Introduction
Fastmail is an email provider priced per user across personal and business tiers. Mango Mail is a newer, storage based host that lets you create unlimited mailboxes and domains within one plan. Here is how the two compare, category by category.
Pricing Philosophy
Mango Mail
Mango Mail keeps pricing simple. You pay for your storage plan, and can create as many domains, mailboxes, and aliases as you need within your plan. This makes costs predictable as your organization grows.
Fastmail
Fastmail bills per user, split into Personal plans, called Individual, Duo and Family, and Business plans, called Basic, Standard and Professional. Reported pricing includes Individual at around $5 a month billed annually, Business Basic at around $4 per user per month, Business Standard around $6 per user per month or $60 per user per year, and Business Professional around $10 per user per month or $108 per user per year. Family plans are described as costing under $2.50 per person for up to six people. Fastmail offers no permanent free plan, but every plan includes a 30 day free trial. Businesses can mix different plan tiers across team members, for example an owner on Professional with employees on Standard and contractors on Basic, to help control costs.
Per User Billing vs Storage Based Billing
Because Fastmail bills per user, costs scale with headcount. Adding each new person to a Fastmail account means paying for another license, even if you mix tiers to manage the total. Mango Mail's storage based model removes that per user billing entirely, on any of its three tiers. You can create as many mailboxes as you need within your plan's storage limit without an incremental per person fee.
Custom Domains and Third Party Client Access
This is a notable restriction worth calling out. Fastmail's entry level Business Basic plan does not include custom domain support or third party email client access through IMAP or SMTP. It is limited to Fastmail's own webmail and mobile apps. Custom domains and third party client support, for example Outlook, Thunderbird or iPhone Mail, are only available starting at the Standard tier and above, on both Personal and Business plans. Mango Mail's plans support custom domains and standard IMAP, POP3 and SMTP client access at every tier.
Multiple Domains
Mango Mail supports unlimited domains within a single account and storage plan on every tier. Fastmail supports multiple custom domains and domain level delegation, but only on its Standard and Professional plans, whether Personal or Business. Domain sharing requires at least one Standard or Professional user on the account, and Business Basic does not support custom domains at all.
Standard Email Protocols
Both providers support core protocols. IMAP (Fastmail limits this to Standard and Professional tiers), POP3, SMTP (again Standard and Professional tiers only on Fastmail) and custom domains (also Standard and Professional tiers only on Fastmail). Fastmail additionally supports JMAP, a modern alternative to IMAP that it has helped develop, along with CalDAV and CardDAV for calendar and contacts sync. Mango Mail's documentation covers SMTP, IMAP and POP3 client support at every tier but does not document JMAP or CalDAV/CardDAV.
Productivity Features
Fastmail includes features such as Scheduled Send, manage calendars and contacts without a connection and a migration and import tool with a guided walkthrough.
Mango Mail's documented feature set includes SMTP, IMAP and POP3, unlimited addresses and domains, custom filters, fallback domains, aliasing, catch-all addressing, subaddressing (both plus addressing and subdomain addressing), and automatic backups.
Feature Breakdown
| Feature | Mango Mail | Fastmail |
| Pricing model | Mango Mail keeps pricing simple. Unlimited mailboxes and domains within each plan | Per user billing across Personal and Business tiers |
| Custom domains included at entry tier | Yes, at every tier | No, Business Basic excludes custom domains |
| Third party client (IMAP/SMTP) access at entry tier | Yes | No, Business Basic is webmail and mobile app only |
| Multiple domains under one account | Yes, natively, at every tier | Yes, but only on Standard/Professional tiers |
| JMAP support | Not documented | Documented |
| Migration Transfer tools | Built-in Automatic transfer tool with SimpleTransfer | Guided import tool plus free migration support |
| Catch all addressing | Documented | Not documented as a feature of Fastmail |
| Subaddressing | Supported | Supported |
| Free trial | Yes with no credit card required | Yes with no credit card required |
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Mango Mail if you
- Want storage based pricing with unlimited mailboxes and domains on every tier, rather than paying per user
- Need custom domain and standard IMAP/SMTP client support at every price tier, not gated behind a higher plan
- Manage many domains or mailboxes and want predictable costs as you scale
- Do not need Fastmail specific features like Masked Email, JMAP or compliance grade retention
Choose Fastmail if you
- Require features like Masked Email and JMAP/CalDAV/CardDAV support
- Are comfortable with per user billing and want the flexibility to mix plan tiers across your team
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mango Mail cheaper than Fastmail?
Yes. However, the price difference depends on your mailbox count. For a single user needing custom domain and IMAP access, Fastmail's Individual or Business Standard tier, around $5 to $6 a month, is higher than Mango Mail's entry tier at $1.50 a month. As you add more mailboxes, Mango Mail's unlimited, storage based pricing prevents your costs from increasing while Fastmail's mailbox pricing will continuously increase.
Does Mango Mail charge per mailbox?
No. Mango Mail pricing is based on data usage across your account, not the number of mailboxes or domains you have.
Does Fastmail charge per mailbox?
Yes. Fastmail bills per user across its Personal and Business plan tiers.
Does Fastmail support custom domains on every plan?
No. Fastmail's entry level Business Basic plan does not include custom domain or third party client support. Those require the Standard tier or above.
What happens if I have two businesses on Mango Mail?
Only one Mango Mail subscription is required to support your two businesses. You can attach as many domains and users to your account as your plan's storage and limits can fit. Whether you have one business or several, you only pay for one subscription.
Can I migrate from Fastmail to Mango Mail?
Yes. Mango Mail's SimpleTransfer supports all major providers, including Gmail and Outlook, and moves attachments and folder structure automatically.
