# What's the best free email provider? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245 "2000-09-06T17:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/1 "2000-09-06T17:00:13Z")
Yea, I know there are an assload. Reliability is a huge consideration, server speed is another one. I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, just reliable email service, preferably with an easy to tag. (not @bobshouseofemail1345.com) Screw AOL, I have an alternate ISP that’s free, and people are giving away server space for websites like it’s candy. Free email, who’s the best? ---
**Author:** ![KevinLeeC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@KevinLeeC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KevinLeeC)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/2 "2000-09-06T17:30:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles \* > \*\*I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, just reliable email service, preferably with an easy to tag. > Free email, who’s the best? \*\* I’m pretty fond of [Yahoo.Com](http://Yahoo.Com). They even offer SMTP/POP3 access if you’re willing to accept the SPAM they send you from time to time. Since it’s not that much and not obnoxious, I consider it a fair trade for the opportunity to use a real E-mail client. I’ve never known [Yahoo.Com](http://Yahoo.Com) to loose mail, but occasionally the POP3 is down and I have to read my mail through the web interface. KC ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/3 "2000-09-06T17:51:24Z")
Hotmail certainly does not fill me with orgiastic delight, but it works pretty well. It’s down maybe once a month, which is better than some ISPs I dealt with, let alone free-mail services. Just keep your total messages file to under 2 megs, and you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/4 "2000-09-06T18:10:09Z")
I’ve used [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com) for a long time now, and it’s fast, and rarely,if ever down. I don’t recall it being down, but then the last time I checked they ran the whole thing on BSD of some type. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/5 "2000-09-06T18:14:41Z")
[yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com) seems like the best one to use. It’s not really cluttered with too many images and it gets the job done. ---
**Author:** ![Meephead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Meephead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meephead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/6 "2000-09-06T22:54:03Z")
Here are my reasons: Web interface is simple, and available with or without frames. SMTP/POP access 6 Mb of storage space compared to MSN’s 2 and others usually at 3. Very reliable… any outages I have seen have been very brief. ---
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/7 "2000-09-06T23:19:13Z")
I use Dark Horse Mail and have never had a problem (outside of when they took [jedimail.net](http://jedimail.net) off _sigh_). They’re quick and reliable and you get to have a slightly different email address (mine isn’t what you think but it is fun seeing people jump to the wrong conclusions). [http://www.dhmail.net/signup.html](http://www.dhmail.net/signup.html) ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/8 "2000-09-07T02:21:05Z")
A big fat Yahoo to you. For all the above reasons. Simple. Fast. I’ve never seen it down. There ya go. \>b ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/9 "2000-09-07T07:29:16Z")
I’ve heard others complain of hotmail being down, but I’ve experienced that once, for a few hours, in well over a year of usage. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyNipples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@JimmyNipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyNipples)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/10 "2000-09-07T13:04:06Z")
I use Hotmail. I wish they had better instructions…I still can’t find a place to put the stamp. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/11 "2000-09-07T15:19:18Z")
I like [onebox.com](http://onebox.com) Besides free e-mail, you get a free fax number (if the people faxing you know how to fax to an extension), and voicemail. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/12 "2000-09-07T17:17:32Z")
Yahoo. For all of the above reasons. I only use the web interface and have had no problems. Plus, if you install Yahoo Messenger, you can set an alert to come up and notify you of new mail. That’s handy when sitting in front a computer everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/13 "2000-09-07T18:51:23Z")
I’ve run Hotmail since 1997 without a single problem or loss of service for more than a day (and that was only on one occasion, IIRC). It’s light on graphics and has every feature that I feel I need. Hotmail also offers an alert package (MSN Messenger) that lets you know when new mail is received. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/14 "2000-09-07T19:06:29Z")
I use [http://www.mymail.tm](http://www.mymail.tm) . It looks good and is really fast . People can mix it up with [mymail.com](http://mymail.com) though . ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/15 "2000-09-07T20:45:32Z")
Am I the only one here who uses **Yahoo** and **hates** it? I use it via the Web here at work, and it’s always giving me errors. “Invalid mailbox state” is the main one, but it also gives me errors when I try to retrieve my Mindspring mail via Yahoo. It doesn’t like to do that. Often when I refresh the Inbox it returns a page full of garbage text instead of what should be showing. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/16 "2000-09-08T00:05:36Z")
Juno cause it doesn’t connect to the net to get/send mail. But calls a local number. Also can connect to the web, free, small program too. ---
**Author:** ![Zantac\_Overlord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c67d28/32.png) [@Zantac\_Overlord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zantac_Overlord)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/17 "2000-09-08T02:11:24Z")
Yahoo is the very best in everything but forwarding to other addresses, which isn’t free. But they do allow a couple of personalities, so it’s OK. You can be zantac@yahoo and joesautoshop@yahoo and bigbrotherpaul@yahoo And they have the most features. Unlike Hotmail, you can have automatic vacation answering and easy repeat reminders for calendar events. (I have mine set to email me when the storage space payment is due, since they don’t mail me a bill.) For forwarding, most of them are too slow anyway. You lose anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours on a forward, usually depending on message size and attachments. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/18 "2000-09-08T02:24:35Z")
I have Hotmail and Outlook Express will access it directly. It works pretty well. I also have a number of other POP3 accounts one of them YAHOO where I get TONS of spam. I have set up filters that delete it without even downloading it butthe fact is that I get tons of spam there when it is one that I use the least. Yahoo must give the address out. Shame on them. Also , Yahoo is down more often than hotmail ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/19 "2000-09-08T02:43:02Z")
I like my [evilbastards.com](http://evilbastards.com) email account. It’s fast, it always works for me, and I can have my mail from other accounts forwarded to it. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245/20 "2000-09-08T15:48:23Z")
With Juno, we never get any spam. Sometimes ads from Juno come in the email but thats about it. Im pretty sure MSN & Yahoo get spam, right? MSN is only 12bucks a month from Costco. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-free-email-provider/32245.md?page=2)