Best Email Spam Filters (2024): Gmail vs N-Able vs Mailwasher vs SpamSieve vs SpamBully & More

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Here’s how it works.

computer screen with spam on desk person working at a desk

Spam or junk mail can be annoying, time-consuming, and dangerous if you click on a link containing malware. Filtering and blocking it from your email is one of the best things you can do in your business and personal life. There are many anti-spam solutions available. Determining what is the best choice for you is difficult. We will show you a few options and why they may meet your needs and budget.

First Steps

First, let’s look at what you can do to rid yourself of spam:

  • Adjust your inbox settings. Most email services today have some built-in spam filter.
  • Unsubscribe to emails that are junk. That will work for reputable companies.
  • Block obvious spammers.
  • Look into obtaining a spam filter (which is why you are here).

Gmail

gmail logo 250

Visit Website

Gmail is the best free email account to use to avoid spam. Google uses algorithms that find patterns and AI to make decisions to block more than 99.9 percent of spam and phishing emails from reaching Gmail users. It is cloud-based, you can have multiple boxes, it is mobile-friendly, and it has an app. You can also use Gmail to host your existing email address; it doesn’t have to be a Google (Gmail) email address.

gmail blocker screenshot
Example of Spam filter inbox showing no spam on Gmail.

Potential Negatives For Gmail

  1. Unless you’re using the web interface, arrive at your computer before they are checked for spam.
  2. The spam filter itself is not very customizable.
  3. There is concern about Google’s privacy policy and its reputation for using user data.
  4. Gmail is not a stand-alone solution that integrates with your existing mail client.

Pricing

  • Free

MailWasher

mailwasher logo 250

Visit Website

MailWasher is the leader in free spam filter software, and it will never expire. Over 8 million people use Mailwasher to check and manage their emails before downloading them to their computers. You’ll be able to see who the email is from, the subject, the attachment, and other useful info.

It taps into a global database of spam signatures in real time, which lets the software prepare itself for email spam messages before they even get to you. When they do, the filter will catch them and flag them for deletion. You can check the message and confirm that it’s actually spam before letting it be deleted. There is a free mobile version as well. Download your Android phone/tablet, iPhone, iPad, or Windows Phone version.

There is also a paid version, MailWasher Pro, that offers additional features, including multiple mailboxes a full preview pane, and if an email is accidentally deleted, you can restore it. Sync your email accounts, friends lists, and blacklists from MailWasher Pro to your mobile device using the mobile version.

mailwasher mail blocker screenshot png
Example of MailWasher Pro tool settings showing types of lists and filters.

Compatibility

MailWasher works with Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, EM Client, and most email programs.

Pricing

  • Free (1 user)
  • $49.95/year for Pro (3 users)

SpamBully

spambully logo 250

Visit Website

SpamBully Version 4 uses Bayesian Filtering – Artificial Intelligence, data analysis, and parameter estimation based on continually receiving new evidence to determine which emails are good and which are spam. It will filter only the good emails in your Inbox. It also lets you decide which email addresses, words & phrases, countries, languages, and IPs are allowed or blocked from your Inbox.

It gets back at spammers by increasing their costs, returning their spam, and reporting them to the servers they came from and the FTC. It automatically filters out of your inbox mail from internet domains responsible for sending massive amounts of spam and detects links in phishing emails from potentially fraudulent sources. SpamBully provides detailed information about each email, tells you why a message was or was not blocked and how to correct this in the future, and forwards only good emails to your mobile phone.

spambully mail blocker screenshot
SpamBully options on how to filter mail in settings.

Compatibility

SpamBully works with Office 365, Office 2021 and older, Outlook, Live Mail, Outlook Express, Windows Mail and IMAP.

Pricing

  • $29.95/year

SpamSieve For Mac Users

spamsieve logo 250

Visit Website

SpamSieve uses powerful Bayesian spam filtering for exceptional accuracy that continually improves. It learns and adapts to your mail, offering personalized filtering, so it’s able to block nearly all spam. Automatically maintains an “allowlist” to guarantee that messages from previous correspondents are never marked as spam and maintains a “blocklist” to recognize and stop messages from specific addresses instantly.

Spammers encode and obscure the messages, but SpamSieve can decode them to determine their true nature. SpamSieve also looks inside attached messages to discover spam even when the message is virtually empty. Colors show you how spammy messages are if you want to check on borderline ones to see how well SpamSieve is working, and a log lets you see everything it did and why, so you can tweak the settings if necessary.

spamsieve airmail mail blocker screenshot
Example of setting up SpamSieve using AirMail application settings.

Compatibility

SpamSieve works with macOS 10.13 through macOS 14 and an email client. For older versions of macOS, previous versions of SpamSieve are available. Recommended: IMAP or Exchange mail account (for iPhone/iPad spam filtering). SpamSieve is designed to work with the following email programs: Apple Mail, Airmail, GyazMail, MailMate, Mailsmith, Outlook, Entourage, MailForge, and more. See the complete list and versions on the SpamSieve website.

Pricing

  • $39.99/license (1 user)
  • $63.98/license (Family or 2 users)

N-Able™ Mail Assure

n able logo 250

Visit Website

N-Able™ Mail Assure is an email hosting site. It blocks 100% of malware, as tested by Virus Bulletin. It helps protect against spam, viruses, phishing, ransomware, social engineering, and other email-borne threats.

Their cloud-based proprietary engine learns to recognize threat patterns in real time and respond against new attacks. It blocks more than 2 billion spam messages monthly using machine learning and other filtering technologies. You get 24/7 email continuity and encrypted, long-term email archiving with unlimited storage.

n able mail blocker screenshot png
An example of Mail Assure’s Dashboard showing stats of incoming and outgoing mail by type and level of spam.

Compatibility

 It seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 and Outlook.

Pricing

  • Free Trial (Quotes available)

The Best Is Not Always Perfect

As we said in the beginning of this article Gmail is the best free email account with one of the best spam filters on the market. That does not mean things always run smoothly. Are you having problems with loading your Gmail or slowness? You need to check out our article about Gmail not loading for answers.

How do you deal with Spam? Tell us in the comments.

Tagged With: ,

The information provided through this website should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease; it is not intended to offer any legal opinion or advice or a substitute for professional safety advice or professional care. Please consult your health care provider, attorney, or product manual for professional advice. Products and services reviewed are provided by third parties; we are not responsible in any way for them, nor do we guarantee their functionality, utility, safety, or reliability. Our content is for educational purposes only.

Subscribe
Notify of
7 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments