Email is a service that we use on a daily basis. We check it for new messages, respond to people and verify the validity of emails. There are many email providers out there but not all of them are created equally. In this article, I will compare four of the most popular email services and help you determine which one is best for your needs.
Gmail
Gmail is a free, web-based email service that gives you 15 GB of storage space. This includes your inbox and anything in the mail folders on Google Drive (such as attachments). You can also use it to manage other accounts like social media sites by connecting them with their tool called GSuite - which provides some features for businesses as well. The interface was redesigned last year so everything is more streamlined, making emails easier to find and read. However, Gmail has been criticized for having ads at the top of its page and not being able to send messages longer than one screenful without creating an attachment.
Outlook
Outlook is an email service that comes with Microsoft Office and also offers various plans - the free version will get you access to 5GB mailbox storage, plus other features like a small cloud storage space (OneDrive). To upgrade to 50GB mailbox storage, you will need to upgrade to Microsoft 365 Personal at a cost of £59.99 a year. You can download the app on mobile devices and it syncs up well with their desktop product as well. However, there's some criticism about it being seen as a gateway into the Microsoft franchise of products. The service is backed by the same security features that Microsoft uses for it's business and enterprise customers.
iCloud
iCloud is Apple's answer to Gmail and Outlook; they offer free services where users get only 5GB of mailbox storage, however 50GB of storage comes in at 79p a month. It's very popular with users of Apple products such as the iPhone. Those using Android devices are less likely to be comfortable with Apple's precocious way of working.
Conclusion
Gmail, or Google Mail offers more storage than Outlook, but you have to pay for it. The free plan offers a significant 15 GB of space. Additional storage is fairly cheap - 100GB of storage will set you back £1.59 a month. It's easy to use with the app being available on both iOS and Android devices so you can take your email anywhere; plus there are some cool features like Priority Inbox that will help get rid of junk emails before reading them. Plus we've found out they do a pretty good job getting things back in order quickly - even after a hacker has stolen your account.
Outlook is perfect for those who do a lot of work on their phone, as the app and web interface offer more customization options like swipe gestures. It also integrates well with Office 365 so you can seamlessly switch from working in an email to editing a document or presentation. There are some issues when it comes to attachments - they only have 50 MB max storage per file which means if your files are larger than that then you'll need another way to send them!
iCloud offers unlimited storage, but this doesn't actually mean there's no limit at all because uploading large files will take up space quickly and could get expensive fast - 2TB of storage comes in at just under £7 a month.
Google's Gmail app is a solid and reliable alternative with plenty of features, but it can be overwhelming for some - the User Interface (UI) isn't always intuitive. It also doesn't offer much in terms of customization options, which might not be perfect for those who want more control over their inbox experience.
Outlook has been around since 1982 so they've had time to learn what people like or don't like and improve where necessary; iCloud was released in 2011, meaning that while it may have more storage space than others there are still areas to refine before getting too competitive on price point!