Free Web E-mail Services
Welcome to our free e-mail accounts section. In this category we review services that allow you to access your e-mail messages online. One of the great benefits of Web-based e-mail services is that you can access your e-mails from any location with an Internet connection (ideal if you're a regular traveller). As a user, you would simply fire up your Web browser, type in the service Web address and then log in to your account. From there you are able to read, delete, forward and compose e-mails as you wish. Although Web e-mail accounts have numerous advantages, they are not without their drawbacks. Many services, since they are free, rely on advertising to cover their costs and as such, tend to be ad-supported. In addition, you would not expect to find an extensive range of features, such as those available in e-mail client programs, such as Thunderbird or Outlook. Nevertheless, Web e-mail is improving all the time, and with many companies now incorporating spam filtering and anti-virus protection, every person should have at least one Web mail account. If you happen to stumble across an outdated link, we'd very much appreciate it if you could report it.
OtherInbox
A great free service for helping to manage large amounts of e-mail. OtherInbox works in conjunction with popular e-mail sites (such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL) to automatically organise messages into topics, whether that's newsletters, statements, alerts, or e-mails that require urgent attention. If you're pressed for time and often bogged down with too much e-mail, this comes highly recommended.
FastMail
This free, ad-supported e-mail service from Opera is a solid and reliable alternative to some of the more popular providers. FastMail includes reliable spam protection, 25MB storage space and IMAP support. The major selling point here is the excellent junk mail filter. The limited storage space is not going to win any awards, and a tagline is added to the footer of each outgoing mail message (this can be removed by upgrading). Paid packages offer much more storage space plus various other features.
Spacemail
A flexible free e-mail provider, offering an interesting twist on traditional e-mail. Rather than logging into an e-mail account and downloading messages, Spacemail uses "floating connection points" to have the e-mail find you. They claim it will revolutionise the way e-mail is delivered.
GMX
This impressive and unique free Web-based e-mail service offers a massive 5GB storage space, virus protection facilities and "unprecedented spam protection". The interface is particularly user-friendly and allows you to drag and drop e-mails into various folders, which you can create at will. GMX also offers an address book and organiser, so you can keep track of all your appointments. Register for an account here and your e-mail address will resemble: you@gmx.com.
My Way EmailThis clean and straight-forward Internet portal provides a free online e-mail service, with 125MB storage space, spam prevention tools, stationary and various fonts. There is a 10MB limit on the size of message you may send. What is so attractive about this site is that no banners, pop-ups or other distractions can be seen.
MailBigFile.comMailBigFile.com's "free" service allows users to send large file attachments (up to 100MB in size) across the Internet. Although their commercial packages are more suited to everyday use, the free edition is great for one-off attachments to an individual recipient, and you needn't even register. The file will then be available to download for 3 days.
Inbox.comA great free e-mail service, providing a massive 5GB space, with Web mail, POP3 access, spam protection and a host of other useful features. Please note, however, that the 5GB offer is only valid for U.S., Canada and UK residents (2GB is allocated for other locations). Inbox.com also offers a free online calendar service and an online photo album, so you can share pictures with family and friends.
10 Minute MailLaunched to help protect innocent Internet users from unsolicited e-mail messages, this service provides a free, temporary e-mail address that expires within a 10 minute time period. If you're wary of disclosing your e-mail address to a site that requires a registration, why not use 10 Minute Mail instead? You'll be able to register with no questions asked, and (more importantly) you'll avoid being added to spam (junk mail) lists.
Yahoo! MailYahoo! Mail - Here's a popular and user intuitive free e-mail provider, offering Web-based access and a massive 1GB storage space for free - far too much space for most users! Yahoo! Mail includes an impressive number of features, including a robust spam (junk mail) filtering service and free anti-virus scanning. The mailbox interface here is visually appealing and simple enough for newbies to navigate around.
> Yahoo! have recently made a number of improvements to their e-mail service, most notably the inclusion of a "message pane" (a familiar feature of e-mail client programs, such as Outlook Express). This allows users to read the content of messages without leaving their inbox.
> There is also improved mobile phone support for users wishing to read their e-mail messages on the move.
Register at Freeola too choose from a huge collection of free e-mail addresses (over 500). This service provides free e-mail forwarding, free e-mail auto responders, anti-spam and virus protection, and also a Web mail option, so you can access your e-mail from anywhere in the world, provided you have access to an Internet connection. Click the "view all 500 addresses link" for the full selection.
HotmailHotmail from Microsoft is the world's most famous online e-mail service. They provide fast, secure Web mail access from anywhere in the world and include a range of features ideal for managing contacts, so if you use MSN Messenger, Hotmail is the perfect companion. Anti-virus, "mail bomb" and spam (junk mail) filters also contribute to the on-going success of this provider.
> UK visitors may register a "@hotmail.co.uk" address to signify their country of origin. @live.com and @hotmail.com addresses are also available.
> Hotmail's junk mail filter is effective but occasionally processes legitimate e-mails as spam. To combat this, enter contacts into your Hotmail address book and check the junk mail folder regularly.
> Hotmail was a pioneer of viral Internet marketing. The small "Get your private, free email address" tagline attached to the bottom of all e-mails sent using the service attracted millions of users across the globe.
Provides an online e-mail service with extra security features. You can send e-mail to any person with an address but to take advantage of their high 1024 bit encryption, your recipient must also have a HushMail account. After the recent hiccup with "Hotmail hackers", you should seriously consider this if handling important e-mail. HushMail is robust, solid and reliable.
Lycos MailThis free Web-mail service provided by the portal "Lycos" offers free spam (junk mail) protection, 5GB storage space, free virus checking, basic text editing tools (font changer, etc.), and has no limits on file attachment sizes. Another useful feature is the domain and address blocker, ideal for when you wish to prevent someone from contacting you.
> Like most free e-mail accounts, the content of a Lycos Mail free account will be deleted if the owner does not log in and check their messages at least once every 30 days.
> Lycos has now ceased offering its e-mail services to the UK and European region as of 15th February 2009. All existing UK and European accounts (i.e. yourname@lycos.co.uk) will be automatically closed after this date.
Operated from Gateshead in the UK and provides a free e-mail account on their own server. All accounts here can be accessed via the Web, via POP3 or via IMAP. One thing that distinguishes this mail provider from others very similar is it's totally non commercial, (they provide this service simply because people enjoy using it and not for the profits which could be obtained).
mail2webThis service allows you to securely access your POP3 e-mail inbox from anywhere in the world. Ideal for when you're on the move (or when you need to access your messages remotely), mail2web functions very much like any other Web mail interface, and allows you to send mail, forward, compose and even delete messages on the fly. They also support WAP compatible mobile phone access.
Mail.comMail.com (as used to power Lycos and numerous other services) offers a free personalised e-mail service that is private and accessible from anywhere. You can choose from a variety of domain names and because this service is password protected, only you will have access to your account. If you share a computer, their secure log-out function will protect your messages.