Alternatives to Hey
Opinionated email workflow from 37signals
Hey ranks #11 of 12 in Email services, with an Alt Score of 51. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $99/year and available on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. 9 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
People frustrated with traditional email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Apple Mail) who want more control over who can reach their inbox and less tracking/clutter.
An email client (with an integrated calendar) built by 37signals that screens first-time senders before they reach you, separates mail into the Imbox (priority), The Feed (newsletters), and Paper Trail (receipts/transactional mail), and blocks spy-pixel tracking. It adds workflow tools like Reply Later, Set Aside, Bubble Up, Clips, and Snippets for processing mail in batches rather than reactively.
New senders land in The Screener, where you approve or reject them; approved senders' mail then routes automatically into the Imbox, Feed, or Paper Trail, and you triage and reply using the built-in queuing and batching tools.
Why people leave Hey
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How Hey compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Email services checklist | Hey | Proton Mail | Tuta | mailbox.org | Posteo | Zoho Mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| E2E encryption | ||||||
| Custom domain support | ||||||
| Storage (free tier) | ||||||
| Aliases included | ||||||
| Calendar & contacts | ||||||
| IMAP/SMTP access | ||||||
| Jurisdiction | ||||||
| Independent audit published | ||||||
| Catch-all addresses | ||||||
| Ad-free | ||||||
| Import from competitors | ||||||
| Anonymous signup |
Every fact and feature listed for Hey is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary verified 2026-07-11
© 37signals LLC. All rights reserved.
https://www.hey.com/security/ -
Pricing model Subscription verified 2026-07-11
Try HEY free for 30-days
https://www.hey.com/pricing/ -
Starts at $99/year verified 2026-07-11
$99 per year
https://www.hey.com/pricing/ -
Platforms Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-11
Use HEY on the Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android
https://www.hey.com/pricing/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
Introducing HEY for Families — add up to 4 additional people for just $179/year total. Each person gets their own @hey.com email address, calendar, and account.
https://www.hey.com/pricing/ -
E2E encryption No verified 2026-07-11
But email was never designed to be end-to-end encrypted, because with email you don’t get to control what app or service the recipient uses.
https://www.hey.com/security/ -
Custom domain support Yes verified 2026-07-11
Send and receive email with your own custom domain
https://www.hey.com/domains/ -
Storage (free tier) No verified 2026-07-11
Try HEY free for 30-days
https://www.hey.com/pricing/ -
Aliases included Yes verified 2026-07-11
Set up unlimited email aliases in seconds
https://www.hey.com/domains/ -
Calendar & contacts Yes verified 2026-07-11
Need to remember details about a contact? Where you met, their phone number, when to follow-up, etc. Contact Notes are a great way to document details about a contact without having to go digging thro
https://www.hey.com/features/ -
IMAP/SMTP access No verified 2026-07-11
You can forward email from other accounts to your HEY account, but you can’t log in and check other email accounts from the HEY apps. HEY doesn’t support IMAP or POP.
https://help.hey.com/article/719-can-i-use-hey-to-check-my-other-email-accounts -
Independent audit published Yes verified 2026-07-11
We hired Trail of Bits to review our encryption approach, and Doyensec to perform a broad application review. You can check their reports below and the actions we took:
https://www.hey.com/security/ -
Ad-free Yes verified 2026-07-11
You deserve an ad-free Imbox.
https://www.hey.com/the-hey-way/ -
Import from competitors Partial verified 2026-07-11
You can forward new email from any service into HEY, but HEY does not import your existing email from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud.
https://help.hey.com/article/717-can-i-import-my-gmail-outlook-apple-email-into-hey
FAQ
Yes. Proton Mail, Tuta and Zoho Mail have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Proton Mail and Tuta — every license claim links its source.