Best Reviewed
Webmail
- Best free webmail service Gmail *Est. $0
- Customizable webmail Windows Live Hotmail *Est. $0
- Unlimited email storage Yahoo! Mail *Est. $0
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Unlimited email storage
- Outlook-like interface
- Drag-and-drop folders
- Unlimited mail storage
- Excellent integration with other services
- Ads in free version
- Poor spam filtering
- Extra cost for POP mail forwarding
Yahoo! Mail earns praise in reviews for its integration of features -- for example, with maps, photos, instant messaging and text messaging for cell phones. The feature-rich interface is similar to that of many desktop email programs, making it easy to learn to use. It's also the only major webmail service provider that offers unlimited storage. However, reviewers still criticize the free version for annoying ads and poor spam filtering, recommending stepping up to Yahoo! Mail Plus (*Est. $20) to avoid these problems. The paid version also adds POP support, which lets you forward emails to another account. If you don't mind learning to use tags and search instead of organizing email in folders, reviewers recommend Gmail -- which is faster and also provides offline access and excellent synchronization via IMAP.
The email guide at About.com reviews and rates Yahoo! Mail in comparison with lots of other webmail providers. We also found a Web User review that praises the unlimited storage. Epinions.com, a consumer review website, has more than 500 Yahoo! Mail reviews, and most of them are positive.
Our Sources
1. About.com
Yahoo! Mail earns a slightly lower rating than Gmail in this full review by Heinz Tschabitscher, About.com's guide to email. The main drawbacks are the lack of IMAP support, inability to add multiple tags to emails and spam filtering that needs improvement. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
Review: Yahoo! Mail Review, Heinz Tschabitscher
2. WebUser
This British review of Yahoo! Mail praises its unlimited storage but adds that users aren't likely to need even 5 GB. This site ranks Gmail higher, especially for performance and features.
Review: Yahoo! Mail Review, Simon Pickstock, Feb. 2009
3. Epinions.com
In more than 500 consumer reviews, contributors to Epinions.com praise Yahoo! Mail. Website contributors say the service is speedy and reliable, and it blocks most spam. Many users say they have never experienced outages with this provider. Consumer reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt, however, because they may reflect a misunderstanding or a singular experience, but Epinions.com is widely recognized and used by many people. Gmail had only a handful of reviews on Epinions.com by comparison (less than 50) and Hotmail had more than 500 reviews, but they were somewhat less favorable than Yahoo! Mail.
Review: Yahoo! Mail, Contributors to Epinions.com
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