Swiss end-to-end encrypted email with a free tier; paid plans payable in Bitcoin or cash
Privacy 7.2
Safety 7.3
Email Since 1999 Reviewed 22 Oct 2026
Mailfence review
Belgian OpenPGP email suite with a free tier and Bitcoin or Litecoin payment
- Company named
- 5+ years operating
- No phone number
- Email required
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Documentation reviewed
Privacy
5.9/ 10
Fair
Safety
6.5/ 10
Fair
Based on terms and documentation. No test transactions published yet. See the arithmetic
Mailfence review in short
Mailfence is an email provider operating since 1999. Its terms put it at KYC level 1 of 4: no ID mentioned. NoKYC Score grades it 5.9/10 for privacy (fair) and 6.5/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no phone number, company named and 5+ years operating. To watch: it requires an email address. No incidents are on record.
- Category
- KYC level
- 1 of 4: No ID mentioned
- Grades
- Privacy 5.9/10, Safety 6.5/10
- Sign-up
- Email required
- Fees
- Free plan available; paid plans billed in advance (monthly, quarterly or yearly). Subscriptions are not refunded.
- Limits
- Free accounts are suspended after 7 months of inactivity and deleted 5 months later.
- Jurisdiction
- Belgium
- Incidents on record
- 0
- Last reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
Cite this review
NoKYC Score, "Mailfence review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/mailfence
Also available as plain text.
What Mailfence is
Mailfence is an email, calendar, contacts and documents suite with browser-based OpenPGP encryption, run by ContactOffice Group SA in Brussels under Belgian law. A free plan is available and paid plans are billed in advance monthly, quarterly or yearly. Sign-up asks for a first name, last name, password and an external email address, to which an activation code is sent; the terms require a valid email address. No phone number field appears in the registration form. The official FAQ lists credit card, Bitcoin, Litecoin, PayPal and wire transfer (arranged through support) as payment methods, and paid subscriptions are not refunded. The privacy policy says IP addresses, message IDs, sender and recipient addresses, subjects and timestamps are collected, and that data is released only on a Belgian court order. The webmail can be used through Tor Browser, but no official onion address is published.
What Mailfence offers, and what to watch
3 of 14 privacy and safety features, 1 warning in its terms.
"Not stated" means its own pages do not say.
Identity
- ID never required Not stated
- No account needed No
- No email needed No
- No phone number Yes A phone number is never required.
Payment
- Accepts Monero Not stated
- Accepts Lightning Not stated
- Accepts cash Not stated
Access
- Tor onion address Not stated
- Works without JavaScript Not stated
Trust
- Open source Not stated
- No-logs policy Not stated
- Independent audit Not stated
- Company named Yes The operating company and its jurisdiction are published.
- 5+ years operating Yes Has operated continuously for five years or more.
Warnings
- May ask for ID Not in terms
- Email required Yes An email address is required to use the service.
- Phone number required Not in terms
- Closed source Not in terms
- Nobody accountable Not in terms
Does Mailfence require KYC?
- 0 Never
- 1 Not mentioned
- 2 Rare
- 3 On risk flag
- 4 Mandatory
KYC level 1: No ID mentioned. No identity requirement appears anywhere in the terms or documentation.
No identity documents are mentioned in the terms; a valid external email address is required for activation. Data is disclosed only on a Belgian court order.
How the grades add up
Both grades start at 50 points and move by fixed, published amounts. Nothing is adjusted by hand. The total is divided by ten.
Privacy
5.9- Starting points 50
- KYC level 1: No ID mentioned +12
- Requires email -4
- No phone needed +1
- Total, clamped to 0–100 59
Safety
6.5- Starting points 50
- 5+ years operating +10
- Legal entity disclosed +5
- Total, clamped to 0–100 65
Test ledger
Real transactions run by our editors. A badge without a ledger is an assertion; this is the proof.
No test transactions published yet
The grades above rest on Mailfence’s terms and documentation. Tests will appear here with the date, route, amount band and result as they are run.
Incidents on record
No incidents are on record for Mailfence. If you have a documented case, report it.
User reviews
Reviews never change a grade. Reviews with a transaction reference are marked.
No reviews yet.
Write a review
Create an account to write a review. It takes ten seconds and needs no email: you get a random key and a random name. Already have a key? Sign in.
Alternatives to Mailfence
All alternatives → 
German encrypted email and calendar with open-source clients and a free tier
Privacy 6.5
Safety 7.3
Berlin email provider at €1/month that separates payments from accounts; takes cash
Privacy 7.8
Safety 6.5
Email with an official onion address, PGP storage encryption and anonymous signup
Privacy 7.4
Safety 6.5
Mailfence vs Proton MailMailfence vs TutaMailfence vs PosteoMailfence vs Onion Mail
Mailfence: common questions
Does Mailfence require KYC?
Mailfence is rated KYC level 1 of 4 on this site: no ID mentioned. No identity documents are mentioned in the terms; a valid external email address is required for activation. Data is disclosed only on a Belgian court order.
Is Mailfence safe to use?
Mailfence has a Safety grade of 6.5 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 5.9 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.
Is Mailfence legit?
Mailfence is a working email provider that has operated since 1999. It publishes the company that runs it, in Belgium. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 6.5 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.
Is Mailfence a scam?
NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for Mailfence.
Do I need an account or email to use Mailfence?
Email required.
What fees does Mailfence charge?
Free plan available; paid plans billed in advance (monthly, quarterly or yearly). Subscriptions are not refunded. Fees were recorded from Mailfence's own pages and can change; check before you send.
What are Mailfence's limits?
Free accounts are suspended after 7 months of inactivity and deleted 5 months later.
Does Mailfence have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on Mailfence's own pages.
Which cryptocurrencies does Mailfence support?
Mailfence supports BTC, LTC, and fiat payments in EUR.
Can I use Mailfence over Tor?
Mailfence does not publish an official onion address.
Listing history
- Listing added as unrated. Not yet confirmed against the service's own pages.