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Comparing email providers

Three comparisons for the questions that are not specific to one company, decided on measured differences rather than brand preference.

By the EuroSciCon Guides team✓ Checked against the live interfaceUpdated

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Some questions are not about one company. These three compare providers directly, so you can choose on the facts rather than on whichever brand you already use.

  • Which will still be serving you in ten years? That is a different question from which is best today, and it has a different answer.
  • Which never asks for a phone number? Depends entirely on what you are protecting against.
  • Why do recovery forms reject correct answers? Because they score rather than verify, and every major provider works the same way.
The three facts that decide most comparisons
  • Gmail's 15 GB is shared with Drive and Photos. Outlook's is not.
  • Every provider closes dormant accounts, typically after two years, and no provider recycles the address afterwards.
  • Recovery depends on reaching you elsewhere. A second mailbox at a different company is the cheapest insurance available.

All comparisons

ComparisonWhich free provider lasts longestNot which is best today, but which will still be serving you in ten years. Storage runway and the dormancy clock, provider by provider. PrivacySigning up without a phone numberStart with what you are actually protecting against. The right provider follows from the threat model, not from a feature table. RecoveryWhy recovery forms reject correct answersHow scored forms weigh a submission, what raises your score, and what quietly lowers it.

Why a second provider matters more than a second address

Almost every provider recovers an account by sending a code somewhere else. That makes your alternate address the single point on which recovery turns, and it is the thing people set up most carelessly.

If your only alternate address is at the same company, one outage or one compromised password takes both at once. Two addresses at the same provider are not redundancy; they are one channel wearing two names. A second mailbox at a different company breaks that dependency, and it costs nothing.

A workable split: a permanent primary for banking and employment, a secondary elsewhere used mainly as the recovery contact for the first, and a disposable third for shops and newsletters.

Provider-specific guides

Gmail & GoogleFive guides on Google accounts, from setup to recovery. Outlook & HotmailThree guides on Microsoft accounts, including what the free tier really gives you.

Why feature tables are the wrong way to choose

Storage size, attachment limits and app quality are the things comparisons measure, and they are close to irrelevant, because every mainstream provider is adequate at all three. What separates them only shows up years later, and none of it appears in a feature table.

What comparisons measureWhat actually decides it
Storage sizeStorage runway. Whether photos share the allowance matters more than the number
Features and appsThe dormancy clock. How long an unused account survives before it is closed
Interface qualityThe route back in. What recovery exists when you have lost the password and the device
Price of the paid tierExit cost. What it takes to leave and keep receiving mail afterwards

The right-hand column is what the three comparisons here are about. It is also why the most useful decision on this page is not which provider to pick but how many: one mailbox for things that matter, a second at a different company that exists only to be the recovery address for the first. That arrangement outperforms any single provider choice, costs nothing, and takes about five minutes to set up.

Frequently asked questions

Which free email provider gives the most storage?
Outlook.com in practical terms. Its 15 GB is reserved for mail alone, with a separate 5 GB for cloud files. Gmail's headline figure is also 15 GB but it is shared across mail, Drive and Photos, so a phone backing up photos can consume it and cause incoming mail to bounce.
Do I have to give a phone number to create an email account?
Not always. Tuta, Proton Mail, GMX and mail.com do not ask on their free tiers, and Outlook.com accepts an alternate email address instead. Gmail asks only sometimes, based on signals it does not publish.
Why do email recovery forms reject correct answers?
Because they are scored rather than verified. Your answers are one input; the device, browser, network and location the request comes from are weighted heavily too. A correct submission from an unfamiliar machine can score lower than a vague one from the computer that used the account for years.
Should I have accounts with more than one provider?
Yes, and for a reason that has nothing to do with organisation. Account recovery depends on the provider reaching you somewhere else, so if your only alternate address is at the same company, one outage takes both. A second mailbox elsewhere is the cheapest recovery insurance available.

Why you can trust this guide

  • Independently written. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any email provider.
  • No credentials collected. Always sign in on any email provider's own pages, never through a third party.
  • Checked against the live interface before publishing, and re-checked when it changes.
  • Last reviewed: .