cannot fulfil deletion requests because nobody knows which unstructured stores hold a given customer’s records are not what Fastmail is typically brought in for.
What can BigID do that Fastmail cannot?
BigID covers Structured and unstructured scanning, Identity correlation, Data security posture management, Access intelligence. Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting, Masked email, Unlimited aliases, Integrated calendar and contacts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigID: What does BigID cost?

It is quoted by data source count and volume. Reported contracts run from roughly 15,000 to 175,000 US dollars a year, and add-on modules such as AI security posture are licensed on top.

Fastmail: Is Fastmail a client like Spark, or does it host my email?

It hosts the mailbox itself; there is no separate provider underneath it the way Spark sits over Gmail.

BigID: Does it handle unstructured data?

Yes, and that is its main advantage. It classifies data in files and shares and correlates findings back to individuals, not just to data types.

Fastmail: Does Fastmail offer end-to-end encryption?

Not by default in the way Proton Mail or Tuta do; its privacy position rests on being subscription-funded rather than ad-funded.

BigID: Will it delete the data it finds?

Not by itself in most deployments. It identifies and routes findings; deletion and remediation happen through your own processes or connected systems.

Fastmail: Can I use my own domain?

Yes, from the Standard plan up, with full alias and masked email support.

BigID: Is it a privacy tool or a security tool?

Both are sold from the same discovery core. Buyers increasingly come from security wanting data security posture management rather than from legal wanting privacy.

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