Do you want to use gmail with your own domain name? gmail is very convenient in many ways, but it doesn’t seem very professional to use an @gmail.com address for serious applications.
so you can use gmail with your own domain name? and if so, can you do it for free? the answers to those questions are “yes” and “yes”. and in this post, you will learn how to do it.
You can use a nifty solution to access your custom email domain from your existing free gmail account. Or, you can pay for Google’s business tools service, called Workspace. here’s a breakdown of the two methods:
- free method: As long as you already have email hosting (eg from your web host), you can connect gmail to your own domain name for free using the credentials smtp/pop3 (don’t worry if you still have no idea what those terms mean). 👉 go to the tutorial for this method.
- google workspace/g suite method: if you’re willing to pay, you can use google workspace (formerly g suite) to have a Google workspace account. dedicated gmail for your own custom domain name (which includes other things like dedicated disk storage, separate docs/sheets, and more). 👉 go to the tutorial for this method.
how to use gmail with your own custom domain name for free
In this first method, I’ll show you how to set up gmail with your free custom email.
Using this method, you will be able to link your custom domain name to a regular free gmail account (eg username@gmail.com). then you will be able to send/receive emails using your custom domain from your regular gmail account.
When you compose a new message, you can choose between your free @gmail.com address and your custom gmail domain. if you receive an email on your custom domain, gmail will automatically reply using that email:
some important notes about this method
While the gmail portion of this method is 100% free, there are some caveats to this method as you will need to have email hosting for it to work. you’ll usually get this through your web host if you have a website.
for example, if you host your website with bluehost, bluehost also helps you create your own custom email address as part of their service (this is the email hosting part).
If you don’t own a domain, here’s a quick tool you can use to find out if the domain name you’re interested in is available:
once you set up your email address with bluehost, the method in this tutorial will allow you to use gmail to send/receive those emails at no additional cost. unfortunately, having this email hosting is already a basic requirement for the free method.
To create your website and set up custom email account to use with gmail, we recommend bluehost. plans start at just $2.75 per month and that includes your website hosting, email account hosting, plus a free domain name.
If you don’t need a website, another option would be to purchase email hosting through your domain registrar. For example, if you registered your domain through Namecheap, Namecheap sells a cheap email hosting service starting at just $0.79 $0.46 per month.
For the rest of this tutorial, we’ll use bluehost for our example screenshots. however, the same basic principles will apply to any host: the interface will be a bit different.
1. create normal free gmail account
To get started, create a regular free gmail account, e.g. user@gmail.com. If you already have a gmail account, you can use your existing account.
However, remember that emails from your custom domain will be mixed with emails from your regular gmail account, so it might be easier to create a separate account if you already receive a lot of emails to your gmail address. . .
2. create your custom email address through your email host
Next, you need to create your custom email address using your email host if you haven’t already done so. e.g. you@yoursite.com
if you’re using bluehost, you can use bluehost’s email account tool to create your email address from email & office tab:
When you create your email account, be sure to remember the password you chose for your email account.
3. allow gmail to receive emails using pop3
Once you have your custom email account, you’ll use something called pop3 to connect gmail to your custom email address. Basically, this setup allows your free gmail account to import emails from your email host (bluehost in our example, but it might be different for you).
To get started, you need to find your email’s pop3 settings. On bluehost, you can do this by clicking the connect devices tab when editing your email account. this is how it looks:
If your email host is somewhere else, you’ll want to check their service’s documentation or contact their support if you can’t find your pop3 information.
then:
- open gmail settings by clicking the gear icon in the upper right corner and selecting view all settings.
- go to accounts and import tab.
- find check mail from other accounts settings.
- click add a mail account .
that should open a popup window with several steps.
In the first step, enter your personalized email address, e.g. you@yoursite.com:
In the next step, choose import emails from my other account (pop3):
enter the following information:
- username – Usually this is your full email address, but sometimes it’s just the part that comes before the @.
- password – the password you set when creating your custom email address.
- pop server and port – of your host email.
- check the box leave a copy….
- check the box always use a secure connection. ..
- optionally choose add a tag.
- click add account to finish the process.
4. allow gmail to send email using smtp
At this point, new emails for your custom domain should appear in your gmail account. however, you still won’t be able to reply to them from your custom email domain.
To fix this, you need to configure your gmail account to send your custom email through the smtp server. normally you will find your email smtp server information in the same place where you found the pop3 information:
once you have your smtp info:
- go back to the accounts and import area in your gmail account settings.
- look for the send mail as setting .
- click add another email.
this will open another popup which has several steps.
on the first screen:
- Enter your name.
- Enter the personalized email address you are using.
- Check the box to treat as an alias.
enter your email host’s smtp information below:
- smtp server and port: from your email host.
- username: Usually this is your full email address, but sometimes it’s just the part that comes before the @.
- password – the password you set when creating your email address custom email address.
- choose the secure connection method that gmail recommends.
- click add account.
gmail will send a confirmation code to your personalized email address. you must click the link in that email and click confirm to finish the process.
since you have already configured gmail to receive emails from your custom domain name, you should be able to receive this email from your gmail account. gmail may take a few minutes to retrieve email from its server.
5. test!
At this point, you should be ready to rock. you can send and receive some test emails to make sure it works.
when composing a new email in gmail, you should be able to choose which email to send above the line to:
if everything works, you’re done!
how to use gmail with your own domain name by paying for google workspace (g suite)
if you’re willing to pay, another way to use gmail with your own domain name is to pay for google workspace service, formerly called g suite.
google workspace essentially allows you to create a google account complete with your own custom email, instead of using a gmail address. not only does this give you access to gmail with your own domain name, but it also gives you separate access to other google tools like:
- drive
- docs
- sheets
- meet
- calendar
- etc.
If you have an organization, you can also set up Google Workspace (G Suite) for your entire organization so everyone can easily share files with each other.
There is a lot to like about this method. however, the downside is that it’s obviously not free.
there are two ways to use google workspace:
- Business plans: These plans allow you to pay per user and start at $6 per month per user. so if it’s just you, you’ll pay only $6 per month. however, if your business has five employees, you would pay $30 per month (5x$6 per month).
- Individual Plan – This plan is designed for people who won’t need to add others team members. however, it is a bit more expensive at $9.99 per month.
If you want to save money, using the business plans is the best option (even if you’re an individual). however, because business plans are tailored to teams, it’s a bit more complicated to set things up.
if you’re willing to pay a small premium for simplicity and know you’ll never need to add more team members, you’re all for the individual plan.
Next, we’ll share a short tutorial on how to set this up using the business plans. however, if you are interested in this method, we have a complete guide on how to set up google workspace (g suite):
👉 step by step guide to configure google workspace (g suite) | go to google workspace
1. create a google workspace account and follow the wizard
To get started, go to the Google Workspace website and follow the account setup wizard to set up basic details, like which custom domain you want to use with Google Workspace. this will be the domain name at the end of your email address, e.g. @yoursite.com:
If you’re the only person using Google Workspace (G Suite), you’re done once you complete the wizard. If you want to give personalized email addresses to other people, you can also do so after completing the initial setup wizard:
2. verify your domain name with google workspace (g suite)
Next, you’ll need to verify your domain name with Google Workspace (G Suite) by adding something called a txt record. depending on how you’ve set things up, you can do it in:
- your web host (if you pointed your domain name to your server’s nameservers)
- where you registered your domain name
google workspace (g suite) will provide detailed instructions for the most popular hosts/registrars.
This is what it looks like when adding the txt record using cpanel (via my siteground hosting account):
3. add mx records for email
once you’ve verified your domain name, you also need to add another type of record called mx records so that google workspace (g suite) can manage email for your domain name.
You can do this through the same interface where you added the txt record. Or, many web hosts include a built-in tool to help you add google workspace (g suite) mx records.
for example, with the cpanel control panel in siteground, you get a dedicated set google mx tool in the mx entry interface:
and that’s it! you should be ready to use gmail with your custom domain name.
remember: for a more detailed look, check out our full google workspace (g suite) tutorial.
start using gmail with your own domain today
If you don’t already have email hosting and/or want to completely separate your custom email address from your free gmail address, you may want to pay for google workspace (g suite) instead.
If you want to see other options besides gmail, you can also check out our guide on how to create a business email address.
Still have a question about using gmail with your own domain name? ask us in the comments!
* this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and then purchase the product, we will receive a commission. however, don’t worry, you’ll still pay the standard amount, so there will be no cost to you.