Ever since the internet turned into a hacker’s backyard, users have been asking for a system that could prevent hacking, identity theft, and create a safer environment for sending and receiving confidential data over mail. People have been putting their hearts, minds, and cash into their mail, and anything or anyone that can intercept, alter or hinder this is a potential threat.
Mailfence is making an attempt to rule out such possibilities with an alternative route to safer mail. Mailfence is a browser-based service that prevents hackers and thieves from getting unauthorized access to your emails. Let’s get into the finer details of Mailfence and try to understand it better.
What is Mailfence?
Established in 1999, ContactOffice Group – the parent company of Mailfence – has been catering to a safer work environment for 20 years now, and there’s no other enterprise that understands the problem of hacking better than Mailfence. It is perhaps the only enterprise that not just knows what they are doing, but they are equally good at it too.
Mailfence is a browser-based email client that secures your mail against potential hacking and unauthorized access. With incessant use of Mailfence as a firewall, you can save yourself from hacking and identity theft.
Mailfence features
- Requires no installation or integration
Unlike its contemporaries, Mailfence does not coax you into installing plugins or software packages. With Mailfence, you do not have to spend hours integrating your emails with third-party apps to keep it safe. The browser-based system provides the requisite security.
- Protected by Belgian Law
Only a few mail protection tools provide their users with access to security that is bound by law. Mailfence functions under the legitimacy of Belgian laws, which ensures that no third party can access or steal data from your email.
- Incomparable protection against tracking
The fact that someone can track your movement over the internet is perhaps the biggest security concern. Mailfence uses proper encryption to ensure that your emails are not intercepted in any way.
- Digital signatures to establish trust
This exceptional feature makes it easier for your clients to trust the emails they receive. Any mail that has a digital signature is truly sent by you, while the rest is simply an attempt to hack their data. One can easily bridge the trust gap with the help of such digital signatures and build a safer work environment.
- High-end privacy and security features
Mailfence provides a range of privacy and security features and ensures that all your sensitive data stays protected. The service provides end-to-end encryption and makes use of OpenPGP along with various other protocols like IMAP, CalDAV, LDAP support, and so on. The email client is also capable of filtering viruses and spam.
- Clear interface
One of the many perks of Mailfence is that its easy-to-use interface is definitely clean, smooth, and fast.
- Pricing
The email client is available for free and comes with three additional plans – Entry, Pro, and Business, starting at €2.50 ($2.78) per month. Mailfence donates 15% of its annual Pro plan revenues to Electronic Frontier Foundation and European Digital Rights Foundation.
Advanced tools
Mailfence is more of a full suite of tools than a mere email client. In addition to providing utmost security, the service allows having aliases, your own domain names, and access to third-party mailboxes. There’s also a handy calendar that can be shared easily and securely with others.
With Mailfence, you get a space for your documents where they can be edited and shared. And in order to have someone to share those docs with, an option for adding Contacts and Contact groups is readily available. All you need is to import them, group them (if you want), and start sharing!
Is Mailfence secure?
The one-word answer is: yes. Mailfence is safe and provides you, me and everyone else with the requisite protection against hacking, tracking, privacy infringement, and identity theft. Mailfence is a browser-based encryption system that ensures that every bit of data is properly ciphered.
Is Mailfence anonymous?
Varied threats on the web have made users demand a system that provides anonymity, and Mailfence just does that. You can be a journalist, entrepreneur, social activist, or a politician and use Mailfence without a tinge of doubt. You, your movement, data, and privacy are in the right hands with Mailfence.
Several scenarios Mailfence takes into consideration to ensure proper anonymity:
- Serves as a VPN
- Supports crypto-currencies
Mailfence vs ProtonMail
Features | Mailfence | ProtonMail |
Owner | ContactOffice Group | Proton Technologies AG |
Released | 2013 | 2014 |
Location | Belgium | Switzerland |
Free version available | Yes | Yes |
Cost | €30.00/yr for Entry plan €90.00/yr for Pro plan Custom price for Business plan | €48.00/yr for Plus plan €75.00/yr/user for Professional plan €288.00/yr for Visionary plan |
Mailbox storage | 500 MB – 20 GB depending on your plan | 500 MB – 20 GB depending on your plan |
Max. attachment limit | 50 MB | 25 MB |
Security features | AES, OpenPGP | AES, RSA, and OpenPGP |
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Tech writer and privacy advocate
Julie is a firm believer in equal rights for everyone. She is a traveler and blogger, focusing her efforts on exposing censorship and discrimination around the world. She wants to hold corrupt governments and shady companies accountable by writing investigative articles and helpful guides.
I’ve been using Mailfence for about 6 months now, and I’m pretty happy with it. I looked at TutaNota and Proton Mail, but I wanted a calendar and standard protocols. Mailfence was one of only a handful of services that balance serious security and privacy with pragmatic usability. I don’t personally care if Belgium is a 14-eyes country; that isn’t really relevant to my use case or threat model. The fact that they have a warranty canary and Mailfence is allowed to disclose if my information has been requested is good enough for me.
As for the service, it’s been perfectly reliable so far. The web interface is basic but completely adequate (just how I like it), and the aliases feature is extremely useful. The only issue I’ve had is sometimes legitimate e-mails get rejected because of a detected virus; in particular my credit card issuer has a tracker in the notifications they send that Mailfence does not like. They won’t allow me to exempt it, and the credit card company refuses to remove the tracker (naturally). Inconvenient though it is, I can’t fault Mailfence, they’re doing the right thing. Just be aware that sometimes security is inconvenient; be prepared for the occasional workaround.
The nation of Belgium is part of the 14-EYES international spying ring. Use it at your own risk. Mailfence can’t refuse requests to retain emails. I wasted 5 minutes of my day filling out the CATPLA puzzle to write this comment, so trust me.
I just opened an email account. I cannot see or find a way to either archive or folder what I want to keep. Anyone know? Thx, wk.
I am deleting this when I ever get on again. It is Unreliable.
I LOVE Mailfence but I haven’t been able to get it for a couple of days which means I can’t get my email. Please tell me what’s going on, and will I be able to get it soon?
I have been using it for 3 months and I’m really satisfied with their service. no more spam and ads as Gmail. i feel safer with this email. Plus it’s free so why not.
Hi Timy,
When you set up did Mailfence insist on sending my private KEYS to another email and are there ads?
Hi Alexa,
Obviously No!!! they’re very safe and respect your privacy
Mailfence review:
I signed up for the free account, intending to upgrade.
1. Mailfence insisted on sending my private KEYS to another email, my NON-private account where the keys can be stolen.
2. Mailfence rejected my valid $100 Master Card gift card, which is a mini credit card, so I couldn’t use the alias feature available only in the upgrade.
3. Mailfence doesn’t allow free-account deletion, it has to sit there 4 months until auto-deletion.
I wouldn’t give these idiots the time of day.
Hi there –
Thanks for the info. We’ll look into it and try to figure out what happened in your case.
-Julie
I just signed up for and it seems to be very good. Proton was another I was looking at but I also need a calendar which Mailfence includes. I think this is a keeper.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a hotshot business person or just another rookie, you must ensure that your emails stay protected at all times. MailFence is literally the best option for you. Don’t take risks when it comes to privacy. MailFence is economical yet good, a combination which doesn’t come easy.
Wow I’d never heard of Mailfence before this article ! Thanks ! It does sound interesting, I’m thinking about using protonmail from now on, but this one sounds interesting too.
I’ve already tried mailfence and I’m really happy with my choice! The customer support is awesome and it’s super safe. The fact that it’s protected by Belgian Law only makes it better.