# Encrypted Email - Mailfence — Secure & private mail suite

> Secure, private, and integrated email suite with cloud storage, calendar, and contacts. (iPhone/iPad app by Contactoffice Group.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/encrypted-email-mailfence/id1628808776 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Contactoffice Group](https://appshunter.io/developer/1563748897)
- Category: Productivity, Business
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.78/5 from 76 App Store ratings · 65 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.4 · 34 MB
- Languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Released: 2023-09-28
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/encrypted-email-mailfence/id1628808776/reviews.md

## What is Encrypted Email?

Mailfence is an encrypted email service that offers a secure and private Email suite with Drive and Workspaces.

Restore Privacy says : 
"Mailfence is a fully-featured alternative to Gmail.  Whether you are a regular privacy-conscious user or managing a business team, Mailfence can cater to your needs."

The Mailfence app consists of different tools all integrated in an easy to use interface.   

Messages:

• Create a @mailfence.com or @mf.me email address
• Send and receive emails 
• Send and receive OpenPGP encrypted emails 
• Send Password-protected Emails to anyone
• Switch between multiple mailboxes
• Keep your inbox tidy and clean with folders, labels and swipes
• Receive new email notifications
• Your Mailfence email account can also be accessed in POP, IMAP & SMTP via third party email clients

Drive / Cloud Storage:

• Access your private and shared documents
• Manage them with folders and labels 
• Share your documents with Mailfence users via workspaces / groups
• Share documents by making them accessible publicly
• Your Mailfence Drive can also be accessed in WebDAV via third party clients

Calendar : 

• Access your private and shared calendars
• Create and accept meetings
• Layer different calendars
• Share your Calendar publicly
• Get reminders by email
• Your Calendar can also be accessed through CalDAV or ActiveSync via third party clients

Contacts / Address book :

• Access your private and shared contacts
• Manage your contacts with labels and comments
• Search in your private and shared address books
• Access your mailing lists
• Your Mailfence Contacts can also be accessed through CardDAV or ActiveSync via third party clients

Why use Mailfence?

• No tracking : No ads, no spams, no trackers, no solicitations, no backdoor, free from government surveillance.
• Privacy protection :  State of the art security features protect your email privacy at all times.
• An integrated suite of tools : Messages, Documents, Groups.
• Legal protection : Belgian privacy protection law is strong. Only local judges can request information and they must have a court order. It rarely happens.
• Workspaces : Share mailboxes, drives and collaborate in shared workspaces.  Advanced sharing rights managed by group administrator.
• Interoperable : User decides whether to encrypt emails or not.  Interoperable with any other OpenPGP encrypted email.  
• Standard protocols : Interoperability with standard clients : Outlook, Mac Mail, Thunderbird,…. 
• Individual or teams :  Ideal for individual users or professionals.

Mailfence in the press:

• In an article Kim Komando of Fox News wrote about Mailfence, "It's a great option for small business owners and ordinary users alike." 
• Lifehacker wrote, "Mailfence is a solid choice with office apps, it's more email- and calendar-focused compared to the comprehensive app suite of Kolab Now." 
• The ProPrivacy's Ray Walsh mentions in his article “Mailfence is a solid and easy-to-use email provider that is ideal for beginners."  
• Restore privacy's Sven Taylor wrote, “Mailfence has all the features and options that you are likely to need, whether you are looking to manage the mail for an entire organization, or just want great service for personal use” 
• Lifewire writes : “Mailfence is a security-centric email service that features end-to-end encryption to ensure nobody but you and your intended recipient can read your messages." 

For more information, check :

• site : https://mailfence.com
• support site : https://kb.mailfence.com
• blog:  https://blog.mailfence.com

## Key features

- OpenPGP encrypted emails
- Password-protected emails
- Integrated cloud storage (Drive)
- Shared calendars and contacts
- Workspaces for collaboration
- No tracking or ads

## What do users think of Encrypted Email?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 🔒 Secure and private email
- 👍 Clean and simple interface
- 🚫 No ads, no spam
- 🇪🇺 European-based service
- ✨ Minimalist design
- 🚀 Efficient performance (when working)

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent login issues
- 🐛 Emails going to spam
- 🐛 Unreliable notifications
- 🐛 Signup blocks privacy-minded users
- 🐛 Poor customer support for free users
- 🐛 App scrolling issues while typing
- 🐛 Inconsistent app functionality across devices
- 🐛 Account deactivation concerns
- 🐛 Difficulty deleting accounts
- 🐛 Limited app features compared to desktop

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Unable to reach servers on phone app
- App scrolls text off screen while typing
- Emails going to spam folder
- Login failures on iOS
- App doesn't recognize login/password after update
- Account deactivated too quickly
- Cannot sign up with valid recovery email
- Account hacked
- Cannot delete account
- iPad app glitch: page scrolls up while typing
- Notifications not working
- Cannot send emails with attachments
- Spam notifications even for spam emails
- IMAP connectivity issues
- App logs out from all devices frequently

**Most requested features**

- Allow account creation with VPNs/privacy tools
- More specific error messages during signup
- Grace period and human review for signup false positives
- Ability to mark emails as 'not spam'
- Folder creation within the app
- Improved dark mode rendering
- Sender icons
- Landscape mode on iOS
- Printing from mobile app
- Calendar and notes integration in mobile app
- Block sender feature
- Ability to add other email providers

## Recent user reviews (10 of 65)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/encrypted-email-mailfence/id1628808776/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Wish I could use it, but I keep getting blocked on signup. Very frustrating.

*2026-08-24, version 1.9.4*

After attempting to register a new account via the app, I have been prevented from doing so by Mailfence. They list 4 potential reasons but don’t specify which one precisely caused the block. I see that other reviewers have encountered this same error, so I can only assume that Mailfence doesn’t care or is incapable of relaxing their criteria for signup. I’m sorry, but I won’t disable my VPN to sign up for a privacy-minded email service. That’s counter to the entire privacy ethos. I also won’t use a big tech personal email address as my recovery email. Again, it’s antithetical to the entire privacy ethos. I’m not in the wrong here; Mailfence is. And they need to fix it if they ever hope to win over converts from Proton and Tuta.

### 1/5 — Long-time customer, disappointed with the support, will not recommend anymore

*2026-08-21, version 1.9.4*

I’ve been using Mailfence since 2020 and became a paying customer over a year ago. I had generally been very happy with the service and had a good experience for many years, but well, not anymore👎

One day, my account was blocked. I contacted support by email to understand the situation and see whether anything could be done, I didn’t send multiple follow-ups or keep chasing them so I trusted that my request would be reviewed and waited patiently. As of writing this, I still haven’t received a response.

I do get that account restrictions can happen and that there may be valid reasons for blocking an account. What I find really disappointing is the lack of communication, especially after being a customer for more than six years.

Their stated typical support response time for paid customer is from a few minutes to up to three days, so I expected at least some kind of response or explanation. Unfortunately, none. And I’m still waiting.

After so many years as a customer, this was honestly a deal breaker for me. I’d been happy with Mailfence for years, but the way this situation was handled and the complete lack of response from support left made me realize I can no longer trust the service.

At this point, I’ll be looking at other options and recommending Proton Mail or Tuta to my friends and clients instead.

I genuinely liked Mailfence and had no plans to leave, but after six years as a customer, this is not how I expected to be treated. I can’t recommend the service anymore👋

### 3/5 — OK, but not perfect

*2026-08-21, version 1.9.4*

The user interface is nice, and the spec is good. However it’s prone to logouts and disconnects.

Also spam is an issue. Support is patchy.

Potential if these issues can be fixed.

### 4/5 — Basic email - one minor annoyance

*2026-07-31, version 1.9.4*

It’s a basic email client. It does the job and doesn’t get in your way.  Supports encryption if you have anyone to correspond with using encryption.  

However, when composing reply emails the app always scrolls your text up so you can only see the current line you’re typing. This cannot be fixed with settings. It happens on every reply or forwarded email, and scrolling back manually only temporarily lets you read your previous lines typed until you start typing again.

### 2/5 — Something has changed

*2026-07-03, version 1.9.4*

No longer receiving email I previously received on a regular basis. And heaven help me if any site wants to send me an email confirmation link.

### 1/5 — Disappointed

*2026-06-20, version 1.9.4*

I setup this email account with a plan to migrate all of my emails across but found 2 issues- 1) I get notified on iPhone that I have received a message and check account on iPhone and n new emails arrived.  Eventually after many of these false notifications I checked on desktop and could see emails.
2). Since the email notifications were unreliable I was hesitant to move my accounts over,  and while I made sure I sent an occasional email, I continued to get notified my account was being deactivated.
I am looking forward to my account with Maltese being deactivated.

### 1/5 — Strong privacy claims — but signup blocks privacy-minded users (must fix)

*2026-05-31, version 1.9.4*

I chose this app specifically because of its stated commitment to privacy and encryption, but my experience creating a new account undermines that promise. During signup the service rejected my registration with a vague error claiming “potential abuse,” and listed several possible causes: country/IP flagged, disposable recovery email, or my browser being outdated. None of those applied — I was using a mainstream iPhone browser, a legitimate recovery address on a privacy-focused provider, and a consistent IP (I temporarily used Cloudflare WARP for privacy). The registration failed because the username was one character too long, which is minor, but the final rejection screen explicitly blocks signups when it detects privacy tooling, disposable emails, or networks with good security practices. That is the opposite of what a privacy-first service should do.

Why this matters:

Privacy-first users intentionally use VPNs, secure DNS, anti-tracking tools, and privacy-focused recovery addresses. Penalizing these behaviors excludes the very people the app claims to protect.
Forced use of non-private recovery channels or blocking secure browsers increases fingerprintability and metadata exposure, undermining the advertised protections.
The error messaging is unhelpful and non-actionable. It lists multiple possible causes without indicating which one actually triggered the block, leaving users guessing and unable to resolve the issue without trial-and-error or contacting support.
Concrete suggestions:

Make the rejection reason specific — tell the user which trigger caused the block (IP reputation, disposable email, browser fingerprint, etc.) and provide clear next steps.
Allow account creation from common privacy setups (VPNs, WARP, secure browsers) or provide a documented, privacy-respecting verification path for those users.
Stop requiring a non-privacy recovery option as the only way to proceed; allow a secondary account on privacy providers or verified phone alternatives that don’t force broader linkage.
Publish a short support page explaining why signups are blocked and how privacy-minded users can legitimately complete registration without weakening their privacy posture.
Add a grace period and human review for plausible false positives so legitimate users aren’t permanently locked out.
My expectation from a privacy-focused app is that they design onboarding to accommodate — not punish — privacy and security choices. Please fix the signup flow, clarify error messages, and provide an alternate verification path that doesn’t require users to choose between account access and their privacy tools.

### 5/5 — Absolutely great 👏

*2026-05-09, version 1.9.3*

The greatest and most serious email platform ever !

### 2/5 — Basic email - one major annoyance

*2026-04-28, version 1.9.3*

It’s a basic email client. Nothing special here. It does the job. 

However, when composing an email the app always scrolls your text off the screen every time you type a letter. This cannot be fixed with settings. It happens on every email, and scrolling manually only temporarily lets you read what you’re typing until you start typing again.

I give two stars due to this significantly interfering with a core function of an email client.

### 1/5 — Not up to par anymore

*2026-02-20, version 1.9.0*

I’ve had Mailfence for a number of years now with no problems but lately the app refuses to connect at all and it’s been really buggy sounds like maybe some ip’s are being blocked this is 😔

## Frequently asked questions about Encrypted Email

### What is this app?

This app is a secure and private email service that includes integrated tools like cloud storage (Drive), a calendar, and contacts. It focuses on protecting user privacy with features like end-to-end encryption and password-protected emails, making it a comprehensive alternative to mainstream email providers.

### What are the key features of this encrypted email app?

Key features include the ability to create a @mailfence.com or @mf.me email address, send and receive OpenPGP encrypted emails, and send password-protected emails to anyone. It also offers integrated cloud storage for documents, shared calendars for meetings, and a contacts manager, all within an easy-to-use interface.

### How much does this app cost?

The app is available under a freemium model. While specific pricing details for premium tiers are not provided in the description, the service offers a free tier with core functionalities and paid options likely exist for enhanced features and storage, catering to both individual and team needs.

### Is this app compatible with other email clients?

Yes, this app is designed to be interoperable with standard email clients. Your Mailfence email account can be accessed via POP, IMAP, and SMTP using third-party clients like Outlook, Mac Mail, and Thunderbird. Similarly, Drive, Calendar, and Contacts can be accessed via WebDAV, CalDAV, ActiveSync, and CardDAV respectively.

### Who would benefit from using this app?

This app is ideal for individuals and businesses who prioritize privacy and security in their digital communications. It's a strong choice for users who want to avoid tracking, spam, and government surveillance, and for teams that need to collaborate securely on documents and share calendars.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.9.4 — 2026-05-26

Messages: Fix an issue where invalid style tags could lead to rendering errors in emails
Messages: Fix an issue where Away Message banners could be shown for secondary mail accounts

### 1.9.3 — 2026-04-28

Misc: Improves translations in Dutch

### 1.9.1 — 2026-03-09

Mail: Improve email rendering.
Mail: Fix date formatting issue in event invitations.
Security: This update includes security improvements. Please update as soon as possible.

### 1.9.0 — 2026-02-09

(NEW) Settings: Manage the settings for your account, emails, calendars, contacts, and documents.
Languages: German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese languages now available.
Calendar: Recurring events can now properly be deleted one by one or all instances at once.
Misc: Various bug fixes and improvements.

### 1.8.2 — 2025-11-24

Misc: Fix scrolling issue in message composition screen
Misc: Various improvements for iPad

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## More apps by Contactoffice Group

- [ContactOffice Mail](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/contactoffice-mail/id1629415175)

All apps by Contactoffice Group: https://appshunter.io/developer/1563748897

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*
