In an era where digital privacy and secure communication are of paramount importance, finding the right email service is a crucial decision.
ProtonMail, a prominent player in the realm of encrypted email services, has garnered considerable attention and acclaim.
As we step into 2024, it’s only fitting to conduct a thorough evaluation of ProtonMail and its offerings.
This ProtonMail review aims to provide a detailed analysis of the service’s features, security measures, user experience, and overall value proposition.
By the end of this exploration, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding to answer the fundamental question: Does ProtonMail truly live up to the hype and expectations of a secure email platform in 2024?
🚀 Bottom Line Upfront:
ProtonMail stands as a pioneering force in the landscape of secure and privacy-centric email services.
The defining feature of ProtonMail lies in its end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only the intended recipients can decipher the messages.
This fundamental principle makes it a go-to choice for individuals, businesses, journalists, and activists who prioritize privacy in their online interactions.
What is ProtonMail? ProtonMail Review 2024
The history of ProtonMail
ProtonMail was founded by a group of scientists who met at CERN in 2013.
Motivated by revelations of mass surveillance by government intelligence agencies, the ProtonMail project was created to restore regular citizens’ access to privacy online.
At the time, end-to-end encryption via email was largely limited to tech-savvy users.
ProtonMail made this technology accessible so that anyone can benefit from end-to-end encryption without any technical knowledge or special tools.
Since launching in May 2014, ProtonMail has grown exponentially, and today is used by over 10 million people worldwide. It has also been featured on popular TV shows such as Mr. Robot in the US.
The company remains predominantly funded by its user community and has since launched additional products, such as ProtonVPN in 2024.
Also, check- Protonmail Black Friday
ProtonMail Features
1) Security
To achieve a high level of security, ProtonMail assumes that all mail servers may eventually be compromised. Thus, ProtonMail uses end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption to protect user data.
If a server only contains encrypted messages, users have a much higher level of security in case of a security breach.
The use of encryption also prevents ProtonMail from being able to decrypt and share user emails with third parties.
ProtonMail does not have any advertising, so in addition to it being technically impossible, the company has no incentive to spy on users or build detailed user profiles.
ProtonMail’s security extends beyond just strong encryption and also includes features designed to mitigate human vulnerabilities, such as two-factor authentication and anti-phishing safeguards.
2) End-to-end encryption
Messages between ProtonMail users are always transmitted in encrypted form. When a user sends an email to another ProtonMail user, the emails are encrypted on the sender’s device
and can only be decrypted by the recipient. End-to-end encryption means that messages cannot be intercepted in transit and decrypted by any third party.
3) Zero-access encryption
Even if a user’s contacts are not using ProtonMail, using ProtonMail still provides additional privacy and security.
All emails sent to/from a ProtonMail account (even if the other side is not using ProtonMail) are stored with zero-access encryption, which means that after the messages are encrypted, they can only be decrypted by the account owner.
Additionally, ProtonMail users can also send end-to-end encrypted emails to non-ProtonMail users with the encrypt to outside feature.
4) Open-source cryptography
ProtonMail uses only secure implementations of AES RSA and adheres to the open-source OpenPGP standard. Furthermore, all of the cryptographic libraries used are open-source.
By using open-source libraries, users have greater assurance that the encryption algorithms do not have built-in back doors or other weaknesses.
ProtonMail’s open-source software has been thoroughly vetted by security experts worldwide to ensure the highest levels of protection.
5) Hardware-level security
ProtonMail has invested heavily in owning and controlling its server hardware in various locations within Switzerland, so data never goes to the cloud.
This ensures that all user data is protected by Swiss privacy laws. On a system level, ProtonMail servers utilize fully encrypted hard disks, protecting user data from hardware seizures.
6) Authentication
ProtonMail uses the Secure Remote Password protocol to ensure that neither ProtonMail nor an attacker with network access can obtain users’ passwords. ProtonMail also offers two-factor authentication via 2FA apps.
7) Address Verification
Address Verification leverages ProtonMail’s Encrypted Contacts feature to mitigate man-in-the-middle attacks.
Address verification is a unique feature that ensures secure communications cannot be intercepted by an attacker tampering with encryption keys.
ProtonMail is the only email service that offers this additional enhanced level of security, which is one reason it is the preferred email provider for journalists and other individuals with the highest security and privacy needs.
Extra Features Offered By ProtonMail
The latest version of the ProtonMail web application includes three new features for added security and convenience.
ProtonMail Version 3.16 now offers cryptography with elliptical curves, an optional connection confirmation alert to protect against phishing attacks, and an undo function if you accidentally send an email to the Trash or the wrong file.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s find out what these features actually are..
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC):
ProtonMail joins a growing number of technology services that offer elliptic curve cryptography.
ECC is a more advanced alternative to RSA, allowing you to use smaller keys with the same level of security.
If you upgrade your mailbox to the new ECC keys, you may notice slightly shorter encryption times.
Due to the unique characteristics of elliptic curves, ECC saves computing power (allowing you to connect, load, and send emails faster) and storage for other applications) and energy (longer battery life), especially for mobile phones. ,
Link Confirmation Feature:
The link confirmation is a new security feature in ProtonMail 3.16 that helps you identify potential phishing attacks.
If link confirmation is enabled, each time you click a link in an email, you’ll be asked if you really want to visit the URL.
Phishing emails are the most common way hackers spread malware or access your account. The link confirmation prevents you from accidentally calling a malicious website.
You can easily learn how to enable and disable link confirmation in web, Android, and iOS applications.
Undo Move:
Here’s something boring: If you click Move to Trash but want to click Move to Archive. For such cases, ProtonMail has actually added a new cancellation function.
Instead of finding and moving the file to the wrong folder, you can easily undo the action by clicking the CANCEL button at the top of your mailbox.
The button works when you basically send an e-mail to a folder and restore it to the previous folder. For example, if you move an email from your junk folder to your inbox, you can quickly restore it to spam.
But click quickly: The button disappears after a few seconds.
Self-destructing Emails
ProtonMail allows users to send messages that will automatically delete themselves after a user-selected period. Once expired, the message is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
ProtonMail Encrypted Emails For Organizations
ProtonMail Professional provides a much-needed feature that many members of the ProtonMail community wanted from the beginning.
With professional packages, ProtonMail not only allows you to host emails for your domain but also creates individual user accounts for people in your organization.
The Professional Plan contains a set of powerful management tools that the administrators of the organization can use to manage the accounts of the members of the organization.
With ProtonMail Professional, you can create administrators for your business to manage legacy user accounts.
These include providing new accounts, allocating space between organizations for accounts, resetting passwords, etc.
Best of all, ProtonMail Professional does it all while preserving ProtonMail end-to-end email encryption to protect your privacy. Business plans allow you to extend this protection to your entire business.
With ProtonMail Professional, all emails between your business members will benefit from automatic and transparent encryption from start to finish, even if ProtonMail hosts your email.
We don’t have the technical means to read the email communication of your organization and give it to others.
Because they cannot read your email, even if the Protonmail server is compromised, the connection will always be protected since attackers cannot steal any data we do not own first.
How ProtonMail Manages Encrypted Organizations?
ProtonMail Professional does it all while managing your organization.
In other words, although all the organization’s accounts are fully encrypted, the administrators can still access the emails of other users.
Monitoring and organizational management are always possible, even with consistent encryption.
In addition, administrator read permissions are automatically granted or revoked when administrator users are created or degraded.
This is possible thanks to a sophisticated key management system at the organizational level that manages the keychain for the entire organization.
All this complexity remains hidden from the user.
In fact, you can manage your company’s encrypted emails without even knowing what an encryption key is while enjoying the security of advanced encryption.
The flexibility and power of their key management system also allow private users to be created when some members of your organization need more privacy (private users are users that even administrators do not have access to).
How To Get Started With ProtonMail For Business?
ProtonMail’s secure email service can also be used by large and small businesses. With our business accounts, your business can now use end-to-end encryption to secure communications.
Employees send confidential information by email every day, provided the information is secure and confidential. Due to the increasing number of data breaches, they discovered that this assumption no longer applies.
On the contrary, a better assumption is that your company will suffer a data breach at some time in the future.
ProtonMail offers a hosted email solution to ensure the security of your data, even in case of data breaches by your company.
Getting Started With ProtonMail Professional Account
Registering for ProtonMail Professional is easy. You can start with just a few clicks.
First, you need a ProtonMail account. You can sign up for a free account. Once you have your account, you can switch to a business plan from the Panel tab in your account settings easily and effortlessly.
Benefits of Using ProtonMail Business Plan:
No doubt, ProtonMail has a relentless focus on securing the world’s information. The list of features & benefits of using ProtonMail Business Account.
- Data control through end-to-end encryption
- High Security
- High Reliability
- Low Cost
ProtonMail Pricing Options:
ProtonMail does not show ads or make money by abusing users’ privacy. The company’s revenue comes from subscriptions to premium plans and donations from the user community.
Full details of ProtonMail plans and pricing can be found at this link and are also summarized below:
1. Proton Free – €0.00/month
- Enjoy Proton at no cost
- No credit card needed
- 1 GB storage
- 1 user
- 1 email address
2. Mail Plus – €3.99/month (Regularly €4.99)
- Save €12 annually
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 15 GB storage
- 1 user
- 10 additional email addresses
- Support for 1 custom domain
- Unlimited folders and labels
- 10 hide-my-email aliases
- Priority customer support
Billed €47.88 every 12 months
3. Proton Unlimited – €9.99/month (Regularly €12.99)
- Save €36 annually
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 500 GB storage
- 1 user
- 15 additional email addresses
- Support for 3 custom domains
- Unlimited folders and labels
- Unlimited hide-my-email aliases
- Dedicated customer support
- Fast and private VPN
- Encrypted password manager
- Secure cloud storage for files and photos
- Advanced account protection
Billed €119.88 every 12 months
4. Proton Duo – €14.99/month (Regularly €19.99)
- Save €60 annually
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 1 TB storage
- Up to 2 users
- 30 additional email addresses
- Support for 3 custom domains
- Unlimited folders and labels
- Unlimited hide-my-email aliases
- Dedicated customer support
- Ultra-fast, secure VPN
- Encrypted password manager
- Secure cloud storage for files and photos
- Advanced account protection
- Proton Scribe writing assistant
Billed €179.88 every 12 months
Apps: ProtonMail Review 🥇
ProtonMail offers secure, encrypted email apps for Android and iOS.
- Mobile downloads
- Download for iOS
- Download ProtonMail for Android
- Download ProtonMail APK
- The ProtonMail Bridge
The ProtonMail Bridge is a desktop application for paid users that runs in the background and seamlessly encrypts and decrypts mail as it enters and leaves the user’s computer.
It allows full integration of a ProtonMail account with any program that supports IMAP and SMTP, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.
- Download ProtonMail Bridge
- Import-Export application (beta)
Import-Export is a beta application currently available to users on paid plans that lets them transfer emails easily to and from their ProtonMail account.
With this tool, users can import their entire mailbox from another email account, such as Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook, or upload email files stored on their computer into their ProtonMail encrypted Inbox.
It also lets users export emails from their ProtonMail account to their hard drive for secure backup.
Pros and Cons of ProtonMail
Pros of ProtonMail
- Strong security with end-to-end encryption
- Open-source, allowing security reviews
- No personal data is required for account creation
- IP addresses are not logged for privacy
- User-friendly and simple interface
- Accessible on desktop, mobile, and web
- Free plan available with basic features
Cons of ProtonMail
- The free plan offers only 1 GB of storage
- Some advanced features require a paid plan
- There is no traditional folder system for organizing emails
- Forgotten passwords lead to permanent loss of emails
FAQs
🙄 Is Proton Mail free?
Proton Mail will always offer a free encrypted email plan that provides secure email functionality with basic features. Our free email accounts offer the same level of encryption as any of our paid plans. If you upgrade to one of our paid plans, you will receive advanced email features, such as additional email addresses, extra storage, custom email domains, and unlimited messages. You will also be supporting our mission to build a better internet where privacy is the default.
👉 How can I upgrade my Proton Mail Free account?
You can upgrade your Proton Mail plan at any time by logging into your account at account.proton.me and clicking Upgrade in the top right corner of your screen. From there, you can select the plan that’s right for you, depending on which advanced features you need.
👀 Can ProtonMail be used for business?
Yes, ProtonMail offers business plans that allow for custom domains, more storage, and collaboration tools. These plans are ideal for companies or professionals who prioritize privacy and want to protect sensitive communication. ProtonMail for business also includes multiple user management, making it easy to handle email accounts for teams.
❓ How secure is ProtonMail?
ProtonMail is one of the most secure email services available. It uses end-to-end encryption, meaning that even ProtonMail’s own servers cannot access or read your emails. Additionally, ProtonMail does not log user IP addresses, adding another layer of privacy. This makes it a strong choice for those concerned about online security and data protection.
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- NordVPN Review: Is This VPN Service Worth The Hype?
- PureVPN Review: Is It Worth The Price?
- PureVPN Pricing: How Much Does PureVPN Cost?
- Windscribe VPN Review: Is Windscribe VPN Trustworthy?
Conclusion: ProtonMail Review 2024
This ProtonMail review for 2024 reveals a service that lives up to its reputation in secure email communication.
Its end-to-end encryption, user-friendly interface, and focus on privacy present a compelling case for individuals and businesses alike.
However, like any tool, it has limitations, particularly in integrations and cost considerations.
Ultimately, the decision rests on your unique needs and preferences. Consider the aspects discussed herein and make an informed choice to enhance your digital communication securely with ProtonMail.
Stay secure, stay connected.
