Why Email Still Matters in 2025
While instant messaging apps have become our preferred method of communication, emails aren’t far behind. Statista-based projections put daily global email traffic in the high hundreds of billions — about 376 billion per day in 2025 and forecast it to exceed around 400 billion per day in the latter half of the decade.
This all sounds very impressive until you learn that because of this rise in emails, people are increasingly prone to experiencing inbox overload. With more people, companies, and organizations relying on email for distributing information, email fatigue has become a real concern for many users.
Despite this, email continues to be a common and trusted method of communication. And with increasing numbers of email providers and changing behaviors of users, it’s a good idea to look at the ongoing trends in email usage in our email provider comparison today to find out what your email inbox will look like tomorrow.
Global Email Usage Statistics 2025
One of the primary reasons behind the staying power of email is that both businesses and their customers prefer email as a method of communication. A 2023 survey found that 86% of consumers want to hear from businesses they engage with, and 60% listed email as their preferred method.
Apart from that, the billions of emails sent per day are not always received by someone in a single email inbox. In 2019, email users had an average of 1.75 email accounts each, with the number increasing to 1.86 by 2022. These separate accounts also receive their fair share of unique emails, further contributing to the rising number of emails sent every day.
Where are these emails going? The United States leads with over 9.7 billion emails sent daily, followed by Germany (8.5 billion), Ireland (8.4 billion), the Netherlands & UK (8.3 billion each), then Japan and India (8.2 billion each), reflecting the rising use of email outside of Western nations.
11 Most Popular Email Providers in 2025
While most users will default towards one of the biggest email providers (either for convenience or lack of a better option/integration), there’s also a rising surge in the use of alternative email providers. Here are some of the most popular email providers you can choose from in 2025.
Note: “Market share” refers to the share of opens observed in email analytics datasets (not the total number of registered accounts). Different vendors sample different senders, so figures may vary.
Apple Mail (iCloud/Mac/iOS)
Apple Mail is the largest email client for opens, as the default email client integrated into a vast number of Apple devices. It dominates the global mobile market, reflecting the trend of most emails being read on mobile devices.
- Market share (email client): Apple leads with 48–53% globally (as of mid-2024), though some estimates put it slightly higher due to its integration with all Apple devices.
- Total users: Apple does not publish a public ‘Apple Mail user’ figure; Apple Mail’s dominance is best shown in open-tracking datasets rather than a published user count.
- Initial release: Apple's iTools (the predecessor to iCloud Mail) launched January 5, 2000; iCloud Mail came bundled with the iCloud service that launched around 2011.
- Domains included: @icloud.com (with legacy support for @me.com and @mac.com aliases).
- Free or paid: Free tier includes 5 GB storage; paid iCloud+ upgrades available via subscription
Gmail (Google)
The largest single email provider based on its user base, popular with individuals and businesses worldwide. Gmail leads in terms of total users and features for managing multiple email accounts, even if Apple Mail benefits from the widespread use of iPhones and iPads.
- Market share (email client): Gmail trails second with 30.7% of the market globally as of 2024–2025, although this is because it isn’t the default option for Apple devices.
- Total users: Gmail is the largest single provider by account count (commonly reported at around 1.8 billion accounts) and generally ranks 2nd for email opens in market-share datasets (with most trackers putting Gmail in the 25–31% range depending on the dataset and date).
- Initial release: Launched April 1, 2004
- Domains included: @gmail.com.
- Free or paid: Free for personal use; optional paid Google Workspace for businesses.
Microsoft Outlook/Office 365/Outlook.com/Hotmail/Exchange
Dominant among business email providers as part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, Outlook’s integration with other Microsoft services like Teams makes it a natural pick for many professional environments.
- Market share (email client): Outlook overall has 4–4.4% of the market globally, mostly users in business environments.
- Total users: Outlook’s client open share is small in consumer open datasets (roughly 3–5%), but Microsoft reports 400 million paid Microsoft 365 seats and Outlook users, which is considered a separate metric.
- Initial release: As one of the earliest email clients, most opinions on Hotmail or Outlook’s “official launch” vary.
- Domains included: @outlook.com, @hotmail.com (and business email domains via Exchange/Office 365).
- Free or paid: Free for Outlook.com/Hotmail; Office 365/Exchange under paid subscription.
Yahoo Mail
A longstanding free email provider, strong in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific. Yahoo Mail was one of the most-used email clients during the early boom of the internet, before it was surpassed by its competitors like Gmail and Apple Mail.
- Market share (email client): Around 2.6–2.85% globally.
- Total users: Around 225 million monthly active users.
- Initial release: Similarly to Hotmail, Yahoo Mail’s specific launch details are difficult to pin down. Earliest estimates place it in 1990.
- Domains: @yahoo.com.
- Free or paid: Free with ads; optional premium plans.
Proton Mail
A leading privacy-focused email provider with end-to-end encryption, popular among security-conscious users. It has been increasing in adoption in response to user concerns about data privacy regarding other email providers.
- Market share: Around 2% globally.
- Total users: Proton (Proton Mail) markets itself as the largest secure email provider and reported 100+ million Proton accounts in 2023. Proton’s share of global email opens is small (well under a few percent in typical open-tracking datasets), but it’s a leading option among privacy-focused users and growing rapidly.
- Initial release: May 2014
- Domains included: @protonmail.com, @proton.me, @pm.me, @protonmail.ch
- Free or paid: Free tier available, with paid plans offering more storage, custom domains, and other features
Zoho Mail
A business-friendly provider, popular with small businesses and startups for its integrated productivity suite. Preferred option for smaller businesses that still need professional email management services or domains, especially with its flexible pricing model.
- Market share: Around 4% globally in 2024.
- Total users: Over 10 million users.
- Initial release: Added to the Zoho Office Suite in 2008.
- Domains: @zoho.com and custom domain support for business-focused users.
- Free or paid: Free tier available with scalable paid business plans.
AOL Mail
A legacy U.S. provider, still in use among North American users despite declining popularity.
- Market share: Unable to determine from existing sources.
- Total users: Estimated at around 25 million monthly active users.
- Initial release: AOL's free, public web-based email service launched in late 2004/early 2005.
- Domains: @aol.com.
- Free or paid: Free with ads; paid subscription removes ads.
GMX Mail
Popular in Germany and parts of Europe (the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy), GMX Mail offers free and secure email accounts.
- Market share: Around 2% globally.
- Total users: Over 20 million users.
- Initial release: Launched in 1997.
- Domains: @gmx.com, others like @gmx.de.
- Free or paid: Free.
Mail.com
Offers a wide variety of “@address” options, appealing to users who want a customized domain without hosting.
- Market share: Less than 1% globally.
- Total users: Over 2 million users.
- Initial release: Launched in 1995 as Vanity Mail Services, later rebranded.
- Domains: Customizable domains.
- Free or paid: Free with ads.
FastMail
A privacy-conscious, paid email provider, popular with tech-savvy users in Australia, North America, and Europe.
- Market share: Around 1% globally.
- Total users: Over 150,000 paying customers.
- Initial release: Launched in 1999.
- Domains: @fastmail.com.
- Free or paid: Paid-only service.
Tutanota (Tuta Mail)
An open-source, encrypted email service is gaining global traction among privacy-first users.
- Market share: Less than 1% globally.
- Total users: More than 10 million users as of 2023.
- Initial release: Launched March 2014.
- Domains: @tutanota.com
- Free or paid: Free tier with encryption; paid plans available.
What Email Trends Indicate for Users Moving Forward
These trends in email use point to two specific consequences for email users:
The rise of email fatigue
With most emails sent and received on Gmail and Apple Mail, emails have become closely ingrained with how we behave online. Even younger audiences like Gen Z, who prefer instant messaging apps and social media, check their email once a day, with over 81% of them doing so.
But all these emails mean that email overload and a loss of email management become even more prevalent, especially with so many emails now automated. More users are looking for easier ways to manage their inboxes and are willing to invest time and money into looking for tools that can help.
Privacy shift
There’s also been a growing adoption of email providers that heavily emphasize data privacy and security, like ProtonMail and Tutanota. According to Statista, ProtonMail is still the leading email provider in 2025 for users worried about their personal data and other information sent by email.
What’s causing this increased adoption? While it can be difficult to get a clear picture because of the different providers, it’s generally agreed to be a shift towards a more privacy-conscious mindset. Many users are now more cautious about their online behavior and the information that they share about themselves, whether that’s to stop spam messages or simply protect themselves online.
How Clean Email Helps Manage Your Email
Tools like Clean Email are uniquely positioned to help solve one of the biggest headaches of any email user today: email management. It works with any email provider or client, as it helps manage multiple inboxes from a single platform.
Clean Email automates decluttering, unsubscribing, and smart labeling emails to help organize clutter across accounts in real time. It works well with email accounts, both business and personal, enhancing user privacy and security through its advanced filtering and Screener feature.
Clean Email is safe to use, and regardless of which email client you choose, it can be there to help you better manage your inbox. It’s available on macOS, iOS, Android, and the web, ensuring a consistent experience across all your devices.
Conclusion
Email trends are reliant on plenty of things: what people are signing up for, the features offered by email providers, and even the prevalence of cybersecurity threats. Regardless, paying attention to the trends today can still give us clues on what to expect for the email trends tomorrow.
With the billions of emails sent per day and that number only rising, there also comes an increasing need for email management and tools that enable users to better take control over their inboxes. With inboxes only getting busier, smart email tools like Clean Email will only become more essential.
