Comparison

Fastmail vs Criptext Secure Email

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

Head to head
About

Fastmail

Manage your email, contacts, and calendar with a privacy-focused service. Offers powerful search, inbox decluttering tools, and customizable gestures for efficient communication. Seamlessly syncs across devices and supports open standards.

Highlights
  • Offline access to email
  • Powerful search with refinement
  • Inbox decluttering tools
  • Customizable swipe gestures
  • Seamless calendar syncing
  • Shared address books
  • Privacy-first, no ads or tracking
Features
Read full description

Email, contacts and calendars made better Fastmail gives you full control of your communication, with speed, privacy, and tools that work the way you do. The New York Times says: ”If you want something easy to use that isn’t tied to one of the big tech giants, Fastmail is a great option.” Do more with email • Stay connected anywhere – Read, draft, and search offline. • Powerful search – Find anything fast, even inside attachments. Plus, use the Search Refinement Toolbar to quickly add, remove, or adjust filters. • Declutter your inbox – Snooze emails, mute threads, block spam, and unsubscribe easily, and set up rules to automate your flow. • Stay organised your way – Use folders or labels to keep things tidy, and categorize messages without opening them. • Work smarter – Schedule or undo send, add private memos, set VIP-only notifications, and resize images in the compose window. • Custom swipes – Quickly archive, delete, or take other actions with up to four swipe gestures. Your preferences stay consistent across devices. • Easy navigation – One-tap access to mail, calendar, contacts, and settings. Customize the toolbar in Display Options, or hide it altogether. • Faster inbox actions – Select messages by tapping avatars, or using a two-finger swipe for faster multi-select. Smarter calendars • Plan together – Share calendars with family or teams. • Sync seamlessly – Works with Google, iCloud, and more. • Always in sync – Updates instantly across devices, with full time-zone support. Connected contacts • Shared or private address books – Keep context from recent conversations and meetings. Why Fastmail? • Privacy first – No ads, no tracking, no selling your data. It’s your data, not ours. • Secure and trusted – Robust encryption of your data both in transit and at rest. Passkeys and 2FA keep your email private and safe. • No lock-in – Over 20 years delivering better email. People stay because it’s better, not because it’s hard to leave. • Real support – 24/7 online help from real people, no chatbots. • Migrate in minutes – Move mail, contacts, and calendars from your old provider in minutes. Better for everyone – Fastmail supports open standards, keeping email private and usable for all.

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!

Screenshots

Fastmail4 screens
Criptext Secure Email4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Criptext Secure Email at 4.7 against Fastmail's 3.8. Criptext Secure Email also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (56% vs 48%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Fastmail sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $6.49 per month. Criptext Secure Email asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Criptext Secure Email holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 572 and 1.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Fastmail's written reviews are positive against 56% of Criptext Secure Email's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fastmail versus Criptext Secure Email: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFastmailCriptext Secure Email
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (572 ratings)4.7 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.0% of reviews56.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5721.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.411.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFastmail Pty LtdCriptext Inc.

Customer experience

Fastmail

All ratings572 ratings
Positive66.3%
Neutral10.1%
Negative23.6%
Written reviews448 reviews
Positive48.0%
Neutral19.6%
Negative32.4%

Criptext Secure Email

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

User reviews

Fastmail

From 572 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 🔒 Secure and private
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🔥 Excellent email service
  • 💯 Great customer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy app with frequent crashes
  • 🔍 Lacking offline support
  • 🔀 Confusing navigation and UI
  • 🔋 Poor battery life
  • 💤 Slow app performance

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

Bugs and requests

Fastmail

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Blank screen on app launch
  • Notification badges not updating correctly
  • Delayed email delivery
  • Unreliable swiping gestures
  • Disappearing toolbar buttons

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline email access
  • Customizable notification sounds
  • Integration with native iOS apps
  • Dark mode support
  • Multiple account management

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Fastmail

Subscriptions1
  • Fastmail Monthly Plan$6.491 Month
None

Criptext Secure Email

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fastmail free?
Fastmail is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Criptext Secure Email free?
Criptext Secure Email is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fastmail or Criptext Secure Email?
Criptext Secure Email is rated higher. Fastmail averages 3.8 out of 5 from 572 ratings, while Criptext Secure Email averages 4.7 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Fastmail or Criptext Secure Email have ads?
Neither Fastmail nor Criptext Secure Email shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fastmail or Criptext Secure Email?
Fastmail ships an update every 3 weeks, and Criptext Secure Email every 3 weeks. Most recently, Fastmail was updated on September 25, 2026 and Criptext Secure Email on September 12, 2026.

Other comparisons