Posteo and Greatmail both help users escape platform-dependent services, but they serve completely different needs. Posteo focuses on individual privacy and sustainability at €1 per month, while Greatmail builds professional email infrastructure for business teams starting at $9.75 per month for five mailboxes.
For individual users prioritizing privacy and sustainability, Posteo offers a compelling alternative to platform-dependent services. For businesses requiring professional email infrastructure with custom domains and team management, Greatmail provides enterprise-grade reliability while helping organizations break free from expensive platform ecosystems.
The choice isn’t about which provider is better—it’s about matching your specific needs to the right specialist.
Provider Profiles
Posteo: Privacy-First Minimalism
Founded in 2009 and based in Berlin, Posteo is a respected secure email provider that is very affordable, yet goes above and beyond to ensure the privacy of its users. The company prides itself on being entirely self-financed, with no loans, debts, or foreign investors.
Posteo isn’t just about privacy and security, though – the company cares about sustainability, too. The firm’s offices run on green energy from hydroelectric and wind sources. The organization provides employees with green energy subsidies and even gives staff free public transport tickets.
Core Philosophy: To provide an impetus for greater security, privacy and sustainability on the internet, and offer alternatives to surveillance-based business models.
Target Users: Privacy-conscious individuals, activists, journalists, and anyone seeking an ad-free email alternative powered by renewable energy.
Greatmail: Business Email Infrastructure
Greatmail is an email service provider (ESP) specializing in business class email hosting, SMTP hosting and email servers. Over 20 years of providing professional email hosting to businesses and technical communities worldwide, the Texas-based company focuses exclusively on email rather than bundling it with productivity suites.
Greatmail’s private cloud infrastructure offers enterprise-level reliability, security and privacy without the complexity and cost of big tech business suites. The company focuses exclusively on email rather than bundling it with 50 different products.
Core Strategy: Professional email infrastructure should be reliable, straightforward, and managed by specialists who understand business communication needs.
Target Users: Small to medium businesses, IT professionals, developers, and organizations that need professional @yourdomain.com email without paying for unused productivity features.
Pricing and Plans
Posteo: Transparent Simplicity
A single Posteo account with all of its features costs €1/$1.03/£0.83 per month, with credit added to your account in advance and fees deducted as you use services.
Core Plan: €1 per month includes:
- 2 GB storage (can be increased up to a maximum of 20 GB)
- Email, calendar, contacts
- Two alias addresses included
- Three calendars included
Add-ons:
- Additional storage: 0.25 EUR per GB per month
- Additional alias addresses: 0.10 EUR per month
- Additional calendars: 0.10 EUR per month
- Optional S/MIME certificate: 3.65 EUR (1 year validity)
Payment Methods: PayPal, bank transfer, credit card or cash payments are possible with Posteo, and any information that Posteo receives for payment is not linked to your account – which means anonymous payments.
Greatmail: Business-Focused Scaling
Greatmail offers two primary hosting editions designed for different business needs:
Standard Edition: $1.95 per mailbox per month (5 mailbox minimum)
- Starting at $9.75 per month for 5 mailboxes with 10GB each
- Cross-platform IMAP/POP3 support
- Forwards and aliases do not count as mailboxes
- Professional Roundcube webmail interface
- Upgrade to 25GB mailboxes for extra $1 per month per mailbox
Groupware Edition: $3.95 per mailbox per month (5 mailbox minimum)
- Starting at $19.75 per month for 5 mailboxes with 10GB each
- SoGo webmail with Outlook-style interface
- Advanced calendar/contact synchronization
- Exchange ActiveSync and CalDAV/CardDAV support
- Upgrade to 25GB mailboxes for extra $1 per month per mailbox
Key Features:
- Multiple Domain Support – Manage email for multiple domains from one admin panel
- No setup fees
- Monthly billing flexibility
- Professional migration assistance
Features and Functionality
Posteo: Essential Privacy Tools
Core Email Features:
- IMAP/POP3 email on all devices
- Attachments up to 50 MB sending/100 MB receiving
- 100% open source software and free protocols
- Ad-free service
Privacy and Security:
- End-to-end encryption and other security features are applied to your calendar and address book
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- Optional mailbox encryption with user-controlled password
- DANE authentication method that checks digital certificate fingerprints
- Externally audited to bolster its security and privacy credentials
Additional Services:
- Calendar with CalDAV synchronization
- Contacts with groups and photo support
- Migration service for selected email providers
- 12 color themes and Dark Mode
Greatmail: Business Infrastructure
Business Infrastructure Features:
- Cross platform support, calendar and contacts synchronization
- Compatibility in major mail clients like Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Mail
- Works With Everything – Compatible with Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, iPhone, Android, and all email clients via secure IMAP, POP3 and SMTP
- Advanced Security – Works with datacenter and infrastructure providers that are SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, spam/virus protection, encrypted connections
Business Management:
- Multiple Domain Support – Manage email for multiple domains from one admin panel
- Expert Migration Help – Provides guidance switching from your current provider with minimal disruption
- Bulk Sending – If you need to send email marketing or transactional messages, high volume outbound SMTP hosting is available
- Professional admin controls and user management
Enterprise Options:
- Email Archiving – Advanced, HIPAA compliant email archiving
- Email Consulting – Support contracts include a minimum number of hours and incidents each month
- High volume SMTP hosting services for bulk sending needs
Critical Limitations and Business Considerations
Posteo: Custom Domain Constraints with Niche Business Applications
No Custom Domain Support: Posteo operates with a particular, privacy-oriented model that is not compatible with incorporating custom domains. This limitation stems from their core privacy framework – custom domains need to be registered to the name and address of a person, which would require storing user information that contradicts their data economy principles.
However, some businesses do use Posteo strategically:
- Freelancers and consultants in privacy-sensitive fields who prioritize anonymity over corporate branding
- Activist organizations and NGOs where maximum privacy outweighs professional appearance
- Micro businesses in creative fields where being “alternative” to mainstream services is part of their brand identity
- European businesses where GDPR compliance and privacy are paramount concerns, especially in journalism or legal consulting
- Startups in stealth mode who don’t want to register domains yet or need secure internal communications
- Businesses using hybrid approaches – Posteo for internal/secure communications while maintaining a separate business domain for customer-facing emails
Other Constraints:
- No mobile apps (webmail and standard email clients only)
- Individual-focused rather than team-oriented features
- Limited storage (2GB base, 20GB maximum)
- Not suitable for larger enterprises requiring admin controls
Greatmail: Business-Focused Requirements
Greatmail’s smallest hosting plan starts at $9.75 per month for 5 mailboxes (Standard Edition), making it less cost-effective for individual users who only need one email address, but provides excellent value for small teams.
The platform’s features and pricing are optimized for businesses requiring custom domains, team management, and integration with professional workflows rather than individual privacy-focused use cases.
Privacy and Compliance
Posteo: Maximum Privacy Protection
Posteo is backed by a range of impressive features when it comes to security and sustainability. The provider operates under German privacy laws and publishes transparency reports detailing government requests.
Privacy Framework:
- Anonymized payment system, which separates your personal payment information from your account information
- They always answer requests from authorities for user information in the negative
- They do not collect any user information (names, addresses, etc) of customers
- Optional encryption that makes emails unreadable even to Posteo
Greatmail: Business Compliance
Greatmail works with datacenter and infrastructure providers that are SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, providing enterprise-grade security foundations for business communications. The platform offers HIPAA compliant email archiving for organizations handling sensitive data.
Business Security Features:
- Firewall security, virus protection, and spam control
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) offer sender authentication
- Greatmail actively monitors the reputations of its outbound IP addresses
- Professional data handling procedures for business compliance
Support and Reliability
Posteo: Community-Focused Support
You can contact Posteo support via contact form or email to get help with questions and problems. They do not offer support by telephone.
Support Characteristics:
- Email-only support
- Help pages can be found at posteo.de/en/help
- Community-oriented assistance
- Focus on self-service resources
Greatmail: Professional Support Infrastructure
When you need admin support, you can contact Greatmail by phone and email. Our contact form notifies dedicated support agents around the clock. An early player in email hosting, we have over 20 years experience helping clients of all sizes.
Professional Support Features:
- Phone and email
- Expert migration help
- Email consulting support contracts
- Dedicated account management for larger clients
Migration and Setup
Posteo: Individual Migration
The Posteo migration service is free of charge – and you retain control over your data: At no point are your emails transferred via a third party. The selected folders are collected from your previous provider by Posteo and transferred directly to your Posteo account over an encrypted connection.
Migration Features:
- For selected email services (AOL, GMX, Hotmail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook.com, WEB.DE und Yahoo!) you can transfer your address book to Posteo at the click of a button
- Direct, encrypted transfers
- Email collector will retrieve newly-arriving emails from your previous accounts every ten minutes
Greatmail: Professional Migration Assistance
Greatmail provides expert migration assistance to help businesses transition from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or any other email provider. They guide clients through DNS changes and provide step-by-step instructions to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime. Optionally use third party IMAPSync tool to import existing emails from old provider after switching over.
Business Migration Support:
- Professional guidance through DNS changes
- Email, contact, and calendar data transfer
- They guide clients through the process to ensure that no messages are lost during the transition
- Minimal business disruption
Making the Decision
Choose Posteo When:
Individual Privacy is Priority: You want email that operates independently of advertising models and surveillance capitalism, with strong European privacy protections and environmental responsibility.
Niche Business Applications: You’re a freelancer, consultant, activist organization, or micro business where maximum privacy outweighs professional branding, or you need secure internal communications alongside a separate business domain.
Budget-Conscious Individual Use: At €1 per month, Posteo provides excellent value for individual users who don’t need business-specific features like custom domains or team management.
Environmental Values Matter: Posteo’s green energy operations and sustainability focus appeal to environmentally conscious users and businesses.
Choose Greatmail When:
Professional Email Infrastructure: Your business needs @yourdomain.com email addresses, professional team management, and enterprise-grade reliability.
Business Team Requirements: You manage multiple users, domains, or need professional support for email infrastructure that impacts business operations. The 5-mailbox minimum provides good value for small teams.
Integration with Business Tools: You need email that works seamlessly with Outlook, business calendars, and professional workflows without configuration complexity.
Growth and Scalability: Your organization anticipates adding users, domains, or requires advanced features like HIPAA compliance or bulk sending capabilities.
Bottom Line
Posteo and Greatmail serve fundamentally different users with distinct priorities. Posteo excels at providing privacy-focused, sustainable email for individuals and niche business cases where anonymity matters more than professional branding. Greatmail specializes in professional email infrastructure for businesses that need reliable, custom domain email without operational complexity.
For privacy-conscious individuals and specialized business use cases: Posteo’s combination of German privacy laws, environmental responsibility, and transparent pricing makes it an excellent alternative to platform-dependent services.
For mainstream business email: Greatmail’s professional infrastructure, custom domain support, and business-focused features provide enterprise reliability without enterprise complexity or cost.
The choice isn’t about which provider is better—it’s about matching your priorities to the right specialist. Individual privacy and niche business privacy needs point toward Posteo. Professional business email infrastructure points toward Greatmail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Posteo does not support custom domains due to its strict privacy framework, which avoids storing personal registration data. Greatmail, on the other hand, is built for custom domain hosting and allows you to manage multiple domains from one admin panel.
Greatmail is optimized for business use, offering custom domain support, team management tools, and professional support channels. Posteo is better suited for individuals or niche cases where privacy is more important than corporate branding.
Posteo emphasizes maximum individual privacy, anonymous payment options, and operates under strict German privacy laws. Greatmail also provides strong security and compliance features but focuses on business requirements like working with datacenter and infrastructure providers that are SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and offering HIPAA-compatible email archiving.
Posteo offers a single mailbox at €1 per month, making it more cost-effective for individual users. Greatmail’s smallest plan includes 5 mailboxes for $9.75 per month, providing better value for small teams rather than solo users.
Yes, some businesses do use Posteo strategically. This includes freelancers and consultants in privacy-sensitive fields, activist organizations where anonymity is crucial, micro businesses where being “alternative” is part of their brand, and companies using hybrid approaches—Posteo for secure internal communications while maintaining a separate business domain for customer-facing emails.