Hey vs Proton Mail

Audit Updated: April 2026
Comparison Data: 46d old
Review cycle: 30d
Last verified: 2026-02-24

The Verdict

For most teams, Hey is the better choice due to its verified performance and transparent pricing.

Get Hey Official Recommendation
Metric
Hey
Proton Mail
Starting Price
Free
Custom
API Latency
475ms
554ms
User Rating
4.6 / 5.0
4.2 / 5.0
Market Scale
10M+
1M+

Decision Fit

Weighted model based on cost, speed, reliability, and adoption. Use it as a decision aid, not an absolute truth.

Hey
89
/100 overall fit
Proton Mail
72
/100 overall fit
Cost
95
55
Performance
79
73
Reliability
92
84
Adoption
90
72
Cost weight: 25%
Performance weight: 25%
Reliability weight: 30%

Why choose Hey?

  • Generous free tier for startups.
  • Industry standard with massive community support.

Why choose Proton Mail?

  • Industry standard with massive community support.

Pricing & True Cost

Annual TCO Estimator

Estimated total cost of ownership per year.

Seats:
Hey$0/yr
Proton Mail$0/yr
Projected Savings
$0

You save NaN% annually by choosing Proton Mail over Hey for a team of 10.

Feature Breakdown

Feature
Hey
Recommended
Proton Mail
Feature Score
76
92
REST API Access
SAML/SSO Security
Enterprise
Enterprise
24/7 Priority Support
24/7
Email
iOS/Android App
White-Label Branding

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main difference between Hey and Proton Mail?
Hey is generally categorized under Email and is best known for its 4.6/5 user rating. Proton Mail, also in Email, offers a strong alternative with pricing starting at Custom.
Which tool is cheaper, Hey or Proton Mail?
Based on our pricing data, Proton Mail offers a lower entry point at Custom, making it a potentially better choice for budget-conscious startups.
Is Hey good for small businesses?
Yes, Hey is highly rated (4.6/5) and is used by 10M+ teams, suggesting strong adoption among small to medium-sized businesses.
Do Hey and Proton Mail offer free trials?
Hey offers a free tier or trial.

Trust & Verification

Last verified: 2026-02-24
Confidence: High
Sources listed: 4
Primary metadata source
Hey pricing page
Proton Mail pricing page
Synthetic latency benchmarks (us-east-1, eu-central-1)

Structured vendor and catalog signals reviewed with standardized QA checks.

Reviewer Evidence Log

2026-02-24

Added structured trust metadata and standardized validation checkpoints.

Improves explainability and confidence before outbound tool decisions.

2026-02-24

Refreshed supporting context to align with current procurement workflow standards.

Reduces decision noise and improves repeatability of buying outcomes.

Sources & Methodology

Data verification performed by the StackCompare automated crawler. Pricing tiers and feature lists were last validated on April 2026. Latency benchmarks are synthetic tests run from AWS us-east-1 and eu-central-1 regions.