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 2009 Reviewed 22 Oct 2026
Posteo review
Berlin email provider at €1/month that separates payments from accounts; takes cash
- No account needed
- Accepts cash
- No email needed
- Company named
- 5+ years operating
- No phone number
ID never required KYC 0 Documentation reviewed
Privacy
7.8/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.5/ 10
Fair
Based on terms and documentation. No test transactions published yet. See the arithmetic
Posteo review in short
Posteo is an email provider operating since 2009. Its terms put it at KYC level 0 of 4: ID never required. NoKYC Score grades it 7.8/10 for privacy (strong) and 6.5/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. No incidents are on record.
- Category
- KYC level
- 0 of 4: ID never required
- Grades
- Privacy 7.8/10, Safety 6.5/10
- Sign-up
- No account needed
- Fees
- €1 per month
- Jurisdiction
- Germany
- Incidents on record
- 0
- Last reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
Cite this review
NoKYC Score, "Posteo review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/posteo
Also available as plain text.
What Posteo is
Posteo is an independent, advertising-free email provider based in Berlin that charges €1 per month. Its payment page explains that the company does not connect data received during payment with email accounts, having built its own system to keep payment information and accounts strictly separated, and that this holds whether a customer pays by bank transfer, PayPal, credit card or cash. No personal information is requested at sign-up. Posteo does not accept cryptocurrency; cash sent by post is its anonymous payment route. The company also publishes transparency reports on requests from authorities.
What Posteo offers, and what to watch
7 of 14 privacy and safety features, 0 warnings in its terms.
"Not stated" means its own pages do not say.
Identity
- ID never required Yes The terms rule identity checks out, or the design makes them impossible.
- No account needed Yes Usable without creating an account, or the account is only a random number.
- No email needed Yes An email address is not required to sign up or use it.
- No phone number Yes A phone number is never required.
Payment
- Accepts Monero Not stated
- Accepts Lightning Not stated
- Accepts cash Yes Cash by post or in person: no bank and no blockchain record.
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 Not in terms
- Phone number required Not in terms
- Closed source Not in terms
- Nobody accountable Not in terms
Does Posteo require KYC?
- 0 Never
- 1 Not mentioned
- 2 Rare
- 3 On risk flag
- 4 Mandatory
KYC level 0: ID never required. The terms rule out identity checks, or the design makes them impossible.
Payment page states no user information is connected with accounts and payments are kept strictly separate, allowing anonymous use.
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
7.8- Starting points 50
- KYC level 0: ID never required +20
- No email needed +3
- No phone needed +1
- Accepts cash +4
- Total, clamped to 0–100 78
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 Posteo’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 Posteo. 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
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Alternatives to Posteo
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Posteo: common questions
Does Posteo require KYC?
Posteo is rated KYC level 0 of 4 on this site: ID never required. Payment page states no user information is connected with accounts and payments are kept strictly separate, allowing anonymous use.
Is Posteo safe to use?
Posteo has a Safety grade of 6.5 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 7.8 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.
Is Posteo legit?
Posteo is a working email provider that has operated since 2009. It publishes the company that runs it, in Germany. 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 Posteo 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 Posteo.
Do I need an account or email to use Posteo?
No account needed.
What fees does Posteo charge?
€1 per month. Fees were recorded from Posteo's own pages and can change; check before you send.
Does Posteo have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on Posteo's own pages.
Can I use Posteo over Tor?
Posteo does not publish an official onion address.
Listing history
- Listing added. Facts and KYC level set from the service's own terms and documentation.