If navigating the dark web wasn’t hard enough it’s a constant struggle to find trusted lines developed for secure communications. The dark web, or deep web as many wrongly refer to it, is where Tor-accessible domains reside, you know the .onion URL’s. It’s not that finding secure communications on Tor is a struggle, but it’s hard to find private lines not run by a rogue entity. Below we have organized a list of secure dark web email providers. Please remember that no email provider should ever be deemed secure, meaning always use encryption and keep your opsec to its highest level.
All of these email providers are only accessible via the Tor Browser, an anonymity tool designed to conceal the end user’s identity and heavily encrypt their communication, making those who use the network anonymously. Tor is used by an array of people including journalists, activists, political dissidents, government targets, whistleblowers, the government, and just about anyone since it’s an open-source free tool. Tor provides a sense of security in high-risk situations and is often a choice among high-profile targets. However, many use it day-to-day as it provides identity concealment seamlessly.
Below we have listed emails that are not only secure but utilize no type of third-party services, including any type of hidden Google scripts, fonts, or trackers. In the list below we have gone ahead and pasted the full .onion domain for verification and added a link to any services that also offer a clearweb portal. However, all communications sent through clearweb domains should be presumed insecure unless properly encrypted, then it’s still questionable.
Here is a list of secure dark web email providers (listed in order of trust – Updated: October 19, 2023):
Please keep in mind when signing up for a darkweb email provider, be prepared for it to possibly go offline and disappear. I have been keeping this list updated for over 7 years now, and providers will disappear and offline with zero information. Always keep a backup of your emails!
Number one on the best darkweb email providers list is a rather simple darkweb email provider, DanWin1210.de. The service offers both a clearweb and a darkweb portal into the website. The service is simple and offers free email with no additional verification needed during signup. Another plus is the operator of the website is pretty open about who he is. On his About page, you can see it’s run by a single person named Daniel Winzen, from Germany.
DanWin1210.de only offers @danwin1210.de emails, so you will not have a .onion email. Though the whole website is run through Tor. The service requires no additional verification and offers a free 50MB of space to get you started. You can acquire more storage by reaching out to Daniel. Overall DanWin1210.de has had a very solid record with uptime and reliability over several years.
SecTor.City is another free, Tor-friendly, and privacy-conscious email provider. The website has a clearnet link but their email services are only accessible over the Tor network. The website is very basic with little information on who operates it, which is pretty normal for a darkweb-only email provider.
SecTor.City does not require any additional information to register and get started with their email. It just requires you to make your username, enter a password, and then try your best to solve their captcha from hell.
When you signup you get an @sector.city email and a free 10MB of email space. The email is 100% Tor only. They also limit you to sending a maximum of 10 emails per day and don’t give POP3 or IMAP access. You can only send and receive .onion emails, you cannot send or receive any clearnet emails.
However, one downside to SecTor is they do oftentimes have reliability issues (downtime, email not working, etc.).
Another solid service making our top 5 dark web email providers is Mail2Tor, another Tor-exclusive email.
The website does not require any additional information to sign up, just a username and password. You get an @mail2tor.com email during signup and get access to a free 25MB of email space.
Mail2Tor is only accessible via the Tor network. They have a clearnet portal that links directly to their Onion website. The site is quite minimalist and doesn’t provide a whole lot of information outside of it being a Tor-only email provider. The service has been around for several years and has served the Tor community well during its time.
One downside is they do oftentimes have reliability issues (downtime, registration not working, etc.)
While the name might sound like the most serious email provider, it’s not, but one thing they do care about is privacy. Cock.li is run by an individual who owns a number of NSFW domains and decided to make it an email provider. Be warned, the domain may not be safe for work if others are around.
While it’s a silly name, it is a very real email provider and about as transparent as they come. Cock.li advertises itself as an email run by “some dude”, not a business, and that does come with its own set of perks. One of those is complete transparency, or about as clear as they come. For starters, the owner of Cock.li, who we’ll refer to as Vincent Canfield from now on, has the total monthly costs listed on the homepage. Right under that, Canfield has a transparency report, publishing all the legal documents he receives and information he is ever forced to disclose.
Alongside transparency, he also provides a darknet portal, rurcblzhmdk22kttfkel2zduhyu3r6to7knyc7wiorzrx5gw4c3lftad.onion, and clearly outlines how his webmail runs. Letting everyone know that email is inherently insecure and how he technically does have the ability to read emails, just like nearly any other provider. While all of this may sound a little scary, Cock.li is a very well-respected email provider among regular dark web visitors.
While Protonmail does have its problems, I have included them on the list only for their reliability. If there is one thing that you can expect from darkweb email providers, it’s downtime. Or after enough time, you assume your darkweb email will disappear one day. I really enjoy Protonmail for a darkweb email as you can always ensure your email will still be there. Protonmail operates a real and registered business, as well as having pretty strict security policies when it comes to how they operate. Do not be fooled, as Protonmail has cooperated with law enforcement several times and even now logs IP addresses.
Protonmail does enforce several security measures. For beginners, everything on Protonmail is end-to-end encrypted, a method that allows only a single end-user to see the contents. With all contents being end-to-end encrypted, only you can see your email. On top of this, Protonmail ensures that they run their emails in a zero-knowledge environment. Meaning even if they wanted to read your communications, they would not physically be able to, only you can unlock the encrypted contents.
Protonmail is not only secure on the software side but on the hardware side as well. For one, Protonmail operates out of the jurisdiction of Switzerland, a country with some of the strongest privacy laws throughout the globe. Not only do they operate out of Switzerland, but they also own and operate all their own hardware. According to Protonmail, they use strictly dedicated servers they own at select data centers scattered throughout Switzerland. No VPS or shared servers, Protonmail strictly employs dedicated hardware in the country they operate out of.
One last great feature of Protonmail is they allow you to easily send encrypted emails to other secure email providers with symmetric encryption. Allowing you to communicate with others using secure email without having to worry about the clearnet or go through the hassle of manually encrypting everything. Lastly, they enforce HTTPS on their .onion domain, a rare technique that is perfect to ensure you always visit the official Protonmail dark web domain.
One upside and downside to Protonmail is the owners are not anonymous, and they do operate a real business. Protonmail won’t just fail and instantly fall dark as a lot of dark web providers have done in the past. While there are many benefits to the owners remaining anonymous, it can be a huge burden if the company simply decides to pull its plug. To ensure you always visit the official Protonmail dark web website, refer to their Tor page on their clearweb domain: protonmail.com/tor
Conclusion
When dealing with email on the dark web you need to be extremely cautious as email is a serious service that needs to be properly handled. If your communications fall into the wrong hands it can be critical and can even cost some people their lives in other countries.
Email privacy is a serious concern and should not be taken lightly. Your inbox holds not only your common interests but extremely private information, and if you’re working on the dark web, it’s presumably even more sensitive. And finding a provider that can offer secure communications is something hard to trust, especially when working on the dark web as many government agencies want to de-anonymize Tor users.
While the Tor Project continues to battle the waves of government these are some emails that can combat mass surveillance as well. Ensure that you keep up your operational security (#OpSec) on high defense at all times when using any dark web email provider.
