StartMail vs Proton Mail

StartMail is a paid-only mailbox from StartMail B.V. in Zeist, with servers in the Netherlands, unlimited aliases and standard IMAP access. Proton Mail, from Proton AG in Geneva, offers a free 1 GB plan, open-source apps and end-to-end encryption inside its own ecosystem. StartMail wins on mail-client freedom and aliases; Proton wins on a free tier and openness.

Editor Sebastiaan Smits

Published Last reviewed How we review

Choose StartMail if

you want a paid mailbox in the EU with unlimited aliases, IMAP and SMTP in Thunderbird or Apple Mail, and encrypted email to people who do not use encryption themselves.

Read the StartMail review

Choose Proton Mail if

you want a free plan to start on, open-source apps, and mail that sits next to Drive, Calendar, VPN and Pass under Swiss law.

Read the Proton Mail review

StartMail and Proton Mail side by side

 StartMailProton Mail
Company Startpage B.V. Proton AG
Headquarters The Hague, Netherlands Geneva, Switzerland
Founded 2014 2014
Jurisdiction EU (Netherlands) Switzerland (adequacy decision, outside the EEA)
Where the data sits Netherlands Switzerland, Germany
Pricing From €5/month billed annually Free (500MB) / from about €4.99/month
Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 19 October 2026) 7-day free trial, no free tier; Personal $4.99/month ($59.88 billed annually, 20 GB); Business $6.99/month ($83.88 billed annually, 30 GB); USD shown on the page when checked Free (1 GB, 1 user, 1 encrypted address); Mail Plus $4.99/month list (15 GB, 10 encrypted addresses), shown at $3.99 on a promotional 12-month offer; USD shown on the page when checked
Free tier or trial Free trial, no free tier Free tier
Certifications and checks Not stated in our data Independently audited, open source
Source code Closed source Open source
Usually replaces Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail
Position in our Email Providers guide #4 of 18 #3 of 18

Both are listed in our European Email Providers guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.

Where StartMail and Proton Mail differ

Across the five points below, StartMail has the edge on 2 points, Proton Mail on 2 points and one is a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.

Free plan or trial

Proton Mail offers a Free plan with 1 GB of storage, one user and one encrypted address, and says it will always offer one. StartMail has no free tier; its pricing page offers a free 7-day trial, then charges. A reader who wants to keep a mailbox at no cost can only do that at Proton.

Edge: Proton Mail

Entry price

StartMail's Personal plan is $4.99 a month ($59.88 billed annually) with 20 GB; Business is $6.99 ($83.88 annually) with 30 GB. Proton's Mail Plus is listed at $4.99 a month with 15 GB and 10 encrypted addresses, shown at $3.99 on a promotion. The list prices match; the storage and address allowances differ.

No clear winner on this point.

Aliases

StartMail lists unlimited personal aliases on every plan, and unlimited aliases on a custom domain, which you can create and delete at any time. Proton's pricing page speaks of 10 encrypted email addresses on Mail Plus rather than unlimited aliases. For one alias per website, StartMail is the more generous.

Edge: StartMail

Mail apps and protocols

StartMail says it works with Thunderbird, Outlook and Apple Mail through full IMAP and SMTP access, and offers webmail and an Android app (iOS listed as coming soon). Proton's pricing page does not describe open IMAP access in this comparison. A user who wants a normal mail client should look at StartMail first.

Edge: StartMail

Openness and jurisdiction

Proton says all its Mail apps are open source and independently audited, and that data falls under Swiss law, answering only official Swiss requests; operator Proton AG is supervised by the non-profit Proton Foundation. StartMail points to Dutch law and EU GDPR, but its pages read here do not mention published code.

Edge: Proton Mail

When neither StartMail nor Proton Mail fits

If neither fits, Tuta from Germany offers a free tier with its own encrypted mail apps, Mailbox.org bundles an office suite, and Posteo is a low-cost German mailbox.

StartMail vs Proton Mail: questions

No. StartMail's pricing page offers a free 7-day trial, then paid plans: Personal at $4.99 a month billed annually as $59.88, and Business at $6.99 a month billed annually as $83.88. It explains that it does not run ads or sell data to pay for a free tier.

StartMail's terms name StartMail B.V., registered in Zeist in the Netherlands, and its privacy page says its databases are in Dutch data centres. Proton's terms name Proton AG, located in Plan-les-Ouates near Geneva, supervised by the non-profit Proton Foundation.

Yes. StartMail states that it works with email apps such as Thunderbird, Outlook and Apple Mail through full IMAP and SMTP access, and it also offers webmail. Its pricing page lists an Android app, with iOS shown as coming soon.

Proton says all Proton Mail apps are open source, so anyone can read the code, and that it commissions independent third-party experts to audit it. StartMail's pricing and privacy pages do not make a comparable open-source claim.

Sources

Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.

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