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Mailotte vs Tuta
Tuta encrypts more of your mailbox than almost anyone. The cost is that standard email software cannot talk to it at all. Here is the trade, stated plainly.
Tuta (formerly Tutanota) is a German provider that encrypts further than most: not just message bodies but subject lines, contacts and calendar entries, with keys that stay on your device. It is among the few services where the provider genuinely cannot see the metadata that other "encrypted" mail leaves in the clear.
The consequence is unusually strict. Tuta supports no IMAP, POP3 or SMTP at all — not via a bridge, not on paid plans. You use Tuta's own apps or you do not use Tuta. That is not an oversight; those protocols assume a server that can read and route plaintext, which is exactly what Tuta's design refuses to be.
Mailotte is built for the person who wanted to leave Gmail and found that the encrypted options asked them to leave normal email too.
Side by side
| Mailotte | Tuta | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | End-to-end, including subject lines, contacts and calendar. Keys stay on your device. |
| Can the provider read your mail? | Technically yes; never profiled, sold, or used for training. | No, including subject lines. |
| 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. | None. No IMAP, POP3 or SMTP, and no bridge — Tuta's own apps only. |
| Jurisdiction | MAILOTTE LTD, registered in England & Wales (no. 17119010). | Tutao GmbH, Germany. |
| Where mail is stored | Servers in the EU only, for every account. | Germany (EU). |
| Import from your old provider | Import from Gmail or any IMAP provider. | Import tooling exists but is constrained by the encryption model. |
| Search | Full-text and meaning-based search, server-side. | Local search over locally-decrypted mail. |
| Inbox triage / AI assistance | Built in. | Not offered; the encryption model precludes server-side analysis. |
| Free plan | 5 GB, 3 aliases. | 1 GB, 1 address, no custom domain. Tuta pricing. |
| Ads | None. Mailotte has no advertising business, so there is nothing to profile you for. | None. |
Tuta is the stronger encryption product. Full stop.
If you are comparing on cryptographic guarantees, Tuta wins and it is not particularly close — encrypted subject lines and encrypted calendars are things Mailotte does not offer and does not claim to. Post-quantum work is ongoing there too. Pick Tuta if that is the axis you are optimising.
The IMAP question is the real decision
For most people the deciding factor is not cryptography, it is whether their phone's mail app, their desktop client, and the twenty years of habits attached to them keep working. With Tuta they do not — that is a documented, deliberate design choice, not a gap to be filled later. Mailotte connects to Apple Mail, Thunderbird and any phone mail app with an app password, because Mailotte's servers can speak the protocols.
So which one should you pick?
Mailotte, if: You want EU hosting and no surveillance, but you need your existing mail apps, real search, and an inbox that sorts itself.
Not Mailotte, if: You need encrypted subject lines and metadata, and you are content to live inside one vendor's apps.
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
Does Tuta support IMAP?
No. Tuta supports no IMAP, POP3 or SMTP access, and does not offer a bridge application. Its end-to-end encryption model is incompatible with protocols that assume the server can read message content and metadata.
Is Mailotte as encrypted as Tuta?
No. Tuta encrypts message bodies, subject lines, contacts and calendars end-to-end. Mailotte encrypts mail in transit and encrypts attachments and stored files at rest, but its servers process message content in order to sort and search your inbox.
Are both hosted in the EU?
Yes. Tuta stores mail in Germany; Mailotte stores mail on EU servers for every account. Mailotte is operated by MAILOTTE LTD, registered in England and Wales.
Can I connect my phone's mail app to Mailotte?
Yes. Create an app password in settings and add the account to any standard mail app using IMAP and SMTP.