ProtonMail is one of the most popular encrypted email providers, serving 

 worldwide. Its commitment to user privacy and security has helped the platform carve out a place for itself as an 

alternative to mainstream providers like Google and Microsoft.

, ProtonMail has created a complex pricing scheme that involves 

over half a dozen plans for individuals, families, and businesses

. The differences between these plans can be hard to make out, which is why this guide will:

Explore the ProtonMail pricing system in-depth

Break down features you can expect to get with each plan

Offer an alternative with a more inclusive free version that surpasses some of the vulnerabilities found in Proton’s encryption

ProtonMail plans and products—A quick overview

Like most providers, Proton offers a range of other productivity tools along with its email service. 

Besides ProtonMail, a Proton account gives you access to the following software:

—Proxy connection manager for private browsing

The platform lets you choose between seven subscription tiers, each providing different features and functionality levels in all Proton apps. Depending on their target audience, 

Proton categorizes subscriptions into three groups:

For an in-depth breakdown of all features and their pros and cons, read this comprehensive 

While ProtonMail has a free version intended for individual use, it’s not particularly generous and may not be enough for most users. For a more well-rounded solution, ProtonMail gives users two paid plans to choose from. 

—Intended for individuals with minimal email needs, provides 500 MB of 

—The most affordable paid plan for individuals that includes custom domains, along with more storage and email addresses

—The most expensive individual plan that increases all limits from Mail Plus and provides faster VPN connections

Consult the table below for more information about the features included in each subscription plan:

the storage provided by each plan is shared between all Proton apps.

 While the 500 GB you get with the highest-priced plan may seem like a lot, you can fill it up quickly if you upload large files to your Proton Drive.

If you’re exploring other secure email services, check out these 

Skiff Mail gives each user encrypted storage and email aliases right off the bat.

You don’t have to pay for a secure service.

Unlike the individual and business subscriptions for ProtonMail, 

there’s only one version of the platform’s family plan

20 GB of additional shared storage each year

Access to premium versions of all Proton apps

Immediate access to any other software released by Proton in the future

While the yearly bonus storage is a decent incentive, the family plan is only worth it if you connect at least three accounts. 

, making two Unlimited subscriptions a more affordable option if you only have two users in your family.

Business users can choose between three ProtonMail subscriptions:

—Most suitable for individual professionals and small businesses

—A better choice for larger organizations with heftier storage needs, more users, and more robust password management options

—Fully customizable plan for corporations, including all premium Proton features and more storage

The table below contains more information on the two fixed business subscriptions:

Besides the smaller number of email addresses and custom domains, it’s worth pointing out that the Mail Essentials tier also provides 

. The other email-related features are identical in both tiers, along with Proton Calendar functionalities, customer support, and team management options.

Improved private browsing options are a major advantage of the Business tier. 

With it, your Proton VPN can reach the highest possible speed while connecting to over 1600 servers in more than 60 countries. The Mail Essentials tier offers lower speed and only around 100 servers.

Another downside of the Mail Essentials tier is its 

lack of built-in two-factor authentication (2FA)

. While this is typically an optional but widely available security feature in most encrypted email platforms, Proton business users only get it with a higher-paid subscription.

Payment options for ProtonMail paid subscriptions

You can pay for all ProtonMail subscriptions in the following currencies:

Each tier lets you choose from the following payment terms:

There’s undoubtedly a reason for ProtonMail’s popularity—the platform provides one of the most robust encrypted email services with plenty of productivity features for individuals and professionals. But ProtonMail isn’t without flaws, and understanding them before paying for a costly subscription is important.

the Proton Free plan is too limited for most users

It only provides 500 MB of combined storage for all Proton apps

There are zero email aliases, an essential privacy feature for any security-oriented user

Calendar sharing is unavailable, making the plan essentially useless for professional online collaboration

crucial security options are locked behind more expensive subscriptions. 

ProtonMail doesn’t have built-in 2FA for any individual tiers, premium or not—the feature is only available to business users.

While Proton apps were designed to rival mainstream productivity suites like 

 ProtonMail doesn’t integrate with a secure document editor that could replace Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Proton does provide VPN and password management tools instead, but it’s debatable whether these are a necessity for its scheduling, 

Skiff Mail integrates with an encrypted storage, document editor, and calendar.

Sync across E2EE platforms.

, and other Big Tech platforms with fewer privacy features, 

 called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), whose popularity has declined over the years due to vulnerabilities. While PGP is safer than 

It doesn’t encrypt message headers, potentially making your email subject lines visible to 

These weak points, combined with the fact that some of the basic security features are reserved for paid users, contribute to a less-than-desirable situation. For a more complete email service that addresses many of 

Skiff Mail provides cutting-edge email encryption

 email platform that safeguards your online correspondence with an advanced form of end-to-end encryption (E2EE). With Skiff’s device-based E2EE, your 

—Public, shared with the intended recipient

The encryption is performed at the device level, ensuring your messages are protected before they ever reach an email server or the recipient. As a result, 

For additional safety, Skiff supports 2FA and zero-knowledge logins—you don’t have to provide any 

 while registering an account. You can sign up with a username and password, and the platform will automatically use the Secure Remote Password protocol to encrypt your login credentials.

All security mechanisms are available with Skiff Mail’s free version by default

. It also comes with various other useful features like:

, which is 20 times more than a free Proton account

, easily scanning all your attachments and conversations

, which ProtonMail only includes with paid accounts

 doesn’t lock any security features behind a paid subscription

. Free accounts get the same substantial protection as the premium ones.

 contains its entire source code. For a more detailed look into the technology behind Skiff Mail’s encryption, check out this 

Skiff Mail integrates with a fully encrypted productivity suite

Skiff is more than an email platform—it’s a privacy-centric and collaborative E2E-encrypted suite. With your free Skiff Mail account, you can access 

three other equally private online productivity tools:

—Encrypted online storage that supports all file types and offers optional integration with InterPlanetary File System (IPFS)

—Secure document editor with powerful and varied formatting options, including versatile text and code blocks

—Private scheduling platform that syncs events with Skiff Mail and provides built-in video conferencing features

Having an encrypted document editor and a note-taking app is a notable advantage users get compared to ProtonMail. Similarly, 

Skiff Calendar doesn’t limit your event-sharing capabilities based on your subscription tier

—free users get the same basic features as paid subscribers.

ProtonMail pricing: Costs and features reviewed

The constant flow of emails can quickly turn your once-organized mailbox into a chaotic jumble, making it nearly impossible to find information easily and impacting your overall productivity.

Archiving emails in Outlook is a great way to 

 and keep your important messages organized. When you 

, it moves from your inbox to a separate archive folder.

step-by-step instructions on how to archive emails in Outlook

, both manually and automatically. After that, you’ll learn:

Why Outlook may not be the most secure email provider

What alternative email service offers better safety measures and organizational features

Skiff Mail fosters email hygiene with spam blockers and powerful filtering.

A clean inbox is the first step to privacy.

What does it mean to archive an email in Outlook?

Archiving an email in Outlook moves it to the designated 

—a storage area for older or less frequently used emails. It's like a digital filing cabinet for your emails, allowing you to keep important information for future reference.

In most cases, you archive messages you no longer actively need, but they may still hold value for legal purposes or as a reference. Some emails that may be suitable for archiving in Outlook include:

Correspondence with former clients or colleagues

Legal documents, such as contracts or agreements

The location of the Archive folder may vary depending on the version and the type of email account you have. Generally, you can find this folder in the 

 on the left side of the Outlook window. The folder is typically labeled as "

," but you can customize it to suit your preferences or organizational needs.

How to archive Outlook emails automatically

 that automatically transfers old emails and other items to a specified archive folder at set intervals. 

Here's how to enable it on all newer versions:

tab in the top-left corner of the Outlook window

check box, and then specify how often you want Outlook to run it

, enter the date that you want Outlook to use to determine which emails should be archived

Outlook will now automatically archive emails older than the specified date. If you wish to disable this feature, follow the above steps and uncheck the "

Note that the steps for enabling this feature may slightly differ if you’re using Office 2007 or an older version of Outlook. If that’s the case, during the first step, 

select Tools > click Options > select the Other tab

. You’ll find the AutoArchive option there—the rest of the steps are identical.

How to manually archive emails in Outlook

If you don’t want to set up automatic archiving, you can manually archive emails at your convenience. This method gives you more control over items you want to keep or move to the Archive folder.

Manual archiving is a one-time process, unlike Outlook AutoArchive, which runs automatically at regular intervals. You'll need to repeat the process each time you want to 

Open Outlook and find the messages you want to archive

Select them by checking the boxes next to them

How to move emails from archive to inbox in Outlook

While archiving emails is a great way to declutter your main inbox and keep it organized, there may be times when you need to reaccess those emails. 

Moving emails from the Archive to the Inbox folder is a straightforward process

Check the boxes next to the emails you want to bring back to your Inbox

 button at the top of the page and select 

Alternatively, you can use the drag-and-drop method to move archived emails. Click and hold on to the email you want to move with your touchpad or mouse, then 

How to empty Junk Email and Deleted Items folders in Outlook

 clean is crucial for preventing unnecessary emails from accumulating. It also minimizes security risks associated with 

 that can infect your computer with malware or lead to phishing websites attempting to steal your personal information.

 reduces the likelihood of this happening. Likewise, regularly emptying the Deleted Items folder minimizes the chance of accidentally clicking on potentially harmful links you had already deleted. 

You can delete junk mail by following these five steps:

folder on the left-hand side of your Outlook menu

Click the checkbox at the top to select all junk messages

 button located in the top menu right under the search bar

A disclaimer will appear asking you to confirm the action

This action automatically transfers all your spam emails to the 

. Outlook typically removes emails from this folder every 30 days, but you can do it at any time. 

To delete emails manually, follow these steps:

 folder located next to the Archive folder

Click the checkbox at the top to select all deleted emails

 button and confirm to delete all messages

How to clean your inbox without losing anything

While deleting and archiving messages or 

 can be a quick solution for cleaning your inbox, it carries the risk of unintentionally losing important conversations and documents.

 is an alternative approach to getting an instantly clean inbox without sacrificing existing emails.

You can easily access your old account whenever you need to retrieve an email from that period. Even better, you can 

enable automatic email forwarding in Outlook

, eliminating the need to inform anyone about your new email address.

More importantly, creating a new email address allows you to explore 

discover a more secure and user-friendly 

While Outlook is a popular email client, it has some notable drawbacks that undermine its security features.

 encryption protocol, which is outdated and has

known vulnerabilities that make it less effective against sophisticated cyber threats. To name a few:

, which means that while your messages might be secure when traveling between servers, once they reach the recipient's server, they can be vulnerable to attacks

TLS relies on certificates issued by Certificate Authorities (CAs) to authenticate the identity of servers. If a malicious entity compromises a CA, it will undermine the security provided by TLS

Microsoft's servers have been the target of various 

 over the years, sometimes resulting in leaks of private data and messages.

 For example, in 2021, Microsoft disclosed that a group of hackers had been using a 

Regain control with Skiff Mail—a truly private email service.

Don’t like sharing private information?

Microsoft creates and stores encryption keys on their servers, giving them an opportunity to open your emails and read their contents. An encryption key is a randomly generated string of letters and numbers that transform the original message into an unreadable format, protecting against unauthorized access and cyber threats.

Creating and storing these keys in-house allows Outlook to scan user emails to provide data for ad-targeting algorithms. 

This can be unsettling, especially considering the vast amount of sensitive information stored in your email account.

To address these concerns, privacy-centric providers use end-to-end encryption. 

E2EE protects your privacy in several ways:

It encrypts your emails on your device before you send them

It ensures they remain encrypted throughout their journey, from sender to recipient

It makes your emails inaccessible to third parties, including your email provider

While Outlook supports E2EE, it uses an outdated protocol that requires you to buy and manually configure a certificate to access it. If you want a 

 platform that doesn’t compromise your privacy, 

—a free email service built around E2EE.

Skiff Mail—A secure alternative to Outlook

, unlike mainstream email providers like 

, offers all its users the highest level of email security through an

 without requiring a complex setup process

Your device generates and stores the email encryption keys, and Skiff does not create or retain them on its server. These keys are shared only with the intended recipient, ensuring a secure messaging process relying on a pair of two keys:


Besides end-to-end encryption, Skiff employs additional advanced measures to 

—Using the Authenticator app, Skiff adds an extra layer of protection to accounts. This involves entering a one-time passcode in addition to login credentials for enhanced security

How to archive emails in Outlook—A complete guide

While organizing your emails, you might accidentally delete a message containing information you’ll still need in the future. Luckily, you should be able to recover such emails in most cases, especially if you’ve deleted them recently.

how to retrieve a deleted email with major 

, including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, even if they’re removed from your inbox permanently. You will then learn about important 

 and privacy concerns regarding deleted emails—something to consider if keeping data safe is your priority.

Skiff Mail is a privacy- and security-first service that lets you stay in control of your inbox

Manage your email securely

In Gmail, deleted emails go to the Trash folder, and you can 

 from there within 30 days. Here’s how:

Navigate to the folder list on the left side of your inbox

If you want to recover emails to a specific folder, you can do that from the drop-down menu instead of the main inbox. You can also 

 if you’re sure you won’t need them anymore or if they’re 

Alternatively, you may need to reference an email removed from Trash either automatically or directly by you. In any case, 

you can only recover such emails through the Google Admin console

If this applies to you, restoring permanently deleted emails is possible for 

. You (or someone with the administrator account) can sign into the Admin console and choose the 

After 25 days, your only chance of recovering deleted emails is if your organization uses Google Vault and the emails are 

. This is a highly specific scenario, so this method might not apply to most emails.

If you accidentally delete an email, Gmail will give you a small time window to undo this action. An Undo button will appear in the bottom-left corner of the screen, and you can click it to restore the email immediately.

. After this, you can go to the Trash folder and recover the email from there, as explained above.

 is similar to that in Gmail. Here are the steps you should take:

Eli MacKinnon