Email providers

PosteovsProton

Both score similarly on sovereignty (84 vs 82). The right choice depends on the details below – open source, self-hosting, pricing and focus.

Score comparison

	Posteo	Proton
Sovereignty	84	82
Privacy	92	95
Open Source	10	70
Business fit	66	74
Migration ease	60	60
Pricing transparency	90	82
Enterprise readiness	55	72

Features & facts

	Posteo	Proton
Country	Germany	Switzerland
Open Source	No	Yes
Self-Hosting	No	No
Cloud/SaaS	Yes	Yes
EU data residency	Yes	No
DPA / AV-Vertrag	Yes	Yes
ISO 27001	Yes	Yes
Data location	Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt)	Switzerland (primary location); own server hardware also in Germany
From	1 € / Monat	3,99 € / Monat
Founded	2009	2014

Posteo

Germany

Ad-free, green email service from Berlin with strong privacy – anonymous sign-up and payment, servers in Germany.

Strengths

Anonymous sign-up and payment, ad-free
Servers in Germany, ISO 27001, 100% green electricity
Simple flat plan (€1/month), annual transparency reports

Weaknesses

Not open source, no self-hosting
Focus on email/groupware, few business/team features
Comparatively little storage in the base plan

Proton

Switzerland

Swiss privacy suite with end-to-end encrypted email, calendar, drive, password manager and VPN.

Strengths

End-to-end encryption across the whole suite
Own server hardware (Switzerland/Germany), no hyperscaler
Open source, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II

Weaknesses

Headquartered in Switzerland (EFTA), not in the EU/EEA
No self-hosting
Encryption limits some convenience features

Choose Posteo if…

Privacy-conscious private users
Users who value anonymity and sustainability

Choose Proton if…

Privacy-conscious private users and teams
Users who want an encrypted all-in-one suite

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Scores are editorial orientation, not legal advice. Details are based on public provider information and are not independently verified.