Email domain profile

Is proton.me a legit email domain?

Is proton.me a legit email? Yes. proton.me is the default domain of Proton Mail, the service of Proton AG in Geneva. New accounts, free ones included, get an address on it.

Updated October 10, 2026 · 2 min read

Short answer

Yes. proton.me belongs to Proton AG in Switzerland, the company behind Proton Mail. Proton added the domain in 2022, today it’s the default for new Proton Mail accounts, and its MX records point to Proton’s mail servers. protonmail.com addresses belong to the same service.

proton.me at a glance

Status
Active, default domain for new accounts
Run by
Proton AG (Geneva, Switzerland)
Mail service
Proton Mail · server settings
History
@proton.me addresses added on May 25, 2022
New addresses
YesDefault domain for new Proton Mail accounts, including free ones
Unused mailboxes
Free accounts can be deleted after more than 12 months without use
MX hosts
  • 10mail.protonmail.ch
  • 20mailsec.protonmail.ch

Run a live MX lookup

SPF record
v=spf1 include:_spf.protonmail.ch ~allCheck the live SPF record
DMARC policy
p=quarantineCheck the live DMARC record
DNS records checked
MX, SPF and DMARC records observed October 10, 2026 with DNS-over-HTTPS (dns.google).
Our free-provider list
Listed · free email domains list
Our disposable list
Not listed · disposable email domains list
Domain registered
October 10, 2010Registrant: Proton AGFirst registration in the registry’s RDAP record, not the start of the email service.

Who runs proton.me

Proton AG in Geneva, Switzerland: the registry’s RDAP record lists the company as the registrant of proton.me. The domain’s MX records point to mail.protonmail.ch and mailsec.protonmail.ch.

The addresses are fairly new. Proton announced @proton.me addresses on May 25, 2022, when it moved its website from protonmail.com to proton.me (Proton blog). Existing addresses didn’t change. That’s why the domain can look unfamiliar next to @protonmail.com, and why some people ask whether a proton.me email is legit at all.

Can you still create a proton.me address?

Yes, it’s the default. Proton’s help page on Proton Mail email domains sorts them like this:

DomainWho gets it
proton.meDefault for new accounts
protonmail.comCan be chosen instead at sign-up; also for extra addresses on paid plans
protonmail.chProton’s original domain; default for accounts from before 2016
pm.mePaid plans only

The same page says every Proton Mail account includes a free primary address.

Is proton.me a legit email for your list?

Yes. A proton.me address is a regular personal mailbox, the same as a Gmail or Outlook.com one.

Check an individual address with the email checker. For mail-app access, see the Proton Mail IMAP and SMTP settings. If you only need to know which provider hosts a domain, the email domain lookup reads it from the MX records.

Sources

Check an address at proton.me

A real domain doesn’t mean the mailbox exists. The email checker looks up the domain’s MX records and asks the mail server about the mailbox without sending an email, and it flags disposable, role and free-provider addresses.

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Frequently asked questions

Is proton.me a legit email?

Yes. proton.me is registered to Proton AG and is the default domain for new Proton Mail accounts. Mail to it goes to Proton’s own servers (mail.protonmail.ch).

What is the difference between proton.me and protonmail.com?

Both are Proton Mail domains. New accounts get @proton.me by default and can pick @protonmail.com instead. protonmail.ch is Proton’s original domain, and pm.me is for paid plans only.

Is a proton.me address free?

It can be. Proton says every Proton Mail account includes a free primary address, and proton.me is the default domain for new accounts. Proton can delete free accounts that go unused for more than 12 months.

Why do some lists flag protonmail.com as free but not proton.me?

Lists lag behind. Our own free email domains list now includes both protonmail.com and proton.me, and Proton’s own help names both as Proton Mail domains.

Related domains and settings

Proton Mail settingsProton Mail IMAP settings: Bridge serves IMAP on 127.0.0.1 port 1143 and SMTP on 1025. Without Bridge, apps can send via smtp.protonmail.ch:587 with a token. me.comApple iCloud Mail domain, closed to new sign-ups. Operator, MX hosts and list flags. email.comOne of mail.com’s free domains, open to new sign-ups. Operator, MX hosts and list flags.

Email validation API

Flag free and disposable domains at sign-up

One API request returns MX and mailbox checks for an address, plus free, disposable and role flags, so your form can tell a webmail sign-up from a throwaway one.

/v1/info Email validation API Read the documentation

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GET https://api.emailvalidation.io/v1/info?email=support@emailvalidation.io

{
  "email": "support@emailvalidation.io",
  "user": "support",
  "tag": "",
  "domain": "emailvalidation.io",
  "format_valid": true,
  "mx_found": true,
  "smtp_check": true,
  "catch_all": null,
  "role": true,
  "disposable": false,
  "free": false,
  "score": 0.64,
  "state": "deliverable",
  "reason": "valid_mailbox",
  "did_you_mean": ""
}

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