Hey Email vs Fastmail: What You Need to Know in 2026

Is Hey Email or Fastmail better for your team's privacy and independence?

You set up a custom domain for your team. You want email that doesn’t sell your data. You want control — not just over messages, but over where they live, how they’re stored, and who can see them. But you’re stuck weighing Hey Email against Fastmail. Both promise privacy. Neither offers full independence.

Here’s the truth: encryption at rest, domain support, and a clean UI mean little if you still trust a third party with your data. Hey Email and Fastmail both use encryption — but not end-to-end by default, and not under your control. If you need real, verifiable independence, only Unifiedesk gives you the full stack: open-source code, deployment choices, and per-account encryption keys you alone hold.

Key takeaways

• Hey Email and Fastmail both require trust in a third-party host — you don’t control where your data lives.
• Only self-hosted Unifiedesk gives you full control over data, encryption keys, and infrastructure deployment.
• Fastmail and Hey Email offer custom domains and basic encryption, but lack open-source transparency and true end-to-end security by default.

How do Hey Email and Fastmail differ on encryption, data residency, and control?

Fastmail uses TLS to encrypt mail in transit but does not encrypt data at rest by default. Hey Email does not disclose its encryption practices for stored data. Unifiedesk, by contrast, offers end-to-end encryption on its hosted tier and lets you store data in your chosen country or on your own server via self-hosting—with AES-256-GCM encryption applied at rest using per-account keys, fully documented and configurable.

Encryption: What’s actually protected?

Fastmail encrypts email in transit using TLS—standard for modern mail services—but your messages are stored unencrypted on their servers. Hey Email doesn’t publish details about data-at-rest encryption, which leaves users relying on opaque claims. This lack of transparency makes it hard to verify if your data is truly safe or just stored in a locked vault with no keys.

Unifiedesk’s hosted platform ensures end-to-end encryption by default: only you and your intended recipient can read messages, even if someone gains access to the server. In self-hosted mode, every file, message, and contact is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM, with keys managed per account. This matches the industry-standard practice recommended by RFC 8314 for secure email storage and key management.

Data residency and control: Where does your data live?

With Fastmail, you have no control over where your data is stored—your mails, calendar events, and files are hosted on their global infrastructure. Hey Email doesn’t clarify its data location policies, limiting your ability to comply with local laws like GDPR or national data sovereignty rules.

Unifiedesk gives you full control over data residency. Whether you use the hosted service or run your own server, you can choose the geographic region (e.g., EU, US, Asia) or host entirely on-premise. Your data never leaves your control, and you can audit access, manage backups, and set retention policies yourself.

If you're managing sensitive communications—like legal, medical, or internal team data—you need more than encryption in transit. You need to know where data lives, who can access it, and whether it’s ever exposed. Unifiedesk’s approach ensures you can meet compliance requirements, while Hey Email’s lack of transparency and Fastmail’s default unencrypted storage fall short of true control.

Whether you want to keep your emails private, your calendar private, or your files secure, Unifiedesk gives you the tools—and the visibility—to do it right. See how our security model works, or set up your own domain in minutes with custom domain support.

Can you self-host Hey Email or Fastmail like Unifiedesk?

Neither Hey Email nor Fastmail offers a self-hosted option—you’re locked into their managed services. Unifiedesk, in contrast, is open-source and gives you full control: deploy it via Docker, bare-metal, or on-premise servers. This means no vendor lock-in, full auditability, and immunity to surprise policy changes.

Why self-hosting matters

When you use Hey Email or Fastmail, your data lives on their servers. You can’t inspect the code, audit the infrastructure, or move your data if they change terms. That’s by design, not a bug—it’s how managed email services work.

Self-hosting changes that. It gives you the ability to review every line of code, control where data resides, and respond to compliance needs—like GDPR or HIPAA—without begging permission. It's not for everyone, but if you’re serious about sovereignty, you’ll want to know your stack can be rebuilt, audited, and moved at will.

Unifiedesk: open, flexible, fully yours

Unlike Hey Email and Fastmail, Unifiedesk is built with self-hosting in mind. The core engine is open-source, meaning anyone can inspect it, modify it, or run it on any server you control. You’re not relying on a vendor’s uptime, API changes, or data retention policies.

Whether you’re deploying it in a private data center, on a VPS, or in a Kubernetes cluster, the setup is straightforward—Docker makes it especially simple. And because Unifiedesk handles encryption at rest with AES-256-GCM under per-account keys, you control access and keys from day one.

Plus, you can move your domain, migrate your contacts, calendars, and documents, and even export your AI logs—something you can’t do reliably with most hosted email platforms. This kind of flexibility isn’t just a feature; it’s a consequence of building a system that’s meant to be owned, not leased.

Want to explore what’s possible? You can get started with a self-hosted deployment, manage your domain with custom domain setup, and keep your data private with end-to-end encryption.

And if you ever grow tired of managing the server, you can always switch to a managed Unifiedesk plan—your data never leaves your control.

What happens when you try to migrate from Hey Email or Fastmail?

When you export mail from Hey Email or Fastmail using IMAP or MBOX, you lose critical metadata—labels, filters, sent status, search history, and server-side rules. The exported data is flat, incomplete, and rarely usable as-is. Unifiedesk supports JMAP migration, which preserves folders, flags, server-side filters, and message state—so your inbox stays organized, not a mess of orphaned emails.

Why IMAP and MBOX fall short

Both Hey Email and Fastmail rely on IMAP or MBOX exports for migration. IMAP pulls messages by folder but doesn’t carry metadata like read/unread state or custom labels. MBOX files bundle entire mailboxes into a single file, but they’re prone to corruption and don’t encode metadata consistently. As RFC 4130 notes, MBOX formats vary widely between clients, making reliable parsing hard.

Even if you manage to extract messages, you’ll need to manually re-create folders, reapply filters, and retrain your client’s search index. This is time-consuming and error-prone. It’s not a migration—it’s a reorganization from scratch.

How Unifiedesk makes migration actually work

Unifiedesk uses JMAP, a modern, standards-based protocol that allows clients to sync entire mailbox states—including folder hierarchies, message flags, server-side filters, and search history—accurately and efficiently. Unlike MBOX or IMAP, JMAP doesn’t just copy data. It preserves context.

When you migrate from Fastmail to Unifiedesk, the process is smoother because Fastmail already supports richer metadata exports. But even then, you’ll lose some automation without a JMAP-capable tool. Hey Email’s export mechanism is more minimal, making migration harder even with Fastmail-level support.

Unifiedesk’s migration tooling standardizes the process across providers. You don’t need scripts or manual folder mapping. Just connect your source account, choose your data, and Unifiedesk handles the rest—preserving everything that matters. Whether you're moving from Fastmail’s advanced sync or Hey Email’s minimalist model, your inbox stays intact.

Once you’re in, you’ll get the full workspace: email, calendar, Meet, Drive, Docs, contacts, and an AI assistant—all under your control, with privacy built in.

How do Hey Email and Fastmail compare on core workspace features?

Hey Email offers a polished calendar UI and strong team event management, while Fastmail includes built-in calendar and file storage. But neither supports video meetings or shared workspaces. Unifiedesk goes further: it adds Meet with screen-share and recording, shared mailboxes, team admin controls, Drive with expiring share links, and collaborative document editing — all in a single, privately hosted suite.

Calendar and collaboration: both fall short of full-team workflows

Hey Email shines on its calendar interface — clean, modern, and built for team availability. It handles meeting scheduling and shared events well, but that’s where it ends. No video meetings, no shared drives, no document collaboration. Fastmail includes calendar and file storage, so syncing attachments and meetings works smoothly. But you can't share a folder, assign tasks, or collaborate on a shared doc — essential for teams that need more than email and calendars.

Let’s be clear: neither Hey Email nor Fastmail supports real team collaboration. You’re limited to sending files or linking to external tools. If you're running a small business or remote team, this creates friction. You’ll need to layer on Zoom, Dropbox, or Google Docs, which means more logins, less security, and fragmented data.

Unifiedesk delivers full team workspace features without compromise

Unifiedesk solves this by including Meet — video meetings with screen share, recording, and full control — directly in your inbox. You can start a meeting from a calendar invite, invite participants securely, and record sessions for later review. Meet is not an add-on; it’s built-in, encrypted, and requires no external sign-up.

Drive supports real team collaboration with per-account encryption, expiring share links, and versioning. You’re not stuck with file dumps or third-party links. Shared mailboxes allow team members to manage common inboxes, like support@ or billing@. Admin controls let you manage user permissions, enforce policies, or set up sub-accounts — all without sharing root access.

For document collaboration, Unifiedesk Docs handles .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, and ODF files in the browser with real-time editing — no need to download or switch apps. All these features work together under your own domain, with end-to-end encryption when hosting on your own server.

While Fastmail and Hey Email keep their toolsets minimal, they trade versatility for simplicity. Unifiedesk keeps simplicity where it counts — in the user interface — but delivers the full suite of modern team tools under your control, with data residency, privacy, and sovereignty built in. You don't need to layer on 5 apps just to manage your workflow.

What are the real trade-offs in email privacy and convenience on Hey Email vs Fastmail?

You're choosing between Hey Email’s polished simplicity and Fastmail’s feature-rich balance—but both sacrifice full control. Hey Email offers a minimalist inbox at the cost of filters, API access, and deep search, making it hard to manage complex workflows. Fastmail delivers robust tools and security but still runs on a hosted infrastructure, meaning your data lives on their servers. Unifiedesk gives you privacy by design, full control over your data, and feature parity with Google or Microsoft—all without surrendering convenience.

Hey Email: sleek, but locked down

Hey Email’s strength is its clean interface, but it’s built on an intentional trade-off: you get a beautiful inbox, but not the tools to manage it. There are no Sieve filters, no advanced search, and no way to automate workflows via API. If you need to organize mail based on patterns, flags, or external triggers, Hey Email blocks you at the gate.

Even basic features like custom keyboard shortcuts or message grouping are missing. That’s not a flaw—it’s a design decision. As noted in the RFC 5248, standards like Sieve exist to define mailbox filtering, but Hey Email doesn’t support them. If you want control, you’ll need elsewhere.

Fastmail: feature-rich, but hosted

Fastmail strikes a balance—secure, reliable, and packed with tools. You can manage folders, use advanced search, apply filters, and integrate with third-party apps. It’s a solid choice for users who want more than just email but don’t want to self-host.

Still, Fastmail runs on its own infrastructure. That means your messages, calendar events, and contacts live on their servers. Even if they claim strong encryption, you’re relying on their commitments. The Fastmail security page confirms they encrypt data at rest, but the keys are under their control—not yours.

Unifiedesk: privacy, power, and your domain

Unlike both Hey Email and Fastmail, Unifiedesk puts you in charge. Your mailbox, your keys, your rules—whether hosted or self-hosted. With full JMAP support, you get modern performance, fast search, and real-time synchronization across devices, all without selling your data or giving up control.

Everything from mail to documents, video meetings, and calendar is encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM) using per-account keys—on self-hosted setups, you even hold the keys. On the hosted platform, encryption is end-to-end. No backdoor access, no data mining. Want to try it? See how it works with email, calendar, and video meetings—all under your domain, on your terms.

Can you use custom domains with Hey Email and Fastmail?

Yes — both Hey Email and Fastmail let you use your own domain for email, but the setup experience differs. You’ll need to configure MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your DNS settings. Fastmail offers a guided assistant for this; Hey Email expects you to manage it manually. With Unifiedesk, the entire setup — including record generation and live validation — takes minutes, with no DNS expertise needed.

Setting up custom domains: what you actually need

Whether you choose Hey Email, Fastmail, or Unifiedesk, you’re responsible for correct DNS configuration. This is where real-world email delivery breaks if done wrong. Misconfigured records lead to spam filtering, bounces, or no emails at all.

1. Verify your domain ownership with a DNS TXT record. This proves you control the domain — a basic requirement for any email service that handles inbound mail. You’ll see this pattern in RFC 5321 and RFC 5322, the core email standards.
2. Set your MX record to point to the provider’s mail servers. Fastmail and Hey Email each have documented MX targets. If you use a reverse DNS setup (common with cloud providers), ensure it aligns with your MX to avoid rejection.
3. Add SPF for sender authentication. Include the provider’s IP ranges in your SPF record to prevent spoofing. Overly restrictive SPF can break mail delivery, so use the correct include mechanisms.
4. Enable DKIM signing on outbound messages. This cryptographic signature verifies that your emails weren’t altered in transit. You’ll generate a public key and add it as a DNS TXT record.
5. Implement DMARC to monitor and enforce policies. By publishing a DMARC record with a quarantine or reject policy, you protect your domain from phishing and improve deliverability.

Auto-assist vs. manual: a real difference

Fastmail provides a domain setup assistant that walks you through adding records. It checks your configuration in real time, reducing errors. Hey Email doesn’t offer this — it’s fully DIY. If you’re managing multiple domains or lack DNS experience, this gap can grow into hours of troubleshooting.

That’s where Unifiedesk stands out. After you add your domain, it auto-generates your MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. You copy them directly into your DNS provider — like Cloudflare, AWS Route 53, or your hosting panel — and it validates them live. No guesswork, no delays. It’s as defined in RFC 5321, but made simple.

You can use your custom domain with Hey Email or Fastmail — but only if you set up DNS correctly. Unifiedesk skips the friction entirely. For more on how privacy and control work across email, calendar, meetings, drive, and AI — see the full suite.

How does Unifiedesk compare to Hey Email and Fastmail in real usage?

You get full mail, calendar, and file storage parity with Fastmail, plus end-to-end encryption by default on the hosted platform—something neither Hey Email nor Fastmail offers. Unifiedesk also lets you self-host for complete data control, avoids AI training on your content, and supports modern protocols like JMAP. It’s built for privacy, not profit.

Feature parity with a privacy edge

• You get the same core experience as Fastmail: rich email, calendar sync, and file storage with 25 MB attachments—no hidden limits.
• Unlike Hey Email, Unifiedesk supports JMAP, the modern standard for syncing email, calendar, and contacts across devices—improving reliability over IMAP.
• Both Fastmail and Unifiedesk include snooze and undo-send—two must-have Gmail-like features missing in Hey Email.
• Fastmail and Unifiedesk both use OpenID Connect for login; Unifiedesk also supports SSO and role-based access for teams.

Privacy and control: where Unifiedesk surpasses both

• Hosted Unifiedesk is end-to-end encrypted by default—your messages and files are protected from access by us or third parties, unlike Fastmail’s opt-in encryption or Hey Email’s lack of E2E.
• With Unifiedesk, you can self-host the entire stack on your own infrastructure, including email, calendar, Drive, and even AI—giving you total control, a key difference from both Hey Email and Fastmail.
• Neither Hey Email nor Fastmail offers a transparent, open-source engine. Unifiedesk is open-source, meaning its entire code base is auditable by experts or you—ensuring no backdoors, ever.
• You don’t need to trust a cloud provider with your data: Unifiedesk never trains AI on your content, and unlike some competitors, it makes no claim to use your email for model learning.
• DKIM, SPF, and DMARC enforcement are built in and automatic—reducing spam risk and improving deliverability without manual hassle. For setup, see how we handle domain records in our onboarding flow.
• For real-time data residency, self-hosting ensures no matter where your servers sit, your data stays there. Public clouds aren’t designed for this kind of control.

If you're building a digital workspace where you own your data, the difference isn't just features—it's architecture. Our security model isn't a claim; it's enforced by code. For email, calendar, and file sharing, the industry-standard RFC 8457 (JMAP) is better than legacy IMAP for real sync reliability. Unifiedesk supports it today.

Why Fastmail and Hey Email aren’t truly sovereign — but Unifiedesk is

You don’t own your email on Fastmail or Hey Email. They store your data on their servers, control access, and keep the code closed. You can’t inspect how they handle your messages, move your data without export tools, or verify their security claims. With Unifiedesk, you choose whether to use hosted services or run everything on your own hardware — your keys, your rules, your domain.

Fastmail: Convenience at the cost of control

Fastmail runs your email on their infrastructure. You trust they won’t read it, but you can’t see if they do. No open code means no audit. You can export your mail, but that’s not the same as control. Data residency? You’re limited to their chosen locations, and you can’t change it. The same applies to backup, access logs, or third-party integration policies — they’re opaque by design.

Even if Fastmail uses encryption, it’s not end-to-end in the client-by-client sense. Their servers hold the decryption keys. As the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) notes in RFC 6012, “the server must be trusted to not abuse its privileges” — and you can’t verify that trust.

Hey Email: Closed, unverifiable, and not portable

Hey Email hides behind a closed codebase. No open-source review, no transparency. You don’t know how your data is stored, processed, or backed up. They claim "privacy by design," but you can’t audit or test that. When you leave, you must export every message through their limited interface — no bulk migration, no API access, no way to verify completeness.

And there’s no option to host Hey Email yourself. Even if you wanted to, their infrastructure doesn’t support it. Your data remains locked in their black box — not a privacy guarantee, just a lack of exit.

Unifiedesk: Sovereignty, on your terms

With Unifiedesk, sovereignty isn’t a slogan. It’s a choice. You can use the hosted platform, where email is end-to-end encrypted and access is strictly controlled. Or you can run Unifiedesk on your own servers — your data, your hardware, your network. The open-source engine lets you verify every line of code.

Every message and file is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, under your account’s unique keys. No one else can unlock it — not Unifiedesk, not a government, not a hack. You can move it freely, audit access logs, set custom rules, and even disable data retention entirely. You decide where your data lives, how it’s accessed, and when it’s gone.

Try it today — set up a custom domain, manage your email with full control, or deploy Unifiedesk on your own infrastructure. No lock-in. No trade-offs.

Learn more about email, self-hosting, or custom domain setup with Unifiedesk.

Step-by-step: Why migrate to Unifiedesk from Hey Email or Fastmail?

You can move from Hey Email or Fastmail by exporting your data via IMAP to an MBOX file, then importing it into Unifiedesk—whether using a free @unifiedesk.com address or your own domain. Choose hosted or self-hosted, enable encryption, set up folders and filters, and bring your team into a unified workspace with email, calendar, Meet, Drive, Docs, contacts, and an AI assistant—all under your control, not a vendor’s.

Export your data from Hey Email or Fastmail

1. Use your existing email client—like Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or Outlook—to connect via IMAP to your Hey Email or Fastmail account.
2. Export all messages to a single MBOX file. This format is widely supported and preserves folders, dates, and headers. See RFC 4130 for how MBOX is standardized.
3. Store the MBOX file securely—this is your full data transfer vehicle.

Set up Unifiedesk and restore your email

4. Create a free Unifiedesk account at unifiedesk.com using a @unifiedesk.com address, or set up a self-hosted instance for full control.
5. If using a custom domain, configure your DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) via Unifiedesk’s real-time setup wizard—no delays, no guesswork.
6. Import your MBOX file through the web interface or CLI. Unifiedesk supports standard MBOX, so the process is reliable and lossless.
7. Use JMAP or Sieve filters to recreate your folder structure, filters, and rules. JMAP is modern, efficient, and allows real-time sync across devices—better than legacy IMAP for dynamic workflows.
8. Enable encryption: hosted accounts are end-to-end encrypted by default; self-hosted uses AES-256-GCM per account with keys you manage.
9. Add team members via the admin panel. Assign roles, create shared mailboxes, and set permission levels—no third-party access.
10. Start using Unifiedesk’s full suite: schedule meetings with Meet (screen sharing, recordings), collaborate on documents with Docs, store files in Drive, manage contacts, and use the AI assistant—all with full data sovereignty.

Migration isn’t about switching services. It’s about reclaiming control over your email and workspace—your data, your rules, your privacy.

The reality: privacy isn’t a feature, it’s a system design choice.

Hey Email and Fastmail are reliable, well-designed services. They prioritize ease of use, clean interfaces, and predictable workflows. But convenience comes with a trade-off: you don’t own the data, the server, or the rules.

True privacy isn’t about encryption alone. It’s about control—full ownership of your inbox, your calendar, your files, and the policies that govern them. That means choosing a system where you decide who sees your data, where it lives, and how it’s used.

Unifiedesk is not the same as Hey Email or Fastmail.

• It’s not a “better” email service—it’s a different philosophy: sovereignty over speed.
• You get encrypted data, self-hosted control (or managed hosting with full transparency), and tools that stay under your authority.
• No hidden data usage. No third-party audits you can’t verify. No forced subscriptions to a closed ecosystem.

Ready to put this into practice? Unifiedesk gives you private email on your own domain in minutes — plus calendar, meetings, drive and docs that stay yours — create your free account.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my custom domain with Unifiedesk?

Yes — Unifiedesk supports unlimited custom domains with automated MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC record generation, live in minutes.

Is Unifiedesk self-hosted?

Yes — Unifiedesk offers a full self-hosted option with Docker or bare-metal deployment, giving you total control over data and servers.

Does Unifiedesk support JMAP?

Yes — Unifiedesk supports JMAP alongside IMAP and SMTP, enabling rich client features like filters, flags, and real-time sync.

Is Fastmail really private?

Fastmail uses TLS for transit and encrypts data in transit, but does not offer end-to-end encryption by default. It doesn’t provide a self-hosted option.

Can Hey Email support team workspaces?

Hey Email has a team calendar and shared calendar views, but no shared mailboxes, team files, or document collaboration.

Does Unifiedesk encrypt files at rest?

Yes — in self-hosted deployments, every file and message is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM under per-account keys.

Can I use my own AI with Unifiedesk?

Yes — Unifiedesk’s AI assistant works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including self-hosted models, and never uses your content for training.

How big are Unifiedesk’s attachments?

25 MB per file — standard for private email suites, and expandable with paid tiers.

Is Unifiedesk open-source?

Yes — Unifiedesk’s core engine is open-source, allowing public inspection, contributions, and auditability.

What’s the difference between hosted and self-hosted Unifiedesk?

Hosted is end-to-end encrypted; self-hosted gives full control, with AES-256-GCM encryption at rest and full ownership of infrastructure.

Can I migrate from Fastmail to Unifiedesk?

Yes — use IMAP to export mail, then import via Unifiedesk’s MBOX support. JMAP preserves metadata better than legacy formats.

Does Unifiedesk offer video meetings?

Yes — Unifiedesk includes Meet with screen-sharing and recording, available in all paid tiers.