Comparison

Criptext Secure Email vs HEY Email

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Criptext Secure Email

This email service prioritizes your privacy with end-to-end encryption and no data collection. Your inbox is stored solely on your device, ensuring only you and your recipients can access your messages. The open-source nature allows for verification of its security claims.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • No data collection
  • Local inbox storage
  • Open source code
  • Easy to use interface
Read full description

Finally, an email service that's built around your privacy. Get your @criptext.com email address and see what it's like to have peace of mind and privacy in every email you send. Features: +End-to-end Encryption: Criptext uses the open source Signal Protocol library to encrypt your emails. Your emails are locked with a unique key that‘s generated and stored on your device alone, which means only you and your intended recipient can read the emails you send. +No data collection: unlike every other email service out there, Criptext doesn't store your emails in its servers. Instead, your entire inbox is stored exclusively on your device. +Open Source: our source code is open for everyone to see that Criptext actually works the way it's advertised. You don't have to trust us, you can verify for yourself: https://github.com/Criptext +Easy to use: our app is designed to work as simple as any other email app — so much so, you'll forget how secure it is. Get Criptext and see how easy it is to email with more security and privacy!

About

HEY Email

This email client streamlines your inbox with features like call-like screening for senders, grouped message organization, and a unified attachment library. It offers unique ways to read emails, manage receipts, and protect your privacy from trackers.

Highlights
  • Screen senders like calls
  • Naturally grouped messages
  • Read multiple emails at once
  • Unified attachment library
  • Set aside emails for later
  • Dedicated receipt management
  • Blocks email trackers
Features
Read full description

It’s “you’ll never go back” better HEY replaces workarounds, messy hacks, and daily frustrations, with built-in workflows, effortless organization, and clever features that levels-up email in meaningful ways. Screen emails like you screen calls You screen your calls, so why can't you screen your emails? With HEY, you can. HEY puts you in complete control of who's allowed to email you. Don't want to hear from someone? Screen them out and won’t hear from them again. Naturally grouped Inboxes are typically an intertwined mess of new and old messages haphazardly mixed together. Yuck. With HEY, new messages are always grouped together at the top, and previously seen emails are always at the bottom. Neat and orderly by default. No need to wade through the inbox jungle with a machete. Spread ’em out, read ’em together Let's say you have 7 unread emails. Why do you have to open one, close one, open one, close one, open one, close one, and so on. It's rediculously inefficient. With HEY, you can open multiple emails at once and just scroll though them, just like you would a newsfeed. It's a revolutionary way to read your emails. You'll never go back to the old way. Find files without pulling your hair out If you’re looking for an attachment, why should you have to find an email first? That’s backwards. With HEY, you get an attachment library that gathers up every attachment you’ve ever received in one organized, siftable place. Just set it aside Sometimes you get emails you need to reference later - travel info, handy links, numbers you need, etc. With HEY, you can 'Set Aside' any email in a neat little pile for easy access whenever you need it. At hand, but out of your face. Put receipts in The Paper Trail Receipts, confirmations, and transactional emails getting in your way? With HEY, you can send those types of emails to The Paper Trail where they'll be out of your way, but easy to find when you need them. Blocking email spies 24/7/365 Many companies track which emails you open, how often you open them, and even where you were when you opened them. It's a massive invasion of your privacy. HEY blocks these trackers and tells you who's spying on you. Fix bad subjects without busting threads If you don’t start the thread, you're often stuck with other people’s generic, non-descriptive email subjects. With HEY, you can rename a subject so it makes sense for you without changing things for the other person. Add private notes to any email thread Conversations may start in email, but they may continue somewhere else. Some emails turn into lunches or calls or video conferences. Where do you put the notes from those - especially if they relate to the initial email conversation? With HEY, you can add personal, private notes (and files) to any thread. This way you keep everything related to the conversation on one page, even if it didn't all happen via email. Notifications you control HEY push notifications are off by default so your phone doesn’t steal your attention every time an inconsequential email hits your inbox. However, HEY lets you selectively turn them on for specific contacts or threads so you don't miss the things you really care about. A built-in ‘Reply Later’ workflow What if you need to reply, but you don't have time right now? With HEY, just click the “Reply Later” button to move an email to a dedicated ‘Reply Later’ pile at the bottom of the screen so you don’t lose or forget it. Stop heavy senders from dominating your inbox When you get lots of emails from someone, they can take over your Inbox. With HEY, you can choose to bundle a sender into a single row. This means no matter how many emails they send you, they'll only take up a single row in your Inbox. Clean, controlled, and calm. Get off threads without having to ask Stuck on a mega email chain and want off? Good luck asking someone to remove you. With HEY, you can unfollow any thread and replies won’t show up as new emails anymore. Out of your face forever.

Screenshots

Criptext Secure Email4 screens
HEY Email4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Criptext Secure Email at free against HEY Email's subscription. Criptext Secure Email also leads on iOS requirement (11.2 vs 17.2). HEY Email's advantage is ratings volume (4.3K vs 1.2K). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Criptext Secure Email against 4.6 for HEY Email. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 4.3K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Criptext Secure Email's written reviews are positive against 61% of HEY Email's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Criptext Secure Email ships an update every 3 weeks, HEY Email every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Criptext Secure Email versus HEY Email: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCriptext Secure EmailHEY Email
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.2K ratings) — better4.6 (4.3K ratings)
Positive reviews56.5% of reviews60.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K4.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.2 — better17.2
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB138 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCriptext Inc.37Signals LLC

Customer experience

Criptext Secure Email

All ratings1,215 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral3.0%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive56.5%
Neutral4.7%
Negative38.8%

HEY Email

All ratings4,324 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews309 reviews
Positive60.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative29.8%

User reviews

Criptext Secure Email

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and reliable
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive UI
  • 💡 Unique features like read receipts
  • 🌐 Multi-platform support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • ⚠️ Unreliable email delivery
  • 📤 Issues with attachments and file transfers
  • 🕰️ Slow customer support response times
  • 🚫 Unable to sign up or create new accounts

HEY Email

From 4.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Streamlined email workflow
  • 🔒 Strong privacy focus
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly design
  • 💡 Innovative email organization features
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔋 Concerns about offline functionality
  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost
  • 🔍 Limited search and navigation capabilities

Bugs and requests

Criptext Secure Email

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App freezes on startup
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Emails not received or delayed
  • Attachment upload/download failures
  • Password reset problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced search and filtering
  • Calendar and task management integration
  • Improved backup and export options
  • Support for more email providers and aliases

HEY Email

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Keyboard issues on iPad
  • Inconsistent behavior when moving between email views

Requested features

3 requests
  • Support for custom email domains
  • More advanced filtering and automation options
  • Improved integration with other apps and services

In-app purchases

None

Criptext Secure Email

No in-app purchases

None

HEY Email

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Criptext Secure Email free?
Criptext Secure Email is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HEY Email free?
HEY Email is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Criptext Secure Email or HEY Email?
Criptext Secure Email is rated higher. Criptext Secure Email averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while HEY Email averages 4.6 from 4.3K ratings.
Do Criptext Secure Email or HEY Email have ads?
Neither Criptext Secure Email nor HEY Email shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Criptext Secure Email or HEY Email?
Criptext Secure Email ships an update every 3 weeks, and HEY Email every 10 days. Most recently, Criptext Secure Email was updated on October 9, 2026 and HEY Email on October 14, 2026.

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