Choosing the best email hosting provider for your small business is crucial for maintaining security, control, and compliance with data protection laws.
For one, many popular providers, such as Gmail and Outlook, don’t apply end-to-end encryption by default in most business plans and therefore retain access to your data, exposing your business to potential risks.
At Proton, we provide a secure alternative. Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption by default, not only ensuring that only you can access your emails but protecting the valuable, sensitive data they contain in the event of a data breach. Founded by scientists at CERN in 2014, Proton Mail has grown into the world’s largest encrypted email platform, with over 100 million users – including over 50,000 businesses just like yours.
This article will show you why choosing the right email hosting provider is a critical step in your small business operations. We’ll also explore how Proton Mail prevents data breaches, helps you comply with data protection laws like GDPR and HIPAA, and provides robust defenses against cyberattacks.
Why use secure email for your business
There are major advantages to using a security-first email service like Proton Mail.
Prevent data breaches
Emails sent within your organization using Proton Mail are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning they are encrypted on your device before being transmitted and can only be read by the recipient.
You can apply the same level of security to emails you send to non-Proton Mail accounts. With our Password-protected Emails feature, you can send end-to-end encrypted emails to outside email providers, and your recipients can respond using end-to-end encryption. Emails you receive directly from outside email services are protected by zero-access encryption. This ensures that even in the unlikely event of a breach of one of our servers, your company’s emails would remain secure and unreadable to anyone but you, protecting your confidential information from cyberattacks.
Comply with data protection laws
Proton Mail is a GDPR-compliant email service that can also help you comply with industry-specific privacy requirements, such as HIPAA. This compliance ensures that your business is not only secure but also adheres to global standards for data protection, giving you peace of mind to focus on running your business in an optimal way.
Security you can trust
All Proton apps are open source and have been independently audited and verified by third-party experts. This transparency means that anyone can inspect our code to verify its security and functionality. Open source enhances the security of our products, as our software has been reviewed by thousands of experts around the world.
Proton’s dedication to transparency and security is unwavering. Our audit reports are available for you to view, and you can even inspect the code yourself or contribute improvements. By making our code freely accessible, we not only ensure the highest level of security but also encourage innovation in privacy technology.
Defend against hackers
Proton Mail incorporates several layers of defense against potential cyberattacks:
- Link confirmation: It can be difficult on mobile devices to tell if the link you’re opening actually leads to the URL you think it does. Link confirmation is a feature built into Proton Mail for web, iOS, and Android that displays the full URL and requests additional confirmation from you before opening the link.
- PhishGuard: Identifies and flags phishing attempts, ensuring your team is alerted to potential threats.
- Two-factor authentication (2FA): Provides security beyond just a password, with support for authenticator apps and physical security keys. Administrators can enforce 2FA to strengthen security among employees.
- Proton Sentinel: Available with a Proton for Business plan, this advanced account protection program combines AI with human analysis to offer maximum security. Proton Sentinel provides 24/7 monitoring and escalates suspicious login attempts to security analysts, making it particularly useful for executives and those dealing with sensitive data.
Conduct business with your own personal domain
With a Proton business plan, you can set up a custom domain to enhance your organization’s professional image. Branded email addresses (for example, yourname@example.com) not only look more professional but also build trust with your clients and partners.
If you don’t already have a custom domain, you can easily purchase one from domain name registrars such as GoDaddy(new window) and Namecheap(new window). Using Proton Mail with your custom domain ensures your business communications are secure, professional, and compliant with the highest data protection standards.
A plan tailored to your business needs
By using Proton Mail, you ensure your business communications are secure and compliant with the highest standards of data protection.
Proton Mail gives you advanced security while also helping you run your business the way you want. All our business plans include end-to-end encrypted Proton Mail, Proton Drive, Proton Pass, Proton VPN, and Proton Calendar in a single per-user subscription.
- Proton Mail Essentials: Our simplest plan offers secure email with 15 GB of total storage and 10 addresses per user, support for three custom email domains, and basic VPN access on one device per user. This plan also includes basic features for Proton Pass, Proton Drive, and Proton Calendar, which now allows subscribers to see the availability of meeting participants.
- Proton Mail Professional: Our premium solution gives you secure email with 50 GB of storage and 15 addresses per user, support for 10 custom email domains, workspace branding with your logo, Proton VPN access, and advanced account security through our Proton Sentinel program. This plan also includes basic features for Proton Pass and Proton Drive.
- Proton Business Suite: Our most powerful business plan gives you secure email, calendar, cloud storage, password manager, and VPN with all premium Proton features. The plan comes with 500 GB of storage and 20 email addresses per user support for 15 custom email domains, Proton Sentinel, and all features included in Proton Pass Professional and Proton VPN Professional(new window).
Learn more about Proton for Business plans
You can access Proton Mail on any web browser, use the Proton Mail desktop app, or work on the go with our iOS(new window) and Android(new window) mobile apps. Proton Mail Bridge also allows businesses to integrate Proton Mail with popular email clients like Outlook and Apple Mail, adding end-to-end encryption while maintaining existing workflows.
Stay compliant, secure, and in control with Proton
Unlike other companies that prioritize advertising revenue extracted from exploited data, our business model is centered around the security and control of your data.
Every feature on our platforms is designed to not only protect your most sensitive, valuable information but also keep you in compliance with data protection laws.
Proton started as a crowdfunded project led by scientists who met at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). Our goal is to reshape the internet to put people and organizations in control of their data.
Switching to Proton Mail is simple with our Easy Switch feature, allowing you to seamlessly transition all your emails, contacts, and calendars from other services.
Choosing Proton Mail provides your small business with easy-to-implement tools for managing communications and cybersecurity and ensures compliance with the highest data protection standards, allowing you to focus on running your small business in the best way possible.
