Best (subjective term) free email account?

[Heroine of the Dragon]

Post your favourite...

[DarkZero]

hotmail got lumped in with outlook im pretty sure (did for me anyway)

i picked gmail since it doesnt eat my mail like outlook does

[I am nobody]

Outlook/Hotmail is fine as long as you're aware of its ridiculously over-active spam filter. You basically have to treat spam like a second inbox.

Gmail has a much better filter, but Google is pretty open about the fact they scrape your email for advertising purposes, and it doesn't block email trackers by default. You can get a chrome extension (Ugly Mail) to do that, however.

[Shane]

I have stuck with Yahoo for years. I wanted to use Gmail, but it was in Beta for so long that I lost interest. I ended up not caring for it anyway.

[Valigarmander]

I've only ever used Yahoo, so I'm probably not the best judge.

Yahoo works fine for me, at least.

[CaptHayfever]

Yahoo & Gmail are both good. I didn't like Hotmail, I actively hate Outlook. & I can't remember what AOL's email was like.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[steeze]

I went from Yahoo to Gmail because when I was in college that was the student email. Now I work in an office and have to use Outlook which I despise. So, I really have no say.

[smol Kat]

AOL had the same problems as Hotmail, with the overactive spam filter and eating e-mails. Lost a couple of old neopets accounts because of it; couldn't remember my login credentials and couldn't receive the reset e-mail! (AOL was my first e-mail address.)

Outlook sucks. I don't feel that I need to elaborate. Why do businesses value Outlook so highly??

Yahoo was all right, I only opened an account so I could play their games years and years ago.

Been with Gmail for years, use it for my freelance work, etc.

[I am nobody]

^Yahoo got hacked and Google reads data. Outlook basically wins by default.

Not that I've had whatever problems everyone else apparently has with it.

[Shane]

I don't use Outlook for person reasons, but I like it when I use it for work. The Skype integration is also nice.

AOL's always been bad about its spam filters, and as you said, it eats e-mail. It doesn't just toss it in spam. It simply doesn't show up at all. Still, almost all of the e-mail I get there is spam.

[Heroine of the Dragon]

I recently had to get a new email account for a not-for-profit group. Outlook is driving me nuts with its limitations to send mail in case I'm a spammer. I refused to get a Gmail account as the search function is nuts. Bah. Next time I may try Yahoo.

[CaptHayfever]

Outlook basically wins by default.

Not that I've had whatever problems everyone else apparently has with it.

Sucktastic interface, screwy login, broken notifications, laggy response to clicks.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Deepfake]

I recently had to get a new email account for a not-for-profit group. Outlook is driving me nuts with its limitations to send mail in case I'm a spammer. I refused to get a Gmail account as the search function is nuts. Bah. Next time I may try Yahoo.

Yahoo unfortunately has merged with AOL/Verizon and as such their user privacy policies have changed very drastically for the worse. Basically no guarantee of any kind of privacy. There are definitely free services that aren't related to the big brands. I can suggest https://tutanota.com/ which offers end-to-end password-based encryption, who don't sell user details to advertising, etc.

[Valigarmander]

^ I might look into that, thanks.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I have both Yahoo and Mail, I signed up for many others trying them out but Outlook and Gmail were surprisingly taken for what I wanted to use. I kinda like the blandness of Mail and I had Yahoo a while, so that'll suffice.

I miss those late 90's/early 00's branded e-mail accounts, like WWF Mail (and themed browsers like the Pokemon ones too). It was fun and less...idk, homogenized? Not for professional use but casual, fun kinda ways of switch things up. I guess the novelty of the Internet just wore off.