Mailfence Review (2026): Plans, IMAP Access & Encryption

Mailfence is a small Belgian email service that has been quietly getting on with things for years. It’s paid for by its subscribers rather than adverts, it’s built on open standards and it doesn’t make a lot of noise about itself. I wanted to see whether it could earn a place in my own setup, and this review is an honest account of how that went.

I should say straight away that I tried Mailfence on its free plan and didn’t upgrade. When I look at a new provider I try to come to it the way anyone else would: sign up for free, use it alongside my normal inbox and only pay if it gives me a good reason to. Mailfence didn’t quite get there for me, which I’ll explain, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be right for you. It does mean I haven’t been able to test everything, such as connecting it to a desktop mail app, and I’ve been careful to say where that’s the case.

Who Mailfence suits

Before I get into how I got on with it, this is where I think Mailfence fits and where it doesn’t.

Why I tried Mailfence

I’ve moved my own email around a fair bit over the years. I started on Gmail, moved to Proton Mail when I no longer wanted my email paid for by adverts and then Fastmail was my main email for a considerable time. Along the way I spent about a year on HEY too. Each move taught me that the things that matter day to day are rarely the ones on the features page.

I wanted to try Mailfence because it offers something Proton doesn’t: private, paid email that works with ordinary mail apps without a helper app. It’s based in Belgium, it publishes a proper threat model and it supports OpenPGP, the long standing open standard for encrypted email. On paper that’s a very appealing mix, so I signed up to see what it was like to actually use.

How it compares

The providers people most often weigh Mailfence against are mailbox.org, Proton Mail and Fastmail. In short:

• Proton Mail encrypts your stored mail by default so Proton can’t read it, but you need its Bridge app for desktop mail apps.
• mailbox.org is the closest match. It’s German, works with normal mail apps and offers PGP when you want it.
• Fastmail doesn’t offer end to end encryption, but it’s the fastest and most polished of the four, and it was my main email for a considerable time.
• Mailfence sits between them: private by design, open standards and normal mail apps from Entry upwards, with plainer webmail.

Prices as listed by each provider in October 2026.

What using it was like

Signing up was quick and I was in the inbox and sending test messages within a few minutes.

The webmail is plain and practical. It isn’t unattractive, it simply doesn’t try very hard and it works well enough across screen sizes. Coming from Fastmail, which is about as quick and tidy as webmail gets, it did feel a little dated to me. Some people will like that it gets out of the way.

The thing that bothered me most was new mail not appearing on its own. I use Safari, and quite often I had to click Mailfence’s refresh button before new messages showed up in the inbox. I’d seen the same thing with Proton at times, whereas Fastmail always showed new mail straight away. It may well be a Safari quirk, but it’s the sort of small annoyance that matters when you open your email many times a day.

There were some nice touches too:

• Backups are easy to export, which I always like to see.
• A short mf.me domain is available if you’d like a shorter address than mailfence.com.
• Documents, calendar and contacts sit alongside your mail, and the documents can appear as a folder on your computer.

I also tried Mailfence’s AI assistant, Nicol.ai, which is the first point of contact for help. I asked it how to email support. It was a little slow to answer, but it did give me a support address that worked.

How Mailfence handles encryption

Encryption is where Mailfence is quite different from Proton.

Mailfence uses OpenPGP. You can create your encryption keys inside the webmail, sign your messages so people know they really came from you and encrypt messages end to end when the other person has keys set up too. It’s built on an open standard rather than something Mailfence invented, which I think is a real point in its favour.

The important thing to understand is that it’s something you choose to use. Proton encrypts mail between Proton users automatically and locks the mail stored in your account so Proton can’t read it. Mailfence doesn’t do that by default, even between two Mailfence users. Unless you encrypt a message yourself, it sits on Mailfence’s servers in a form Mailfence could read, and that is what could be handed over if Mailfence were ever legally required to disclose it.

For people who don’t use PGP, Mailfence lets you send a password protected message instead. You agree a password with the other person separately, perhaps by text or phone, and they open the message through a link. It’s similar to Proton’s password protected emails. It’s useful, but it does rely on you sharing the password safely.

The threat model and the Belgian base

One thing I liked very much is that Mailfence publishes a threat model. Most providers tell you about their features. Very few tell you plainly what their service is designed to protect you from and where its limits are. Mailfence does, and it makes clear that it’s trying to make normal email more private rather than replace email altogether. I think that’s a sign of a company that takes the subject seriously.

Mailfence is based in Belgium, so it falls under GDPR and Belgian privacy law. Where a provider is based doesn’t guarantee privacy on its own, but it does shape the rules it has to follow. If that matters to you, my Swiss vs German email privacy guide explains why location comes up so often. Mailfence also says it runs entirely on green energy, a little like Posteo.

Paid for by its users

Mailfence is really a paid service. The free plan is there so you can try it, but it’s not meant to be your main inbox. I see that as a good thing. When you pay for your email, the company has no need to make money from what’s in it, which I explain more in how free email really makes money.

Mailfence also says it gives 15% of its Ultra plan revenue to digital rights groups, including the EFF and European Digital Rights. That isn’t a reason to choose it on its own, but it does fit with everything else it says about itself.

Mailfence plans and prices

These are the monthly prices Mailfence listed in October 2026. Longer terms are cheaper, and subscriptions aren’t refunded, so do start on the plan you actually need.

If you’re planning to use your own domain, and I’d always suggest you do, Entry is really where Mailfence starts. I explain why in why using your own email domain makes sense.

Using it with your own mail apps

This is where Mailfence has a real advantage over Proton, although I wasn’t able to try it myself on the free plan. From Entry upwards it supports standard IMAP and SMTP, so you can add it to Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird or the mail app on your iPhone or Android phone just like any other account. There’s no helper app to install and keep running, which is one of the things I found fiddly with Proton Bridge. It also supports CalDAV and CardDAV for your calendar and contacts.

For a lot of people, that will matter more than having encryption on by default. Email has to fit into how you already work.

What I liked and what to be aware of

Frequently asked questions

Is Mailfence free?

There’s a free plan with 500 MB of storage, which is fine for trying the webmail and sending a few messages. It doesn’t include IMAP, aliases or your own domain, and help is through the knowledge base only. Free accounts are suspended after 7 months without use.

Does Mailfence support IMAP?

Yes, from the Entry plan (€3.50 a month) upwards. The cheaper Base plan (€2.50 a month) doesn’t include it.

Can I use my own domain with Mailfence?

Yes, from Entry upwards. The Free and Base plans can’t use your own domain.

Is Mailfence end to end encrypted?

Only when you choose to encrypt a message. Mailfence supports OpenPGP, so mail can be end to end encrypted when both people have keys set up. For people without PGP you can send a password protected message instead.

Where is Mailfence based?

Belgium, so GDPR and Belgian privacy law apply.

Mailfence or Proton Mail?

If you want your stored mail locked so your provider can’t read it, choose Proton. If you’d rather use normal mail apps without a helper app, and you’re happy to switch encryption on yourself when you need it, Mailfence is the easier fit. My Proton Mail review explains how Proton works.

Can I get a refund?

No. Mailfence says subscriptions aren’t refunded, so try the free plan first and choose your plan carefully.

Would I use Mailfence?

I could, but it didn’t do enough to make me move. Mailfence gets the important things right: it’s paid for by its users, it works with normal mail apps once you’re on Entry and its encryption is built on open standards. Those are real advantages if you’d like more privacy without changing how you use email.

For me, the webmail matters a great deal, as I spend a lot of my day in it. Mailfence’s felt plain next to Fastmail’s, and having to refresh for new mail in Safari wore on me quickly. If that turns out to be a Safari quirk, or Mailfence sorts it out, it removes the main thing that put me off.

I’d recommend it if you want a private, paid email service from a European company, you’d like to use Apple Mail, Outlook or your phone’s mail app and you’re happy to switch on encryption when you need it. If you want your mail encrypted automatically, Proton Mail is the better fit, and if you want the quickest and most polished email, I’d point you to Fastmail, which gives you 10% off your first year through my link.

If Mailfence sounds right for you, I’d open a free account and use it alongside your current inbox for a few days. Look at the webmail, send and receive some mail and try signing a message. Then work out which plan you’d really need before you pay, because for most people that will be Entry.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links for Mailfence, Fastmail and Proton Mail. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I wrote this review before I joined Mailfence’s affiliate programme, and joining hasn’t changed my verdict. I only recommend services I have used and would be comfortable recommending.

Note: prices checked 17 October 2026, wording refreshed 9 November 2026. Sources: Mailfence, Mailfence: the Base plan, mailbox.org: plan adjustment 2026, Proton plans explained.