The 11 Best Email Apps for iPhone in 2023

Updated Jan 31st, 2023 

Years ago, in 2007, Apple announced the release of the first iPhone. Over time, each model has become more innovative, but its email app still needs to catch up with the iOS updates. Despite the prominence of team chat apps, email remains a crucial tool for business communication. This has led to the development of new, feature-rich email apps that offer better functionality with group messaging, collaboration, and video chat integrations.

We’ve researched and listed the best email apps for iPhone and iOS, compatible with iOS 15 and beyond. With the apps we’ve included, you’ll upgrade from Apple’s outdated email app by choosing one of these modern options and setting it as your default. Simply go to the Mail settings on your iPhone and select from the list of email providers or manually add the account of your choice. 

Our Top Picks for Best Email Client for iOS

Start comparing our favorite email apps on the iPhone with our at-a-glance table and find the features you’re looking for. We’ve got all the information you need to choose the best email application for iPhone. Read on! 

Spike

Spike turns your email into simple, chat conversations, so you can work and collaborate seamlessly with clients and team members – in a more natural way. By eliminating repeating headers, signatures, and threads, Spike clears the clutter and transforms your email into a real time chat that’s easy to read. Spike works with all major email services like Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, GMX, Exchange 365, Outlook, as well as any standard IMAP account.

Spike integrates a host of useful features directly into your iOS email app, providing the ultimate, unified workspace. Priority Inbox keeps all conversations with your most important contacts front and center, and an all-knowing Calendar is easily accessible on the same screen as your inbox – so you never miss an appointment and can reference it without switching screens or apps. You can easily manage attachments with Spike’s Super Search.

In addition to this, collaborative Notes and Tasks help you and your team work together seamlessly, while practical features such as File Manager allow you to preview your files directly in line with your message. You can also easily manage multiple email addresses from your inbox, as well as connect directly to your favorite cloud provider so you have all your work at your fingertips.

Spike is also fully integrating video calls and audio channels into Spike as well. Teams and businesses need more than just typed words to collaborate. Spike is leading the way for a future where our communication and collaboration apps are both fully integrated and make our work easier and more enjoyable.

Spike uses sophisticated AES256 email encryption to keep your data safe and your email chats secure. Spike is ad-free and does not rent, sell, distribute or monetize on your data. To anyone. Ever. Spike stores only the minimum data needed to provide the fastest communication and collaboration experience. Period.

Price: Free for personal email with powerful business upgrade options 

Try Spike for free on iPhone

Apple Mail

Considered by some to be the best email application for iPhone, Apple Mail first hit the scene in 2004 and is a favorite of busy (lazy?) Mac users by default. Of course, it’s still got plenty going for it as a standalone email app, and its integration with the macOS suite of tools makes Mail a great all-rounder.

Full support for Apple’s iCloud storage brings this elder statesman into the modern era and you can easily send files of up to 5 GB. Another plus point is the simple search feature that lets users navigate multiple POP, IMAP, Exchange, and iCloud accounts all together in the same place, helping you to find specific emails even if your inbox is overflowing.

Not happy with Apple Mail? Be sure to check out our top Apple Mail alternatives

Outlook

Having been around since 1997, MS Outlook is a tried and tested favorite—particularly among business users. The Outlook email app for iPhone is reliable and relatively easy to use, and it remains a popular choice for many people. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the iOS version is relatively new, as until recently, Microsoft didn’t support their major rival’s platform. Unfortunately, this also means that not all Outlook functionality is supported.

Ideal for anyone using Microsoft 365 on a regular basis, Outlook ensures near-seamless integration with the company’s wider suite of tools on the iOS platform. This includes MS Excel and Word, as well as a useful calendar. Unfortunately, it doesn’t integrate so will Apple’s iCloud, meaning you might have some cross-compatibility issues.

Price: Free

Download Outlook on the App Store 

Gmail

No iOS email app list would be complete with a nod to Google, and for many people Gmail is the epitome of free email. In fact, users of any of the iPhone email apps almost certainly have at least one Gmail address, so using the iOS email app is completely logical.

The app itself supports all the major email accounts, allowing you to consolidate all your email addresses in one place. However, when managing multiple inboxes with the app, it’s not the most intuitive experience when compared to other Apple email apps. A useful Undo Send feature, alongside comprehensive integration with the Google calendar with excellent notifications and reminders do make up for it though.   

If you aren’t in the Gmail ecosystem or want to avoid using an app that tracks you for advertising purposes, you’ll want to avoid the Gmail app. Gmail is a very secure service, but Google makes all of its money from advertising.

Price: Free

Download Gmail on the App Store 

Newton

Newton has had a rollercoaster ride over the past few years, but this Mac and iOS-user favorite is still forging ahead. An intuitive approach to email management still appeals to many people, and despite the fact that this is a paid iOS email app, it’s still gained many fans over the years and is considered the best email app for iOS by some of its fans.

The latest feature is called Tidy Inbox, and it intuitively organizes your email for easier management. However, there have been security concerns with Newton, and only HTTP is supported for message encryption. As an alternative iPhone email app, this is a great option for those who like to do things a little bit differently.  

Newton doesn’t collect any personal information for advertising purposes and maintains physical, administrative, and technological safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of all information collected through Newton.

Price: Free to download, requires $49.99/annual subscription

Download Newton on the App Store 

ProtonMail

For anyone worried about security, ProtonMail may be exactly what you’re looking for. The online world still poses a threat to email users, and even though Apple’s operating systems are historically extremely secure, ProtonMail gives you just that little bit extra protection.

End-to-end email encryption ensures all your data and documents are safe, and an easy-to-navigate user interface makes managing secure email a breeze. ProtonMail is also open source and completely free to use, the ideal iOS email app for anyone who doesn’t want to shell out their hard-earned cash but won’t compromise on security.  

If you want all the bells and whistles, though, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Price: Free with Pro features starting at $5/month

Download ProtonMail on The App Store

Airmail

Another exclusive iOS email app, Airmail takes its cue from Apple Mail, delivering a slick user interface that will make Apple users feel right at home. Featuring 3D Touch, fast document previewing and native integration with many apps, it’s made for advanced email users who want to be more efficient.

Workflow customizations including snooze, push notifications, and iCloud sync gives you plenty of options for workplace efficiency, while for Premium users, you can also get 24/7 support. Finally, dark mode is included to give you that sleek Apple email app look on your iPhone or iPad. 

Download Airmail on The App Store

Hey

Hey is a new email service from the team at Basecamp. Hey is part app and part email service combined into one. Hey offers an ‘Imbox’ that is designed to only show you the important messages, and it filters less critical messages for you to work on later. In Hey, all your attachments are organized together into an attachment library. 

Hey offers a lot of great benefits to help people manage their inboxes, but it’s going to be a non-starter for many due to its $99/annual subscription and the fact that you have to completely change your email address. 

Hey is a very secure service and uses Encryption at-rest, at-work, and in-transit, but not end-to-end because it’s challenging to do that with email. Hey is also conducting external security audits. 

Price: $99/annual payment, 14-day trial

Download Hey on the App Store 

Yahoo 

Yahoo is one of the original web companies since it has been around since 1994. Over the years, it’s evolved quite a bit from what it started as, and it’s lost much of its relevance from its high point in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, it’s still a popular email service for many people. The iPhone app has improved quite a bit in recent years and can now work with external email accounts like Gmail, Outlook, and AOL. 

Since Yahoo is a free service, it still relies heavily on advertising, though. For people who primarily use email to organize coupon alerts, manage shopping lists, and want to track their packages, it’s a pretty useful tool. If you use email for business or heavy personal use, other solutions will be better suited for those needs. 

Since Yahoo is an app from a major media company, it can generally be found secure, but be reminded that Yahoo is driven by advertising so your data will be mined.  

Price: Free with Ad -Free Upgrade Option for $5/month

Download Yahoo Email on the App Store

Twobird

Twobird is a newcomer to our list of best email apps for iPhone. As Spike does, it brings a conversational approach to email, but it’s only limited to Gmail and Outlook accounts. If you use Yahoo or iCloud – you’ll have to look elsewhere for an alternative iOS email app or decide to use multiple email apps.

On top of email, Twobird also includes notes and tasks to beef up your productivity when on a mobile device. Twobird is from the team behind the popular notetaking app – Notability. 

Price: Free

Download Twobird on the App Store

Spark

Spark email is built and maintained by Readdle, a popular iOS and macOS email developer. Other notable apps include PDF Expert and Documents. Spark includes some notable features such as Group replies, snooze, and scheduled send.

One of Spark’s most notable features is its 3rd-party app integrations. Using these integrations, you can send an email thread to your task app like Todoist or Omnifocus, including a link back to the message. 

Spark is available on all platforms including iOS and macOS. It does a web app or a Windows application, though.

Price: Free with upgrades for teams 

Download Spark on the App Store