Products / Mail & messages
Hoq Mail
Mail, calendar and contacts in the browser, for every mailbox you have.
What it does
Hoq Mail is the web app for your mail, calendars and contacts. You sign in once with Hoq ID and open every mailbox you own from one place. A mailbox hosted on Hoq Email links in one click. A mailbox on any other JMAP server links with its password.
The browser talks JMAP straight to the mail server. Hoq ID keeps the mailbox credential and hands the browser a 15-minute token, so your password is never in the page. Revoke access and the token stops working.
The inbox has single-line and side-by-side layouts, conversation view, labels with colours, snooze, swipe actions, and Undo on archive, delete and spam. Settings covers filters, vacation replies, forwarding, sending as an outside address, app passwords for mail apps, and putting back deleted mail.
PGP and S/MIME run in the browser. Your private keys are stored in the browser, locked with your passphrase, and never sent to the server.
In numbers
15 minlife of the token the browser holds instead of a password
7actions you can put on a swipe, from archive to snooze
4calendar views: month, week, day, agenda
4appearance presets: Default, Roomy, Compact, Focus
Specifications
| Sign-in | Hoq ID single sign-on. Hoq ID holds the mailbox credential; the browser gets a 15-minute token. |
|---|---|
| Mailboxes per person | Several. Each linked mailbox is opened by its own link id, so two tabs can show two mailboxes. |
| Which servers | Hoq Email mailboxes in one click, or any JMAP server with a password. |
| Protocol | JMAP from the browser to the mail server, with live updates pushed to the open page. |
| End-to-end encryption | PGP (OpenPGP.js) and S/MIME in the browser. Keys kept in the browser, wrapped with a passphrase stretched by 600,000 PBKDF2 rounds. |
| Filters | Rules are saved as Sieve scripts on your mail server, so they run even when the app is closed. |
| Calendar | Month, week, day and agenda views, repeating events, sharing a calendar with other people, and .ics import and export. |
| Deleted mail | Recover deleted mail from Settings; it returns to the Inbox. Kept 30 days on paid plans. |
| Page security | Every inline script carries a per-request nonce; the page allows no unsafe inline code. |
Features
25 features, all shipped. Listed from the product's code and documentation; each row shows the day it was last checked.
| Conversation view | Shows a thread as stacked cards with the newest open and older messages folded to one line. | |
| Two layouts | Choose a single-line list or a side-by-side reading pane. | |
| Undo | Puts a message back after archive, delete or spam from the notice at the bottom. | |
| Snooze | Hides a message until a time you pick, then brings it back to the Inbox. | |
| Labels and folders | Create, rename, nest and colour folders and labels. | |
| Bulk actions | Select many messages and archive, delete, mark read, star, label or move them. | |
| Swipe actions | Set what a swipe left or right does on a phone. | |
| Keyboard | Moves through the list and acts on the selected message from the keyboard. | |
| Search | Searches the mailbox on the server and shows previews before opening a message. |
| Compose window | Writes in a docked window you can minimise or open full screen, with drafts saved to the server. | |
| Inline reply | Replies inside the thread with bold, italic, lists and links. | |
| Address suggestions | Suggests recipients from your contacts as you type. | |
| PGP and S/MIME | Encrypts, signs, decrypts and verifies in the browser with keys you import. |
| Filters | Builds rules that file, label or forward mail, stored as Sieve on the server. | |
| Vacation reply | Sends an automatic reply while you are away. | |
| Forwarding | Forwards your mail to another address. | |
| Send as | Sends from an outside address after you prove you own it. | |
| Mail apps | Makes a separate password for each mail app on a phone or computer. | |
| Recover deleted mail | Lists purged mail still kept and puts any of it back in the Inbox. | |
| Appearance | Sets density, reading pane, list style and four presets. |
| Calendar views | Month, week, day and agenda, with quick create and full event editing. | |
| Repeating events | Creates and edits events that repeat. | |
| Calendar sharing | Shares a calendar with other people and stops sharing it. | |
| .ics import and export | Brings events in from an .ics file and saves them out to one. | |
| Contacts | Keeps people in several address books, with search and editing. |
Works with
Your data
| Where it is kept | Mail, calendars and contacts stay on the mail server you linked. Hoq Mail stores only the list of your linked mailboxes and your display preferences. |
|---|---|
| Getting it out | Your mail is on a standard JMAP server; export it with any IMAP, JMAP, CalDAV or CardDAV client. Calendars export as .ics from the app. |
| If you leave | Unlink a mailbox in Settings and its credential is removed. Nothing of the mail itself is held by the app. |
APIs and standards
- JMAP client (browser direct to the mail server)
- Web app at mail.hoq.app/a/{link}
- Standard: JMAP
- Standard: Sieve
- Standard: iCalendar (RFC 5545)
- Standard: OpenPGP
- Standard: S/MIME
Compared
| Checked 2026-11-01 | Hoq Mail | Gmail (Google Workspace Business Starter) | Fastmail Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per user per month | Not published | $7.001 | $5 paid yearly, $6 monthly2 |
| PGP in the web app | Yes, keys stay in your browser | not published1 | No, by design3 |
| S/MIME in the web app | Yes, keys stay in your browser | Hosted S/MIME on Enterprise Plus and Education editions4 | No, use a third-party app3 |
| Open mailboxes on other providers' servers | Any JMAP server, by password | not published1 | not published2 |
| Protocol behind the web app | JMAP | not published1 | JMAP2 |
| Native phone apps | None; installable web app | Yes1 | Yes2 |