Email hosting doesn’t have to be expensive—you can get reliable, full-featured hosting for $6 a month (or even less). Some of the best cheap email hosting providers include email forwarding, free domains, productivity software, video conference, and chat tools, as well as more advanced features that can save you time and money. We ranked the 11 best cheap email hosting options below to help you choose.
Best Cheap Email Hosting Providers at a Glance
Google Workspace: Best Overall Cheap Email Hosting | |||
 4.66 out of 5 | From $6 a month |
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Zoho Mail: Best Free Plan | |||
 4.63 out of 5 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $3 a month |
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IONOS: Cheapest Email Hosting With Free Domain | |||
 4.6 out of 5 | From $1 a month |
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DreamHost: Best for Unlimited Accounts | |||
 4.59 out of 5 | From $2.95 a month |
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Microsoft 365: Most Advanced Features | |||
 4.54 out of 5 | From $6 a month |
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Proton: Most Secure Cheap Email Hosting | |||
 4.51 out of 5 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $6.99 a month per user |
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Scala Hosting: Best for Small Teams | |||
 4.51 out of 5 | From $2.95 a month |
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Hostinger: Best Standalone Plans | |||
 4.17 out of 5 | From $1.59 a month |
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Spike: Best Chat-like Email Interface | |||
 4.14 out of 5 | Free-forever plan Paid plans from $6 per user, per month |
| or |
InMotion: Best Customer Support | |||
 4.05 out of 5 | From $3.49 a month |
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Bluehost: Best Bundled Web & Email Hosting | |||
 4.02 out of 5 | From $2.95 a month |
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*U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act | |||
Pro tip: When comparing plan pricing, watch the fine print. The pricing above reflects the monthly cost with a 12-month, annually billed plan. Bluehost and DreamHost’s rates increase after the first year, whereas Hostinger and Scala Hosting offer bigger savings if you opt for a 24-month or longer contract.
Google Workspace: Best Cheap Email Hosting Overall
Pros
- From $6 per month
- 30GB to 5TB of storage
- Real-time team collaboration in office software (Docs, Sheets, Slides) and communication (video and chat)
- Extensive integrations
- Send money through Gmail using Google Pay
- Auto-language translation
- Alias emails
- No long-term commitment
Cons
- No free domain name, unlike IONOS or DreamHost
- No multi-user plans
- Business email features aren’t as advanced as its top rival—Microsoft 365
- Startups and small businesses that want to save money by getting office and communications apps rolled into in cheap email hosting plans
- Distributed and remote workforces that need secure, reliable collaboration tools
- Those who want to integrate other business software with email apps to streamline workflows
- Freelancers looking for the convenience of getting paid through email
- Companies doing business internationally that want automatic translation features baked in
There’s no question about the level of features and value Google provides with email hosting. But at $6 per user, per month, it’s not a cheap solution for organizations with multiple users. DreamHost allows unlimited email addresses in cheap shared hosting plans. To use Google Workspace for email hosting you’ll also have to buy a domain, but you can get your domain free if you opt for hosting through IONOS, Bluehost, or DreamHost.
Google, Microsoft, and Zoho Mail all offer plans that include office and communications apps in addition to email hosting. However, Google Workspace (and Gmail) and Microsoft 365 (and Outlook) are the two most popular worldwide. Learn what sets each one apart in our article comparing Gmail vs Outlook email head to head.
Google Workspace is an industry-leading email and business software provider. Its business email hosting package is extremely intuitive, packed with added value, and affordably priced, starting at $6 per user, per month. Gmail is the most popular business email software in the United States, which is just one of the reasons it made our list of the best email apps for small businesses.
With an uncluttered interface, straightforward navigation, and built-in collaboration tools, Gmail business email setup and customization are simple. This, along with the inclusion of Google’s productivity suite, makes Google Workspace an ideal email and collaboration solution for non-tech-savvy businesses that don’t want to spend much time on email setup or maintenance.
Notably, collaborative teams can work on documents, spreadsheets, and slides at the same time. In addition, users can communicate instantly via video conferencing or chat with teammates, prospects, and customers right from the Gmail interface. You can also integrate it with messaging apps like Slack, WhatsApp, and Messenger to streamline communication even more.
Learn more about the business email features you’ll get with Google Workspace in our list of Gmail tips and tricks.
How Much Google Workspace Email Hosting Costs
Google Workspace’s plans all come with Gmail business email, and all Gmail features come with each plan. Learn more about what else is included below:
Starter
Monthly cost: $6 per user, billed monthly
What’s included:
- Reliable and secure business-class email on a custom domain (purchase domain separately)
- Phishing and spam protection
- 30GB total cloud storage per user
- Calendars (including shared calendars) and contacts
- Docs, Sheets, Slides
- Sites, Forms, Meet (up to 100 video call attendees), and Chat
- Two-step authentication
- Group-based controls
Standard
Monthly cost: $12 user, billed monthly
What’s included:
- Everything in the Starter plan
- 2TB of cloud storage
- 150 participant video meetings and recordings
- Appointment booking pages
Plus
Monthly cost: $18 user, billed monthly
What’s included:
- Everything in the Starter and Standard plans
- 5TB of cloud storage
- Email eDiscovery and retention
- 500 participant video conferences
- Improved data search tools and security
- Advanced endpoint management
For teams that work collaboratively, sales-oriented companies that want a full featured communications suite, and businesses with distributed workforces, we recommend Google Workspace. With cheap plans starting from $6 per month and no long-term contracts, there’s no risk in seeing if it’s the best email host for your small business.
Zoho Mail: Best Free Email Hosting Solution
Pros
- 5 free business email addresses on a domain you own
- Paid plans from $3/month
- Higher-tier plans come with office and communications software
- Zoho Mail mobile app makes email access from anywhere easy
- Largest attachment limits—up to 1GB
Cons
- Low storage (5GB/user) in free plan
- Paid plans are per user (no multi-user paid plans)
- No plans that include a free domain, unlike IONOS and Bluehost
- Can’t connect free email addresses to other email clients like Mac Mail or Outlook
- Budget-conscious startups, freelancers, and small businesses that need free, no-frills email
- Small teams looking for all-in-one solutions with productivity software, collaboration tools, and video conferencing in a cheap email hosting service
- Those wanting a comparable alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 at a cheaper price
- Companies that want easy integration with Zoho’s other business apps
Zoho Mail is easy to set up and use, and the platform offers a wide array of business software, which could be ideal for startups and entrepreneurs looking to centralize everything. If office software is a top priority, however, both Google and Microsoft offer superior features at about the same cost.
Though the storage limit for the free plan is low at just 5GB per free email address, it’s still higher than the 2GB included in IONOS $1 per month plans. Those needing a lot of storage should consider Hostinger’s Enterprise plan or Microsoft 365, as user mailboxes have 50GB of storage with both providers.
Zoho Mail doesn’t have a free domain or SSL, so you’ll need to get those separately, unlike with IONOS and Bluehost. Plus, there are no multi-user paid plans, so for each additional user, your cost will go up. If you need a lot of email addresses without all the office software and communication tools, try DreamHost’s Shared Unlimited plan instead.
Zoho Mail made our list of the best email hosting providers for offering a free version. If you own a domain, you can set up as many as five email addresses absolutely free, forever. Zoho Mail also offers Workplace plans with communications and office software similar to Google and Microsoft for $3 to $6 per month.
The Zoho software ecosystem extends far beyond office software, however. Zoho Mail easily integrates Zoho’s other business apps for sales, accounting, customer service, and more.
To get started at no cost, read our guide for how to set up Zoho free business email accounts.
Zoho Mail has two Workplace plans meant explicitly for businesses. Like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, the plans include productivity software (documents, spreadsheets, and slide-based presentations), collaboration tools, backup and restoration, eDiscovery, and even video conferencing.
How Much Zoho Mail Costs
All Zoho Mail plans are $6 or less monthly. But like Google and Microsoft, these are per user, and apart from the free version, there are no multi-user plans to save you money. Here’s what each plan includes:
Free
Monthly cost: $0 (forever)
What’s included:
- Free email hosting for up to five email addresses on a domain you own
- 5GB of storage/mailbox
- 25MB attachments
- Web and mobile apps (can’t connect your addresses to other clients)
- Alias emails
Workplace Standard
Monthly cost: $3 per user
What’s included:
- 30GB storage/mailbox plus 10GB WorkDrive cloud storage
- Multiple domains
- SecurePass emails to send confidential info with passcodes
- Attachments up to 500MB
- Domain aliases and email routing
- Read receipts
- eWidget and developer space for integrations
- Calendar, tasks, notes, bookmarks
- Add to your favorite email clients via IMAP/POP
- Exchange Activesync
- Mobile and web apps
- Zoho WorkDrive, Office Suite, Cliq, and Zoho Meeting, including web and mobile apps for video conferencing with up to 10 participants and cloud recordings
Professional
Monthly cost: $6 per user
What’s included: Everything in Standard plus:
- 1GB email attachments
- Archival and eDiscovery
- Email backup and retention
- White labeling
- S-MIME email encryption
- Video conferencing with up to 100 attendees
- Zoho Connect
- Larger limits for other included Zoho apps
Zoho Mail is one of the most user-friendly cheap email hosts. There are detailed, step-by-step instructions for everything from registering for a plan to connecting your domain. And if you get stuck, live chat and email ticket support are there to help. Best of all, it’s risk-free to try since you can start for free.
IONOS: Cheapest Email Hosting Provider (+ Free Domain)
Pros
- Ultra-cheap—from $1 a month
- Advanced security and encryption for $5/month
- Domain and private registration included free
- Live customer support
- 24/7 2-50GB expandable storage
- Cheap multi-user plans for 2-10 users
- Email forwarding aliases
- Email and domain migration services
- Full-featured browser-based app
Cons
- Bluehost and DreamHost are cheaper for multiple email accounts—but only the first year
- Only 2GB of storage in base plan—less than free email with Zoho
- Few sharing features for teams
- No dedicated mobile app (but easy to add to mobile email clients)
- No month-to-month payment options
- Budget-conscious businesses that need a domain and email as cheap as possible
- Light email users that don’t need a ton of storage
- The cheapest business email hosting with encryption ($5 per month Business plan) for companies needing high email security
- Affordable business email hosting with advanced virus and spam protection for those worried about viruses
- Startups and freelancers looking for inexpensive, all-in-one solutions that bundle domain, email, and web hosting or site builder
IONOS plans start at $1 per month for 2GB of storage (about 10,000 emails) and a high maximum attachment size of 100MB. However, given the comparatively low storage included, those sending lots of emails might want to use Zoho Mail or upgrade to the Business plan.
There are no plans with productivity software or video conferencing. For these, consider buying a domain through IONOS ($1 the first year) and get a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 plan to get the productivity, collaboration, and communication software your small business needs.
Primarily a web hosting company, IONOS offers affordable email hosting with a free domain name and SSL. In fact, it’s the only provider here to offer a dedicated, standalone email hosting plan that comes with a free domain—let alone at such a low cost.
You can get secure email hosting through IONOS for only $1 monthly, including spam protection, modest storage, a free domain, and live customer support. Or, you can purchase a domain for $1 for the first year and get a free business email address and SSL in the process. Its web-based interface is intuitive and fairly robust, but you can also connect your email account to top email apps easily using IMAP and SMTP or POP.
Granted, the 2GB of storage included in IONOS cheap email hosting plans is paltry compared to the other providers on this list. However, that storage space is expandable up to 50GB at a cost that still comes in under $6. Plus, IONOS email security features are more advanced, and encryption is cheaper on its Business plan at $5 per month vs any other provider in a $6 or less plan.
IONOS offers web hosting plans from $1 per month, inclusive of email, domain, and SSL, which could save your business even more as you build your brand presence online. If you’re a freelancer, startup, or small business with a limited budget, any of these plans could be right for you.
How Much IONOS Email Hosting Costs
Like Hostinger, with IONOS you can grab a standalone email hosting plan that comes with a free domain and SSL or get a web bundle to build your brand presence online. All plans are billed annually with no month-to-month option. Browse each plan’s options:
Basic
Monthly cost: $1
What’s included:
- Email hosting plus a free domain
- 2GB of inbox storage (expandable to 50GB)
- High attachment limits: 100MB
- Alias forwarding emails
- Intuitive, full-featured web-based email access, including email signatures, tasks, calendar, and auto-response
- Email syncing across devices
- 24/7 live support
- Control panel dashboard with nameserver access (e.g., to use your domain with a website builder or external web host)
Business
Monthly cost: From $2.50 per user (up to 10 users) or $5 for one user
What’s included: Everything that comes in the Basic plan, but for up to 10 users, with:
- 50GB inbox storage per user
- Premium virus and spam protection
- Encryption
- Shared calendars, contacts, and tasks
Website
Monthly cost: As low as $1 for the first six months, billed annually (renews at a higher rate)
What’s included: 2GB Basic email included free with:
- Free domain
- Free SSL
- Web hosting plans
IONOS offers a variety of email hosting options that make it easy for small businesses to get both a domain and email in a cheap plan. You’ll have access to a dedicated consultant if you need help with setup, and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find it’s not right for you.
Need a completely free business email solution? Learn more about affordable business email, including eight legit ways to get a completely free business email.
DreamHost: Best Host for Unlimited Emails & a Free Domain
Pros
- Unlimited emails, free domain, and SSL in Shared Unlimited web hosting plan for $2.95/month the first year
- Commitment-free dedicated email hosting starting at $1.67/month
- Respectable 25GB storage/inbox
- Monthly billing available for email hosting and web hosting plans
- All-in-one solution for WordPress websites and business email
Cons
- Cost of annually billed plans increases after the first year
- No dedicated mobile app
- Limited technical support vs personal consultant with IONOS if you want help with setup or configuration
- Businesses that need to create a lot of email addresses on a small budget
- Startups or companies looking for commitment-free web or email hosting with month-to-month billing
- Freelancers and entrepreneurs looking for affordable standalone email hosting plans
- Businesses wanting an easy, affordable way to build a WordPress website—plans include the BoldGrid site builder
DreamHost is primarily a web hosting service, so you won’t get the benefits of office software and communications tools that Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 provide. While inexpensive, its standalone email can’t compete price-wise with IONOS, which is nearly half the cost and comes with a free domain. IONOS also offers superior one-to-one technical assistance vs DreamHost, just in case you need help setting up or configuring business email.
DreamHost provides cheap email hosting as a standalone product or included with web hosting plans, both of which offer monthly billing options. With 25GB per email account included with either option, it’s a good value for small businesses that need large storage at a low cost and don’t want a long-term contract.
In addition to ample storage, DreamHost’s WordPress web hosting plans include a free domain for your email and website and a free no-code WordPress page builder: BoldGrid. The Shared Unlimited and WordPress Unlimited hosting plans provide unlimited emails on your domain with first-year pricing at $2.95 per month. You can access your DreamHost email account via webmail or on other apps by configuring IMAP/SMTP or POP settings.
Like Bluehost, its webmail is accessed using the Roundcube app, which is very easy to set up and use on mobile or desktop devices. It’s also easy to add your DreamHost email account to Gmail, Outlook, or the email client you prefer to use, and you can change some of the basic settings, including the look of your email interface.
Alternatively, you can purchase DreamHost’s email hosting service as a standalone product. Your email account comes with 25GB of storage at $1.99 per mailbox monthly on a month-to-month basis, or just $1.67 when billed annually. While this costs more than IONOS or Zoho Mail’s $1 per month (billed annually), it also includes far more storage—you’d pay $5 a month on IONOS, for example.
How Much DreamHost Email Hosting Costs
Get email hosting from DreamHost in standalone packages or in hosting bundles that come with a free domain. Find out all that’s included below:
Email Only
Monthly cost: $1.67 with annual billing or $1.99 month to month
What’s included:
- Email hosting for one mailbox with 25GB of storage (must purchase a domain separately)
- Automatic syncing across devices
- Easily add your email address to your favorite client
- Create email aliases
- 40MB attachments
Shared Unlimited
Monthly cost: $2.95 the first year
Renews at: $10.99 per month
Month to month: $8.95 (some features are not included)
What’s included: The same email features as the Email Only plan plus:
- Unlimited email addresses
- Free domain (annually billed plans) and free SSL
- Domain privacy
- Webmail app
- Unlimited WordPress websites
- Free BoldGrid page builder
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- WordPress site migration services
- WordPress installation and core and security updates
- Free daily backups
DreamHost makes it easy to get email hosting in multiple ways, depending on what your business needs. It’s a reputable and reliable company, and virtually risk-free to try as they have an industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee.
Microsoft 365: Most Advanced Business Email Features
Pros
- Cheap plans from $6 for a full suite of office and communications software
- Email workflow automations and advanced email handling rules
- Thousands of integrations
- Launch tasks, meetings, new contacts and more from the interface
- 50GB of inbox storage per user (plus 1TB of OneDrive storage for files)
- Advanced security
- 30-day free trial
Cons
- Some advanced features require desktop apps, which costs more
- No free domain with any plan
- No multi-user plans
- Businesses that want the advanced business email tools, features, and automations that come in Outlook with Microsoft 365 plans
- Companies looking for email hosting with business-class security to protect users, data, and files
- Teams wanting email solutions with integrated communications tools (e.g., video conferencing and chat)
- Sales teams wanting integrated appointment booking with email
- Teams collaborating in real time on documents, presentations, and spreadsheets and wanting real-time collaboration
- Those working with large files or lots of emails in need of a large storage limit
- Businesses with administrative staff that want the ability to manage other users inboxes and calendars
Microsoft 365 (and Outlook) provides a comprehensive and secure hosting option with tons of features and tools for business email. However, you’ll have to get a domain separately, and unlike Google Workspace, you’ll have to commit for a year at a time (though your plan will be billed monthly).
At the same time, Microsoft 365 is per user. It doesn’t allow multiple users in the same plan, unlike DreamHost, Bluehost, and Hostinger. If you need a multi-user system, consider an alternative.
There are many benefits to using Microsoft 365 and Outlook business email. It offers advanced security, integrates the collaboration, chat, and video conferencing features of Microsoft Teams, and can automate tasks and workflows. For example, when a new email arrives, it could serve as a trigger that starts an automated workflow by creating a task, assigning a date for follow-up, or automatically forwarding the email to everyone on a team.
Regarding advanced features, no other email software comes close to what you can do with Outlook via Microsoft 365 business plans. You can automate email management and handling with multi-layered, complex rules. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Exchange-based business plans have built-in appointment booking tools and allow users to manage the calendars and inboxes of other users. Outlook can also be used to manage corporate resources, like conference room bookings.
Want to know more about what you can do in Outlook? See our list of key Outlook features for small business users.
Like Google, Microsoft 365 plans include Outlook email hosting as well as a full suite of office software. Among these are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams (video conferencing and chat), and Microsoft Bookings. Read our comparison of Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 to compare the office suites.
How Much Microsoft 365 Email Hosting Costs
Microsoft 365 will arguably provide the most bang for your buck, given the advanced email and office software included. Keep in mind that you’ll have to purchase a domain separately, at an additional $10 to $20 per year. Learn what comes in the cheapest plan as well as what features might require an upgrade:
Basic
Monthly cost: $6 per user (annual commitment but is billed monthly)
What’s included:
- Email hosting via Outlook with 50GB of inbox storage on a domain you own
- Automatic email and document syncing
- Web and mobile versions of Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Bookings
- Teams with video conferencing for up to 300 attendees plus chat and call
- SharePoint (store, organize, share, and access info from any device)
- 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage
- Real time co-authoring of documents (new)
- Install on up to five mobile devices and five tablets
- Business class email with advanced features and security
- Phishing, spam, and virus protection
- Shared management of inboxes, calendars, and OneDrive storage
Standard
Monthly cost: $12.50 per user
What’s included: Everything in Basic plus:
- Downloadable software for desktop devices of all apps with advanced features
- Access (database)
- Publisher graphic design and marketing collateral creator
- Customer appointment management
- Attendee registration and reporting for webinars
Premium
Monthly cost: $22 per user
What’s included: Everything in Basic and Standard plus:
- Endpoint security across devices to protect from ransomware and cyberthreats
- Protection from sophisticated threats in email attachments and links
- Defender for Office 365 for phishing attacks
- Pre-breach threat resistance
- Advanced security, including Azure Information Protection
- Advanced access and data controls, including conditional access
- Extra-large cloud archive and long-term preservation
While it comes with advanced features not matched by other providers, Outlook also makes it easy for you to organize emails. Its interface is fairly intuitive and simple to navigate. You can even configure Outlook to create rules for each incoming email so that it can be automatically sorted into a folder you create for each message category. Take advantage of the 30-day free trial to see if it’s the best email hosting provider for your business needs.
Proton Mail: Most Secure Cheap Email Hosting Service
Pros
- HIPAA-compliant
- Most advanced security and privacy
- Free-forever plan with 1GB of email storage and up to 150 emails/daily
- Upgrade for 15GB of storage, alias emails, and unlimited messaging
- Monthly billing options
- Alias emails (all plans)
Cons
- 1GB in the free plan is super-low compared to free Zoho Mail (5GB)
- Limited to 150 emails/day on the free plan
- Can’t use a custom domain with the free version, unlike Zoho Mail
- No plans come with a free domain
- No multi-user plans for businesses
- Medical providers that need secure, HIPAA-compliant email communications
- Freelancers and entrepreneurs wanting a completely free and highly secure business email option
- Startups and small businesses requiring the best email security features, such as those handling patient information or confidential files
- Any business prioritizing email security and privacy
With six or more users you’ll get live phone support, and all Proton Mail business plans come with a 99.95% uptime guarantee. However, IONOS offers one-to-one technical support to all business email users, so it is a better choice for less tech-savvy customers or beginners.
If you don’t need the level of security that comes with Proton Mail, both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have higher-value bundles along with business-class email security. They also include productivity suites that boost plan value for small businesses.
Proton Mail offers one of the best ways to get a free professional email—as long as you don’t mind your email being hosted on a subdomain instead of a domain you own. In addition to being affordable, it’s highly secure and HIPAA compliant, as it adheres to super-strict standards for encryption. It even complies with super-strict Swiss privacy laws.
With the upgrade to one of Proton Mail’s affordable paid plans, you can use your own domain names (from three to 10 different domains) to create email addresses for your business. You can also create up to 20 different calendars, send unlimited emails (vs 150 per day on the free plan), and get priority support.
The main reason to choose Proton Mail is its advanced email privacy and security. Email encryption is applied end to end, beginning in the free plan. It is also the only cheap email service offering zero-access encryption, meaning even Proton Mail can’t decrypt your data.
How Much Proton Mail Costs
All Proton Mail plans, including the free one, are per user. So while they are cheap, they aren’t the most economical for multi-user business emails. However, they are the most secure. Find the best option for your company below:
Free
Cost: $0
What’s included:
- Free email hosting on a Proton Mail subdomain
- 1GB storage
- 150 messages per day
- Calendar
- Auto-sync across devices
- File encryption
Essentials
Monthly cost: $6.99 per user annually or $7.99 month to month
What’s included:
- Up to 10 unique email addresses on up to three custom domain names
- 15GB total storage
- 25MB attachments
- HIPAA and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant
- End-to-end encryption
- Password protected emails
- Encrypted contact details
- Unlimited messaging, folders, labels, and filters
- 20 sharable calendars per user
- Contact management
- Email app support via IMAP/SMTP settings
- Global content delivery network (100-plus servers in three countries)
Business
Monthly cost: $10.99 per user annually or $12.99 month to month
What’s included: Build on everything in Essentials, with:
- 15 email addresses on up to 10 domains
- Massive 500GB of total storage
- Unlimited “Hide My Email” aliases
- Largest CDN (1,700-plus services, over 60 countries)
- Highest virtual private network (VPN) speed
- Advanced malware and ad blocker
- Secure core servers
- Tor over VPN
Proton Mail’s business plans are fully compatible with GDPR rules and are HIPAA compliant, making them great for anyone handling confidential patient information. This makes it the best cheap email host for businesses prizing security, hands down. You can get an idea of the user experience and interface by trying the free version today.
Scala Hosting: Best Email Hosting Service for Small Teams
Pros
- Cheap multi-user standalone email hosting plans for 10 to unlimited users
- Standalone plans allow from one to unlimited custom email domains
- Web hosting plans with unlimited email hosting from $2.95/month
- Daily offsite backups included to protect your data
- Free email migration services
Cons
- Only the highest tier includes a free domain
- Monthly billing is only available for the highest plan tier (standalone plans)
- Standalone plans have shared storage limits (e.g., base tier 50GB for 10 users is about 5GB each)
- No mobile app
- Small teams needing reliable and cheap email hosting
- Companies looking for scalable email hosting solutions (either standalone or bundled with web hosting)
- Those wanting additional safeguards to protect data, like daily offsite backups
- Businesses wanting to ensure their domain stays off blacklists and emails get to recipients’ inboxes with a dedicated IP address, free SSL, and blacklist monitoring and removal (highest cloud email plan tier or VPN plans)
- Agencies and freelancers looking to resell or manage client email with a white-labeled solution (highest-plan tier)
Scala Hosting offers unique features in email, web, and VPN hosting plans that make it a standout for small teams. However, Hostinger plans will be cheaper in the long term for 50 or more email accounts. Likewise, the IONOS Business plan supports up to 10 users at $2.50 monthly, with far more storage per user (50GB).
Like DreamHost and Bluehost, web hosting company Scala Hosting offers cheap business email hosting plans starting at just a few dollars per month for the first year. This comes in standalone email hosting, shared web hosting, and the company’s widely acclaimed virtual private server (VPS) plans.
Scala Hosting is the best standalone email service for small teams. The base email hosting plan allows for up to 10 users on your domain for $4.95 per month billed annually or $2.95 per month with a 36-month contract. This includes 50GB of total storage, advanced SPAM protection, and daily offsite backups to preserve your data.
Scala’s plans also scale affordably. For $5.95, you can create up to 50 email addresses on five custom domains (100GB email storage), 100 emails on up to 10 domains for $7.95 with 150GB of total storage, or create unlimited emails with unlimited domain names starting from $19.95. The highest tier plan also adds value with white labeling, a free domain, real-time malware protection and a dedicated IP address and blacklist monitoring.
The highest Cloud tier is also a good option for marketing agencies and freelancers who want to resell email hosting or provide white-label services for clients. Plus, you can upgrade to a virtual private network to host unlimited accounts and websites for a few dollars more.
How Much Scala Email Hosting Costs
The best plan for you will depend on what type of service your business needs most: dedicated email hosting, bundled hosting, or a highly secure VPN with dedicated resources. Each plan is showcased below:
All plans include web-based email, POP3/IMAP/SMTP to add your address to your favorite email client, advanced spam protection, and daily backups.
Monthly cost with annual billing:
- Startup: $4.95 for 10 email accounts on one domain, 50GB total storage (renews at $7.95)
- SmallBiz: $5.95 for 50 email accounts on five domains, 100GB total storage (renews at $9.95)
- Medium: $7.95 for 100 email accounts on 10 domains, 150GB total storage (renews at $15.95)
- Cloud: $19.95 for unlimited email accounts and domains, 50GB scalable storage, free domain, real-time malware protection, dedicated IP, priority support, blacklist monitoring and removal, sub-users and collaborators, branding, and white labeling (renews at $24.95)
Cloud can also be purchased month to month for $29.95.
Web Hosting
Unlimited email accounts are included in all web hosting plans, but storage is total (not per user) and shared with website files.
Monthly cost with annual billing:
- Mini: $2.95 inclusive of one website, free SSL, one-click installer (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and so on), daily backups, 10GB total storage (renews at $9.95)
- Start: $5.95 for unlimited websites, 50GB total storage, free domain, and real-time malware protection (renews at $11.95)
- Advanced: $9.95 to add priority support and increase to 100GB total storage (renews at $15.95)
- Entry Cloud: $19.95 for unlimited websites, emails, and domains, 50GB scalable storage, free domain, real-time malware protection, dedicated IP, priority support, blacklist monitoring and removal, sub-users and collaborators, branding, and white labeling (renews at $24.95)
VPS/N
Monthly cost: With annual billing, VPS plans start from $39.95 (or $49.95 month to month) with:
- Unlimited sites and email accounts
- SpamAssassin email filtering
- Outbound SPAM protection
- Alias emails
- Auto-responders
- Email catch-all
- Email storage settings and quotas
- Domain blacklist monitoring and removal
- 400-plus script one-click installs
- Sub-users and collaborators
- Real-time malware protection
- Caching with OpenLiteSpeed
- SShield real-time cybersecurity website protection
- CloudFlare CDN
There are also comparable plans for web and email hosting, and all web hosting plans allow unlimited email accounts. But keep in mind that storage limits in web hosting plans apply to all files, meaning all your website and email files share the same storage.
We featured Scala’s VPS among the plans above because of the additional security and business email benefits provided. If you are interested in the additional data security and speed that come with dedicated servers (such as a virtual private network), DreamHost, Bluehost, and IONOS offer cheap VPN options, albeit with fewer features than Scala.
Scala’s cheap email hosting plans are perfect for startups and small teams. Create up to 10 email addresses in a standalone plan or get unlimited emails in web-and-email bundles, both starting under $5 per month. Scala offers an anytime money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk in trying it to see if it’s the best business email solution for your company.
Hostinger: Best Standalone Email Hosting Plans
Pros
- Standalone Titan email hosting from $1.59 with annual billing
- Web hosting and site builder plans
- Highly rated mobile app—check email any time, anywhere
Cons
- No free plan, unlike Zoho Mail
- IONOS is cheaper for solopreneurs
- Standalone email plans don’t include a domain and SSL* (unlike IONOS)
*Secure sockets layer
- Any small business that needs cheap email hosting from a highly rated and reliable provider
- Companies looking to build brand presence and save money with an all-in-one email, domain, and site builder (or hosting) plan
- Distributed teams and on-the-go professionals wanting cheap email with a mobile app
Hostinger offerings are inherently affordable, but they aren’t the cheapest. If you need a completely free option, you can create up to five free email addresses on Zoho Mail, which also comes with a mobile app and plans you can scale with. Alternatively, IONOS email hosting costs $12 annually and comes with a free domain and SSL, making it the absolute cheapest email hosting solution for small businesses.
While Hostinger is better known as a web hosting company, it scored high against our criteria for the best cheap email hosting services. In fact, it ticked nearly all the boxes.
Hostinger offers affordable business email hosting in a variety of options. Get standalone Titan email hosting for as low as $1.59 per month, billed annually. Or, get the Cadillac of standalone plans under $4 per month with a whopping 50GB of email storage, email aliases, data encryption, and more.
Standalone email hosting with Hostinger is Titan Mail. The cheapest option is Business Email, which comes with 10GB of storage, a calendar, and contacts.
The Enterprise Email solution costs only nominally more but with a slew of additional functionality and storage, like follow-up reminders, scheduled sending, and an HTML composer. Both plans make doing business easier with features like templates and read receipts, and boost security with two-factor authentication, advanced anti-spam and virus protection, and data encryption.
How Much Hostinger Email Hosting Costs
The following is an overview of Hostinger email hosting options. Once you know which plan might be best for your business, head over to Hostinger for more details about your chosen plan.
Business
Monthly cost: $1.59, billed annually
What’s included:
- 10GB storage
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Web and mobile apps
- 3 templates
- 10 mail aliases
Enterprise
Monthly cost: $3.99, billed annually
What’s included: Everything in Business plus the following:
- Follow-up reminders
- Scheduled sends
- Priority inbox
- HTML composer
- Unlimited email templates
We’re impressed with the level of value that Hostinger has built into its cheap email hosting plans. Whether you are just looking for a business email or you want a complete online brand-building solution, you can’t go wrong.
Spike: Best Chat-like Email Interface
Pros
- Free plan for up to 5 users
- Chat-style email sorting by sender
- Integrated inbox and calendar
- Secure audio and video calling
- AI content assistant
- Free custom domain in paid plans
- Paid plans support large file transfers
- Ample storage on all plans
Cons
- Paid plans require minimum number of users
- AI content assistant limited in lower tiers
- Creative businesses that work collaboratively on products and services
- Businesses that rely on email as the primary means of intra-office communication
- Organizations looking for a single-provider solution for email with internal chat, audio, and video calling
Spike is a great collaboration tool for creative organizations or companies looking to maximize the power of email. However, it is not the only collaboration tool. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace both provide advanced features like chat, audio, and video calling, and they also include productivity tools as a value add—for roughly the same price per user.
For larger teams, Spike may be too expensive. If you have a larger team, consider DreamHost or IONOS for a better price.
Spike brings email into a new dimension with its collaborative, chat-like interface. The Spike system sorts all incoming emails by sender—which means conversations are automatically threaded and easy to follow. With audio and video chat features built into the system, you have a full communications suite at your fingertips.
In addition to the collaboration tools, Spike provides several features that make it stand out. It is generous with storage space, even in the free plan (which includes 15GB of space). Paid plans include a free, custom domain the first year. And, both tiers of paid plans support large file attachments, up to 500MB in the Business+ tier.
How Much Spike Costs
Per user, Spike packs in a lot of features at a reasonable price. Browse the features in each plan below:
Starter
Monthly cost: $0
What’s included:
- Conversational, chat-like email
- One teamspace
- 60-day search history
- Integrated inbox and calendar
- 15GB storage
- Artificial intelligence (AI) content assistant (10 queries per month)
- Audio and video calling
- Standard support
Team
Monthly cost: $6 per user, billed annually*
What’s included: Everything in Starter plus:
- Free custom email domain
- Unlimited search history
- 100GB storage
- Large file upload to 100MB
- Priority support
*Minimum of three users
Business
Monthly cost: $9 per user, billed annually*
What’s included: Everything from Starter and Team plus:
- 1TB storage
- Video call recording
- Large file upload to 500MB
- VIP support
*Minimum of five users
If you want to elevate your email experience into a complete communications suite, Spike’s unique email-chat interface provides interactivity and collaboration, unlike any other provider. With integrated calendars, video and audio chat, and ample storage space, Spike offers a total communications solution that’s one-of-a-kind.
InMotion Hosting: Best Customer Support
Pros
- 24/7/365 customer support via chat and phone
- Unlimited email addresses starting at $6.99/month
- Web hosting plans included with free SSL and security suite
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Storage limit shared among all email addresses and web hosting package
- Phone support limited to higher tiers
- Companies with no tech team or experience who need an extra level of support
- Businesses with a large number of team members who need email addresses
- Businesses looking for a single solution for web hosting and email
InMotion Hosting provides great customer support and ample email storage for organizations up to about 15 users. However, it lacks dedicated storage space for email—your storage is shared among all users and web hosting. For dedicated storage, consider IONOS or DreamHost, both of which provide email services with better storage options.
InMotion Hosting’s email offerings are pretty basic, but they are backed up by 24/7/365 phone, chat, and email support. If your email goes down, you can get someone on the phone who can fix it. This provides a certain level of peace of mind that other email hosts lack. In fact, InMotion’s customer support ranks among the best in the business.
While their email boxes lack many of the advanced features of other providers we reviewed, they are affordable and offer enough storage that you should be good to go for most applications. When paired with their web hosting packages, InMotion Hosting is a one-stop shop for your email and web needs.
How Much InMotion Hosting Costs
InMotion Hosting email addresses are included in their web hosting packages. See what all you get in the plans below:
Core
Monthly cost: $3.49, billed annually
What’s included:
- 10 email addresses
- Connect a custom domain
- Free SSL certificate
- 100GB storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Web hosting with security suite
- Live chat support
Launch
Monthly cost: $6.99, billed annually
What’s included: All the features of Core plus:
- Unlimited email addresses
- Free domain and SSL certificate
- Unlimited storage
- Up to 25 websites
Power
Monthly cost: $6.99, billed annually
What’s included: All the features of Core and Launch plus:
- Live chat and phone support
Pro
Monthly cost: $14.99, billed annually
What’s included: All features of all plans plus:
- Dedicated IP address
InMotion Hosting’s email solutions are very basic, but for most small businesses, email is a basic tool of communication—making InMotion Hosting an affordable, ideal solution. Access to email is via email clients such as Mac Mail or Microsoft Outlook, and with InMotion Hosting’s support, setup and configuration is easy. Get started for just $3.49 per month.
Bluehost: Best Website & Email Hosting Combo
Pros
- Get email, domain, SSL, and WordPress hosting under $3/month
- Unlimited emails and storage plans start under $6/month
- Secure and reliable
- Roundcube webmail app
- Alias email addresses
- Domain privacy
- WordPress page builder included
- Free CloudFlare content delivery network (CDN)
Cons
- Pricing increases after the first year
- No monthly billing options
- No standalone email hosting plans
- No mobile app (but easy to use with your preferred email app)
- Any small businesses looking for an affordable, all-in-one solution for email and web hosting
- Startups and entrepreneurs planning to build a WordPress website
- Small teams that can get by with one to five email addresses
- Larger teams looking for unlimited email hosting
Bluehost is a great choice for an all-in-one solution for online brand building, but if you don’t want to build a WordPress website, a standalone plan from IONOS that comes with a domain could be better. If you want unlimited email hosting, DreamHost offers this for $2.95 the first year vs $5.45 with Bluehost.
If you’re on a tight budget, Bluehost plans aren’t as affordable after the first year. Both Hostinger and DreamHost web hosting plans offer similar features, but these also have a monthly billing option.
Bluehost is a top-recommended WordPress hosting company known for affordable first-year pricing and value-packed plans that include business email. The base plan costs $2.95 monthly for the first year and includes up to five email addresses with limited storage. The next plan tier still comes in under $6 per month and includes unlimited email and storage.
Bluehost webmail uses the free, open-source Roundcube app (as does DreamHost). There’s no calendar, but it does have a contact management tool, built-in caching, and the ability to add extensions via application programming interfaces (APIs). There’s no mobile app, but it’s easy to add the email addresses you create in Bluehost to any third-party email clients via POP and SMTP settings.
One of the biggest reasons to choose Bluehost for email hosting is to save money by bundling web hosting, domain, and SSL. Doing so gets you hosting for one website in the base plan, and unlimited sites thereafter. Plans come with WordPress pre-installed and core security updates managed for you, as well as a WordPress website builder that lessens the learning curve for using WordPress.
How Much Bluehost Email Hosting Costs
Bluehost has two plans that come in below our $6 target cost for cheap email hosts. The base plan comes with up to five emails while the next tier allows for unlimited email hosting, and both include a free custom domain for business email. All plans are billed annually, but you also have the option of locking in low pricing for 36 months. Learn more below:
Basic
Monthly cost: $2.95 with annual billing for the first 12 months
Renews at: $10.99
What’s included:
- Email hosting with up to five addresses, 100MB of storage each
- Web hosting for one site with a free domain and SSL the first year
- Free WordPress page builder
- 10GB website storage
- Private domain registration
- Free Cloudflare CDN (must activate in control panel)
Plus
Monthly cost: $5.45 with annual billing for the first 12 months
Renews at: $14.99
What’s included: Everything in the Basic plan plus:
- Unlimited emails and storage
- Unlimited websites, 20GB total storage
- Domain privacy
Bluehost offers secure, reliable email hosting in its WordPress web hosting packages. You’ll get everything you need to build your brand online, but even if you just need email, it’s a great value for the price, and your domain name and SSL are included for free.
How We Evaluated the Best Cheap Email Hosting Services
Small businesses and startups need safe, reliable, and affordable communication tools to connect with customers and communicate among their teams. To determine the best options for businesses on a budget, we researched low-cost business email providers with plans ranging from free to $6 per month and compared them based on 20 separate data points. Here’s how our scores were weighted (see tabs).
35% of Overall Score
For startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses on a tight budget, the cost is often the determining factor in selecting a service provider. For this reason, it was weighted most heavily when determining which email hosting services to include.
25% of Overall Score
In addition to cost is the value offered in the plans offered by email hosts. We looked for providers that include multiple email addresses, alias emails and forwarding, advanced security and data encryption, as well as those with extras like a mobile app or a free domain.
Although these services are affordable, this doesn’t mean they don’t offer niche features that add value for small businesses. Several include productivity software and collaboration tools like video conferencing, shared calendars, and team chat apps.
20% of Overall Score
While most of these services are easy to self-serve in terms of both setup and management, it’s good to know that help is there if you need it. Providers offering 24/7 customer support, live chat and phone support, email ticketing, and an online help center scored higher.
20% of Overall Score
No matter how great a provider looks on paper, how it works in the real world is critical. We have firsthand experience with each of these providers, and rated each as to which has great features for small businesses, which pack the most value into their plans, and which are easiest to set up and use. Finally, we considered the popularity of email hosting services based on real-world customer reviews.
Key Considerations When Choosing a Cheap Email Provider
You don’t have to pay a lot to get a lot, but you do need to have a checklist for what you want when comparing the best cheap email providers. First, consider the broader scope of what you need to build your brand presence online and off. Are there services you can bundle to save money not just now, but over time?
Second, check reviews and ratings. Sites like G2 and Clutch are great resources for learning the strengths and weaknesses of providers. Watch for things like multiple customers complaining about the same thing or what they rave about, and see how that aligns with your priorities in terms of vendors you want to work with.
Also, don’t just think about where your business is now, but how you want it to grow in the future. For example, today, you might only have five employees using email, but next year that number could be 25 to 50 or even 100. Does a provider have plans that can scale accordingly?
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, keep in mind that services like email and web hosting tend to be very “sticky” services. Once you’ve registered a domain, set up business email accounts, and maybe even built a website, changing to a new provider will be a complex and technically challenging endeavor. So take the time to fully vet your top contenders for cheap business email before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You can get a free email address with gmail.com or outlook.com domains, but this isn’t credible for business use. The best option for businesses is to look for services that come with free email addresses, like with the purchase of a domain or web hosting. If you own a domain, however, you can get up to five free Zoho Mail business email accounts.
Email hosting ranges from $1 (or even free) to around $3 to $6 to start. If you need multiple email addresses, expect to spend around $3 a month the first year and pay from $8 to $12 a month afterward. In addition, you’ll need a business domain name for email, unless one comes bundled with your plan—domains cost about $10 to $20 per year.
There are providers that offer free email hosting on your domain, like Zoho Mail, as well as email hosting on subdomains like gmail or outlook.com. Free email hosting is often included with web hosting plans as well. For more options, read our article detailing all the ways you can get a free email address.
Bottom Line
Going with a low-cost email hosting provider doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sacrifice many features. The best providers give you more than cheap (or even free) email hosting. But they also provide tools businesses need, from email security and administrative controls to ample storage, tools for team chat and video conferencing, and productivity software.
Google Workspace tops our list of cheap email hosting providers. It offers an easy-to-use interface, ample storage, and a number of value-added features like word processor, spreadsheets, and presentations, all starting at just $6 per user, per month.
