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
Riseup Mail review
Donation-funded activist email collective; accounts by invite code
- No account needed
- Tor onion address
- No-logs policy
- No email needed
- 5+ years operating
- No phone number
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Documentation reviewed
Privacy
7.2/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.0/ 10
Fair
Based on terms and documentation. No test transactions published yet. See the arithmetic
Riseup Mail review in short
Riseup Mail is an email provider operating since 1999. Its terms put it at KYC level 1 of 4: no ID mentioned. NoKYC Score grades it 7.2/10 for privacy (strong) and 6.0/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. No incidents are on record.
- Category
- KYC level
- 1 of 4: No ID mentioned
- Grades
- Privacy 7.2/10, Safety 6.0/10
- Sign-up
- No account needed
- Fees
- Free; donation-funded
- Limits
- Invite code required; 1 GB of mail storage
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- Onion address
- Yes
- Incidents on record
- 0
- Last reviewed
- 22 Oct 2026
Cite this review
NoKYC Score, "Riseup Mail review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/riseup-mail
Also available as plain text.
What Riseup Mail is
Riseup is a tech collective based in Seattle that has provided email, mailing lists and other tools since 1999 and is funded by donations. A mail account needs an invite code rather than a phone number or personal information. The site says stored mail is individually encrypted on its servers and can only be unlocked with the user's password, that all servers use full-disk encryption, and that internet addresses are not logged. All services have Tor onion addresses, and mail sent to other activist providers is delivered over Tor. The terms are governed by Washington State law and allow an account to be terminated at any time.
What Riseup Mail offers, and what to watch
6 of 14 privacy and safety features, 0 warnings in its terms.
"Not stated" means its own pages do not say.
Identity
- ID never required Not stated
- 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 Not stated
Access
- Tor onion address Yes An official .onion address, reachable only through Tor.
- Works without JavaScript Not stated
Trust
- Open source Not stated
- No-logs policy Yes States that connection or activity logs are not kept.
- Independent audit Not stated
- Company named Not stated
- 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 Riseup Mail 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.
Email page: "We do not require you to sign up with a phone number or personal information. Instead, we rely on invite codes"; the terms contain no identity clause.
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
7.2- Starting points 50
- KYC level 1: No ID mentioned +12
- No email needed +3
- No phone needed +1
- Tor onion service +4
- No-logs policy +2
- Total, clamped to 0–100 72
Safety
6.0- Starting points 50
- 5+ years operating +10
- Total, clamped to 0–100 60
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 Riseup Mail’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 Riseup Mail. 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 Riseup Mail
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Riseup Mail: common questions
Does Riseup Mail require KYC?
Riseup Mail is rated KYC level 1 of 4 on this site: no ID mentioned. Email page: "We do not require you to sign up with a phone number or personal information. Instead, we rely on invite codes"; the terms contain no identity clause.
Is Riseup Mail safe to use?
Riseup Mail has a Safety grade of 6.0 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 7.2 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.
Is Riseup Mail legit?
Riseup Mail is a working email provider that has operated since 1999. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 6.0 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.
Is Riseup Mail 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 Riseup Mail.
Do I need an account or email to use Riseup Mail?
No account needed.
What fees does Riseup Mail charge?
Free; donation-funded. Fees were recorded from Riseup Mail's own pages and can change; check before you send.
What are Riseup Mail's limits?
Invite code required; 1 GB of mail storage.
Does Riseup Mail have a Tor onion address?
Yes. Riseup Mail publishes an official onion address, shown on this page. Open it in Tor Browser.
Can I use Riseup Mail over Tor?
Yes. Riseup Mail publishes an official onion address, shown on this page.
Listing history
- Listing added. Facts and KYC level set from the service's own terms and documentation.