Readers Respond: Which Free Email Service Do You Use? Why?

What makes you stay? What made you switch? What would make you switch? Share Your Pick

Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook

They all suck. They use the cloud, and that puts us in danger from all hackers.

—Guest guest

Juno sucked, switched to Opera mail

Juno was nice a decade ago when there was no advertisements. Now it's horrible with flashing ads in you face from top, bottom and side! Stay away from that one. I switched to Opera mail. No ads at all. Simple just the way I wanted it. Shows it still exists out there. We just need to look! Of course it might not be perfect for everyone, but for those who just need a simple email with no fuss, this is it. Tried to get Roxxmail (it takes 2 days to be approved, after 3 days still no news). All the other providers are full of advertisements and will ever have anything from me again. Hushmail seemed nice, but complicated if you email to someone that doesn't use the same email provider.

—Guest tired of advertisements

Hotmail Yahoo!

Hotmail is now complete garbage with Yahoo not much better. They have both deleted spell check, or hidden it, and in this day & age when kids can not spell to save them selves it's a real disgrace, but this is what we can continue to expect from USA.

—Guest Garth Boon

New Sucks, Old Works

I’ve used Hotmail and Yahoo email services for a long time. I dislike many of the so-called improvements they are making. My family, friends, and coworkers already know my information and I don’t want other people knowing this information. These services are increasing privacy and improving security so why do they make me feel like I’m being monitored and losing all of my privacy by using their services. I no longer recommend their services for people who want or need genuine privacy. People can easily find information online so I don’t want to be required to share my private information because of their policies.

—Guest Unhappy with Email

Gmail

I use e-mail programs and Gmail seems to be geared toward web-based access, plus Google has had privacy related issues in the news over the last couple years. I can't recommend it for those reasons, though it might work for some. (I do have a Gmail account, but only so I can access certain YouTube videos.) WARNING: Google will try to make you use your gmail account in their payment system, even if you want to use a different e-mail, and will try to link the e-mails if you do choose to use another e-mail address.

—Guest Scott

FastMail

FastMail sounds good, but never worked very well. The free accounts can't send messages from and e-mail program, meaning you can't reply to a message that you receive. (Though you can login to their website and reply or send a new message; however, who wants to do that.) I also think that they are trying to eliminate the free accounts. Recently they started sending me messages that I have accessed my messages through an non-supported method. (I had switched computers but was using the same set up which, all of a sudden, wasn't acceptable.) They also don't provide any support to free accounts. (Understandable, but a pain if you are having problems since you are dependent on other users to solve your problem, and that isn't the best situation.) Because of all the problems I'm switching away from them. I don't need all of the problems. If you have the money then it might be a good solution for you. I don't know, I never tried that route. But if you have money then why look for a free… [Guide's note: FastMail no longer offers new free accounts.]

—Guest Scott

GMX E-mail

I was using GMX and was happy with them, though technical support was pretty much nonexistent. Also having to log in every so often to check the spam folder was a bit of a pain. (I never found a way to get it sent to my e-mail program so I could check it for valid messages, and there were always a few valid messages in the spam folder.) Then, without warning or explanation, they canceled my account. Good riddance! I don't need that kind of treatment.

—Guest Scott

Windows Live Mail

I've used Windows Live Mail for years. None of the problems reported in many of these comments.

—Guest Arna

Hate new GMAIL Style

Gmail needs to fire their designers. I was generally happy with the account, never been hacked, but the new style is so cumbersome. The reply forced me to scroll back and forth to read the message I'm replying to. I'm looking for a new online email service, so ended up here. I don't understand the need for a 'fresh new look' when all it does it makes things harder to work with!

—Guest Winn

Gmail

Gmail is really easy to use and fun, and you have lots of options!

—Guest Katya

Hate the New Outlook.com

Full of ads. We get enough on the web and TV. You get them even when you opt out. Don't want to see them I am leaving them..

—Guest iggymama

I'm Looking

GMX has too many hiccups. I always have to log off then back on to check my emails. Gmail got hacked 3 times from China. Each time it happened, I was assured it wouldn't happen again. Strike 3, gmail is out. Do not use it. I wouldn't recommend it. I will have to try another email account.

—Guest Michael B

Left Hotmail for Hushmail

I had two accounts with Hotmail: a personal email account that I had been using for roughly 15 years, starting back when the Internet was a relatively new thing, and a second account for the last three years just for school. The first one got infected with some sort of virus. People in my contact list were getting fake emails from my account. The second one became Outlook.com, got harder to access, and at one point I got locked out and it was nearly impossible to get customer support. Now I use Hushmail: registration is easy, no ads, encrypted, very easy to use. The only downside is that with the free version, you have to log in at least once every three weeks or you lose your account, which is not a problem for me. Hotmail/Outlook is a bloated piece of garbage. I have no idea why people stick with them.

—Guest Nikki

Hotmail/Yahoo

I use both of these and now feel the time has come to find an alternative. Hotmail have ruined what was a really good service. Yahoo is credibly slow and has too many adverts and spam.

—Guest Beth

Superhero Worked, Then I couldn't Log In

I set up an account, and it worked wonderfully for about two days. After that I could not log in. As there is no phone number for support, I emailed and never received a response. DON'T DO IT!

—Guest Lady