ghostBox vs StartMail
It is a trade-off. StartMail has the higher Safety grade (6.5 against 4.6), while ghostBox has the higher Privacy grade (6.9 against 6.2).
ghostBox
Small one-time-payment mailbox with IMAP, POP3, SMTP and webmail
Privacy
6.9/ 10
Fair
Safety
4.6/ 10
Caution
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
StartMail
Paid private email from the Startpage founders; annual plans payable in Bitcoin
Privacy
6.2/ 10
Fair
Safety
6.5/ 10
Fair
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| ghostBox | StartMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | ||
| KYC policy | No ID mentioned | No ID mentioned |
| Custody | N/A | N/A |
| Sign-up | Email required | No account needed |
| Open source | No | No |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | Not published | BTC |
| Pay with | Not published | Crypto, Card |
| Fees | €5 one-time fee for 256 MiB | $4.99/month billed annually when checked |
| Limits | 256 MiB storage; accounts are created manually on request | Not published |
| Founded | Not published | 2014 |
| Jurisdiction | Not published | Netherlands |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only ghostBox
No phone neededTor onion serviceNo-logs policyAnonymous operator
Both
Nothing distinct
Only StartMail
5+ years operatingLegal entity disclosed
Where they sit among email
Questions
Is ghostBox or StartMail safer?
StartMail has the higher Safety grade: ghostBox 4.6, StartMail 6.5, out of 10.
Does ghostBox or StartMail require KYC?
ghostBox is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned). StartMail is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned).
Which has more incidents on record?
ghostBox has 0 and StartMail has 0 documented incidents in the registry.