EmailBest Reviewed
Webmail
- Best free webmail service Gmail *Est. $0
- Familiar interface, unlimited email storage Yahoo! Mail *Est. $0
- Customizable webmail Windows Live Hotmail *Est. $0
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Best free webmail service
- Fast, well organized
- Offline option with automatic synchronization
- IMAP and POP support free
- Attachments up to 20 MB
- Unusual interface -- tags, not folders
- No full preview pane
- Storage ample but not unlimited
April 2009. Reviewers praise Gmail for its speed, ease of use and excellent organization. You can assign multiple color-coded tags to emails, and Gmail automatically organizes the inbox in threads to keep related messages together. Among the top free webmail providers, only Gmail can send 20 MB messages. Ads are limited to text messages shown only on received email, not on email that's sent. Gmail also earns kudos for continually adding new features -- now making it possible, for example, to work offline, recall sent mail, see multiple inboxes, etc. The unusual interface gets mixed reviews; if you'd rather use webmail that looks like most desktop email programs, you might prefer Yahoo! Mail -- despite its more obtrusive ads.
The email guide at About.com compares Gmail with about 20 other webmail providers -- more than any other comparison review site we found. The reviews and rating at WebUuser are briefer but clearly recent, while the 2008 reviews at Macworld and WindowsSecrets.com add useful details. The 2007 comparison review at WebWorkerDaily.com is still relevant, and the single-product review at GoogleTutor.com compares Gmail 2.0 with an earlier version.
Our Sources
1. About.com
Gmail earns a near-perfect rating here, taking the top spot among more than 20 webmail providers. The About.com guide to email praises Gmail for speed and organization, noting only minor drawbacks. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
Review: Gmail Review, Heinz Tschabitscher
2. WebUser
This brief but recent review of Gmail (called Google Mail in the U.K., where WebUser is based) gives it a four-star rating (on a five-point scale) on three different factors: features, performance and ease of use -- ranking it a bit higher than Yahoo! Mail. Gmail earns praise for "superb search" and overall ease of use, but this site ranks a new service, GMX, even higher.
Review: Google Mail Review, Simon Pickstock, Feb. 2009
This detailed review also gives Gmail a four-star rating, saying that "Gmail dominates its rivals in flexibility" and praising its IMAP support and labeling system. Spam filtering does have some holes when it comes to emails in some languages. A March 2009 review of the Gmail offline feature says it works "seamlessly."
Review: Review: Google Gmail Email Software, Nathan Alderman, Apr. 2008
Gmail loses points in this review because of privacy concerns and its unusual interface. However, the reviewer finds it faster than both Yahoo! Mail and Windows Live Hotmail.
Review: Yahoo Mail's Makeover Gives It the Webmail Edge, Scott Dunn, July 24, 2008
Gmail gets top ranking in this three-way comparison review, earning praise for its innovative interface and unobtrusive ads. Its weak point is integration with other services, which is where Yahoo! Mail excels. We'd rate this review even higher if it were a little more current.
Review: Head to Head: Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, Judi Sohn, May 2007
Reviewer Mark O'Neill finds significant improvements in Gmail 2.0, praising it both for faster speed and for improved handling of contacts. However, no attempt is made to compare Gmail to other webmail services.
Review: There's a New Gmail in Town and It's Rooting Tooting Fast!, Mark O'Neill, Oct. 30, 2007
