Many people find themselves in the position of either registering for an email account for the first time or wanting to switch to an alternative email host. Either way, these people should be careful to not fall victim to several email hosts who try to con prospective email users into paying for their services. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of free email hosting services available on the Internet for anyone to join at any time. The majority of these email hosts also do not have any restrictions on how many email accounts its users have. This means that the user can have an email account for their personal needs, work, or any other purpose, all in one place. This article will explore several of these free email hosts.

Gmail
Gmail is, by far, the most popular and accessible email host in the world. With an ever-expanding storage capacity which currently exceeds 7 GB and the fact that anyone can have as many Gmail accounts as they want, it is clear to see why so many people prefer Gmail over other free email hosts. Gmail can be integrated with dozens of other websites such as YouTube and Myspace as well as external devices and programs such as Mozilla Thunderbird and PDAs. With a Gmail account, users can also take advantage of Google's many other products such as Blogger, Google Finance, and Google Alert.

Yahoo
Rising spontaneously to become Google's main competitor when it comes to email and online social activities, Yahoo Mail doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The service is entirely free and provides its users with unlimited storage, access to Yahoo groups and social networks, compatibility, and simple popularity. Yahoo Mail is integrated into many mobile devices and is usually accompanied by Yahoo Messenger or SMS services. Yahoo does have its problems, however, as the Spam filter isn't as powerful as Gmail's and the service does not allow the user to separate messages into folders like Gmail does.

Hotmail
Hotmail is the free email system provided by Microsoft. While Hotmail is still widely used, there has been a drastic decrease in its popularity in the last few years, corresponding with a rise in Gmail support. Hotmail provides its users with 5 GB of storage, decent spam filtration, fast access, and powerful security measures. The service is also designed with the user in mind and resembles accessibility levels one would normally find in a Windows desktop. Hotmail is compatible with Windows Live Messenger and a number of third party services.

AIM
The majority of email hosts offer email along with many other services or offer multiple solutions to email. Not AIM, however. AIM, AOL's free email system, focuses on the basic needs of an email user and does not stray from that. AIM has impeccable spam protection, unlimited storage, and an interface that is extremely easy to navigate and organize. While AIM has seen its better days along with many other email hosts, it is still used by a percentage of the online population.

Gawab
Gawab, despite the strange name, is a very good email host. Gawab provides its users with 10 GB of storage, smart folders, and an easy-to-use interface. Gawab also allows users to search their mail and label their own messages to fit specific subject criteria. Gawab's main feature, however, is that the service allows users to send and receive messages for multiple email addresses, effectively making the service an online email client. Likewise, Gawab exceeds expectations by including an email tracking system in all of the user's messages to alert them when their sent messages have been opened.

Inbox.com
Inbox.com is another free email host in which the user is provided with 5 GB of storage space and an easy-to-use interface. As the name suggests, Inbox.com is entirely about email, although it does include additional tools such as a calendar, notepad, photo gallery, and a file hosting service. Inbox.com also offers a premium email hosting service that provides the user with 30 GB although the free 5 GB should be more than enough for any user. Furthermore, Inbox.com provides its users with a file size limit of 30 MB, trumping the usual file size limit of 5 MB that most email hosts use.

GMX
GMX, the final email host of this list, offers its users 5 GB of storage and excellent spam/virus protection. The interface resembles that of Microsoft Outlook and although the service lacks popularity, it allows its users to attach up to 50 MB worth of files to each message and GMX can receive messages for multiple email addresses such as those at Yahoo Mail or Hotmail.