An Outlook alternative: how mello compares
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Outlook.com is Microsoft’s free mail service, and the Outlook apps run on every computer and phone. mello is a smaller mail service, written from scratch, with mail, calendar, contacts and tasks in one quiet place and an assistant that drafts and reminds but never sends on its own. Here is how the two compare, when Outlook is the better choice, and how to switch.
At a glance
What the table says about Outlook comes from Microsoft’s own pages, as of October 2026.
| Outlook.com | mello | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Microsoft’s mail service, with the Outlook apps | A mail service of its own: mail, calendar, contacts and tasks |
| Mail storage | 15 GB free; 100 GB with Microsoft 365 | A free plan and paid plans; each plan’s limits are shown when you choose it |
| Other mail apps | IMAP and POP, off until you turn them on; sign-in through OAuth | IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV, with your mello password |
| AI | Copilot with Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, within usage limits | On by default, and each part can be switched off: follow-ups, reply reminders, suggested to-dos, reply drafts, translation |
| Getting an account | Open to everyone | Invite only for now |
When Outlook is the better choice
- You already pay for Microsoft 365. Personal and Family give you a 100 GB mailbox, and Copilot in Outlook, which can summarize long threads, within usage limits.
- Your work runs on Exchange. For a work or school account with a Copilot license, Copilot in Outlook summarizes threads, drafts messages, coaches you on tone and clarity, and helps schedule meetings. mello is a separate mail service, not a client for Exchange.
- You want an account today, for free. Anyone can open an Outlook.com account. mello is invite only for now.
- You want apps from the store. Outlook has apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. mello has none in the stores: you install the webmail on your phone’s home screen, or add your account to the mail app you already use.
- You want summaries. mello’s assistant doesn’t summarize threads in the webmail. If you want that, you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to your mello mailbox.
Where mello is different
- Any app, with your password. IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV and CardDAV are on from the start, and your mello address and password are all you enter. Apple Mail and Thunderbird find the settings on their own; on Android, DAVx⁵ brings your calendars and contacts along. See setting up iPhone and Mac.
- One quiet place. Mail, calendar, contacts and tasks in one app, with one search and a keyboard shortcut for everything. The inbox sets newsletters and notifications aside.
- An assistant that drafts, never sends. It is on from the start, and it can suggest a follow-up when a message you sent gets no reply in 3 days, bring back mail waiting on your answer after 7 days with a reply drafted, suggest to-dos from new mail, write a draft when you type
/aiand what to say, and translate a message. Message text goes to the AI provider (Anthropic or OpenAI) for the features that are on; turning them off under Settings → AI stops it. - Private addresses. A random address for each site you sign up to, under Settings → Aliases, that you can turn off on the day it starts getting spam. See private addresses.
- Shared mailboxes. An address such as
support@orfamily@that several people read, with send-as. See shared mailboxes. - Run from Switzerland, without ads. mello doesn’t sell your data, show ads or read your mail.
What mello doesn’t do yet
- No end-to-end encryption. Every connection uses TLS, and mail between servers is protected with MTA-STS, but messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted.
- No importer. mello doesn’t fetch your old mail from Outlook. You copy it with Thunderbird or Apple Mail.
- No calendar import in the webmail. You import .ics files through Apple Calendar or Thunderbird once your mello account is set up there.
- No custom domain you can add yourself. Your address is on mello’s domain.
- No app in the App Store or Google Play. The webmail installs on your phone, with notifications, and any mail app works too.
How to switch
How to move from Outlook to mello takes you through it step by step: forward your new mail, copy your old mail with Thunderbird or Apple Mail, then bring your contacts and calendar. Nothing is deleted from Outlook along the way.
mello is invite only for now: request an invite. If you leave one day, Settings → General → Download all my data gives you your mail as mbox, your calendars as .ics and your contacts as .vcf.