Yahoo Mail users globally will now pay monthly for storage as the company has slashed the free storage cap to 20GB, in a move that comes as downgrade for long-time users.
According to a notice sent to users on Tuesday, the change takes effect immediately. The notice urged all users to check their current storage and consider paid upgrade options.
Previously offering a far more generous storage limit, Yahoo is now capping free accounts at 20GB, bringing it closer to some of its rivals, although still trailing Gmail, which offers 15GB of free storage shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
However, Yahoo’s new free tier is exclusive to emails, which could be considered an advantage for those who don’t use cloud services as extensively.
What happens when you hit the limit?
According to Yahoo, once users reach the 20GB threshold, they will no longer be able to send or receive emails unless they either delete old messages or upgrade their account.
Access to the mailbox itself will remain, so users will have time to clean up or choose a paid plan.
The company has introduced two new storage subscription options:
- 100GB for $1.99/month
- 1TB for $9.99/month
For users who want more than just extra storage, Yahoo is also pushing Yahoo Mail Plus, a premium offering that includes 200GB of storage, an ad-free interface, and other perks.
However, both the new 100GB and 1TB plans will still include ads, a point that may not sit well with paying customers.
Smarter tools at a cost
In a bid to cushion the transition, Yahoo is also rolling out enhanced mailbox management tools. These include:
- Real-time storage tracking across web and mobile apps
- A usage dashboard
- Sorting tools for large emails
- An attachment manager to help users clean up storage hogs
While these tools aim to make managing shrinking free space less of a headache, the abrupt change could still catch many users off guard, especially those with large inbox histories dating back over a decade.
Comparison with Gmail
In comparison, Google’s Gmail continues to offer 15GB of free storage, though this is shared across other Google services.
Gmail users can upgrade to 100GB for $1.99/month, the same price as Yahoo, but this plan also includes benefits like Google Photos backups and expanded Google Drive capacity.
Gmail also offers a no-ad experience to free users—ads only appear in the Promotions tab and are relatively unobtrusive. In contrast, Yahoo’s decision to serve ads even to subscribers of its lower-tier plans may be a sticking point for users evaluating which platform gives more value.
