Gmail remains by far the most popular email service — but competition led by Outlook and ProtonMail is rapidly building, TechRadar poll finds

A person on a laptop sending emails.
(Image credit: Sendinblue)

A recent poll conducted by TechRadar reveals Gmail continues to dominate as the most popular email service around today. 

According to the poll results, Google’s email service, which was famously thought to be an April Fool’s joke when it first launched on April 1 2004, holds a substantial lead with 1,900 votes, equating to approximately 69% of the total responses.

"Something else"

Second placed Outlook had a surprisingly strong showing, receiving 319 votes, representing around 11.5% of the respondents. This demonstrates a significant user base for Microsoft's email service, highlighting its ongoing relevance in a market often perceived to be Google-dominated.

ProtonMail, known for its focus on security and privacy, also shows a notable presence with 57 votes, making up about 2% of the total. This indicates a growing trend among users who prioritize encrypted communication and secure email services. 

Other email services mentioned in the poll include Yahoo Mail (118 votes, 4.3%), Apple iCloud (152 votes, 5.5%), GMX (15 votes, 0.5%), and AOL (13 votes, 0.5%). The support they received highlights the persistence of long-standing email providers and the reluctance of users to go elsewhere, potentially losing a well-established email address in the process.

Finally, in addition to the major players, the poll results also revealed an interesting aspect of the email market: a significant number of users prefer smaller, less mainstream email providers. 

The "something else" category garnered 280 votes, which is approximately 10.2% of the total. This category's substantial share suggests a diverse landscape of email services that cater to niche needs or offer unique features not found in the more prominent email providers.

TechRadar email poll

(Image credit: Future)

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Wayne Williams
Editor

Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.