Webmail Reviews

The reviews below are assigned ratings by ConsumerSearch. These ratings are based on credibility in testing, evaluating and identifying the best Webmail. See our ratings criteria

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Webmail Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Webmail Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. About.com	Top 10 Free Email Services Heinz Tschabitscher Not Dated		Heinz Tschabitscher, About.com's guide to e-mail, does an exhaustive job of breaking down the various services. Unlike most reviews, he provides up-to-date information that includes storage limits, features and upgrades to services. Tschabitscher likes Gmail's organizational tools, and he faults other services that lack threaded messaging and smart folders -- features only offered by Gmail. He places AIM Mail in the number-two spot -- no other reviewers score the service so highly -- but he likes AIM's IMAP and POP access and its clean feel. Yahoo! Mail comes in third with a host of features, including instant messaging, an RSS reader and text messaging. Among smaller providers, InBox.com and FastMail finish in the top six. (Note that ConsumerSearch is a service of About.com.)
2. TechCrunch.com	A comparison of Live Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail Michael Arrington Feb. 8, 2007		Tech Crunch reviews the three leading webmail providers. Gmail comes out on top, but reviewer Michael Arrington notes that Yahoo! Mail and Windows Live Hotmail are closer to an online version of Outlook, which will be more familiar to many users. It takes time to get used to Google's layout, the review says. The storage limits on the services are outdated in the review, but Yahoo! and Windows Live Hotmail's unlimited storage wouldn't have changed the review's outcome. The review points out that far more people use Yahoo! and Windows Live Hotmail than use Gmail.

Webmail Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Webmail Ratings Comments on Reviews

3. Which.co.uk >> Details/Subscribe	Which? Report: Webmail Editors of Which.co.uk May 18, 2007		Which? -- the British equivalent of Consumer Reports -- chooses the current and classic versions of Yahoo! Mail over all other competitors. The reviewers base their choice on the performance of spam filters, advertising in messages, user tests and various features, including storage limits. The magazine's choice actually predates some new features that Yahoo! added this year to compete with Gmail, including unlimited storage and integrated instant messaging. Gmail came in fourth with a dismal 13 percent rating and scored only average in ease of use and performance. Reviewers didn't like Gmail's targeted advertisements, which are based on scans of your e-mails. Aside from very early press when Gmail debuted, this is the only review we found that raised concerns about Gmail's ads.
4. All Things Digital	Years in the making, powerful Yahoo! Mail worth the wait Walt S. Mossberg Aug. 30, 2007		Reviewer Walt S. Mossberg, who also writes technology columns for The Wall Street Journal, takes a close look at Yahoo! Mail, but includes enough comparisons to the other leading webmail services to make this a strong review. Mossberg likes Yahoo! Mail best because it offers several features and acts like a computer program, instead of a web page. The closest competitor to Yahoo! isn't Gmail, but Windows Live Hotmail, asserts Mossberg. Yahoo! Mail gets a slight ding for requiring people to pay $20 for POP access. However, as several reviews point out, storage limits have ceased to be a criterion for comparing webmail systems.

Webmail Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Webmail Ratings Comments on Reviews

5. WebUser.co.uk	Email software roundup Wayne Williams Aug. 2007		These three reviews of Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail are a bit dated, but they do offer a good comparison of the services based on four categories: Features, performance, ease of use and overall impression. Yahoo! and Gmail each get top scores. Yahoo! Mail is applauded for its Outlook-style interface. Gmail gets good marks for its speed, but a slightly lower score for ease of use. Windows Live Hotmail gets three stars overall and is downgraded for poor spam filtering. The review is comprehensive when it comes to features, but it's outdated regarding storage limits.
6. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Yahoo! Mail Michael Muchmore Oct. 26, 2007		This strong single-product review calls Yahoo! Mail the "Webmail client to beat." Reviewer Michael Muchmore gives the service a rating of 4.5 out of 5, as well as an Editor's Choice award. Editors like Yahoo! Mail's preview pane, drop-and-drag functionality, tabs that allow users to open several messages at once and a clean interface despite multiple features. The service also leads others in integrating SMS text, instant messaging and e-mail messages. Despite focusing on Yahoo! Mail, the writer does offer extensive comparison of this service to Gmail, concluding that Yahoo! Mail is superior.
7. CNet.com	AOL Web Mail Elsa Wenzel July 17, 2007		This is a generally favorable single-product review of AOL Web Mail (not to be confused with AIM Mail), though some concerns about the service's sign-in and setup processes are noted. Reviewer Elsa Wenzel scores the service “Good” overall, noting its integrated calendar and blog, unlimited storage, keyboard shortcuts and IMAP access. However, Wenzel ran into significant problems signing up for an account, and then she got locked out of her account for 24 hours after entering the wrong password three times. Editors conclude that the service is acceptable for devoted AOL users, but the start-up issues were too severe to recommend AOL Web Mail over other services. User feedback at CNet.com is limited, but most thus far are not very impressed with the service
8. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	You've Got Webmail Brian Heater Apr. 9, 2007		According to reviewer Brian Heater, Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail and AIM Mail are all much improved over Gmail -- a bold conclusion considering that Gmail isn't reviewed for this article. Short summaries are provided, with links to full reports. Despite the fact that they were still in beta at the time of the review, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail get Editors' Choice ratings. Opera Web Mail is hampered by its paltry 3 MB of storage and scores poorly.
9. Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows	Windows Live Hotmail review Paul Thurott May 2007		This exhaustive review concludes that Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail are equals in the world of webmail. The reviewer prefers Hotmail because he's a heavy Microsoft user, but says any of the three services work well. The review is a great resource for anyone who wants to get into the particulars of Hotmail and Microsoft.

Webmail Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Webmail Ratings Comments on Reviews

10. GoogleTutor.com	There's a new Gmail in town and it's rooting tooting fast! Mark O'Neill Oct. 30, 2007		This is a comprehensive review of the new Gmail 2.0 on a blog dedicated to all things Google. Reviewer Mark O'Neill says the new Gmail is faster and better organized than the older version. In particular, contacts are easier to use in the new version. O'Neill notes this is the first major upgrade to Gmail in three years and hopes a few minor changes are on the way. The partisan nature of the site -- and the lack of comparisons to other webmail services -- results in a lower ranking in our chart. However, it's well written, and the reviewer clearly knows what he's talking about.
11. SmartDeviceCentral.com	AIM Mail Davis Janowski Apr. 6, 2007		This single-product review likes AIM Mail, saying it serves dedicated AOL and AIM users well. While lacking features of the big three webmail services, AIM Mail has a "fluid" feel for people interested in checking their e-mail without a need for an RSS reader or access to online mapping. AIM Mail comes with free IMAP and SMTP access, which makes it compatible with most desktop and mobile applications. Reviewer Davis Janowski doesn't like the ads that are embedded in the program, but he accepts them as a way to keep the service free.
12. RateItAll.com	E-Mail Providers Contributors to RateItAll.com As of Jan. 2008		Users of several e-mail services offer their personal opinions. Gmail receives the highest score, followed by the obscure Gigya e-mail service. This rating shows the weakness of the review. At the time of our visit, Gmail was reviewed by 48 users, while Gigya, which allows embedded widgets, received feedback merely from three users. Users like Gmail's interface and speed. Yahoo! Mail comes in third and has the most user feedback, with many users criticizing the service's spam blocking. Windows Live Hotmail is rated a distant ninth.
13. AssociatedContent.com	Review of Hushmail.com By "Dark Wizard" July 31, 2007		This video review discusses the privacy features available through Hushmail. The webmail service is known for encrypting e-mail messages and making it difficult for hackers or law enforcement authorities to break into e-mails. The review likes Hushmail's security, but it fails to note that the Canadian-based webmail service has turned over e-mails to authorities when ordered by the courts. This revelation has brought Hushmail's security into question by some.

Webmail Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Webmail Ratings Comments on Reviews

14. Helium.com	Comparing Google's Gmail and Yahoo! Mail Contributors to Helium.com Not Dated		Helium.com, a reader-based review website, has a number of entries on the top two webmail options. The reviews are based on personal experience and give some insight into how the services work. However, there are no objective criteria stated, and many of the entries are outdated. Gmail comes out on top because of its simple interface. Yahoo! Mail gets high marks, though some readers consider it too complicated.