Hotmail is now Outlook.com. Microsoft retired the Hotmail brand and folded every account into Outlook.com, so comparing Gmail against Hotmail means comparing Gmail against Outlook.com. Existing @hotmail.com addresses still send and receive normally, and both services give 15 GB free.

Those two storage numbers look identical. Gmail shares its 15 GB with Drive and Photos, while Outlook.com reserves the whole allowance for mail. If the comparison ends with you leaving Microsoft, our walkthrough of moving your mail from Outlook over to Gmail covers what carries across and what does not.

Think of Hotmail as an old street sign. The city renamed the street, your house never moved, and the mail still arrives. I’ll come back to that sign, because most confusion about Hotmail traces back to it.

Gmail vs Hotmail at a Glance

This table compares free Gmail against free Outlook.com, the service that now runs every @hotmail.com address. Figures were checked against Google and Microsoft documentation on 30 July 2026.

Feature	Gmail (free)	Outlook.com / Hotmail (free)
Brand status	Active, part of Google Workspace	Hotmail retired. Microsoft states “Hotmail is now Outlook.com”
New addresses on the domain	Yes, @gmail.com	New @hotmail.com aliases are blocked. New @outlook.com addresses are available
Free mailbox storage	15 GB, shared with Google Drive, Google Photos and WhatsApp backups on Android	15 GB for email only, separate from 5 GB of Microsoft cloud storage
Attachment limit	25 MB, with automatic Google Drive fallback	25 MB, with OneDrive links up to 2 GB
Ads on the free tier	Yes, in the inbox	Yes, beside messages and as a display ad on the web
Does the provider read mail to target ads	No. Google: “We will not scan or read your Gmail messages to show you ads”	Opt-in only, in some regions, limited to commercial mail
Organizing system	Labels and filters	Folders, Categories, Rules and Sweep
Inbox triage	Tabs: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums	Focused Inbox: Focused and Other
Paid upgrade	Google One	Microsoft 365 Basic, 19.99 usd per year, removes ads and raises the mailbox to 100 GB

Is Hotmail the Same as Gmail?

No. Hotmail and Gmail are separate services from separate companies, and always have been. Hotmail was Microsoft’s webmail product and now runs under the Outlook.com name.

Gmail is Google’s webmail product. The two have never shared accounts, apps or storage.

The confusion is fair, because both are free webmail services people set up once and forget. But an @hotmail.com address is a Microsoft account, and an @gmail.com address is a Google account.

Wait, so is my old Hotmail address dead? Nope. Microsoft’s 2026 documentation still lists @hotmail.com among its current mail domains.

Your address works. The street sign changed while the house stayed put.

What Is Hotmail Now?

Hotmail is Outlook.com. Microsoft’s support page opens with the sentence “Hotmail is now Outlook.com,” and sends Hotmail users to sign in at outlook.live.com.

What survived the rename is the domain. Microsoft’s 2026 alias page lists “@hotmail.com, @live.com, @outlook.com, or @msn.com” together as Microsoft domains. That’s the clearest available confirmation that @hotmail.com addresses remain supported.

One risk is worth knowing before you go hunting for an old account. Microsoft states that “if you haven’t signed in to your account for more than 2 years, your account may have been deleted.”

How Do You Sign In to Hotmail?

Go to outlook.live.com and sign in with your full @hotmail.com address and password. Microsoft also documents www.outlook.com followed by the Sign in button as a valid route to the same mailbox.

Typing hotmail.com into a browser still works. It redirects to outlook.live.com/mail, the behavior I confirmed on 30 July 2026.

There’s no separate Hotmail login page left to find. Any site presenting one isn’t Microsoft.

Ugh, but what if the password is gone too? Microsoft’s account recovery flow covers that. It’s the same flow for @hotmail.com and @outlook.com, because they’re one account system.

Can You Sign Up for a Hotmail Account?

You can’t add a new @hotmail.com alias to a Microsoft account. Microsoft states this plainly: “It isn’t possible to create a new alias using @hotmail, @live.com, or @msn.com.”

Whether a brand-new signup can still land on @hotmail.com is less clear, and I’d rather say so than guess. Microsoft’s create-an-account page never lists which domains you can pick. The alias page points the other way:

If a Hotmail address is important to you, you need to sign out and create a new account.

Those two statements pull in different directions. Treat a new @hotmail.com signup as unverified rather than confirmed either way.

One thing is documented clearly. Microsoft says addresses used for Microsoft accounts can’t be reused, even if the account closed years ago. An abandoned Hotmail address never returns to the pool.

A Brief History of Hotmail

Hotmail launched in 1996 as one of the earliest email services to run entirely in a web browser. That was a real break from desktop mail software tied to one computer.

Microsoft bought Hotmail in 1997 and ran it under several names, including MSN Hotmail and Windows Live Hotmail. The Outlook.com rebrand followed, and the Hotmail name left the product entirely.

Gmail arrived in 2004 and became the larger service, reaching more than 400 million active users. For the deeper Microsoft comparison, I wrote a full guide on the subject here.

Storage: Both Say 15 GB, and Only One of Them Means It

Gmail and Outlook.com both advertise 15 GB free, and the two numbers describe different things. Google’s 15 GB is shared across Gmail, Drive, Photos and WhatsApp backups on Android. Microsoft’s 15 GB is reserved for Outlook.com email alone.

Microsoft is explicit about the split:

You get 15 GB of free Outlook.com email storage which is separate from your Microsoft cloud storage.

That Microsoft cloud storage is a separate 5 GB, covering OneDrive files, photos and attachments.

So a full Google Photos library leaves far less than 15 GB for mail. An Outlook.com user with the same photo habit still has the whole 15 GB.

This is the most misreported difference between the two services, and it decides which mailbox fills up first.

Paying changes the picture on the Microsoft side. Microsoft caps consumer mailboxes at 100 GB. Microsoft 365 Basic, at 19.99 usd per year, is the cheapest published route there.

Attachment Limits: 25 MB Each, With Different Escape Hatches

Gmail and Outlook.com both cap attachments at 25 MB. Neither has an advantage on the raw number, so what matters is the fallback.

Gmail handles it automatically. Google documents that when attachments pass the limit, “Gmail automatically removes the attachment and adds it as a Google Drive link.”

Outlook.com raises the ceiling instead. Microsoft documents a 2 GB limit for files attached from OneDrive. You attach those deliberately, rather than having the switch made for you.

One gap worth flagging. Microsoft publishes daily sending limits for Microsoft 365 subscribers, then says limits “will be lower for non-subscribers.” No free-tier figure exists, so discount any article quoting one.

Ads and Privacy: The Comparison Most Articles Get Backwards

Both free services show ads. What differs is what each company documents about using your mail to choose those ads.

Google’s position is a flat refusal. Its Gmail help page states: “We will not scan or read your Gmail messages to show you ads.” Google adds that it doesn’t sell personal information to advertisers.

Microsoft’s position carries a documented exception. Microsoft’s ads page says it doesn’t analyze email from friends and family, then describes an opt-in available in some regions:

If you opt-in in those geographies, Outlook may also use the email you receive to identify the brands and businesses you prefer and shop with.

Wtf, Microsoft is the one reading commercial mail? In some regions, with consent, yes.

Neither company is hiding anything, and both document their position clearly. The popular version of this comparison has the two companies the wrong way round.

Removing ads is a paid feature on the Microsoft side, and Microsoft says so directly:

You can upgrade any free Outlook.com email address to stop seeing ads in Outlook by purchasing a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Features Each Service Has That the Other Doesn’t

Outlook.com has Sweep, and Gmail has no equivalent. Microsoft describes Sweep as a way to do this:

Delete all incoming email from a particular sender, keep only the latest email, or delete email older than 10 days.

For a mailbox drowning in newsletters, Sweep is the fastest cleanup tool either service offers.

Outlook.com also has Focused Inbox, which splits mail into Focused and Other. Gmail’s answer is inbox tabs, sorting into Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. Five buckets against two, sorted by machine either way.

Gmail’s real advantage is labels. A Gmail message can carry several labels at once, so one email lives in as many views as you need. Folders force a single home.

Gmail filters apply labels automatically, and Outlook.com’s Rules do the equivalent job for folders. Both services also offer Snooze and Schedule send, so any comparison claiming one of those as exclusive is out of date.

Which Should You Choose in 2026?

Choose Gmail if you already live in Google Drive, Docs and Photos, and if labels suit how you think. Choose Outlook.com if you want all 15 GB spent on mail, or if Sweep matches how you clear a backlog.

Three rules cover almost every case:

• If your Google storage is already near full, Outlook.com gives you more mail storage for free.
• If you file one message under several topics, Gmail’s labels do that and folders can’t.
• If ad removal matters most, Microsoft 365 Basic at 19.99 usd per year is the cheaper published route.

Keeping both is a real option, and it’s what I do. You can migrate your emails to Gmail at any time, so the choice isn’t permanent.

What Changes When a Team Is Involved

Everything above is about a personal inbox. Once several people share the work, the question stops being who has more storage and becomes how fast anyone replies.

Neither Gmail nor Outlook.com reports that on its own. EmailAnalytics visualizes team email activity in Gmail and Outlook, reporting average response time per person, busiest hours and SLA breach alerts.

For a sense of what normal looks like, our quarterly benchmark study of 25.4 million emails is the reference point. It put average work-hours response time at 4 hours 10 minutes in Q2 2026, down from 5 hours 17 minutes.

The gap between fastest and slowest sectors was 2.8 hours. A team average means little without a peer comparison.

Worth being clear about the limits: EmailAnalytics measures the inbox, it doesn’t replace it, and it’s no help desk. If you need ticketing and queue assignment, buy a help desk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hotmail still available in 2026?

Existing @hotmail.com addresses still work and still receive mail. Microsoft’s 2026 documentation lists @hotmail.com alongside @outlook.com, @live.com and @msn.com as current Microsoft mail domains. No retirement notice has been published.

Is Hotmail the same as Outlook?

Yes. Microsoft states “Hotmail is now Outlook.com,” and every @hotmail.com address signs in through Outlook.com at outlook.live.com. The Hotmail brand was retired while the mailboxes stayed live.

Which is better, Gmail or Hotmail?

Gmail is better for people invested in Google Drive, Docs and Photos, and for anyone who prefers labels to folders. Outlook.com is better for mailbox storage, because its 15 GB covers email only. Gmail’s 15 GB is shared with Drive and Photos.

Can I still create a new Hotmail account?

Microsoft blocks new @hotmail.com aliases, stating “It isn’t possible to create a new alias using @hotmail, @live.com, or @msn.com.” Whether a fresh signup can still choose @hotmail.com isn’t documented either way. Treat any confident answer on that point with suspicion.

How much free storage do Gmail and Hotmail give you?

Both give 15 GB free. Gmail’s 15 GB is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos and WhatsApp backups on Android. Outlook.com’s 15 GB is email only, sitting apart from a 5 GB Microsoft cloud storage allowance.

What happens to a Hotmail account nobody signs into?

Microsoft warns that “if you haven’t signed in to your account for more than 2 years, your account may have been deleted.” Signing in occasionally keeps an old address alive. Microsoft also states that closed addresses can’t be reused by anyone else.

Related Comparisons

• Gmail vs Outlook
• Gmail vs Yahoo Mail
• Gmail vs Apple Mail

If your team runs on Gmail or Outlook and nobody knows how long replies take, sign up for a free trial today.