Choose folders or labels
Enjoy the best of both worlds — use labels just like in Gmail, or keep it simple with traditional folders to organize your mail. Choose the system that works for you.
Fastmail vs Gmail
A better Gmail alternative that protects your privacy, respects your time, and puts you in control.
Try free for 30 days
No obligation, no credit card required.
Familiar features you love,
without the tradeoffs
Built for speed, reliability, and delight — no ads, no data mining, no hidden agendas. Plus, get 24/7 support from real people.
All plans include
Smart Rules that do more
Create rules to sort, file, and forward mail — and import your existing Gmail filters in just a few clicks.
Custom domains
Send from a domain you own (e.g. me@myname.com) to build your brand or manage email for your family or business — all from a single inbox.
Fast, powerful search
Search is fast, precise, and powerful. Use filters or full-text search to locate any email, and even search inside attachments.
Finally deleted all of my @GoogleWorkspace accounts. Happy to never be contributing a single more dollar to them, and finally giving @Fastmail a try!
Privacy built in
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Keep your real address private with Masked Email
Stop advertisers from using your email to track you across websites. Start using a Masked Email address for every app, service, or newsletter and cut spam at the source without juggling multiple accounts.
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Block tracking pixels
Loading images in an email can tell the sender where you are in the world, what device you are using, and even link you to logins at other sites. But Fastmail stops all that in its tracks by requesting the images anonymously on your behalf.
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Private and secure by design
Your emails stay safe with strong encryption in transit and at rest. Protect your account with two-step verification or log in quickly and securely using passkeys — no password needed.
Moving made easy
Get your data out of the clutches of big tech in minutes.
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Our import tool will seamlessly import all your Gmail messages, contacts, and calendar events.
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Gmail filters can also be imported in just a few clicks.
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Friendly support from real email experts is available 24/7 if you need a helping hand.
Fair pricing, no hidden costs
You pay us – not with your data, but with a fair price for a better service.
Compare our plans
Fastmail vs. Gmail
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|---|---|---|
| Plans | From $5 USD per user / month | ‘Free’ isnʼt really free — it costs you your data and privacy |
| Privacy | No ads, no tracking, no split loyalties — we serve only you, our paying customer | Google's primary business is selling highly targeted ads based on all the information they can collect about you |
| Speed | The fastest email money can buy | It needs a progress bar just to open |
| Support | 24/7 fast and expert human support | Limited online help center and community forum |
| Open standards | Fast, secure email built by industry experts supporting open standards (IMAP, CalDAV, JMAP etc.) | Primarily designed for Google services — limited support for open standards |
| App | Full-featured apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android | No desktop app — designed for browser use, with mobile apps only |
Frequently Asked Questions
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How do I turn on labels?
Fastmail uses folders to organise mail by default, but you can easily switch at any time to organise your messages with labels, which work just like Gmail’s labels do. You’ll find the setting at the bottom of the Settings → Folders screen.
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Can I import my filters/rules from Gmail too?
Yes. Here’s how you do it:
- In your Gmail account, open Settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses.
- Under the list of your filters, click the link to Select All, then click Export to download a file called
mailFilters.xml. - In your Fastmail account, open Settings → Mail rules.
- Click the Import… button, then Choose a file to choose the file you exported.
- Select the rules you want to import (or leave it as Import all) and click Import.
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Is your search as good as Gmail’s?
Yes. Just like in Gmail we have fast, full text search of all your mail. We can even search inside your attachments. Our powerful autocomplete lets you quickly and intuitively find what you are looking for, or if you’re already a power user you can keep using all the same syntax you know from Gmail.
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How’s the spam filtering?
Also pretty great. No spam filtering is perfect, but most of our users tell us we’re doing a damn fine job, often better than they used to see at Gmail. What’s more, we have adaptive filters that learn based on the spam you receive so as you report anything we missed, your filter will keep getting better and better.