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LeadWave
Checked November 2026

10 Best European Alternatives to Gmail (2026)

Google's email service, free for personal accounts and included in Google Workspace for businesses on their own domain. Made by Google in Mountain View, California. The European alternatives that replace it best are Proton (Switzerland) for teams that want encrypted email and files in one plan, Tuta (Germany) for individuals and small teams who put privacy first and mailbox.org (Germany) for small businesses moving email off Google or Microsoft.

European alternatives
10
From 6 countries
Keep data in Europe
5
By default, no setting needed
With a free plan
4
No time limit
Open source
0
Can run on your own servers

Gmail alternatives from Europe, compared

Best first for someone replacing Gmail. Headcount and founding year come from LeadWave's database; prices, hosting and G2 ratings from each company's own pages and G2, checked in November 2026.

European alternatives to Gmail
AlternativeHeadquartersFoundedEmployeesG2 ratingFree planPaid plans fromYour dataOpen source
1ProtonGeneva, Switzerland2014635—Yes$3.99/user/monthIn EuropeNo
2TutaHanover, Germany2011—4.6 (18 reviews)Yes€3/user/monthIn EuropeNo
3mailbox.orgBerlin, Germany———No€1/user/month—No
4InfomaniakGeneva, Switzerland———YesFreeIn EuropeNo
5PosteoBerlin, Germany———No€1/monthIn EuropeNo
6MailfenceBrussels, Belgium2013—4.7 (5 reviews)Yes€2.50/month—No
7StartMailNetherlands2012——No$4.99/month—No
8RunboxOslo, Norway2000——No€19.95/year—No
9SoverinNetherlands———No€3.25/month—No
10OVHcloudRoubaix, France1999—3.2 (74 reviews)No€1.59/user/monthIn EuropeNo

The 10 alternatives in detail

1. Proton

Encrypted email, files, documents and video meetings

Swiss company behind Proton Mail, Drive, Docs, Sheets and Meet. Mail, files and documents are end-to-end encrypted. Business plans bundle the apps as Proton Workspace.

Compared with Gmail: Encrypted mail with a free plan, plus calendar, Drive and VPN. Search and third-party app support are more limited than Gmail's because mail is encrypted.

Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland
Founded
2014
Employees
635
Your data
In Europe
Price
From $3.99/user/month, billed yearly
Free plan
Yes
Best for
Teams that want encrypted email and files in one plan

2. Tuta

End-to-end encrypted email and calendar

Encrypted email and calendar from Tutao GmbH in Hanover, formerly called Tutanota. Subject lines and contacts are encrypted too. Free and paid personal plans, plus business plans with custom domains.

Compared with Gmail: Encrypted mail and calendar with a free plan. Works only in Tuta's own apps, not in standard mail clients, unlike Gmail.

Headquarters
Hanover, Germany
Founded
2011
Your data
In Europe
Price
From €3/user/month
Free plan
Yes
G2 rating
4.6 (18 reviews)
Best for
Individuals and small teams who put privacy first

3. mailbox.org

German business email with office and video add-ons

Email, calendar and contacts run by Heinlein Hosting in Berlin. The Standard plan adds cloud storage, online office editing and video meetings. Ad-free and paid only.

Compared with Gmail: German paid email from €1 a month with calendar, and storage and office on higher plans. No free plan; works with any mail app.

Headquarters
Berlin, Germany
Your data
Not stated
Price
From €1/user/month, billed yearly
Free plan
No
Best for
Small businesses moving email off Google or Microsoft

4. Infomaniak

Swiss email, cloud storage, chat and video meetings

Swiss hosting company whose kSuite bundles email, kDrive storage with online document editing, kChat messaging and kMeet video calls. Runs in its own data centres in Switzerland.

Compared with Gmail: Swiss email with a free personal account, plus storage, editing and video. A full Google-style bundle under Swiss jurisdiction.

Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland
Your data
In Europe
Price
Free
Free plan
Yes
Best for
Small businesses that want one Swiss provider

5. Posteo

Ad-free email account for one euro a month

Independent email provider in Berlin, funded only by customer fees. One flat price per account, with 2 GB of storage, calendar and address book. Runs on green energy.

Compared with Gmail: Simple, ad-free inbox for €1 a month from Berlin. Fewer features than Gmail and no free plan.

Headquarters
Berlin, Germany
Your data
In Europe
Price
From €1/month
Free plan
No
Best for
Individuals who want simple, paid, private email

6. Mailfence

Encrypted email with calendar and documents

Email service from ContactOffice Group in Brussels with OpenPGP encryption, calendar, contacts and document storage. A free plan and paid plans with custom domains.

Compared with Gmail: Belgian email with OpenPGP, calendar and documents, and a free plan. Smaller storage than Gmail's free tier.

Headquarters
Brussels, Belgium
Founded
2013
Your data
Not stated
Price
From €2.50/month
Free plan
Yes
G2 rating
4.7 (5 reviews)
Best for
Users who want OpenPGP email from an EU provider

7. StartMail

Private email with unlimited aliases

Dutch email service started by the founders of the Startpage search engine, but separately owned. Unlimited aliases, PGP encryption and custom domains. Paid only, with a 7-day trial.

Compared with Gmail: Dutch paid email with unlimited aliases for hiding your address. No free plan, only a 7-day trial.

Headquarters
Netherlands
Founded
2012
Your data
Not stated
Price
From $4.99/month, billed yearly
Free plan
No
Best for
Individuals who want aliases and a custom domain

8. Runbox

Norwegian email service with custom domains

Email provider run from Oslo since 2000 and owned mostly by its staff and board. Works with standard email apps over IMAP. Paid plans only, billed yearly or every three years.

Compared with Gmail: Norwegian email from about €20 a year, run since 2000. Plain feature set; works with any mail app.

Headquarters
Oslo, Norway
Founded
2000
Your data
Not stated
Price
From €19.95/year, billed yearly
Free plan
No
Best for
Small businesses wanting a long-running independent provider

9. Soverin

Paid Dutch email service without tracking

Small Dutch email provider funded by subscriptions instead of data. Sells mailboxes to consumers and businesses, and through hosting partners.

Compared with Gmail: Dutch paid email from €3.25 a month. A small provider with a basic feature set.

Headquarters
Netherlands
Your data
Not stated
Price
From €3.25/month
Free plan
No
Best for
Individuals and small firms wanting simple paid email

10. OVHcloud

Business email hosting from a French cloud provider

French cloud and hosting company. Sells Email Pro mailboxes and hosted Microsoft Exchange alongside domains and servers. Email Pro data is hosted in France.

Compared with Gmail: Business mailboxes on your own domain from a French cloud provider. Suits companies more than personal users.

Headquarters
Roubaix, France
Founded
1999
Your data
In Europe
Price
From €1.59/user/month
Free plan
No
G2 rating
3.2 (74 reviews)
Best for
Businesses that already host domains or servers there

Why look for a European alternative to Gmail?

Gmail is headquartered in Mountain View, United States and owned by Google (Alphabet) (United States). These are the reasons buyers in Europe most often give for looking elsewhere:

  • Google is a US company, so US law, including the CLOUD Act, applies to it wherever data is stored.
  • Free Gmail accounts can't choose where data is stored. Data regions exist only on some paid Google Workspace editions.
  • Some people prefer a provider funded by subscriptions rather than an advertising business.

How this list was made

A company counts as European if it's headquartered in Europe: the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK, or elsewhere in geographic Europe, never Russia or Belarus. Headquarters means where it's run from, not a registered office. Companies founded in Europe but headquartered elsewhere today are listed separately, and a non-European owner is always named.

Each company was checked against its own legal notice, pricing page and data-processing terms, and its G2 page. Headcount, funding and founding year come from LeadWave's database of SaaS companies. No company paid to be listed or ranked.

More European alternatives

Frequently asked questions

It depends on what you use Gmail for. Proton (Switzerland) for teams that want encrypted email and files in one plan, Tuta (Germany) for individuals and small teams who put privacy first and mailbox.org (Germany) for small businesses moving email off Google or Microsoft. All 10 on this page are headquartered in Europe; the table compares their hosting, prices and G2 ratings.