ProtonMail and Tutanota are the two email services at the top of the list if you’re seeking a privacy-focused email service. Tutanota and ProtonMail, for example, are both open-source, free up to a point, and allow end-to-end encryption. If that’s still not clear, here’s a full head-to-head detail of Tutanota VS ProtonMail.
ProtonMail vs Tutanota
1. Interface/Ease of Use
Let’s start with the apps’ user interfaces and how simple they are to use. Let’s start with the mobile apps.
When comparing ProtonMail and Tutanota’s smartphone interfaces, I find ProtonMail to be more minimalist and clear. Your default inbox displays on the app’s home page. The hamburger style menu is located on the top-left and allows you to move between drafts, send an email, access contacts, and so on. To compose an email page is a standard one, including fields for the sender’s e-mail address, topic, and message. ProtonMail also has a lock icon that you may use to password-encrypt your emails.
Swipe movements will also come in handy if you’re coming from Gmail or Inbox. You can mark an email as read by swiping right, and deleting it by swiping left. The ProtonMail settings allow you to change these gestures.
Tutanota, on the other hand, is designed with mobile devices in mind. You may switch between search, contacts, and calendar using the bottom navigation bar. Unless you build your own folders, the hamburger menu doesn’t offer many possibilities. Swipe gestures are similar to those found in ProtonMail. You can archive an email by right-swiping it and delete it by left-swiping it.
Tutanota is the only app with a dark mode, making it more comfortable to use on a mobile device.
ProtonMail and Tutanota both have web apps that are identical to their smartphone apps. Tutanota has desktop software for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. On the other hand, ProtonMail doesn’t have dedicated desktop apps.
2. Security and Encryption
End-to-end encryption is provided by both ProtonMail and Tutanota. This is the distinguishing feature of these email services, which sets them apart from other email services such as Outlook, Gmail, and others.
End-to-end encryption, or E2EE, ensures that messages are encrypted on your PC when you send an email, in case you didn’t know. Finally, when the recipient opens and reads the email, it is decrypted on their device. The communication cannot be read by the company’s server or anybody else in the middle, since they do not know how to decode it. The key used to encrypt and decrypt the communication is kept locally on the sender’s and receiver’s devices.
In terms of technical details, both email services offer two forms of E2EE. If the receiver does not use ProtonMail or Tutanota, for example, the services will employ symmetric E2EE. In that instance, you’d have to disclose the password to view the email as well as the email.
If both you and the recipient use ProtonMail or Tutanota, the services use asymmetric encryption. In this situation, the decryption key is your email password, and you don’t need to share it with the email.
These higher levels of encryption, however, come at a cost. Both ProtonMail and Tutanota will be unable to restore your mailbox if you forget your password. This is for your own safety, as they will not be able to access your emails.
For asymmetric encryption, ProtonMail employs the OpenPGP method. If the recipient isn’t a ProtonMail user, AES-256 is used for symmetric encryption. On the other hand, Tutanota employs symmetric encryption with AES-128. Tutanota encrypts emails using AES-128, RSA-2048 if the recipient is not a Tutanota user.
Tutanota offers a greater level of encryption, encrypting both your email subject line and your message. ProtonMail doesn’t encrypt your email subject line but only the body
3. Business Plan
The business model is the most important factor to consider when looking for a privacy solution. The business model determines the company’s and product’s overall direction.
You are the product if there is no product.
Tutanota and ProtonMail both rely on subscriptions and contributions to operate. This is a wonderful thing because none of these businesses rely on affiliates or marketing.
Both ProtonMail and Tutanota are based in Europe and are subject to GDPR regulations. Tutanota is based in Germany, while ProtonMail is based in Switzerland.
4. Data Collected
Apart from encryption, data collecting is the second most crucial consideration when it comes to privacy-focused apps. Security features are beneficial, but it’s also crucial to understand what data they collect.
First and foremost, when you sign up for either service, your IP address is collected. This IP address is necessary to prevent spam and service abuse. When you send an email, the services do store the email address of both the sender and receiver.
Tutanota deletes mailbox logs after seven days, however, ProtonMail keeps them for a little longer. It keeps the information until you delete your account. These IP addresses and email logs, however, are anonymized.
5. Features: Tutanota VS ProtonMail
Aside from privacy and security, there aren’t many extra features to look forward to from both. That is their unique selling point. Within the email software, ProtonMail offers integrated contacts and groups. However, there is no integrated calendar. You can, however, download Proton Calendar separately, which is currently in beta. ProtonMail also has the ability to send disappearing e-mails, which are similar to disappearing messages.
Tutanota, on the other hand, includes an end-to-end encrypted calendar as well as a mailbox but excludes disappearing emails.
If you use third-party email clients, you’ll be delighted to hear that ProtonMail Bridge allows you to integrate ProtonMail with them. With third-party services, Proton Bridge oversees the encryption and decryption of mail. This option, however, is only available to premium customers.
Tutanota currently does not allow you to utilize it with a third-party email client.
6. Pricing: Tutanota VS ProtonMail
Both ProtonMail and Tutanota are essentially free. Both services will not provide you with custom domain names if you use the free version, as is the case with most free email providers. ProtonMail and Tutanota both provide free accounts with 400 MB and 1 GB of storage, respectively.
If you want to upgrade, ProtonMail costs $5 per month and Tutanota costs $1.4 per month. Tutanota is far less expensive in terms of price, however, it only has 1 GB of storage compared to ProtonMail’s 5 GB. Tutanota appears to be the better deal if you don’t deal with a lot of media or presentations.
One of the benefits of a ProtonMail membership is the ability to add 1 GB of storage at a time. If you are an individual, this choice, as opposed to set storage solutions, can help you save a lot of money.
Conclusion: Tutanota VS ProtonMail: Privacy Email Apps Comparison
If I had to choose between Tutanota and ProtonMail, I’d go with ProtonMail because it has a larger user base. You won’t have to exchange another password every time you send an email this way. Furthermore, if you utilize ProtonMail’s other services, such as its free VPN, the cost will reduce.
