Best Email Hosting: 5 Great Options Compared

Email hosting services play a crucial role in today’s business landscape. They offer professional-looking email addresses, dependable infrastructure, and a set of features that help organizations run efficiently and make a profit. Since there are plenty of players on the market, and they all claim to be the best email hosting, it is hard to decide.

In this article, we’ll compare some of the top email hosting services to help you find the one that matches your needs and plans. We’ll discuss their features, unique benefits, prices, and what user groups they’re best suited for.

How to save money – get website hosting with free email hosting

Many hosting companies offer free email hosting with their web hosting plans.

We recommend Bluehost because it is affordable and offers comprehensive features. For example, you can host your website and get email hosting for the same price. Furthermore, it is easy to use, saving you money and time to redirect to other vital aspects of your business.

If you are still interested in getting dedicated email hosting, these are your best options:

Best email hosting

Google Workspace – best email hosting for users who rely on Google Suite

Google Workspace, formerly G Suite, combines email hosting and the company’s communication and collaboration apps. It’s an all-in-one business management suite that makes work easier, so it’s no wonder it is one of the most popular options.

Let’s take a closer look at what you will get and how much you will have to pay for it.

What makes it stand out 🚀

• Familiarity

Never underestimate the power of feeling comfortable with business tools. Google Workspace allows you to be comfortable because you probably already use some of the numerous Google apps. The layout and the general feeling are familiar (cozy almost), so users won’t need much time to adjust.

• Apps and tools

Google is famous for its many apps, and besides Gmail Business email, clients get access to apps like Meet, Drive Secure, Calendar Shared calendars, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. Most importantly, they all work flawlessly together.

Features ⚙️

The cheapest, Starter Plan, offers:

• Custom and secure business email, add-free
• 30 GB storage per user
• Phishing and spam protection that blocks more than 99.9% of attacks
• Meet Video and voice conferencing for up to 100 people
• Chat Team messaging
• Docs, Sheets, Slides Collaborative content creation
• Security features that include two-step verification, group-based policy controls, Advanced Protection Program, and fundamental endpoint management
• Standard support

Prices 💵

Google Workspace comes with four plans:

• Business Starter, $6 per user per month (billed annually)
• Business Standard, $12 per user per month (billed annually)
• Business Plus, $18 per user per month (billed annually)
• Enterprise, custom pricing

Google also offers a 14-day free trial.

Ideal for 👍

Google Workspace is a great fit for businesses, organizations, and individuals that want a straightforward cloud-based email solution with numerous in-house integrations that work without a glitch

Not ideal for 👎

Try another email hosting company If you want to access the control panel through Apple software, like Safari or Apple Mail, because Google Workspace can have hiccups while loading. Also, integrations with other Apple products, like Apple Calendar or Apple Mail, don’t always go smoothly.

Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange – best email hosting for organizations that use Microsoft products

Microsoft 365 is the equivalent of Google Workspace and offers similar functionalities. It is an all-in-one solution that offers real-time collaboration through its various productivity and collaboration tools, which most of us are already familiar with.

Microsoft Exchange, on the other hand, is the company’s solution for organizations interested just in the best email hosting for their business. However, since the difference in price is only $2 per month, we recommend getting Microsoft 365.

What makes it stand out 🚀

• Familiarity

Like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 offers that sense of familiarity that makes work comfortable. Microsoft products are some of the most popular on the planet, and it is hard to find someone who has never used them.

• Apps and tools

You get the whole Office package: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. These tools are probably the most popular solutions on the market and allow real-time collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.

Features ⚙️

• Professional email addresses with your domain name
• Storage: 1 TB of cloud storage per user
• Chat with up to 300 attendees.
• Tools: MicrosoftExchange, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint (web and mobile versions only with the cheapest plan)
• Security: Advanced threat protection and data encryption
• Mobile device management: Secure and manage your organization’s devices
• Premium Microsoft FastTrack Customer Service

Prices 💵

Microsoft 365:

• Business Basic $6 per user monthly
• Business Standard $12.50 per user monthly
• Business Premium $22 per user monthly

If you decide you only want email hosting, Microsoft offers two plans for Exchange Online:

• Plan 1 $4 per user monthly
• Plan 2 $8 per user monthly

You can use a one-month free trial to see what option suits you best

Ideal for 👍

This option is great for organizations that already use Microsoft Suite or plan on buying it. The integrations work well, and there is a sense of familiarity across all apps.

Not ideal for 👎

Microsoft 365 or Exchange are on the pricier side. The price is justified given the number and quality of apps you will have access to. However, if you don’t need them, you might want to look for a cheaper option.

Zoho Mail – best email hosting for users who value flexibility

Zoho Mail is a secure and reliable email hosting service designed for businesses. It is part of the Zoho ecosystem, which includes a large number of productivity and cooperation tools.

What makes it stand out 🚀

• Apps

Zoho offers similar functionalities to its larger competitor in the first two spots of our list. In pricier plans, users can get a file manager word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, online meeting software, and similar.

• Flexible pricing

Users can mix and match different plans for different users in their organization and pay only for the tools they actually need and use. Zoho even offers a free plan.

Features ⚙️

The cheapest plan offers:

• Email hosting for multiple domains
• Domain aliases
• Email routing and recall
• Email and Folder sharing
• Streams – Collaboration tool
• 250 MB attachments
• Offline access
• Calendar
• NewSecurePass email allows users to send confidential information

Prices 💵

Mail Lite

• $1 per user per month, billed annually (5 GB storage)
• $1.25 per user per month, billed annually (10 GB storage)

Mail Premium

• $4 per user per month, billed annually (50 GB storage)

If you decide you want access to tools Zoho offers, the plans will cost you:

• Standard -$3 per user per month, billed annually
• Professional – $6 per user per month, billed annually

Ideal for 👍

Zoho Mail is ideal for people who are just starting out and need a free plan they can upgrade as they go. It will also suit users who aren’t willing to pay for a bunch of tools they don’t even use.

Not ideal for 👎

You might find Zoho Mail lacking in performance if your tasks involve labeling and sorting large bundles of emails, as the process isn’t as easy as you would expect. Also, you’ll want to try another option if your work involves sending and receiving images on a regular basis. You need to open images manually every time in Zoho Mail. It is not a big problem, but it can be irritating.

Rackspace – best email hosting for security and contract length

Rackspace is a cloud-based email hosting service that offers customized email solutions with enhanced features and functionality.

What makes it stand out 🚀

• Safety

Rackspace offers advanced security features such as premium anti-spam and anti-virus protection, 256-bit encryption, etc.

• 100% uptime guarantee

Rackspace offers a 100% uptime guarantee and promises cash compensation should you ever experience downtime.

Features ⚙️

• Safe and professional email hosting
• Unlimited email Aliases
• Deleted email recovery
• 25 GB mailboxes
• Premium spam & virus protection
• Advanced message-filtering
• Free migrations
• Shared calendaring

Prices 💵

Rackspace offers two plans for email hosting:

Email – $2.99 per user monthly

Email Plus – $3.99 per user monthly

You can also add archiving with unlimited storage space for $6.99 per user per month.

The company has additional benefits you may like. Besides offering a 14-day free trial, it also doesn’t require you to sign a long-term contract. You can cancel at any time for any reason.

Ideal for 👍

Rackspace email hosting is ideal for organizations that value privacy and security. Besides that, it is also tempting for users who don’t want to be bound by long-term contracts.

Not ideal for 👎

If you are looking for the lowest price possible, you should skip Rackspace.

Greatmail – best email hosting for users who want a straightforward service

Greatmail is a cloud-based email hosting service that offers affordable and straightforward email solutions for businesses.

What makes it stand out 🚀

• Focus

Since the company doesn’t have a vast portfolio of services but focuses on a few areas, it can better understand clients who simply need email hosting.

• Expertise

With Greatmail, clients can get email consulting and even hire email specialists.

Features ⚙️

• High availability business-class email hosting
• Encrypted connections
• IMAP and POP3 email hosting that works with popular desktop clients and mobile devices
• Mail, calendars, and contacts synced across all your devices
• 10 or 25 GBs per mailbox
• You can manage mailboxes for multiple domains within a single admin panel

Prices 💵

Standard Edition – $1 per mailbox monthly (15 mailboxes minimum commitment)

Groupware Edition – $3 per mailbox monthly (10 mailboxes minimum commitment)

Ideal for 👍

Greatmail is an excellent option for users who need top-of-the-line email hosting, without additional tools and apps.

Not ideal for 👎

It is not for users who don’t need 15 mailboxes, which is the minimum number the company will charge you for.

Best email hosting – conclusion 🧐

📧 Here are the main things you should know about each of these email hosting providers:

If you plan on checking any of those tools out, let us know what you think!