# 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.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/hey/
Category: Email services

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: 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.
- **What you get**: 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.
- **How it works**: 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.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: $99/year (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Proton Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/proton-mail.md) | 96 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 2 | [Tuta](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tuta.md) | 93 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 3 | [mailbox.org](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mailboxorg.md) | 74 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [Posteo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/posteo.md) | 74 | ? | Web |
| 5 | [Zoho Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zoho-mail.md) | 70 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 6 | [Fastmail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fastmail.md) | 66 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [iCloud Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/icloud-mail.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, macOS |
| 8 | [Migadu](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/migadu.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Web |
| 9 | [Outlook.com](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/outlookcom.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 10 | [StartMail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/startmail.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Web |
| 11 | [Gmail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/gmail.md) | 48 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Email services checklist | Hey | Proton Mail | Tuta | mailbox.org | Posteo | Zoho Mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Freemium | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription | Freemium |
| Starts at | $99/year | ? | €3/month | €1/month | €1/month | ? |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | ? | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| E2E encryption | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | No |
| Custom domain support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Storage (free tier) | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Aliases included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar & contacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IMAP/SMTP access | No | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jurisdiction | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Independent audit published | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
| Catch-all addresses | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Ad-free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Import from competitors | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous signup | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |

## Sources

Sources for Hey. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.hey.com/security/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “© 37signals LLC. All rights reserved.”
- **Pricing model**: Subscription — <https://www.hey.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Try HEY free for 30-days”
- **Starts at**: $99/year — <https://www.hey.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “$99 per year”
- **Platforms**: Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android — <https://www.hey.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Use HEY on the Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.hey.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “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.”
- **E2E encryption**: No — <https://www.hey.com/security/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “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.”
- **Custom domain support**: Yes — <https://www.hey.com/domains/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Send and receive email with your own custom domain”
- **Storage (free tier)**: No — <https://www.hey.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Try HEY free for 30-days”
- **Aliases included**: Yes — <https://www.hey.com/domains/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Set up unlimited email aliases in seconds”
- **Calendar & contacts**: Yes — <https://www.hey.com/features/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “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”
- **IMAP/SMTP access**: No — <https://help.hey.com/article/719-can-i-use-hey-to-check-my-other-email-accounts> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “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.”
- **Independent audit published**: Yes — <https://www.hey.com/security/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “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:”
- **Ad-free**: Yes — <https://www.hey.com/the-hey-way/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “You deserve an ad-free Imbox.”
- **Import from competitors**: Partial — <https://help.hey.com/article/717-can-i-import-my-gmail-outlook-apple-email-into-hey> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “You can forward new email from any service into HEY, but HEY does not import your existing email from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/