Fastmail

Fastmail
Fastmail logo since June 2019
The inbox in Fastmail's web client
Type of site
Webmail, POP3, IMAP4
Available in36 languages
OwnerFastmail Pty Ltd
URLwww.fastmail.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Launched1999; 26 years ago (1999)
Current statusOnline

Fastmail is an email hosting company based in Melbourne, Australia.[1] In addition to its Fastmail-branded services, the company also operates Topicbox, a mailing list service, and Pobox, an email service it acquired in 2015.[2]

The company was acquired by Opera Software in 2010 but became independent again in 2013 through a staff buyout.[3] Its servers are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and St. Louis, Missouri.[4]

History

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FastMail old logo before June 2019

Fastmail was founded in 1999 by Rob Mueller, Bruce Davey, and Jeremy Howard, to provide email service for customers of the Optimal Decisions Group.

The provider's sole product line is email services (and included accessories), but it was owned by Opera Software (best known for its web browser) from 2010 to 2013.[5][6][7][8] Through a staff buyout, the company became fully independent again.[9]

When first established, the service was intended to differentiate itself through providing features that were not yet available from other market players. Early on, this included the ease and speed of email transport and access, personalities and IMAP[10] and SSL[11] support, and an independent public forum[12] and wiki among user support options. Over the years, these features became commonplace, but features such as WebDAV, secure LDAP, opportunistic inter-server encryption, reliability via minimization of single points of failure, and customizable filtering via Sieve are current differentiators.

In 2003, mail servers were moved under the domain name messagingengine.com.[13] On 23 October 2014, Fastmail moved their primary domain from fastmail.fm to fastmail.com.[14]

On 18 October 2012 Fastmail announced that new signups for the free service level had been discontinued.[15] Existing free Fastmail accounts would not be discontinued, but if a free account was deactivated because it was not logged into in over 120 days, it would not be reactivated. The company stated that they had decided to focus Fastmail as a "premium brand" with only paid accounts. All existing "guest" and "one-time payment" email accounts were discontinued on 31 July 2017 as Fastmail transitioned into a subscription-only email service.[16] Existing users were given the option to subscribe to Fastmail with a discount or to request a refund of their one-time payment.[17]

As of December 2018, Fastmail and all other Australian companies are subject to the Assistance and Access Bill, which compels them to assist law enforcement in accessing encrypted communications if warranted during an investigation. Fastmail stated that while their services were not "materially affected" since they already complied with warrants per the Telecommunications Act, concerns have been shown by customers over the bill's effects.[18][19]

On 24 June 2019, Fastmail launched a refreshed UI design, with a new logo, app icon, colors, and website. The logo now reads "Fastmail" instead of "FastMail".[20]

Features

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Address and domain management

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Fastmail offers users a choice of domains for their email addresses. Many of these domains begin with "fastmail" followed by various top-level domains (e.g., fastmail.com, fastmail.co.uk, fastmail.jp). In addition to these Fastmail-branded options, the service also provides numerous other domains, such as 123mail.org, airpost.net, mailbolt.com, and sent.as.[21] Users also have the option to use their own custom domains.[22]

To manage email identities, users can create up to 600 aliases, which are additional email addresses that deliver to the same inbox. This allows for separate addresses for different purposes (e.g., work, personal, or specific services) without creating new user accounts. For users with custom domains, catch-all aliases can be configured to receive any email sent to that domain, regardless of the address specified.[23]

Fastmail offers a feature called 'Masked Email'. This allows users to generate unique, random email addresses for every online service they sign up for, keeping their primary email address private. If a masked address begins to receive spam, it can be disabled or deleted, and it helps identify which service may have shared or leaked the user's data. Fastmail provides integrations with the password managers 1Password[24][25] and Bitwarden[26][27], allowing users to create Masked Email addresses directly from the password manager's interface when signing up for new accounts.[28]

Applications

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Fastmail can be accessed through its web interface, dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android[29], or as a Progressive Web App (PWA) on supported desktop browsers.[30] On December 16, 2024, the team announced a public beta testing of offline support for the mobile apps, allowing to, for example, compose an email without requiring an active internet connection.[31]

Organization

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The service provides tools for organizing mail. Users can choose between labels or traditional folders. Powerful mail rules (filters) can be created to automatically organize incoming mail, with support for advanced customization through the Sieve scripting language. A vacation response (autoreply) can be set for any email address, and a restore tool allows for the recovery of messages, contacts, events, or notes deleted within the past seven days.[32]

Additional features

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Beyond email, users can create and manage calendars and notes within the web interface, which can be synchronized with other devices and applications using the CalDAV and IMAP protocols, respectively.[33][34] A comprehensive address book allows users to manage contacts. The contacts feature is integrated with the mail interface, enabling users to view contact details and conversation history in a sidebar, add senders to contacts directly from a message, and receive auto-complete suggestions when composing an email. Contacts can be marked as VIPs, which adds a star icon to their messages and allows for specific notifications for that group. Adding a sender to the address book also serves to whitelist them, preventing their messages from being marked as spam. Contacts can be synced through the CardDAV protocol.[35]

Technology

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The site developers are among active contributors to the widely used Cyrus IMAP open source software project[36] and include the lead developer and maintainer of Perl module Mail::IMAPTalk.[37] Fastmail supported the development of the free software webmail interface Roundcube[38] and developed JMAP – a new open email protocol.[39]

YubiKey inserted into a USB port

Fastmail also provides for two-factor login using a YubiKey. While associating one or more YubiKeys with a Fastmail account will not prevent normal logins, it allowed for logging on to an email account with just a YubiKey and its auto-generated one-time passwords, making it suitable for accessing email on public machines. The YubiKey-only login feature was discontinued in July 2016, as it was rarely used, according to the Fastmail team.[40]

The email service also supports the U2F and the TOTP protocol as a secondary sign-in factor, allowing users to sign in with their password and a security token as an extra security feature. In August 2024 Fastmail introduced support for passwordless authentication with passkeys.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wright, Charles (7 October 2002). "FastMail reinvents a slicker, quicker wheel". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 24 February 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ Horstmall-Allen, Helen (3 November 2015). "Exciting News about Pobox and FastMail". Pobox. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Exciting news: FastMail staff purchase the business from Opera". Fastmail. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  4. ^ "How Fastmail provides a secure service". Fastmail Help & Support. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  5. ^ Williams, Christopher. "Opera targets mobile with email acquisition". The Register. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Opera Software purchases Melbourne-based email provider". Arnnet.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Opera acquires Fastmail.fm". Opera.com. 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  8. ^ "FastMail.FM has been acquired by Opera Software". Blog.fastmail.com. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Exciting news: FastMail staff purchase the business from Opera". Blog.fastmail.com. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  10. ^ Wright, Charles (17 October 2002). "The host with the most". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  11. ^ Fleishman, Glenn (2005). Take Control of Your AirPort Network. TidBITS Publishing, Incorporated. p. 106. ISBN 9780975950357. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Welcome to the Fastmail.FM General Discussions Forum".
  13. ^ Jeremy Howard (8 February 2003). "mail.messagingengine.com". Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  14. ^ "FastMail has moved to fastmail.com, @fastmail.com email addresses now available". Blog.fastmail.com. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Changes to FastMail service levels". Blog.fastmail.com. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Guest and Member subscriptions being discontinued". emaildiscussions.com. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  17. ^ "EmailDiscussions.com - View Single Post - Guest and Member subscriptions being discontinued". www.emaildiscussions.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  18. ^ "FastMail loses customers, faces calls to move over anti-encryption laws". iTnews. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Australia passes encryption-breaking laws". BBC News. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  20. ^ "A new look, logo, and website for Fastmail". Fastmail Blog. Archived from the original on 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  21. ^ "What domains can I use with Fastmail?". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Custom domains with Fastmail". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  23. ^ "How to set up aliases". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  24. ^ "Use 1Password to create and manage Masked Emails in Fastmail | 1Password Support". 1Password. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Masked Email from Fastmail and 1Password protects your identity online". Fastmail Blog. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  26. ^ Shic, Vivian (14 September 2022). "Use Bitwarden to Generate Email Aliases with Fastmail". The Bitwarden Blog. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  27. ^ "Masked Email Now in More Places With Bitwarden Integration". Fastmail. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  28. ^ "Masked Email". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  29. ^ "The Fastmail mobile app". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  30. ^ "Install Fastmail as a progressive web app (PWA)". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  31. ^ Jenkins, Neil (16 December 2024). "Dec 16: Offline support now in public beta". Fastmail. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  32. ^ "Fastmail settings". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  33. ^ "How to synchronize a calendar". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  34. ^ "Notes". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  35. ^ "Using Contacts". Fastmail. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  36. ^ "Emailserviceguide.com". Emailserviceguide.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  37. ^ Blank-Edelman, David N. (2009). Automating system administration with Perl. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". p. 288. ISBN 978-0-596-00639-6.
  38. ^ Gondwana, Bron (5 June 2015). "FastMail supports Roundcube Next development". Fastmail blog. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  39. ^ "JSON Meta Application Protocol Specification (JMAP)". Jmap.io. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  40. ^ Jenkins, Neil. "Two-step verification and other new security features". FastMail Blog. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  41. ^ Jenkins, Neil (14 August 2024). "Introducing passkey support to Fastmail". Fastmail. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
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