Top 17 Free Email Services

If you are looking for a free email service, you can be picky.
You'll be rewarded with plenty of storage, effective spam filtering,
a fast interface, desktop email program and mobile access, and more.
Find the top 17 free email services to choose from reviewed here.
Find the best free email service 2010 in The Reader's Choice Awards.
PS: Looking for free email, you may also be interested in

• which free email service others use (and why),
  
• free POP3 and IMAP email services,
  
• free Windows email programs or
  
• free Mac email programs.
  

1. Gmail - Free Email Service

Google
Gmail
is the Google approach to email, chat and social networking.
Practically unlimited free online storage allows you to collect all
your messages, and Gmail's simple but very smart interface lets you
find them precisely and see them in context without effort. POP and
powerful IMAP access bring Gmail to any email program or device.
Gmail puts contextual advertising next to the emails you read.


2. AIM Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
AIM
Mail, AOL's free web-based email service, shines with unlimited online
storage, very good spam protection and a rich, easy to use interface.
Unfortunately, AIM Mail lacks a bit in productivity (no labels, smart
folders and message threading), but makes up for some of that with very
functional IMAP (as well as POP) access.
AIM Mail Review | AIM Mail Tips

3. GMX Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
GMX
Mail is a reliable email service filtered well of spam and viruses
whose 5 GB of online storage you can use not only through a rich web
interface but also via POP or IMAP from a desktop email program.
More and smarter ways to organize mail could be nice.
GMX Mail Review | GMX Mail Tips

4. Yahoo! Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Yahoo!
Mail is your ubiquitous email program on the web and mobile devices
with unlimited storage, SMS texting and instant messaging to boot.
While Yahoo! Mail is generally a joy to use, free-form labeling and
smart folders would be nice, and the spam filter could catch junk even
more effectively.
Yahoo! Mail Review | Yahoo! Mail Resources | Yahoo! Mail Tips

5. Gawab.com - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Gawab.com
is a speedy, stable and very usable free email service with 10 GB
online space, POP and IMAP access as well as many a web-based goodie.
It's a pity Gawab.com's IMAP implementation does not give you access to
labels, and full message search is missing from the web interface.
Gawab.com Review

6. Inbox.com - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Inbox.com
not only gives you 5 GB to store your mail online but also a highly
polished, fast and functional way to access it via either the web
(including speedy search, free-form labels and reading mail by
conversation) or through POP in your email program.
Unfortunately,
IMAP access is not supported by Inbox.com, and its tools for organizing
mail could be improved with smart or self-teaching folders.
Inbox.com Review | Inbox.com Tips

7. FastMail Guest Account - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
FastMail is a great free email service with IMAP access, useful features, and a stellar web interface.
It's a pity FastMail does not offer truly effective spam filtering for free accounts, and more storage space for all users.
FastMail Review | FastMail Resources | FastMail Tips

8. Windows Live Hotmail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Windows
Live Hotmail is a free email service that gives you 5 GB (and growing)
of online storage, fast search, solid security, POP access and an
interface easy as a desktop email program.
When it comes to
organizing mail, Windows Live Hotmail does not go beyond folders (to
saved searches and tags, for example), its spam filter could be more
effective, and IMAP access to all online folders would be nice.
Windows Live Hotmail Review | Windows Live Hotmail Resources | Windows Live Hotmail Tips

9. Yahoo! Mail Classic - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Yahoo!
Mail Classic is a comfortable, reliable and secure email service with
unlimited storage. A pretty good spam filter keeps the junk out, and
you can send rich emails using Yahoo! Mail's HTML editor.
Yahoo! Mail Classic Review | Yahoo! Mail Resources | Yahoo! Mail Classic Tips

10. BigString.com - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
BigString.com
is a free 2 GB email service that includes rich secure and certified
mail services and lets you password-protect, expire or edit sent
messages, for example.
Unfortunately, BigString.com is not equally well equipped for handling incoming mail and lacks organizing tools.
BigString.com Review

11. Lavabit - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Lavabit
nets you a solid, secure and privacy-conscious email account which you
can access in your email program using POP or IMAP and in your browser
using a rudimentary web interface.
It's a pity Lavabit restricts statistical spam filtering to paid accounts and lacks a fully fledged web interface.
Lavabit Review

12. Zapak Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Zapak
Mail is a bare-bones free email service with unlimited storage and POP
access to boot. With the exception of some background images, Zapak
Mail offers no frills and does not help much with handling mail
efficiently.
Zapak Mail Review

13. MySpace Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
MySpace Mail adds an email address to your social network so you can exchange messages with everybody, not just MySpace members.
Unlimited storage lets you keep all the mail you like, but don't count
on MySpace Mail helping you organize the messages — or your address
book. It's also a pity MySpace Mail does not offer POP or IMAP access
and cannot retrieve mail from external accounts.
MySpace Mail Review

14. HotPOP - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
HotPOP
offers free, reliable email accounts you can use with any email program
using POP3 and SMTP. In addition, HotPOP lets you forward incoming
messages to multiple other addresses.
Unfortunately, HotPOP lacks IMAP access and a web-based email interface and is a bit short on storage space.
HotPOP Review

15. My Way Mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
My Way Mail is a clean, fast and fun (though not particularly advanced) free email service.
It lacks secure messaging and other advanced, non-essential features, though.
My Way Mail Review | My Way Mail Tips

16. Care2 E-mail - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Care2
E-mail provides solid free email with an environmental conscience. The
spam filters and editing gimmicks in Care2 E-mail are nice, but so
would be message search, IMAP access and smart folders.

17. Mail.com - Free Email Service

Heinz Tschabitscher
Mail.com
is great for its domain names (use them with forwarding!), but it is
missing some of the security and convenience of other web-based email
services.