The battle of email providers: Gmail vs Outlook vs Yahoo Mail
Whether you’re fed up with your current email has been hacked and you would like to switch to another service, picking an account provider may not be easy. Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail are the most popular, but which is best?
Many users choose one based on reputation or what their family or friends use, others have multiple accounts with them all, but there are slight differences that could help seal the deal for you.
Gmail
Gmail, Google’s email platform, is the market leader with more than a billion users across the globe, so it might appear an obvious choice. It has a very simple and clutter-free layout that is easy to use and navigate.
Users can enjoy 15GB of inbox storage for free and send emails with attachments of up to 25MB which is plenty for the casual email. A feature that many might find useful is the option to manage accounts from other providers (Outlook, Yahoo Mail) on the same platform. This means you can neatly organize all your inboxes in one place without having to flick between accounts. Gmail also neatly organizes your inbox, filing social media, marketing and important messages into separate folders.
Users can send 100 emails per day for free, so you’ll need to decide whether this suits your requirements. But to balance this out, Gmail users are given access to Google’s other services such as Google Drive, Calendar and Google Plus, and users will not be served advertisements when using the account. You can sign up for Gmail here.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft’s long-awaited move away from Hotmail landed millions of users with Outlook. Outlook has a user-friendly interface with folders and organizational tools on the left, the inbox folder in the center and a small preview panel.
Outlook neatly detects emails which could be of importance and automatically places them in a ‘Focused’ inbox, keeping any distractions or unwanted SPAM out of sight. Events including flights and hotel bookings can be automatically added to your calendar and easily shared with fellow Microsoft account holders too.
Outlook’s attachment support includes the ability to directly share OneDrive files as copies or links. Users can also attach files directly from Google Drive, Dropbox and Box accounts, with a 15GB mailbox (same as Gmail) providing plenty of storage for files from other people. If users were so inclined, they could also upgrade to Office 365, pay a nominal fee, and get 50GB of mail storage and 1TB of OneDrive storage as well as offline working and file recovery tools.
Outlook does, however, serve its user adverts unless they pay for the premium service. You can sign up for Outlook here.
Yahoo Mail
You’re likely to be familiar with Yahoo Mail after its data hack in 2016, but its platform is a polished and professional service. Users can enjoy a large view of the inbox, easy browsing and customizable folders. You can also edit your lay-out to have email previews and easy access to content.
If you’re on mobile, you have additional features open to you such as being able to unsubscribe to newsletters and mailing lists without leaving the platform. Unlike Gmail or Outlook, you also have a large 1TB of mailbox storage available to you and the option of creating disposable email addresses should you be concerned about your privacy and security.
Yahoo doesn’t quite offer the same levels of organization and flexibility as Gmail or Outlook, but its Business Mail (paid feature) lets users create their own custom domain name (yourname@yourdomain.com) and import contacts from Facebook, Gmail and Outlook. You can sign up for Yahoo Mail here
Choosing the best email provider often comes down to personal preference, but we hope this is helpful. As Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail are all free, we’d encourage you to create an account and try them out for yourself. It’s the easiest way to know which one suits you best.
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