The best webmail services

I love email and I think it might just be one of the best inventions ever. Yet there are so many free and premium providers to choose from how do you really know which one is best for you? Well you read this article for starters!

When it comes to email accounts you want not only a free email account but one that is secure also and there are many to choose from. Such as Google's G mail or others such as Hotmail. But which one is best? Well like all things a person's opinion will always vary. I have been using free webmail for about eight years and only in recent months have I bought my own domain based email address.

Some of the reasons to use a free email service?

1. It's free!

2. You can log in from any computer with an internet connection.

3. If you are going to be signing up to websites or services you are unsure about these are great options for example I have a free email address which I only use for social networks, keeping my paid for email for personal and important things only.

4. They are well known. Telling someone your email address will be easier than explaining your own internet provider's given email address.

5. There are many to choose from, you can use them with clients like Thunderbird, Outlook and even mobile devices.

So which services do you want to be looking at?

The first is my favourite and that is Hotmail. This service goes hand in hand with “MSN” and is also used with Microsoft products such as Xbox 360's live and other web based services. It allows you to use your email address or “Live ID” to sign into a number of different things ranging from a gaming console to their own age old instant messenger “MSN”. That makes them a very good service as you can use the email address you register for free, for any number of various services.

Good points:

• It's free

• You can store large volumes of emails without the need to move or delete

• You can find and receive files, pictures and other attachments

• It has built in security which auto flagged suspicious objects within your inbox

• The variety of other services one email address allows you to sign into and can be used on mobile devices and on third party clients such as Thunderbird and Outlook

• The use of their instant messenger, which is a lot like Skype

Bad points:

• It's inbox safety feature can end up flagging innocent emails, not a huge problem as you can just get them back from the junk folder, but it can become annoying!

• It has been around a long time, many of the common email names have been taken.

• Spam, is a huge problem although you will get this with many of the free email services and even paid ones. There is a huge problem with “Hotmail” @hotmail @live and so on. This is due to spammers just using dictionary results to post just about every word and number before those email domains and send their spam emails out. I found out of all the providers I tried Hotmail was the worst for spam.

Having said that as it is free I guess I can't complain that much, they are a good service and have some great account security features such as being able to add a mobile number (cell) so if you ever forget your details a simply text (sms) message can allow you back in. Along with the usual recovery questions and “optional” second email address.

Google mail, or G mail

This for me is a close second, although on the whole Google on the whole offer a lot more services than Hotmail for example, Google Maps, street view and various other free services. Many of their products have an in your face price attached such as Adwords, Custom search and so on. But back on track with the topic at hand. Their email or webmail is actually quite good. Offering all of the features Hotmail does and like Hotmail it has a selection of other services which you can use your G mail account to sign into. Such as Blogger, Youtube and Adsense. All very important in today’s world and so us hubbers, for many Adsense is essential.

Yet as much as they offer, they are let down so lets have a look at the good and bad side:

Good points:

• It's free!

• Like Hotmail the inbox is well equipped and can hold many emails before the need to delete or move any comes and it can be used with Thunderbird and Outlook

• You can use other Google services with the same G mail account also known as a Google ID, such as their own social network, Youtube and Blogger.

Bad points:

• If you are banned from any of their services, although not a problem for most users. You can find you lose access to all services attached to that account, such as Adsense, Youtube and so on.

• Spam, although not as bad as on Hotmail

Gmx webmail

Now this service is not as well known it is one of those which really just appeared on the internet overnight so to speak. It offers little more than just a simply webmail but its service is great, where as the likes of Google and Hotmail both offer many other features to their users. Gmx keep it simple, webmail and an email account how it was meant to be. No Bells and whistles. It is a free service which allows you to create an email account and use it from any computer with an internet connection.

Good points:

• It's free

• It's just email, no fancy stuff

• Little spam gets through

• Nice custom themes to make your inbox your own along with Thunderbird and Outlook support

Bad points:

• Depending on how you look at it, its simplicity can be a bad thing

• Some services actually do not see Gmx domain emails as a “valid” email address

• There can be times where your inbox will not load, or appear empty. A bug that was never fixed.

Yahoo webmail

For may people this is a very well known option. Like Hotmail and Google they offer many services most of which are free, such as Yahoo Answers, Games and so on. All with the one Yahoo ID (email) but the reason I rate them so low is simple. They are a spam hive. More so than Hotmail. I feel and this is a personal opinion that Yahoo gets hit by spam emails a lot more than any other service. Even if you have not used the address for anything, give it a week and you will have a handful of junk emails. But as far as sending and receiving goes it goes the job.

Good points:

• It's free

• Lots of email and web space

• Many other services included with the ID

Bad points:

• Spam and Third party clients are not great with this service. Emails that arrived and can be seen online may take several hours to reach a client like Thunderbird or Outlook

  Although many third party companies such as England's BT (British telecom) use Yahoo mail as their own email service.