Small businesses don’t want to spend a lot of money on their email hosting. they don’t need thousands of email addresses and they just don’t want to spend hundreds just to host their emails.
If you’re looking for a reliable email hosting provider that’s ideal for small businesses, you can’t go wrong with cloudways rackspace. prices start at $1 per user per month, and you meet all the requirements. but there are other options available on the market as well, including big names like google workspace and zoho mail.
what is email hosting and why use it?
An email hosting service is one that runs an email server. You can get an email hosting server by signing up with the email hosting service. all you need is a domain name to use an email service. You can use an email hosting server to manage, send, and maintain your email accounts. Most of the big e-commerce stores have in-house email servers to ensure that emails reach recipients on time. However, small businesses use email hosting solutions provided by companies like Google, Zoho, Rackspace, and many others. Recently, most of the website hosting services have started offering email hosting servers as an add-on with their regular services like shared, dedicated and cloud hosting. cloudways is one of them. offers managed cloud hosting services with a rackspace email hosting solution.
types of email hosting for small businesses
There are many different types of email hosting solutions, each with a different purpose. let’s see what type of email hosting service will work best for your business.
1. shared web hosting with email service
This type of email service is available with a shared hosting service. you cannot use it to send/receive bulk emails due to email server limitations.
2. third party email hosting
Most digital businesses prefer to use third-party email hosting solutions. these are easy to use and scalable email servers that provide excellent support. remember that you will have to pay separately for the email hosting service. therefore, the cost will be more than what you will pay if you get shared web hosting with email service.
3. self-hosted email servers
These are complex email servers that are robust and require technical expertise on the part of the team operating these servers. these servers are reliable and you can easily send, receive and maintain emails.
which business email hosting provider is the best? features, prices, & limitations
see the small business email hosting comparison table below.
why should you host email on a separate server?
many experts recommend that email not be hosted on the same server that hosts the web files (and database) of your company’s websites. It’s easy to make a mistake as many companies view a separate email server as an “avoidable” business expense and therefore host email on the same server. when a disaster occurs and the server goes down for some reason, the company couldn’t even send an email to the vendors because the email system also went offline.
From a technical perspective, hosting email is a bad idea. web hosting and email hosting are two very different components with different resource requirements. hosting them on the same server could cause competition for resources that could reduce application performance.
Finally, there is the tricky issue of support. while the provider’s support team may be well versed in handling web hosting problems, their understanding of email hosting troubleshooting may be incomplete.
imap, pop3 and smtp: comparison of email protocols
Let’s learn the difference between the different email sending protocols. here is the list of protocols you will need to send emails.
me. image
is called Internet Access Message Protocol. deals with retrieving email messages and managing them on the server. you cannot use the imap protocol to send emails. instead, you can use it to receive emails and save them to the server.
ii. smtp
the smtp protocol stands for (simple mail transfer protocol). it is the industry standard protocol for sending emails. SMTP allows you to send email messages, relay them, or forward them to other mail clients, such as from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail. when you send emails, you can use the smtp server to carry out the transmission process.
iv. pop3
pop3 is an email protocol that allows you to receive email messages and download them to your server. It has the same functionality as the imap protocol but it does not save these email messages on the server. instead, it downloads them from the email server to the user’s computer and deletes the copy from the server.
on the other hand, the imap protocol stores the email message on the email server and synchronizes the email across multiple devices.
p. should you use pop3 or imap?
depends on how you want to receive emails. most email service providers usually offer both functionalities. however, it is better if you choose the imap protocol because your emails will remain on the server and you can access them at any time. if you use the pop3 email protocol, all emails will be downloaded to your personal computer and you will not be able to use them.
cloudways user’s choice: email hosting services [survey]
We conducted a survey to find out what type of email hosting service works best for businesses around the world. the results were not what we had anticipated.
source: cloudways user group
how does cloudways help you set up email hosting?
cloudways offers an email management and hosting plugin. With this plugin, you get your email inboxes from rackspace’s email hosting solution. covers everything you need to create your email server for any website. the service is fast, offers solid support and is available 24/7. with cloudways rackspace email hosting service plugin, you get smtp and imap protocols.
You can also use the gmail smtp plugin with cloudways to send 99 emails per day with automated smtp delivery. the service allows you to add your multiple smtp accounts i.e. mandrill account, mailgun account, authsmtp account or other custom smtps. If you want to get gmail smtp service, you can read about the activation process. it’s completely hassle free.
As cloudways is an efficient and fast hosting provider, with the two email hosting plugins you get:
- uptime guaranteed
- privacy & protection
- easy installation
- 24 hour support
- fully secure environment
best email hosting services for small businesses
Check out the list of the best small business email hosts that you can use to boost your email campaigns.
1. google workspace
first on our list is google workspace. we all know how gmail works. Think of Google Workspace as an advanced, more sophisticated, and feature-rich version of Gmail. google workspace is a set of cloud-based applications from google that allow you to simplify many of your tasks. includes calendar, chat, drive, docs, sheets, slides, places, meeting and more.
is one of the most popular email services available with over a billion active users. Plus, you can use multiple third-party apps on Google Workspace to enhance your productivity at no additional charge. Remember that Google Workspace is not free and you will have to pay a nominal fee to use Google Workspace apps. Prices start at as little as $6 per user per month for the business starter plan and can go as high as $18 per user per month for the business plus version. With Google Workspace, each user gets 30 GB of storage space shared between Google apps, including Gmail, Drive, Photos, and Documents with the Business Start Plan. a 14-day free trial is also available.
2. cloudways rackspace email hosting
rackspace offers a business-class email hosting service for small businesses. it is perfect for users looking for reliable email servers that can handle their email campaigns. rackspace uses outlook email service and rackspace for email hosting. the prices of both services may vary.
The great thing about rackspace is that you can use it as an add-on with your cloudways managed hosting service. With rackspace, you get email filtering options to keep your inbox free of spam and junk. In addition, rackspace guarantees that it will not sell user data. complies with the general data protection regulation (gdpr) and the california consumer privacy act (ccpa). With rackspace, you get 24/7/365 chat service, ticketing system, and phone support. You also get 25GB of email storage with all Rackspace email plans. the basic plan starts at $1 per user per month.
here’s how to configure the rackspace email plugin
3. zoho mail
Zoho Mail Service is an alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 Business Email. It offers almost the same features, including hosted emails, Office Suite, and other tools for work. Zoho offers a free and a paid version of the mail service. the free service offers basic features like a web-based client for sending and receiving emails. With the free version, you cannot set up a business account or get a custom domain service. on the other hand, with the paid version of zoho mail service, you can easily set up a custom domain name for your emails. also supports pop/imap/email forwarding service. you can check your email using a third-party application. Zoho Mail is an affordable option for new businesses, as its Mail Lite starts at $12 per year, with 5GB of email storage. zoho mail premium plans offer 30gb of storage per user and features like zoho docs cloud storage and zoho office suite.
here is a guide on how to configure zoho mail
4. office 365 perspective
If you are a Microsoft user, Microsoft Office Suite 365 is the best option available for you. The Office 365 service offers a package of all the necessary tools, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You’ll also get Office 365 Business Premium for your email hosting account. the service is available with a custom domain name. Office 365 Business Premium service offers 50 GB of space and uses the custom domain name for an email address. With the Outlook version of Office 365, you get Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, and Publisher (PC only) apps to enhance your productivity. Plus, you’ll get 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage to store your files. office 365 outlook costs $72 per year.
5. yandex mail
yandex is a Russian search engine that also provides an email hosting service. is perfect for all those who want to set up an email hosting server with a custom domain name. It is not only fast, flexible, but also cheaper than other available service providers. you will get a paid account for as low as $3.14 per month. For a website, you can have three email users, however, if you sign up as an organization, you can get 1,000 free accounts. Yandex offers free and unlimited storage for all email accounts. In addition, you can connect with Yandex Mail and Yandex. You’ll also get collaboration tools, including issue tracking, wiki, calendar, forms, messaging, and cloud disk. With Yandex, each user gets 10 GB of online storage space per year. It has antivirus and antispam technologies to protect your mailbox and comes with two-factor authentication (2fa) for added login and migration security.
6. mail gun
mailgun is an smtp email provider created primarily for software developers. it is quite popular among cloudways users because it allows them to send mass emails with ease and also drastically increases engagement.
That said, mailgun is not an email marketing tool; it’s just a mail api. this is a transactional email service that can be used to send, receive or track emails. has a burst option and uses secure protocols so your emails are always safe.
It also has a great performance prediction tool that tells you which folder your email is likely to land in when it reaches your recipient’s inbox.
mailgun is not a free tool; their lowest plan is the flexible tier, which gives you three months of free emails. after that initial period has elapsed, you will be charged based on the number of emails you send afterward. there is a free trial plan that allows you to send 5,000 emails per month. after that, you pay as you go, with prices starting as low as $0.8/1000 emails.
7. send grid
sendgrid is another robust cloud-based smtp provider that allows users to easily send emails without creating and maintaining email servers. is another preferred option for many cloudways users because it takes care of all the technical issues, from managing the infrastructure to scaling your email needs.
it even offers real-time analytics and also has built-in reputation monitoring tools. With over 45,000 paying customers and 1 billion emails sent, sendgrid is a highly trusted choice.
8. pathmx
If you are looking for a simple and easy to use email hosting service for your small business, mxroute is a great option. It’s also incredibly cheap, costing just $45 per year, or just $3.75 in a month for unlimited email addresses and domains. for this price, you are allocated a 10gb server.
also includes webmail, imap, smtp and pop3 services for easy access. In addition, there is built-in support for filtering spam emails. for every email you create, mxroute provides access to nextcloud, which offers calendars, file storage, contact management, project management solutions, and even photo galleries.
9. postmark
postmark is another popular email service provider among developers. it’s mostly focused on transactional emails, and since it doesn’t include promotional email blasts, it’s managed to build a solid reputation.
This simple email service provider offers email tracking and performance metrics, and its email automation feature makes it a great tool for businesses on a budget. with other service providers.
for $10, you get 10,000 emails. pricing scales depend on the number of emails, going up to $1,200 for 5 million emails in a month. you can even get a dedicated ip if you want.
10. express mail
fastmail, one of the oldest email service providers in the industry, is a great option for those looking for a premium service that costs as much as a basic email service provider. It supports imap and pgp, but it doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption, so it’s not as advanced in security as others in the same niche. however, fastmail provides two-factor authentication and spam filtering to keep your emails safe.
Pricing starts at $3 per user, per month. each plan also starts with a free 30-day trial. they have several levels you can choose from.
11. ses amazons
amazon ses (simple email service) is an affordable and highly flexible email service that can be tailored to fit your business needs. amazon is no stranger to cloud-based services, and it integrates quickly and efficiently into your business.
amazon ses has a reputation dashboard that you can use to track the performance of your email campaigns and get more feedback on spam to maximize the performance of your emails. it has a lot of built-in security options, like Sender Policy Framework and Domain Key Identified Mail that authenticates emails at both ends.
conclusion
This brings us to the end of this article. that’s all you need to know about the best email hosting for small business & medium businesses. email marketing has now become an integral part of every digital business. If you want to scale your business, this is the right time to get an email hosting service for your business. a good email hosting service will help you scale, improve support, and get more customers through new marketing channels.