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Mailotte vs mailbox.org
Both are European, ad-free and happy to talk to your mail app. mailbox.org leans into PGP and a productivity suite; Mailotte leans into an inbox that sorts itself. Here is the trade, sourced.
mailbox.org is a German provider and, on paper, the closest thing to Mailotte in Europe. It is run by Heinlein Hosting GmbH in Berlin, it keeps mail exclusively in its own data centres in Germany, across two Berlin locations, and it promises “no advertising, no tracking”. It speaks IMAP, POP3 and SMTP like any standard mail host.
Where they part ways is what each adds on top. mailbox.org adds encryption tooling and a productivity suite: PGP and S/MIME in the webmail and an opt-in PGP-encrypted inbox, on every plan, with calendar and contacts throughout and drive storage, online documents and video meetings on its larger plans. Mailotte adds software that does some of the work: triage into what needs you, search by meaning, and receipts and bookings pulled out of your mail — with the AI running on Mailotte's own servers in Europe and never trained on your mail.
Side by side
| Mailotte | mailbox.org | |
|---|---|---|
| Where mail is stored | Servers in the EU only, for every account. | Its own data centres in Germany, across two locations in Berlin. |
| Who operates it | MAILOTTE LTD, registered in England & Wales (no. 17119010). | Heinlein Hosting GmbH, Berlin, Germany. |
| Ads | None. Mailotte has no advertising business, so there is nothing to profile you for. | None — “no advertising, no tracking”. |
| Encryption model | No. Mail is encrypted in transit, and attachments and stored files are encrypted at rest with a key Mailotte holds — but Mailotte's servers can process your mail. That is what makes search and triage possible. | PGP and S/MIME through mailbox Guard, which encrypts and decrypts on mailbox.org's servers and, in its own words, “does not provide true end-to-end encryption”. An opt-in encrypted inbox goes further, encrypting new mail so only your private PGP key can open it. |
| Desktop & phone mail apps | Native IMAP, SMTP and POP3 with an app password. Apple Mail, Thunderbird and phone mail apps connect directly — no bridge, no desktop helper. | IMAP, POP3 and SMTP directly, no bridge — with an app password once two-factor sign-in is on. |
| Free plan | Yes — 5 GB and 3 aliases, with your own @mailotte.com address. | No free plan — a 30-day free trial of any plan. |
| Aliases | 3 on Free, 10 on Zen, unlimited on Haven. | 3 on Light, 25 on mailbox.org addresses on the larger plans, and up to 250 on your own domain with Premium. |
| Custom domains | Custom domains on Haven. | On Standard and Premium. |
| Beyond email | Email-first: triage, meaning-based search, and receipt and booking extraction. | Calendar and address book on every plan; drive storage, online office documents, video meetings and chat from Standard up. |
Where mailbox.org is clearly ahead
Encryption you can use without leaving the webmail: PGP and S/MIME through mailbox Guard, and an opt-in inbox that encrypts every new message with your own PGP key — which keeps mail at rest further out of reach than Mailotte's model, where message bodies are not separately encrypted. It is also a German company storing mail only in Germany, a simpler jurisdictional story than a UK company with EU storage. And if you want calendar, cloud storage, online documents and video meetings from one European provider, mailbox.org bundles them.
Where the difference is real, not marketing
Mailotte has a free plan and mailbox.org does not — you can use Mailotte without paying. And Mailotte's inbox does some of the work: two-pile triage, search by meaning, and receipts and bookings pulled out of your mail, with the AI on Mailotte's own servers in Europe and never trained on your mail. On mail apps the two are level: both speak IMAP, POP3 and SMTP directly. This page makes no claim about AI at mailbox.org — its product and pricing pages don't describe any.
So which one should you pick?
Mailotte, if: You want an EU inbox that sorts itself and a free plan, and you don't need built-in PGP or an office suite.
Not Mailotte, if: You want PGP and an encrypted inbox built into your webmail, a German-only provider, or calendar, drive and documents from the same company.
Every new account gets 14 days of the top plan with no card, and Mailotte imports from Gmail or any IMAP provider — so you can run both for a fortnight and decide with your actual mail rather than a table.
Questions
Is mailbox.org end-to-end encrypted?
Not by default. Its PGP feature, mailbox Guard, encrypts and decrypts on mailbox.org's servers, and mailbox.org states that it does not provide true end-to-end encryption. Separately, an opt-in encrypted inbox encrypts new mail so that only your private PGP key and its password can open it.
Does mailbox.org have a free plan?
No. mailbox.org offers a 30-day free trial of any of its plans. Mailotte has a Free plan with 5 GB and 3 aliases.
Can I use Apple Mail or Thunderbird with both?
Yes. Both support IMAP, POP3 and SMTP directly. mailbox.org asks for an app password once two-factor sign-in is on; Mailotte always uses an app password for mail apps, never your web login password.
Where is my mail stored?
mailbox.org stores mail only in its own data centres in Germany, across two locations in Berlin. Mailotte stores mail on servers in the EU for every account.