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Microsoft 365 vs Proton Mail

Microsoft 365
7.4/ 10
Higher score
Proton MailIndie
9.0/ 10
Across 4 measured dimensions: Microsoft 365 wins 0, Proton Mail wins 2 (2 tie / n/a)
[01]

Side by side.

8 dimensions
MetricMicrosoft 365Proton Mail
Score
Winner: right
7.49.0
Δ 90 days
— flat— flat
Parent & badge
Winner: right
Microsoft Corp.
IndependentIndie
Founded
20112014
Best for
Businesses that need Exchange features and desktop OfficePrivacy-first users who want zero-access encryption by default
Price per mo
Winner: right
$6.00/ mo$3.99/ mo
Renewal multiplier
——
Tagline
Outlook + Exchange + Office, billed by the seat foreverSwiss end-to-end encrypted mail, free tier is real
[02]

What works, what doesn't.

Per provider
Microsoft 3654 pros · 4 cons
+ Pros
  • ✓Exchange features still unmatched for corporate mail
  • ✓Desktop Office included on Standard
  • ✓Strong compliance/eDiscovery features
  • ✓Wide IT support ecosystem
– Cons
  • ✗Admin center sprawl is genuinely terrible
  • ✗Pricing/SKU structure changes constantly
  • ✗2024 price hikes plus Copilot bundling
  • ✗New Outlook regressed long-standing workflows
Proton Mail4 pros · 4 cons
+ Pros
  • ✓Genuine end-to-end encryption, Swiss jurisdiction
  • ✓Free tier with 1GB is actually usable
  • ✓Custom domain support on Mail Plus
  • ✓Independent ownership, non-profit foundation backed
– Cons
  • ✗IMAP requires the Bridge desktop app
  • ✗E2E only between Proton users
  • ✗Search of encrypted mail is slow
  • ✗Pricier than Migadu/Posteo for similar storage
Make the call

Pick one and go.

Both links are affiliate. Score doesn't move because of it.

VisitMicrosoft 365 ↗Score 7.4VisitProton Mail ↗Score 9.0
← Read full Microsoft 365 review·Read full Proton Mail review →
[03]

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