Group: Free Software Webmail Systems
This page is a place to find and share resources for people interested in doing their email on the Web without compromising their freedom. There are a variety of good choices for free software webmail.
Whether the server itself runs nonfree software is a different issue. Nonfree software running on the server infringes the freedom of the server operator, but not yours; therefore, it is a secondary issue. We note here that some server operators say they run exclusively free software; you might choose one of them to reward their support for the community.
There are other major issues about email and respect for your freedom -- privacy, for instance -- but we don't know how to evaluate a service on those criteria.
Some of these services are gratis, but that's a separate issue. Recall that "free software" refers to freedom, not price.
- Gmail: You can sign in and use Gmail without non-free Javascript, but you have to make the account in a special way, through https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount. This is an old sign-up form; the currently recommended sign-up form is no good, since it requires nonfree Javascript code.
- Mail.ru: Sign up, sign in, and webmail all work smoothly.
- Fastmail: Sign up, sign in, and webmail all work smoothly. This is a paid service with a 60-day free trial.
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Mailoo: Explicitly states it runs on Free Software. Currently (June 2013)
under maintenance, no new accountsup and running again.
- OpenMailBox: Runs explicitly on Free Softwares. Service started in June 2013.
- Some services will let you sign up and sign in without non-free Javascript, and use IMAP/POP3 from a desktop program, but have broken webmail:
Last updated June 13, 2013. Original list provided by Trevor Vartanoff.
This page was a featured resource in June 2013.
