| Comparison of Best Free Email
Solutions |
| Compiled by
Lukas Koster and
Viraj Siriwardena
with the cooperation of the members of
EmailDiscussions
Forum. |
Last update: November 15, 2002 |
| See
Paid Services |
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| Setup fee |
None |
None |
None |
None |
| Annual fee |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| Lifetime option |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
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| Webmail |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Mandatory newsletter |
Weekly |
None |
Adhoc |
None |
| On site advertisements |
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
| Message tagline advertisements |
Yes |
Yes |
Customizable |
None |
| |
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| Mailbox storage |
2MB |
4MB |
10MB |
10MB |
| Mailing list attachments |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Maximum attachment size |
1MB |
1.5MB |
10MB |
None |
| Maximum attachment number |
Unlimited |
3 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
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| Virus scanning |
McAfee
VirusScan |
Norton
AntiVirus |
Basic scan only |
Yes |
| Message reject |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Block sender by deleting |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Bounce messages back to sender |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
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| Spam reporting |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Spam protection filter |
Bulk folder |
Bulk folder |
No |
No |
| Monthly bandwidth limit |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
40MB |
Unlimited |
| Automatic trash can disposal / purge |
Daily disposal |
Daily disposal |
No |
No |
| |
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| Spelling checker |
Multi Language |
Multi Language |
English |
No |
| Bcc message sending |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Message recipient limit |
50 |
100 |
100 |
15 |
| Change sender address |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
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| Address book groups |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Address book entries limit |
250 |
5000 |
100 |
100 |
| Address book synchronization |
Windows address book |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Address book import and export |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| |
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| Mail checker |
MSN Messenger |
Yahoo! Messenger |
FastCheck |
No |
| Instant messaging |
MSN
Messenger |
Yahoo! Messenger |
No |
No |
| Email client access |
Outlook / Outlook Express |
No |
IMAP |
IMAP / POP |
| Send messages using SMTP |
Outlook / Outlook Express |
No |
No |
Yes |
| |
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| Message filters |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Filter by header |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Filter by message size |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Auto response / vacation reply |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| |
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| Mail redirection |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Mail forwarding |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Mail forwarding filter |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Yes |
| Simultaneous automatic mail fetch and forward |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
No |
| |
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| External mail access accounts |
No |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| Manual external mail collection |
Not applicable |
POP |
Hotmail / POP |
No |
| Automatic external mail check at login |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Automatic scheduled external mail collection |
No |
No |
Hotmail / POP |
IMAP / POP |
| |
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| Own sub domain |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Alias email addresses |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Restrictions on alias names |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| Identities for sending messages |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| |
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| SMS |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| PDA / WAP |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Mobile alerts |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| International SMS |
No |
No |
No |
No |
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| Website |
MSN Groups |
Yahoo! Geocities |
No |
No |
| File storage |
MSN Groups |
Yahoo!
Briefcase |
No |
No |
| DAV access |
No |
No |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
| Mailing list manger |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| |
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| Notepad |
No |
Yes |
10 pages |
No |
| Calendar |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Reminders |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Task manager |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
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| Voicemail |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Fax services |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Uptime reliability |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Test site |
| Customer support |
Online form |
Email |
Forum |
No |
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