5 Best Email Hosting Providers for Small Businesses in 2022
Elizabeth Kraus has more than a decade of first-hand experience building and growing a boutique digital marketing agency and double that in small and mid-size business marketing management. She provides expert answers to marketing questions related to branding, content marketing, web development, email, social media, and SEO.
This article is part of a larger series on Business Email.
The best email hosting for small businesses provides up to unlimited storage, multiple accounts, an easy-to-use dashboard, and good customer service—all for affordable prices. We reviewed more than 20 options, landing on five to determine the best email hosting provider overall based on price, features, storage limits, reliability, and user ratings.
Based on our criteria, here are the five best email hosting providers for small businesses:
- Google Workspace: Overall best email hosting provider for value, services, and ease of use, and best option for Google Workspace users
- Bluehost: Great choice for small businesses wanting to bundle email and web hosting
- Namecheap: Cheap email hosting for budget-sensitive startups and small companies
- Zoho Mail: Top email hosting provider with mass email marketing tools
- IONOS: Best email hosting provider for businesses prioritizing privacy and security
Best Email Hosting Providers at a Glance
Email Hosting Provider | Entry-tier Intro Price per Month | Renews At | Storage per User | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $6 | $6 | 30GB |
|
 | $2.95 | $10.99 | 100MB |
|
 | 91 cents | $10.88 | 5GB |
|
 | Free, or paid from $1 | $1 | 5GB |
|
 | $1 | $1 | 2GB |
|
Google Workspace: Best Email Hosting for Small Businesses
Google Workspace
What We Like
- 14-day free trial
- Easy to set up and use
- Workspace apps (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, and more) included
- Comprehensive customer service
- Secure servers and extra security measures present on all plans
What's Missing
- High starting cost, especially compared to Namecheap
- Lacks native marketing tools, unlike Zoho Mail
- Doesn’t provide unlimited storage on any plan
- Doesn’t come with website building features (e.g., web hosting, domain name)—try Bluehost for this instead
- Doesn’t automatically encrypt emails on most plans, unlike IONOS
Google Workspace Highlights
- Huge wealth of productivity and collaboration apps included
- Large storage capacities, even on its basic plan
- 24/7 customer service with multiple channels
- Enterprise plan available (with custom pricing) for large businesses
Starting from: $6 per user, per month
Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite, is the professional version of Gmail that allows businesses to use a custom email address. With Google Workspace, users not only get reliable and user-friendly Gmail for business email, but also an entire suite of organizational tools such as Calendars, Sheets, Slides, Docs, Meet, and Drive, to name a few—all for $6 per user, per month. Learn how to set your Gmail business email up in just a few steps.
Google Workspace Pricing
Business Starter | Business Standard | Business Plus | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Price per User | $6 | $12 | $18 | Contact sales |
Storage | 30GB | 2TB | 5TB | Unlimited |
99.9% Uptime | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
24/7 Support (Standard) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Full Suite of Google Workspace Apps | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Robust Admin Tools | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
eDiscovery & Retention | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Enhanced Support | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
S/MIME Encryption | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ |
Video Conferencing | 100 participants | 150 participants | 500 participants | 500 participants |
Customer Service
Google Workspace customer service is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email. This is one of the most comprehensive customer service providers as many providers do not offer support by phone (except for IONOS). These options mean that it’s possible to get issues resolved quickly, in contrast to providers that only offer customer service through a support form.
What Users Say in Gmail Reviews
Gmail is a highly rated email hosting service. Positive reviews frequently mention how easy Gmail is to use. Other positive Gmail reviews also note it is a good platform for businesses that require team-based project work. Negative reviews note that security is suspect, especially as Gmail doesn’t automatically encrypt emails being sent. Negative feedback also touches on the number of ads and promotions Gmail allows.
Our Expert Opinion
Google Workspace is not the cheapest email hosting solution, but it’s more than worth it if you’re looking to use its added productivity and organizational tools. It has higher-than-average storage on its Starter plan, and while no plans include unlimited storage, its storage limits are enough for most businesses. Its ease of use, extra features, storage limits, and security make it great for any small business looking to set up professional emails.
Bluehost: Best for Bundled Email & Web Hosting
Bluehost
What We Like
- Free email accounts, domain name, and drag-and-drop WordPress website builder included in all web hosting plans
- Affordable plans, especially for building a complete website
- Beginner-friendly dashboard to manage your email accounts and website
What's Missing
- No free plan or free trial, unlike Zoho Mail or Namecheap
- Bluehost isn’t a dedicated email hosting provider—it uses Microsoft 365
- 12-month terms for all plans (no month-to-month contracts like Google)
- Limited storage capacity (especially email storage) on the Basic plan
Bluehost Highlights
- All web hosting plans come with free professional email hosting and a free domain name
- Affordable website hosting and WordPress site builder plans
- Higher-tier plans include unlimited professional email accounts with unlimited storage
Starting from: $2.95 per month
Bluehost is an industry-leading email and web hosting service provider noted for its exceptional value. It has standalone email plans (via Microsoft 365), but we highly recommend purchasing a web hosting plan, especially if you haven’t built your small business website yet, as all hosting plans include multiple email addresses. Higher-tier plans even include unlimited emails and storage.
The email accounts provided by Bluehost are Microsoft 365 emails. We encourage you to read our side-by-side comparison if you are deciding between Gmail vs Microsoft Outlook, or want to know whether Bluehost or Google Workspace offers the better email hosting option for your business.
Not only are Bluehost’s plans extremely affordable starting at $2.95 a month, but they also include multiple free email addresses, a free domain for the first year, free SSL certificate, reliable web hosting, and access to additional features. For example, you can get Google Workspace integration and domain privacy for a minimal extra cost.
It is the best solution for those who need unlimited storage in their business emails alongside reliable web hosting from an industry leader. Its hosting is recommended by WordPress, and site builder plans include an intuitive drag-and-drop WordPress website builder.
Bluehost Pricing
Basic | Plus | Choice Plus | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Introductory Price (Monthly)* | $2.95 | $5.45 | $5.45 | $13.95 |
Regular Price (Monthly)* | $9.99 | $13.99 | $18.99 | $28.99 |
Email Storage per Account | 100MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Number of Email Addresses Included | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
24/7 Support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Web Hosting Included | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free Domain Name | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Website Builder Included | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Web Hosting Storage Limit | 50GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
*On an annual billing cycle
Customer Service
Bluehost’s customer service is available 24/7 via phone and live chat. This means access to assistance whenever you’re working as opposed to waiting to receive a response. It also has three different technical support lines, depending on which type of help you are looking for. This ensures you will talk to the experts best-suited to solving your problem or answering your question.
What Users Say in Bluehost Reviews
Bluehost’s primary service is web hosting, so it is difficult to find email hosting-specific reviews. However, users comment that Bluehost provides good value and their customer service is helpful.
Negative Bluehost reviews frequently note that their websites go down. In response, Bluehost’s representatives note that this is an issue with the server on which the user’s domain is hosted, not their own hosting servers. Get the full picture in our expert Bluehost review.
Our Expert Opinion
Bluehost is a fantastic option for businesses looking to build an online brand presence from scratch. Its plans are extremely affordable and include a site builder, landing it on our list of the best cheap website builders. Hosting plans include unlimited email addresses and storage in all but the entry tier. This is rare for an email hosting provider, and it makes Bluehost the perfect solution for businesses that need lots of addresses and unlimited storage.
Namecheap: Best Cheap Email Hosting for Businesses
Namecheap
What We Like
- 60-day free trial available
- Cheap email hosting plans starting under $1 per month
- Can add extra mailboxes to any account for a small fee
What's Missing
- Only has basic features, like limited storage capacities—for more storage, try Google Workspace or Bluehost
- No monthly pricing, unlike Google Workspace
- No guaranteed backups
Namecheap Highlights
- Very affordable
- Easy-to-use dashboard
- Straightforward pricing scheme
- 24/7 live chat available
- Cheap web hosting with 30 to unlimited email accounts is also available, starting from $1.48 per month the first year (billed annually)
Starting from: 91 cents per month (or free trial for 60 days)
Namecheap is a domain name registrar that also offers email hosting services at very affordable prices. Although not as feature-rich as Google Workspace or Bluehost, starting at less than $1 per mailbox, it’s the cheapest solution to getting professional email addresses for your business.
Aside from affordable email hosting, Namecheap offers cheap website hosting with impressive features. In fact, it tops our list of the best web hosting provider for small businesses in 2022. You can purchase emails in standalone accounts from Namecheap, or (like Bluehost) bundle low-cost web hosting alongside email accounts.
Namecheap Pricing
*On an annual billing cycle
Customer Service
Namecheap has 24/7 customer service in the form of a live chat feature. They also have a knowledge base full of tutorials for their products. Both of these options will give you enough support to navigate their email hosting service. However, Namecheap notably lacks phone and email support. If you prefer talking to a live agent over the phone, Bluehost or IONOS will be better for you.
What Users Say in Namecheap Reviews
Namecheap has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot, with positive Namecheap reviews centered around affordable prices and good customer service. Users also praise Namecheap’s ease of use. While their email hosting services are well-regarded, some less favorable reviews complain about the lack of month-to-month pricing.
Our Expert Opinion
Namecheap’s email hosting service is great for businesses on a tight budget that don’t need many extra features (like Google Workspace’s full suite of productivity tools). Its initial prices are very cheap, and its regular rates also won’t break your budget. Though Zoho’s prices might look cheaper, Namecheap’s first-year pricing is very low, and the cost of emails when bundled with Namecheap hosting plans is even lower.
Zoho Mail: Best for Email Hosting for Mass Email Marketing
Zoho Mail
What We Like
- Free forever plan up to 5 users with 5GB of storage per user
- 15-day free trial for Mail Premium
- Very affordable—starting at $1 per month
- Option to add 5GB of storage on its basic plan
- Easily integrate more free and paid tools via Zoho’s native apps
What's Missing
- Low storage limits; try Google Workspace for higher limits, or Bluehost for unlimited storage
- Complicated interface that isn’t suited to beginners
- No monthly pricing, unlike Google Workspace or IONOS
Zoho Mail Highlights
- Zoho has a free forever email hosting plan for up to 5 users and 5GB of storage each
- Very affordable premium plans starting at $1 per month
- Workplace plans with productivity and collaboration tools start at $3 per month
- Voice and video calls in all paid plans
- Workplace plans come with Zoho Meeting for video conferencing for 10 or 100 participants
- Add Zoho Campaigns for free, giving you email marketing tools and features
Starting from: Free
Zoho is an online business software suite celebrated for its customer relationship management (CRM) as well as workplace collaboration, productivity, and email marketing tools. For business email, Zoho Mail paid plans start as low as $1 per month (if billed annually), and plans come loaded with features, including robust email marketing tools.
Zoho Mail is the best email hosting service for businesses that are looking for the cheapest or free email hosting with integrated email marketing tools. There is even a free-forever plan for startups and entrepreneurs who need a no-cost business email option. See how easy it is to use Zoho email free.
Zoho Mail also offers paid plans in four tiers: Mail Lite, Mail Premium, Workplace Standard, and Workplace Professional. While all plans have some team collaboration tools, Workplace plans come with higher storage limits, video conferencing, and workplace productivity apps.
Zoho Mail Pricing
Free (up to 5 Users) | Mail Lite | Workplace Standard | Mail Premium | Workplace Professional | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Price per Month* | ✕ | $1 | $3 | $4 | $6 |
Storage | 5GB | 5GB | 30GB + 10GB shared | 50GB | 100GB + 100GB shared |
Attachment Limit | 25MB | 250MB | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB |
Streams (Group Calendars, Syncing & Appointments) | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Productivity Apps (Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation) | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✕ | ✔ |
Video Calling | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Video Conferencing | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | Up to 10 participants | Up to 100 participants |
White Labelling | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✕ |
eDiscovery & Archival | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
Backup & Restoration | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✔ | ✔ |
*On an annual billing cycle
Customer Service
Zoho Mail’s customer service is available by email, tickets, and phone, with the latter only available to paying customers. There is also a comprehensive help center on the website for those interested in troubleshooting on their own.
What Users Say in Zoho Mail Reviews
Users rate Zoho Mail highly. Zoho Mail reviews indicate that customers particularly like the included productivity add-ons, as well as the free email campaigns for up to 6,000 emails per month. However, negative reviews note that while the anti-spam filters are good, some find them too sensitive.
Our Expert Opinion
Zoho Mail’s free plan and affordable premium pricing make it a great deal for businesses that need tools similar to what Google offers, but without the hefty price tag. In fact, Zoho is often cited as a top Google Workspace competitor. We highly recommend testing out Zoho using its free plan to see whether upgrading to a paid plan would be right for your small business.
IONOS: Best for Businesses Needing Privacy & Security
IONOS
What We Like
- Email hosting plans include a free domain
- 30-day risk-free guarantee
- Spam filters with blacklist option available on all plans
- Strict security measures, with SSL/TLS encryption and a virus scanner available
- Very intuitive dashboard
- Extra-secure email archiving add-on available for an extra $2.50 per month
- Comprehensive 24/7 customer support with both live chat and phone
- Collaboration tools, like shared calendars, available on their highest-tier plan
What's Missing
- Low storage limits on its most basic plan (2GB), and no unlimited storage on any plan—try Bluehost for unlimited email storage
- Features are somewhat basic in general; for more “extras,” we recommend trying Bluehost or Google Workspace
IONOS Highlights
- Cheap email hosting and domain with plans ranging from $1 to $5 per month
- Pay annually or month-to-month
- Tight security measures, like SSL/TLS certificates, for extremely secure email hosting and free antivirus protection
- Extra premium antivirus available on the $5 per month plan
- Collaboration tools, such as shared calendars and tasks, available on the $5 per month plan
- Microsoft 365 email plans from $1 per month or Exchange from $4 per month (the first year)
- Gmail Workspace Starter plan free for 3 months, then $6 per month, or Business Standard for $12 per month
Starting from: $1 per month
IONOS is a web hosting company that also provides standalone email hosting services. It boasts extremely secure servers with spam filters, antivirus protection, and a free domain and SSL certificate with email hosting plans. To get advanced virus protection, you’ll need to upgrade to their top-tier plan for a low price of $5 a month. This makes it the best email hosting provider for businesses needing affordable ways to deal with private or sensitive documents.
IONOS Pricing
*Extra users come with additional fees
Customer Service
IONOS provides 24/7 customer support for all of its email hosting plans, and users rate their services as extremely knowledgeable and quick. They offer live chat, phone support in many countries, and a help center with tons of useful information about their products and general questions you may have.
What Users Say in IONOS Reviews
IONOS reviews show it’s rated highly across the board, especially for its secure servers, beginner-friendly interface, affordable prices, and customer service. However, its negative reviews center around its basic features; some users feel that the interface and what it offers is just too simple.
Our Expert Opinion
IONOS takes security very seriously, and its privacy and security features are some of the strongest we’ve seen, especially in such an affordable service. It offers free antivirus protection, spam filters, a domain, and SSL/TLS certificate on all plans, which is rarely seen in email hosting plans costing as low as $1 per month. If your business deals with sensitive data, then IONOS is the best and most affordable email hosting option.
How We Evaluated the Best Email Hosting Services
Researching the best email hosting providers can be time-consuming; it’s challenging to find affordable solutions without sacrificing features. To save you time, we compared dozens of providers and narrowed it down to the best options based on affordability, amount of storage, reliability, number of email accounts included, extra features, and user reviews.
Based on our criteria, the best email hosting for small businesses is Google Workspace. With high storage limits on all plans, good email security, and a slew of productivity and organizational tools integrated, Google Workspace is the best, most beginner-friendly way to set up professional email accounts for your business.
Click on the tabs for more details about how we evaluated each provider.
40%
Cost
20%
Storage
30%
Features & Add-ons
10%
User Reviews
40% of Overall Score
Affordability is key for small businesses with limited budgets, so we chose hosts that cost $6 or less per month, at least to start. We also considered any free plans or trials so that you can thoroughly test out the product before making a commitment.
20% of Overall Score
The amount of storage included in email hosting plans is a key consideration for businesses that communicate primarily by email. The minimum requirement for our list inclusions was 100MB for entry-level plans.
30% of Overall Score
The plans on this list offer a lot more than email hosting. Many also include built-in security (including anti-spam and anti-phishing features), business calendars, domain names, mobile-friendly sites and apps, support, and more. All of these were considered in our ranking.
10% of Overall Score
For better insight into the usability of each hosting service on this list, we researched user reviews. Services with an acceptable customer rating served as the baseline, though many of the services on our list surpass this basic requirement.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need email hosting?
Using a custom business email with your website’s domain name (e.g., yourname@yourbusiness.com) is more professional than using a standard email (e.g., @gmail.com or @yahoo.com). If you’re serious about growing your business, having a custom email address that matches your website is essential.
How much should I pay for email hosting?
Email hosting shouldn’t be expensive, especially for small businesses that don’t need tons of accounts. Your costs will vary depending on how many accounts are needed and what kind of storage and security you want. Many email hosting providers have starter plans at around $5 per user, per month, though budget-friendly hosts like IONOS, Namecheap, and Zoho Mail cost as little as $1 per month.
Does Google offer free email hosting?
Unfortunately, Google Workspace doesn’t have a free email hosting plan. If you don’t want to spend on email hosting for your business website, then we highly recommend signing up for Zoho Mail’s free plan. Though it has a very low storage limit (5GB), it’s more than enough if you’re just starting out your small business.
Bottom Line
The best email hosting providers combine affordable prices, ample storage, multiple addresses, and great add-on features to meet the needs of small businesses. Based on our criteria, we found that the best overall is Google Workspace. It’s not only reliable and feature-rich with email and productivity tools included, it is also one of the most easy-to-use email platforms. Try it free for 14 days today.
