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Feature checklists make every tool look equivalent. This table leads with the three things that actually differ — what it costs you before it works, whether your files leave your device, and where the free version stops.
| Google Admin Toolbox Messageheadertoolbox.googleapps.com | MXToolboxmxtoolbox.com | Proton Mailproton.me | Elementelement.io | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Paste raw email headers and see every hop, the delay at each, and the auth results | Looks up MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and names the one that is wrong | Encrypted mailbox where the provider cannot read the contents of your messages | End-to-end encrypted group chat in a browser tab, on the open Matrix network |
| What it costs you | No sign-upWorks the moment the page loads. No account, no email, no trial. | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. | Free tierA genuinely usable free tier with paid plans for volume or team features. | Free accountFree to use, but you have to register before it will do the job. |
| Your files | Runs on their server | Runs on their server | Runs on their server | Runs on their server |
| Where it stops | It reads what the headers claim and nothing more — it cannot tell you a message was spam, only that the authentication passed or failed. | Anonymous lookups are rate-limited, and monitoring, alerting and bulk checks all need a paid account. | Free gives one address, 1 GB of storage and 150 messages a day, and mail to non-Proton users is only encrypted if you take an extra step. | Encryption key management is the rough edge — lose your recovery key on a new device and old messages stay permanently unreadable. |
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| Category | Email & Communication | Email & Communication | Email & Communication | Email & Communication |
| Last checked | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 | 2026-07-29 |
| Open the site | Open | Open | Open | Open |
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