When you’re first starting out with your business, using a standard email like [email protected] is all well and good. But as your brand evolves, marketing needs change, and customer lists grow, you might have to step up your email game. To establish your credibility and make space for growth, you’ll need a professional business email address with a custom domain (for example, [email protected]).
The best way to do this is to use a business email provider like Gmail or Microsoft Outlook. Providers like these let you have a custom domain for your email address to make your emails more professional and credible. Plus, they give you more features for cloud storage, productivity, team collaboration and more.
To help you find the best business email providers for small businesses, we ranked some of our favorites based on features, costs, usability and more.
| Google Workspace | |||||
| Microsoft 365 | |||||
| Zoho Mail | |||||
| Hostinger | |||||
| Bluehost | |||||
| ScalaHosting | |||||
| IceWarp | |||||
| IONOS | |||||
| Proton Mail | |||||
| InMotion Hosting | |||||
| *With annual billing. Month-to-month prices are also available at a higher rate. | |||||
A business email is a professional email address used for work or business (aka non-personal) purposes. Business emails have custom domains instead of generic ones (i.e., [email protected] instead of [email protected]) and make you look more professional and credible. They also help promote your brand. Find out more about business emails and how they work.
Expert score: 4.99 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
You probably know of Google Workspace and may have used it before. One of the most compelling reasons to choose it is for its value: It comes with a full suite of office software and everything you need to communicate, collaborate and create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can even work offline and your work will automatically save and sync once you go online.
Another reason to choose Google Workspace is its ease of use. If you’re a complete beginner to email hosting, you can’t go wrong with Google Workspace. It’s super easy to set up and navigate and is overall one of the most user-friendly platforms around. You also get Google Meet for video conferencing and up to 5 TB of cloud storage on the highest plans. With Google Pay, you can even send and receive money internationally.
Google Workspace is our top business email provider overall, but it doesn’t have the same advanced features as its top competitor, Microsoft 365. However, it is far easier to use, and its features are usually more than enough. Another drawback is it doesn’t offer any free domains, meaning you’ll need to already have one or purchase one from a domain registrar.
Want to know more about the specific features Gmail provides to business email users? Check out our list of the top Gmail tips and tricks, or read our in-depth Gmail review on Fit Small Business
For most small businesses, the Starter plan will be all you ever need. But if you want to increase storage or video conferencing limits, upgrades are available.
Business Starter
Cost: $6/user/month
What’s included:
Business Standard
Cost: $12/user/month
Build on everything in the Starter plan with:
Business Plus
Cost: $18/user/month
Everything in the Starter and Standard plans, plus:
Google Workspace’s plans are value-packed with communication, collaboration and productivity apps and are used by some of the biggest companies worldwide. Shared docs, spreadsheets, presentations, calendars and video conferencing make it the best email hosting service for small businesses, especially beginners. Learn more about how to set up Gmail for business email to get started.
Expert score: 4.76 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
If budget constraints are your main concern, look no further than Zoho Mail. Though you’ll need to buy a domain name separately, it’s one of the best ways to get a free business email address. The free plan provides up to five email addresses, and the cheapest premium plan costs just $1 per month, like IONOS. However, Zoho Mail includes more storage in its free and base tier (5GB) compared to IONOS’ Basic plan (2GB).
In addition to its low-cost plans, Zoho Mail is also recognized as one of the best business email providers for its team collaboration tools, which include shared calendars and appointment-booking. Overall, it’s our best alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 if you need a truly low-cost option (there’s even a free plan). None of its plans cost more than $4 per user per month.
Because the free plan has low attachment size limits and low storage limits overall, it’s best for those who don’t depend heavily on email but want a business email address to maintain a professional image. The biggest drawback of Zoho Mail is the interface isn’t as user-friendly — though, it can be worth it for the low price. Find out how to create free accounts on Zoho Mail.
Zoho Mail is the go-to free business email if you own a domain. Entrepreneurs and small teams can create up to five custom email addresses completely free of charge. Then scale up with plans that add more storage, functionality and even a full suite of office productivity and communication tools similar to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
Free
Cost: $0
What’s included:
Mail Lite
Cost: $1/user/month for 5GB storage; $1.25/user/month for 10GB storage
What’s included:
Mail Premium
Cost: $4/user/month
Everything in Mail Lite, plus:
Workplace
Cost: $3/user/month
Everything in Mail Premium, plus:
We recommend Zoho Mail as the best email for businesses on a budget. For less than $5 a month on any plan, you get a professional email address (even on the free plan), sizable attachment limits, plus shared calendars, emails and folders. You also get tasks, notes and team collaboration tools. If you’re looking for a low-cost alternative to Google or Microsoft, Zoho Mail is the best answer to your needs.
Expert score: 4.65 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
Hostinger is one of our best business email hosting providers, but it isn’t solely for email hosting. It also has services for website hosting and building, making it our best all-in-one platform for hosting emails and websites. You can get both for as low as $2.99 a month on a two-year contract.
You can also get business email as a standalone for just $0.99 or $2.99 a month; however, these only get you 10 GB and 50 GB email storage, respectively. We recommend getting its all-around plans instead, which start at $2.99 monthly and let you create up to 100 email addresses and 100 websites on custom domains. Your emails also come with up to 50 email aliases and anti-spam and antivirus measures.
However, unlike other dedicated email hosts, Hostinger doesn’t have email encryption or anti-phishing measures, so it’s not the best in terms of security. If you want more security for your emails, go for a platform like Proton Mail or Google Workspace. Also, Hostinger only has up to 50 GB email storage at most, which is significantly lower than most others. However, for the value you get, it has one of the most cost-effective email plus website plans.
Hostinger has some of the most cost-effective plans for email and website hosting, considering the value you get when you pair the two capabilities.
Premium (Website + Email)
Cost: $2.99/month on a two-year contract
What’s included:
Business (Website + Email)
Cost: $3.99/month on a two-year contract
Everything in the Premium plan, plus:
Business Starter (Standalone Email)
Cost: $0.99/month/mailbox on a two-year contract
What’s included:
Business Premium (Standalone Email)
Cost: $2.99/month/mailbox on a two-year contract
Everything in Business Starter, plus:
If you need both an email and website host and want an all-in-one solution, Hostinger is your best bet. Your business email has all the essentials you need. And you can even build your website easily on the platform using its AI site builder and dozens of professional templates. Overall, if more value out of your dollar is what you’re after, Hostinger is one of the best low-cost, high-value business email providers.
Expert score: 4.47 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
One of the best benefits of business email providers is the ability to have multiple email aliases leading to one shared inbox. For example, you can have [email protected] and [email protected] all leading to the same inbox managed by the same team. The best business email service for this is Bluehost, as it allows up to 25 email aliases on the starting plan and up to 50 on the higher plan.
Along with email aliases, Bluehost also offers sizable storage (25 GB and 80 GB), along with documents and shared calendars, contacts and tasks, so it’s a worthy alternative to Google Workspace (albeit not as beginner-friendly). It also has spam filters and antivirus to protect your mails’ security. However, the drawback is there are no multi-user plans, so costs can run up quickly if you have multiple team members.
Professional Email
Cost: $14.99/year
What’s included:
Professional Email Plus
Cost: $24.99/year
Everything in the Professional Email plan, plus:
Bluehost has long been one of the most reliable hosting services, whether for websites or emails. Its email productivity features are comparable to those of Google Workspace, making it one of the best business email providers overall, especially if multiple email aliases are important to your business. The slightly higher price tag can be well worth its many features. Find out how to set up Bluehost webmail.
Expert score: 4.42 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
If having secure copies of your emails is important to your business, you’ll benefit most from an email host that provides daily backups of your emails. One of the best small business email providers for this is ScalaHosting. It’s the only one on this list that provides daily email backups—even up to seven daily—and you can restore them anytime from the CPanel. This makes it a good choice if you handle sensitive or important information via email.
On the starting plan, you can create up to 10 email accounts under one domain, which automatically comes with seven daily backups to a remote server. However, the starting cost for this plan is $6.95 per month on a one-year contract or $4.95 on a three-year contract. Unfortunately, ScalaHosting only offers month-to-month contracts on its highest plan.
The highest tier also has the most advanced security features, including real-time malware protection and user controls. This tier also allows for custom branding and white labeling, which is great for resellers. It also includes blacklist monitoring, which is ideal for teams that rely on cold sales emailing for lead generation.
ScalaHosting’s offers standalone business email services. But all its web hosting plans come with unlimited business emails and free SSL for data encryption (for domains hosted on its servers).
StartUp
Cost: $6.95/month; $4.95/month for a three-year contract
What’s included:
SmallBiz
Cost: $9.95/month; $6.95/month for a three-year contract
Get everything in StartUp, plus:
Medium
Cost: $14.95/month; $9.95/month for a three-year contract
Get everything in StartUp, plus:
Cloud
Cost: $34.95/month; $19.95/month for a one-year contract; $14.95/month for a three-year contract
What’s included:
ScalaHosting may not be the cheapest email host, but it’s the best email provider for businesses that want or need secure backups of their emails (e.g., businesses that regularly exchange sensitive or relevant information via email that needs to be recorded). Plus, all its plans come with security and advanced anti-spam, so if security is a top priority, it’s also a good candidate.
Expert score: 4.37 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
If you’ve been online for the past few years, you may be well aware of the atmospheric growth of AI tools and how they can help businesses. That also goes for your business email. One of the best email providers for businesses at the forefront of this is IceWarp. It incorporates AI into nearly every aspect of your business email, from helping compose your messages to organizing tasks, at no additional cost.
In particular, its AI tools are powered by ChatGPT, so you’re sure to get best-in-industry AI services. The AI assistant can also summarize lengthy emails, organize your appointments and do real-time translations, among other tasks. Aside from its AI tool, IceWarp’s other best points are its high storage (up to 200 GB email storage and 1 TB cloud storage) and video conferencing with unlimited recording.
However, because no AI tool is perfect, IceWarp’s best feature could also be its biggest drawback. AI tools — including ChatGPT — are a constant work in progress and may not always provide the best results, especially if you’re unsure how to use them. Another disadvantage is it has no daily backups. And its security is limited to anti-spam and antivirus, so it’s not the best if security is a top priority for your business.
Startup
Cost: $35/month for 10 users
What’s included:
Business
Cost: $2.30/user/month for up to 500 users
Get everything in Startup, plus:
IceWarp may not be as well-known as other email providers, but it has noteworthy features to offer, including high storage limits, substantial video conferencing and all the essentials, at affordable pricing. Most of all, it’s the best email service for small businesses that want to explore AI or just want an AI assistant to help with email tasks. You’ll also get collaborative documents, calendars, and anti-spam and antivirus.
Expert score: 4.36 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
IONOS is one of Europe’s leading web hosting companies and domain registrars, and it’s especially helpful for getting business email with a free domain at low costs — starting at just $1 a month. Your domain can include extensions like .com, .us, .online and .net. Your plan also gets you 2 GB mailbox storage (approximately 10,000 emails). If you need more storage, you can upgrade anytime.
Another thing we like about IONOS is it’s long been well-regarded for its security measures. On any plan, you get antivirus and anti-spam measures. And on the highest plan, at just $5 a month, you get premium protection. In addition to its security, IONOS also has round-the-clock support. After submitting a ticket, a customer service rep will contact you directly to help troubleshoot any issue.
The biggest drawback with IONOS is it doesn’t offer any team collaboration or content creation tools like shared documents or spreadsheets, unlike Google Workspace or Zoho Mail. it’s solely a business email provider with a free domain, so it’s only best if email is what you’re solely after.
IONOS offers individual and multi-user plans for up to five or 10 users. Or add email to any of its website builder, domain registration or web hosting plans.
Basic 1
Cost: $1/month
What’s included:
Basic 1+
Cost: $4 per month
Everything in the Basic plan, plus:
Business
Cost: $5/month for one user; $15/month for 2-5 users; $25/month for 6-10 users
Everything Basic one and 1+ users get, plus:
Although IONOS’s email hosting plans lack tools like video conferencing, at $1 or $5 per month, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better (or cheaper) business email provider with a free domain. If you’re looking for a solid, secure and reliable host to set up your business emails on and don’t need extra content or productivity tools, IONOS is one of your best options.
Expert score: 4.16 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
If your email’s security is your number one concern, Proton Mail is the world leader in email security and privacy. All plans, including the free version, include end-to-end encryption, making it ideal for any business that’s handling sensitive information via email or wants advanced security. It can be especially well-suited for healthcare providers, legal firms or similar organizations that regularly handle highly confidential or sensitive data.
In addition, Proton Mail security complies with GDPR agreements. Keep in mind that to ensure compliance, you’ll still need to get a signed agreement to fully protect your organization. It also has substantial storage, especially on the highest Proton Family plan, which offers up to 1 TB of storage and up to six users. Proton Mail even has its own calendar, VPN and cloud storage (like Google Drive).
The negative side of Proton Mail is none of its plans offer a free domain, which means you’ll need to have your own domain first or purchase one separately from a domain registrar. It also doesn’t have the same kind of productivity tools Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 offers. However, for the value you get, it’s one of the best email providers for small businesses.
Proton Mail includes individual business email accounts perfect for freelancers and entrepreneurs and easy-to-manage business plans billed on a per-user basis.
Free
Cost: $0 (forever)
What’s included:
Mail Plus
Cost: $3.99/month (billed annually); $3.49 with a two-year contract; $4.99/month (billed monthly)
What’s included:
Proton Unlimited
Cost: $9.99/month (billed annually); $7.99 on a two-year contract; $12.99/month (billed monthly)
Everything in the Mail Essentials plan, plus:
Proton Family
Cost: $23.99/month (billed annually); $19.99/month on a two-year contract; $29.99/month (billed monthly)
Everything in the Proton Unlimited plan, plus:
If your organization needs the most private, secure business email provider on the market, Proton Mail’s business plans are hard to beat. As one of the few providers that can ensure both HIPAA and GDPR-compliant business email services, it is ideal for businesses that value security or have customers in EU member countries. There’s also a free plan to get started, making it one of the most cost-effective platforms overall.
Expert score: 4.12 out of 5
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Who it’s best for
InMotion Hosting offers just about the highest uptime guarantees available: 99.99%. In addition, it provides zero-downtime migration and transfer services, which is invaluable for ensuring you’re always available whenever customers need to reach you. Furthermore, its in-house technology stack, UltraStack, processes data faster than regular email data processors — up to 20 times faster on the highest plan.
Aside from its uptime and data processing, InMotion can also host websites, so it’s a good option if you want an all-in-one server for your websites and emails. It has a website builder, but it’s not as intuitive as Hostinger’s. Outside of web hosting, it offers advanced security and a built-in marketing suite with advertising credits and customer service tools.
On the downside, there’s no standalone email hosting plan, unlike Bluehost, IONOS and Hostinger. It doesn’t have productivity or team collaboration tools either, and it’s not as easy to navigate as tools like Gmail or Proton Mail. But the advantages of increased speed and a near-perfect uptime guarantee could be more than worth it.
InMotion Hosting plans include a basic plan with up to 10 email inboxes or unlimited email accounts in all plans after that. You can also purchase automatic backups, Google Workspace and dedicated IP addresses as add-ons.
Core
Cost: $2.99/month (billed annually); $2.69 on a three-year contract; $12.99/month (billed monthly)
What’s included:
Launch
Cost: $4.79/month (billed annually); $3.99 on a three-year contract; $15.99/month (billed monthly)
Get everything in the Core plan, plus:
Power
Cost: $4.79/month (billed annually); $3.99 on a three-year contract; $15.99/month (billed monthly))
Everything in the Core and Launch plans, plus:
Pro
Cost: $10.79/month (billed annually); $9.49/month on a three-year contract; $19.99/month (billed monthly)
Everything in Core, Launch and Power, plus:
While InMotion isn’t a standalone email host, it provides the best email hosting for businesses that want the highest guaranteed uptime, especially if they also have a website. Prices are comparable to other standalone email hosts but also come with website hosting and building, faster-than-average data processing and enterprise-level security. It’s an all-around good option with few negatives.
All businesses need email that can be accessed quickly, securely and reliably, with enough storage to keep messages from bouncing. However, solopreneurs may only need a single email address, while growing companies need scalable solutions. Because of these, we looked at options that can serve anyone, from sole proprietors to businesses with multiple employees, agencies and resellers.
Cost is a driving factor for most small businesses. Therefore, affordability, the ability to pay monthly vs annually, the availability of standalone email plans and all-in-one cost-saving bundles all factored into our ratings.
General features speak not only to the essentials that business email users need (like adequate storage, multi-user plans, and data, spam, and virus protection) but also to the overall product value vs cost.
Niche features include built-in AI writers (look for more email apps to have this soon). We also looked at end-to-end encryption for HIPAA and GDPR compliance, private domain registration and built-in communication tools for chat or video (and any other software that comes with the plan).
The platforms above were also rated by the quantity and quality of self-help resources available to users and the level of customer support available to help with setup, troubleshooting and account management.
Regardless of how a provider scores on paper, how it works in the real world is a key factor. We personally tested each of these providers and evaluated the proficiency of their features for small businesses.
When comparing business email providers, consider factors such as other services your company may need now or in the future. Also, compare the uptime and inclusions of providers to be sure you’re getting a reliable partner for business emails.
SEE: Feature Comparison: Email Marketing Software and Services from TechRepublic Premium
The best overall email host for small businesses is Google Workspace. It’s the easiest platform to use, is trusted by big and small businesses and comes with productivity and team collaboration tools — all at affordable pricing. If you’re new to business email, Google Workspace is the email host we recommend. Some other good platforms to consider are Microsoft 365 for advanced tools and Zoho Mail for affordable (and free) plans.
Most businesses use Google Workspace (Gmail) or Microsoft 365 (Outlook). These are the two leading email providers in the world, have secure email hosting and come with built-in productivity, video conferencing and team collaboration tools on custom email domains.
For a completely beginner-friendly solution, Gmail (aka Google Workspace) is the better option. Meanwhile, if you want more advanced productivity tools like automated workflows, Microsoft 365 (Outlook) is a better fit. Google Workspace is also better-suited to longtime Google users, and vice versa for Microsoft 365. Google allows for automatic syncing of your work (unlike Microsoft), while Microsoft has higher attachment and video conferencing limits.
A professional email for your business is a must-have if you want to build your long-term brand credibility. The good news is that with many of the best business email providers available, your business email also comes with dozens of handy features like productivity suites, security and even website building. We recommend Google Workspace as the best all-around solution for its email capabilities, ample storage and productivity tools.
