When comparing Opera Mail vs ProtonMail, the Slant community recommends ProtonMail for most people. In the question“What are the best e-mail clients for Windows?” ProtonMail is ranked 10th while Opera Mail is ranked 13th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Intuitive user interface
The design of the UI in Opera Mail is clean and intuitive, making for an easy to use client.
Pro Very efficient search
Be it the subject or the sender, it is very fast and accurate.
Pro Opera Mail CAN BE set as default email client in Windows 8 & 10
Pro Automagic smart filtering
After a bit of use Opera learns what e-mail belongs in what folder just by previous usage. This makes for a convenient way to have e-mails filtered without having to manually mange every e-mail.
Pro Free and based on Mozilla code
Opera Mail is completely free to download and use and it is based on Mozilla's code, which is what makes it a bit similar to Thunderbird in looks and function.
Pro Built-in end-to-end encryption
Pro No personal information needed
To create an account you don't need to give any personal information, just choose username, domain, and password. Even the recovery email address is optional.
Pro Privacy respecting
User data is protected by strict privacy laws because all servers are located in Switzerland.
Pro Open Source
Pro Mobile apps
Apps for Android and iOS available.
Cons
Con Being discontinued
Opera Mail will be end of lifed per Opera website
Con Very limited feature set
Compared to Thunderbird.
Con Sync is slow
Opera tends to be slower on e-mail sync when compared to other popular clients.
Con Does not support 4K monitors
Con Javascript-intensive Webmail
Free accounts are required to use Javascript webmail and encryption is done in the browser. Javascript cryptography is harmful for security and should not be used.
Con Encryption Keys are stored server-side
The keys are generated during account creation. Using your existing keys is prohibited and ProtonMail must store and control the private keys. Encryption cannot be secure unless the user controls the private keys.
Con Still lacks some useful features
At the moment, there is no calendar feature and contact management is quite poor. They will, however, start to work on it.
Con Ties to US Investors
ProtonMail takes money from US Investors
Con No IMAP and SMTP support for basic accounts
Basic accounts are restricted to the Protonmail web client. Support for IMAP and SMTP is available with a paid subscription only, and as such with basic accounts it is not possible to send and receive email with external applications.
Con Overly expensive for desktop support
Con Requires phone number for login
If you sign up over Tor or a VPN, it will require email or phone number verification. Email verification is disabled if you use an email that isn't from Google or Outlook.
Con Not fully Open Source
