Onion Mail vs StartMail
They are level on Safety. Onion Mail has the higher Privacy grade, 7.4 against 6.2.
Onion Mail
Email with an official onion address, PGP storage encryption and anonymous signup
Privacy
7.4/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.5/ 10
Fair
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
| Onion Mail | StartMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | ||
| KYC policy | No ID mentioned | No ID mentioned |
| Custody | N/A | N/A |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | No | No |
| Tor onion address | Yes | No |
| Coins | XMR, BTC, ETH | BTC |
| Pay with | Crypto, Monero, Card | Crypto, Card |
| Fees | Free plan (receive only, 50 MB); paid plans from $4/month | $4.99/month billed annually when checked |
| Limits | Free accounts cannot send mail and are blocked after 3 months of inactivity | Not published |
| Founded | 2017 | 2014 |
| Jurisdiction | United States | Netherlands |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Onion Mail
No email neededNo phone neededTor onion serviceAccepts Monero
Both
5+ years operatingLegal entity disclosed
Only StartMail
Nothing distinct
Where they sit among email
Questions
Is Onion Mail or StartMail safer?
They have the same Safety grade, 6.5 out of 10.
Does Onion Mail or StartMail require KYC?
Onion Mail is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned). StartMail is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned).
Which has more incidents on record?
Onion Mail has 0 and StartMail has 0 documented incidents in the registry.