Fastmail

Overview

Fastmail is a premium email service from Australia that prioritizes speed, reliability, and a clean user experience. Unlike ProtonMail or Tutanota, Fastmail doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption but compensates with a polished, feature-rich experience.

Founded in 1999, Fastmail is one of the oldest independent email providers. They’ve built their reputation on reliability and have never shown ads or sold user data.

Key Features

Masked Email Integration

Fastmail pioneered masked email addresses (in partnership with 1Password), letting you create unique addresses for each service you sign up for.

Full Standard Support

Unlike encrypted providers, Fastmail supports IMAP, SMTP, and CardDAV/CalDAV, meaning it works with any email client including Apple Mail, Outlook, and Thunderbird.

Excellent Search

Because emails aren’t end-to-end encrypted, Fastmail offers lightning-fast full-text search across your entire mailbox.

Privacy & Security

Fastmail encrypts data at rest and in transit. While they can technically access your email content (for features like search), they have a strong privacy policy and have never monetized user data.

Note: Servers are in the US, making them subject to US legal requests.

Getting Started

1. Sign up for a 30-day free trial at fastmail.com
2. Use the migration tool to import from Gmail
3. Set up your preferred email client via IMAP
4. Configure your custom domain if desired

Who Is It Best For?

Fastmail is ideal for users who want a premium Gmail experience without the tracking, but don’t need military-grade encryption. Perfect for professionals and power users who rely on third-party email clients.

Final Verdict

Fastmail is the best choice if you value features and usability over maximum privacy. It’s what Gmail should be—fast, reliable, and not harvesting your data for ads.