Sustainable Substitutes for Gmail

A free email service developed by Google, utilised for harvesting and analysing user information.

Reasons to avoid Gmail

Avoid Gmail due to privacy risks—your emails are scanned for ads and AI training and end-to-end encryption is missing for most users. Recent breaches and phishing attacks further expose user data. Opt for privacy-focused, sustainable email alternatives like ProtonMail or Tutanota.

Ethical and Sustainable Gmail Alternatives

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  • Feasibility: How easily can the average user switch to this substitute? Higher feasibility results in a higher ranking.
  • Editor's Rating: How sustainable is the substitute? The more sustainability attributes it fulfils, the higher it is ranked.

Posteo

A German eco-friendly email provider with optional encryption.

Posteo is based in Germany, ensuring compliance with GDPR and strong privacy laws.
Posteo is completely ad free.
Posteo uses renewable energy to power its servers, reducing its carbon footprint.
Posteo does not track users or display personalised ads. It offers encrypted mailboxes and allows anonymous registration.
Posteo supports open-source standards and transparency, allowing independent audits.
Website

Tuta

A German email and calendar provider with encryption by default powered by green energy.

All Tuta clients are open-source, allowing for transparency and community contributions.
Tuta allows management of custom domain emails for paying users. The domain must be registered elsewhere though.
Tuta is ad-free, providing a clean and distraction-free email experience.
Tuta offers one email address with 1GB of storage free of charge and promises that this will not change.
Tuta is based in Germany, ensuring compliance with strong privacy laws and ISO/IEC 27001-certified data centers.
Tuta does not track users or display personalised ads, it offers end-to-end, quantum-safe encryption, ensuring a private email experience.
Tuta uses green energy to power its servers, reducing its environmental impact.
Website

Mailbox

A German email provider with optional encryption running on renewable energy.

Mailbox does not track users or display personalised ads. It offers optional PGP Email encryption.
Mailbox is ad-free, providing a clean and distraction-free email experience.
Mailbox is based in Germany, ensuring compliance with strong privacy laws.
Mailbox uses renewable energy to power its servers, reducing its carbon footprint.
Mailbox offers self-hosting options for enterprises, giving full control over data.
Mailbox allows using custom domain emails through its service for all users except those on a lite plan without family. Domains must be registered through a registrar.
Website
fairemail logo

FairEmail

Fully featured, privacy oriented email client for Android.

FairEmail is open-source and licensed under GPL-3.0, with the full source code published on GitHub, which permits independent audits and community contributions.
airEmail displays no advertisements, and it contains no analytics and no tracking of any kind, as the developer states explicitly on the project website.
FairEmail is developed by FairCode B.V., the company of Dutch developer Marcel Bokhorst.
The app blocks tracking pixels, confirms the loading of images and links to prevent tracking, strips unsafe HTML, stores no data on third-party servers and sends no data to the developer except opt-in error reports.
No account with the developer is required, because FairEmail is a client only; you bring your own email address and the app requires no sign-up beyond your existing mailbox credentials.
Almost all features can be used free of charge, with advanced functions such as filter rules, S/MIME support and scheduled sending unlocked through a single one-time in-app purchase rather than a subscription.
FairEmail offers offline storage and offline operations, so messages can be read, searched and composed without an internet connection.
FairEmail is deliberately battery friendly, frugal with data and small at under 30 MB, which reduces both energy and resource consumption compared with the considerably heavier email applications of large providers.
Website

Soverin

An ISO-certified Dutch email provider with optional encryption.

Soverin allows to register custom domains or manage an existing domain's emails through its service.
Soverin is based in the Netherlands, ensuring compliance with strong European privacy laws.
Soverin supports open-source standards and transparency, allowing independent audits.
Soverin does not track users or display personalised ads and allows encryption via PGP.
Soverin is ISO 14001 certified. No evidence could be found that its servers are powered by renewable energy though.
Soverin is ad-free, providing a clean and distraction-free email experience.
Website
thunderbird logo

Thunderbird

An open-source email and productivity app by Mozilla.

As a client that fetches messages to the user's own device, Thunderbird provides full offline access to mail, calendars and contacts without a browser or an internet connection.
Thunderbird displays no advertisements and does not engage in data mining, as the project states explicitly on its website.
Thunderbird is free and open-source software licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, which allows anyone to inspect, modify and share the code.
Thunderbird stores all data locally on the user's device, does not collect personal data unless the user asks it to, promises never to sell data and includes built-in OpenPGP encryption.
No account with the developer is required, because Thunderbird is a client that connects to the user's existing email accounts, and nothing is gated behind a sign-up.
Thunderbird is free forever and funded primarily by user donations, with the announcement that features deliverable on the user's own device will never be placed behind a paywall.
Thunderbird is highly extensible through its large add-on ecosystem and themes, which allow users to add functionality such as enhanced filtering, additional encryption tools and visual customisation.
Website
protonmail logo

Proton Mail

In at least a couple of instances Proton has been exposed of making false claims about user privacy and anonymity.Sources:Heise: Proton: FBI user identification shakes Swiss data protection (2026)Sam Bent: Proton Meet Isn't What They Told You It Was (2026)

An encrypted email service based in Switzerland.

Users can use a custom domain with one of Proton Mail's paid plans. The domain must be registered elsewhere though.
Proton Mail offers one email address with 1GB of storage free of charge.
Proton Mail does not show ads to their users apart from upgrade suggestions for their own services.
Proton Mail is based in Switzerland, it's relocating its infrastructure to other more privacy-friendly European countries.
Proton Mail does not track users or display personalised ads, ensuring a private email experience.
Proton Mail offers self-hosting options for enterprises, giving full control over data.
Proton Mail clients are open-source, allowing for community audits and transparency.
Website

The 5 main issues with Gmail

Big Tech - Big Tech companies do not nourish people and planet. This is especially true in times of political tension.

Gmail is developed and owned by Google, one of the largest tech companies, contributing to market monopolisation and exploitative data practices. Source: EFF: Google Search Monopoly and Privacy Concerns (2025)

Privacy Concerns - User data is likely to be stored and used against users' best interest.

Gmail collects and analyzes user emails, raising significant privacy concerns. Source: Forbes: Gmail Lacks End-to-End Encryption for Most Users (2024)

Lack of Transparency - Opacity in operations, data handling, or supply chains, making it difficult for users to understand practices.

Google lacks transparency in how user data from Gmail is used and shared. Source: FTC: Google’s Data Transparency and Privacy Violations (2025)

Data Monopolies - Control of vast amounts of user data, creating risks for privacy and potential misuse.

Gmail contributes to Google's vast data monopolies, creating risks for user privacy. Source: FTC: Gmail’s Privacy Policy Violations (2023)

Support of Authoritarian Regimes - Companies actively supporting, financing and legitimising regimes and unethical policies.

Google has kissed Trump's ring by donating $1 million to his inauguration. Google has updated its products and policies to align with Trump’s political views.Time: How Google Appears to Be Adapting Its Products to the Trump Presidency (2025)

Suggestions and Feedback

If you have suggestions for more alternatives or general feedback, please contact me via email or create an issue over on Codeberg. Suggest Substitute on Codeberg Write an Email