Overview

addy.io gives people and teams a way to route email through aliases instead of exposing a personal or business inbox. It is strongest for users who want control over their own domains and the option to reply from aliases; the free tier is useful for trying the workflow, but its single-recipient and 10MB monthly bandwidth limits make it a narrow fit for ongoing use.

Its value is not just hiding an address: aliases can be shut off selectively, and paid plans support anonymous replies and sending. The trade-off is that those controls and higher-volume use depend on a paid plan.

For more options, see Email Alias Services.

Key features

Alias control and custom domains

Aliases forward incoming mail to a real inbox, so users can give different services or contacts separate addresses. Deactivation silently discards new mail; deletion makes future senders receive a bounce. That distinction gives users a quieter way to retire an address or a clearer signal that it is no longer in use.

Users can bring a domain they control and create aliases on it, with catch-all controls for each domain. This is a useful step up from relying only on shared domains, particularly for people who want aliases to use an address namespace they manage. Domain and shared-alias capacity varies by plan.

Replies, encryption, and integrations

Paid plans allow replies to forwarded messages and messages initiated from an alias without exposing the real address. That makes addy.io more suitable for two-way correspondence than a forwarding-only setup, though the free plan does not include this feature.

Users can add GPG/OpenPGP public keys per recipient to encrypt forwarded messages, and can choose to hide and encrypt the subject. The API can automate aliases, recipients, domains, additional usernames, and other account resources. Bitwarden can also create addy.io aliases from its generator in the desktop app, browser extensions, and web vault.

The maker describes transport protections including opportunistic DANE TLS, MTA-STS on shared domains, TLS reporting, DNSSEC, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. It also says sensitive database data such as recipient addresses is encrypted using OpenSSL and AES-256-CBC with a message authentication code, and that accounts support two-factor authentication with authenticator apps or hardware devices such as YubiKey. Securitum's September 2023 audit identified no significant vulnerabilities, according to the maker. These are meaningful safeguards, but they do not eliminate the need to assess whether a forwarding service fits an organization's security requirements.

Pricing

The free plan costs 0.00 USD per month and includes unlimited standard aliases, 10 active shared-domain aliases, one recipient, two available alias domains, and a 10MB monthly bandwidth limit. That is enough to explore the service or support low-volume personal use, but one recipient and the small bandwidth allowance are material constraints.

Lite costs 1.00 USD per month, billed yearly. It raises capacity to 50 active shared-domain aliases, five recipients, and six available alias domains, and adds one custom domain, five additional usernames, five rules, and 50 anonymous replies or sends per day; bandwidth rises to 100MB monthly. This is the low-cost choice for one person who needs a custom domain or modest reply volume, but the annual billing and finite bandwidth still matter.

Pro costs 3.00 USD per month billed yearly or $4 billed monthly. It includes unlimited standard and active shared-domain aliases, 30 recipients, seven available alias domains, 20 custom domains, 20 additional usernames, 20 rules, and 200 anonymous replies or sends per day, with unlimited monthly bandwidth. For heavier individual use, it removes the free and Lite bandwidth ceilings while expanding domain and recipient capacity.

Duo costs 4.50 USD per month billed yearly or $6 billed monthly for two members total. Family costs 7.50 USD per month billed yearly or $10 billed monthly for five members total. Both give each member Pro, keep accounts independent, allow optional sharing of custom domains, and use one subscription. These plans suit small households or teams that need separate accounts rather than a shared login; the listed seat counts are fixed at two and five.

The pricing model is freemium, with paid plans from $1/mo billed annually. The annual prices are stated per month, so buyers should distinguish them from the monthly-billed Pro, Duo, and Family rates.

Platforms

addy.io supports web, API, self-hosting, Android, and iOS, along with browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Chromium-based browsers including Brave and Vivaldi. This breadth gives both browser-centered users and developers routes into the service. The maker provides self-hosting instructions, which may appeal to operators who prefer to run the service themselves, though deployment responsibility then rests with them.

Who it's for

addy.io fits privacy-conscious individuals who want disposable or domain-based addresses, and developers or small teams that benefit from API automation, recipient-specific forwarding, or Bitwarden alias generation. Pro is the more practical tier for higher-volume use; Duo and Family extend Pro features to separate member accounts under one subscription. It is less compelling for a user who only wants a handful of aliases but expects generous free forwarding capacity, or for a team that needs more seats than the two- and five-member bundles provide.

Pros and cons

Pros: Users can deactivate aliases silently or delete them with a bounce, giving two distinct ways to retire an address.
Pros: Custom domains, catch-all controls, API automation, and Bitwarden integration make the service adaptable to existing workflows.
Pros: Paid anonymous replies and sends, recipient-specific message encryption, and multiple account-security protections cover more than inbound forwarding.
Cons: The free plan is limited to one recipient and 10MB of monthly bandwidth, which can rule it out for regular or shared use.
Cons: Anonymous replies and sending require a paid plan, so the free tier does not support private two-way conversations.
Cons: Lite's $1.00 USD per month rate is billed yearly, and its 100MB monthly bandwidth limit remains finite.

Alternatives

EmailAlias.io is a freemium alternative with a $4.00 USD per month Premium plan billed monthly, including unlimited aliases, up to five custom domains, unlimited forwarding inboxes, and anonymous sending and replies; consider it if those stated allowances and monthly billing fit better.

SimpleLogin is another freemium option with Android, iOS, web, API, extensions, and self-hosting, and says its components are open source; choose it if that platform mix or open-source approach is the priority.

GridInbox has a free tier with stated monthly inbound and outbound quotas, five aliases, storage, attachment limits, and REST API access; consider it if those bounded mailbox allowances and API access match the use case.

Alias Email is a freemium web and extension option with a free plan; it is an alternative for readers comparing another browser-oriented service.

Firefox Relay is a freemium option available on Android, iOS, web, and as an extension; consider it as another cross-device alternative.

Maski offers a free plan with 10 aliases, 100 forwards per day, forward and block rules, and encryption at rest, plus a $4.99 USD per month Pro plan; it may suit readers whose needs align with those stated limits and controls.

DuckDuckGo Email Protection is free and offers email forwarding, tracker removal, and personal and private Duck Addresses; choose it if those specific protections are the priority.

AliasVault is a free alternative available on Android, iOS, web, extensions, and self-hosting; consider it if that platform coverage is a better fit.

Verdict

Choose addy.io if you want flexible alias management, custom-domain controls, and a path from simple forwarding to anonymous replies, API use, and multi-member accounts. Its strongest case is the range of controls across individual and small-team plans. Look elsewhere if the free tier's one-recipient, 10MB bandwidth cap is too restrictive or if you need anonymous replies without paying.

	addy.io	MailMask
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	$1/mo	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, api, extension, iOS, self-hosted, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	1 /mo	—
Alias limit	50 aliases	—
Custom domains	Yes	—
Reply from alias	Yes	No
Send from alias	Yes	No
Browser extension	Yes	—
Mobile apps	both	—

addy.io vs MailMask

addy.io

MailMask