Alternatives to AOL Mail
A free web-based email service from AOL with spam filtering and mobile apps. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
AOL Mail
A free web-based email service from AOL with spam filtering and mobile apps.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as AOL Mail.
Gmail
Google's email service, used on the web and through Android and iOS apps.
Gmail moves you to a Google account with web, Android and iOS access, strong spam filtering and AI drafting, some of which needs a paid plan.
Yahoo Mail
Yahoo's free web and mobile email service with inbox organisation and AI-assisted features.
Yahoo Mail is a similar free web and mobile service with built-in inbox organisation tools, also run by a large advertising company.
iCloud Mail
Apple's hosted email service, with a web client and built-in support on Apple devices.
iCloud Mail needs an Apple Account and works best on Apple hardware, with a web client for other computers and freemium pricing.
GMX Mail
A free email service with webmail, cloud storage, calendar and support for several addresses.
GMX Mail gives up to 10 addresses on one free account plus a mail collector, calendar and cloud storage, though its portal shows ads.
Mail.com
A free webmail service offering addresses on more than 100 domain names.
Mail.com lets you pick from over 100 address domains with up to 10 addresses, and its free tier shows sponsored content.
Yandex Mail
A free email service from Yandex with a web client, mobile apps and ad-free inbox.
Yandex Mail offers a free, ad-free inbox with delayed sending, delivery reports and mail import, tied to the wider Yandex 360 ecosystem.
Proton Mail
Official Proton Mail apps for reading and sending end-to-end encrypted email on phones, desktops and the web.
Proton Mail adds end-to-end encryption by default and apps for desktop and mobile, with desktop apps requiring a paid plan after the trial.
Mailfence
Encrypted email service from Belgium with OpenPGP support, calendars, contacts and document storage.
Mailfence is a Belgian service with OpenPGP encryption in the browser and standard IMAP access, with advanced features on paid plans.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft's email, calendar and contacts app for desktop, mobile and the web.
Thunderbird
Mozilla’s desktop mail client, with calendar, contacts and a unified inbox, funded by donations rather than ads.
Apple Mail
The email app built into macOS, iOS and iPadOS for reading mail from several providers.
