Ethical Alternatives & Resources
Tools, services and organisations that do less harm than the default choice, in 43 categories. We’re re-checking every entry against our checklist, one category at a time.
Email services
Email providers and apps, plus a few inbox tools. Most of the ethical email providers here are paid for by a small fee or by donations, so there’s no reason to sell ads around your inbox.
Our top picks: Proton Mail, with a free plan and end-to-end encryption, from a company whose main shareholder is a non-profit foundation (the trade-off: Swiss law can make it hand over what it holds). And Posteo, €1 a month on renewable power from a named supplier, with no investors, though there’s no free plan or custom domain.
Our full guide to Gmail alternatives compares 20 providers on ownership and price.
How we choose: each provider is checked against the 6 principles in our manifesto: who owns it and how it makes money, what it collects, how it treats people, honesty, openness and staying power. We last checked them on 13 October 2026.
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Forward Email
Open-source mailboxes for your own domains, encrypted with your password, from $3 a month
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Murena
Email from the makers of the /e/OS de-Googled phone, 1 GB free
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Mailo
French email with family and children's accounts, ad-free from €1.50 a month
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mail.coop
Email from a UK co-operative run by worker co-ops, £24 a year
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Mythic Beasts
Founder-owned Cambridge host with verified renewable power, email from £1.67 a month
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Disroot
Free email and cloud from a volunteer collective, all on free software
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Migadu
Email for your own domain: unlimited addresses for $19 a year, self-funded
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Infomaniak
Swiss email with 20 GB free, no ads, on certified renewable power
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Ethical Mail
Ad-free email from a small Australian not-for-profit association, A$24 a year
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Hush Mail
Email with enhanced security
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Leave Me Alone
Unsubscribe from unwanted subscription emails and reduce your carbon footprint
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Librem Mail
Easy to use end-to-end encrypted email service
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Soverin
Dutch email built around your own domain, with no AI filtering
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Kolab Now
Swiss email and calendar built entirely on free software, from CHF 5 a month
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Mailspring
Open-source email with advanced search, translation, spellcheck and more
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Spark
Spark provides distraction-free email – only notifying you about emails from people you know
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Riseup
Donation-funded email for activists and social movements, by invite only
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Mailfence
Secure and private email since 1999
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Canary Mail
Slick email app with one-click encryption
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Runbox
Email powered by renewable hydroelectricity
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StartMail
Private and encrypted email made easy
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FastMail
Private and secure email, calendars, and contacts
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Tuta (was Tutanota)
Tuta claims to be the world's most secure email service
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Proton Mail
Secure email based in Switzerland
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GreenNet
Not-for-profit email owned by an educational charity, on renewable power, from £60 a year
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Thunderbird
The Mozilla Foundation's open-source email offering
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Mailbox.org
Secure email service founded in the wake of the Snowden revelations – also available for €1 a month
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Posteo
Powered by 100% green electricity and ad-free, Posteo costs €1 a month
