# Alternatives to DuckDuckGo Email Protection
@duck.com forwarding with tracker stripping.
DuckDuckGo Email Protection ranks #9 of 10 in Email alias services, with an Alt Score of 40. It is proprietary, free from Free and available on Web, Browser extension, iOS and Android. 7 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/duckduckgo-email-protection/
Category: Email alias services
## Overview
- **Who it's for**: Anyone who wants to sign up for accounts, newsletters, or online forms without exposing their real email address, and who wants existing email trackers stripped out before mail hits their inbox.
- **What you get**: A free @duck.com email address plus unlimited private Duck Addresses you can generate on the fly for any site or signup. Incoming mail has hidden trackers and tracking pixels removed before delivery. Everything forwards straight to your existing inbox, so you keep using your current email provider.
- **How it works**: You create a personal @duck.com address or generate a unique private alias per website; mail sent to any of these addresses is scanned to strip known trackers, then automatically forwarded to your real inbox.
## Profile
- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Platforms**: Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-08)
## Ranked alternatives
| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [SimpleLogin](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/simplelogin.md) | 100 | AGPL-3.0 | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [addy.io](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/addyio.md) | 90 | AGPL-3.0 | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension |
| 3 | [Forward Email](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/forward-email.md) | 90 | BUSL-1.1 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 4 | [Firefox Relay](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/firefox-relay.md) | 75 | MPL-2.0 | ? |
| 5 | [33mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/33mail.md) | 60 | ? | Web |
| 6 | [AliasVault](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aliasvault.md) | 60 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [ImprovMX](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/improvmx.md) | 55 | Proprietary | Web |
| 8 | [Apple Hide My Email](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apple-hide-my-email.md) | 45 | Proprietary | iOS, macOS, Web |
| 9 | [Burner Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/burnermail.md) | 30 | ? | Web, Browser extension |
Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/
## Feature comparison
Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).
| Email alias services checklist | DuckDuckGo Email Protection | SimpleLogin | addy.io | Forward Email | Firefox Relay | 33mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | Free | $36/year | ? | $3/mo | ? | $1/mo |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 | BUSL-1.1 | MPL-2.0 | ? |
| Platforms | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | ? | Web |
| Unlimited aliases (paid) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domains | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reply from alias | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? |
| Open source | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| PGP encryption | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Free tier limits | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Catch-all support | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
## Sources
Sources for DuckDuckGo Email Protection. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
- **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service that removes multiple types of hidden email trackers and lets you create unlimited unique private email addresses on the fly.”
- **Pricing model**: Free — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service”
- **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service”
- **Platforms**: Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “You can sign up for DuckDuckGo Email Protection in a DuckDuckGo mobile browser (iOS/Android) … On desktop … a DuckDuckGo desktop browser (Mac/Windows) or desktop browser extension (Firefox/Chrome/Edge”
- **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “lets you create unlimited unique private email addresses on the fly”
- **Unlimited aliases (paid)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: Unlimited aliases are free — no paid tier exists.
- Quote: “Effectively unlimited! Technically, there is a limit on the number of private Duck Addresses you can generate per day to prevent abuse”
- **Custom domains**: No — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: All addresses use @duck.com; no custom domain.
- Quote: “lets you create unlimited unique private email addresses on the fly”
- **Reply from alias**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “We route your replies through duck.com so they're delivered from the Duck Address they were sent to.”
- **Browser extension**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “desktop browser extension (Firefox/Chrome/Edge/Brave/Opera)”
- **Self-hostable**: No — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Quote: “We do not use third-party email services to forward your email. We developed our own software to send and receive email.”
- **Open source**: No — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: Email Protection backend is proprietary.
- Quote: “We developed our own software to send and receive email.”
- **Free tier limits**: No — (verified 2026-07-08)
- Note: Entirely free, no tiers, effectively unlimited aliases.
- Quote: “Effectively unlimited!”
---
Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/