Best email hosting for small business: costs and tradeoffs
Compare Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Zoho Mail using current per-user costs, mailbox features, aliases, migration options, and official documentation.
Business email hosting gives each licensed user a mailbox on a domain your organization controls. It is separate from domain registration, website hosting, and MailHyve’s address suggestions.
Pricing assumptions
USD list prices checked October 17, 2026, before tax. Totals use standard renewal pricing, not temporary new-customer promotions. “Monthly” in the table is the monthly equivalent of an annual commitment; the annual total is the actual 12-month cost. Domain registration is excluded and varies by registrar, TLD and renewal year.
MailHyve has no configured affiliate links for these providers. The outbound links are ordinary official links, and recommendations are not commission-ranked.
Small-business email hosting cost comparison
| Provider and plan | 1 user | 5 users | 10 users | Plan type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace Business Starter$7/user/month on a one-year commitment | $7/mo · $84/yr | $35/mo · $420/yr | $70/mo · $840/yr | Productivity suite |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic$7/user/month on an annual subscription (current July 2026 list price) | $7/mo · $84/yr | $35/mo · $420/yr | $70/mo · $840/yr | Productivity suite |
| Zoho Mail Premium$4/user/month, billed annually | $4/mo · $48/yr | $20/mo · $240/yr | $40/mo · $480/yr | Email-focused hosting |
Introductory pricing: none is used in these calculations. Google notes that qualifying new customers may see a temporary offer; Microsoft says customers move to its July 2026 price at renewal; Zoho’s table presents Mail Premium as annual-only. Confirm the checkout total and renewal terms for your region.
Email-only hosting versus a productivity suite
An email-focused plan is useful when the team already has document, storage and meeting tools. A suite costs more because the license also covers collaboration applications and administration. Compare the whole workflow rather than treating mailbox storage as the only difference.
Google Workspace Business Starter
Official plan page- Billing flexibility
- $8.40/user/month with no annual commitment ($100.80/user/year if kept for 12 months)
- Storage
- 30 GB pooled storage added per user
- Aliases
- Up to 30 aliases per user at no extra cost; an alias is not another sign-in or mailbox.
- Shared mail
- Google Groups can be configured as a Collaborative Inbox; delegated Gmail is another documented option.
- Migration
- Admin-console data migration service; source-specific limitations apply.
- Clients and collaboration
- Gmail web/mobile, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Meet and other Workspace services.
- Published support and security
- Standard Support is included; Google documents two-step verification, endpoint controls and spam protections. Higher support tiers are separate.
- Best fit from the documentation
- Teams already working in Gmail, Docs, Drive and Meet.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Official plan page- Billing flexibility
- Exact current month-to-month total not verified on the post-July-2026 licensing table
- Storage
- 100 GB primary mailbox plus 50 GB archive; 1 TB OneDrive per user
- Aliases
- Aliases route into an existing mailbox; each independently signed-in user mailbox requires the appropriate license.
- Shared mail
- Shared mailboxes up to 50 GB usually need no separate license, but members need licensed Exchange Online access; holds, archiving or larger storage change licensing.
- Migration
- Microsoft documents staged, cutover and IMAP migration paths; applicability depends on the source system.
- Clients and collaboration
- Outlook web/mobile plus web and mobile Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint.
- Published support and security
- Published plan page lists phone/web support, spam and malware filtering; the 2026 package adds Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 capabilities.
- Best fit from the documentation
- Teams centered on Outlook, Teams, Office files and shared mailboxes.
Zoho Mail Premium
Official plan page- Billing flexibility
- No monthly plan published for Mail Premium
- Storage
- 50 GB mail storage plus 50 GB retention storage per user
- Aliases
- Up to 30 addresses per mailbox including the primary address; aliases share one mailbox.
- Shared mail
- Zoho documents shared mailboxes; published limits list up to 20 shared mailboxes and 40 GB shared-mailbox storage.
- Migration
- One-click options for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, plus IMAP/POP, PST, EML and Exchange paths with limitations.
- Clients and collaboration
- Zoho webmail, mobile/desktop apps, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts and IMAP/POP/ActiveSync on paid plans.
- Published support and security
- Pricing documentation publishes 24/7 email, chat and phone support, MFA/identity tools and a 99.9% uptime commitment.
- Best fit from the documentation
- Cost-conscious teams that primarily need hosted email rather than a full document suite.
Recommendation by use case
- Solo professional: Zoho Mail Premium if email is the primary need; Workspace Starter if Gmail and Google files are already central.
- Small team needing email only: Zoho Mail Premium, provided its client, migration and shared-mailbox behavior matches your workflow.
- Team needing office applications: Google Workspace for browser-first Google collaboration; Microsoft 365 for Outlook, Teams, Office formats and Microsoft shared mailboxes.
How to set up email on your domain
- Obtain or connect a domain. Registration remains a separate cost unless checkout explicitly bundles it.
- Choose the mail provider and plan. Count people who need independent sign-ins; aliases are not additional user mailboxes.
- Follow the provider’s current DNS instructions. Use the official Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Zoho Mail guide. Do not copy universal-looking MX, SPF or DKIM values from an unrelated tutorial.
- Create user mailboxes, aliases and shared addresses. Decide who must sign in independently and who only needs mail routed to an existing inbox.
- Test sending and receiving. Test internal and external delivery, replies, aliases, shared access, SPF/DKIM status and migration completeness before retiring the old service.
Methodology and limitations
We selected one email-focused plan and two mainstream productivity suites, used standard US list prices, and calculated costs by multiplying the documented per-user rate. We did not purchase accounts, test support response, measure spam filtering or perform a migration. Published vendor features describe availability, not independently observed quality.
Dated official sources
Material claims were checked October 17, 2026.
- Google Workspace pricing — Annual and flexible pricing.
- Google Workspace plan comparison — Storage, applications and support tiers.
- Google aliases — Alias behavior and limits.
- Google migration service — Migration options and limitations.
- Google MX setup — Current DNS setup instructions.
- Microsoft 2026 pricing update — Current renewal list price and package changes.
- Microsoft business plans — Applications, storage and support.
- Exchange Online limits — Mailbox storage.
- Microsoft shared mailboxes — Shared mailbox licensing and storage.
- Zoho Mail pricing — Price, storage, clients, support and security features.
- Zoho migration guide — Migration paths.
- Zoho domain setup — Domain verification and DNS workflow.