Free and paid plans include all security features, including end-to-end encryption, zero-access encryption, anti-phishing, anti-spam and 2FA. Own Android, iOS Apps and web interface. Paid plans enable custom domains. Accessible via Tor Network. Based in Switzerland, founded in 2013.
Official website proton.me/mail
Our take
Proton’s free tier is the honest on-ramp here, because you get the real end-to-end and zero-access encryption without paying first, and Swiss jurisdiction is a genuine plus. The friction is that encryption between Proton users is automatic but reaching outsiders means passwords or PGP, and IMAP needs the Bridge app on paid plans. Choose it if you want a mature, audited provider with apps on every platform and you can work within its walled-garden model.
GitHub at a glance
ProtonMail/WebClients
Stars
5,478
+ 26 this week
Last commit
1d ago
healthy
License
GPL-3.0
Latest release
proton-authenticator@1.1.6
12d ago
Stars, last 10d
Listed in
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ProtonMail license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.