6 Best Business Email Providers for Small Businesses in 2022

Getting a professional email address with your domain name (e.g., [email protected]) is cheaper and easier than ever. There are many business email services that let you do so, but the best business email providers have affordable prices, good storage capacities, advanced security features, and extras like video conferencing, productivity and collaboration tools, and free domain names.

Based on our comparison, here are the best business email providers for small businesses:

• Google Workspace: Overall best business email provider and ideal for collaborative teams
• IONOS: Best provider for those wanting cheap business email plans that include a free domain
• Microsoft 365: Best for those who frequently send and store large attachments
• Bluehost: Great for new businesses wanting to bundle business email with web hosting and a free domain and SSL certificate
• Zoho Mail: Best basic free email services for small businesses on a budget
• Amazon WorkMail: Top professional email provider for businesses in niche industries

Best Business Email Providers at a Glance

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Can’t decide? Go with our top recommendation for business email services, Google Workspace. It’s the best email service provider for small businesses and since there are no long-term contracts, trying it is risk-free.

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Let’s dive into each of the best email services for businesses:

Google Workspace: Best Business Email Provider Overall

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is the supercharged version of Gmail for business use. It includes professional email using your domain name and comes packed with modern productivity and collaboration tools. For example, you get software from Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to advanced admin control and hundreds of the best third-party email apps and tools for just $6 per user, per month.

Interested in learning more about how Gmail compares to Outlook when it comes to business email services? Check out our head-to-head comparison on Gmail vs Outlook.

Google Workspace Pricing & Plan Features

Google Workspace has a ton of amazing features that make it one of the best email providers, which means all of its features are pretty solid. However, here are some features to take note of:

• Top-notch collaboration and productivity tools: Aside from the ubiquitous Gmail, Google Workspace comes with a variety of advanced tools like Docs, Sheets, a shared calendar, and video conferencing. It’s an excellent choice for teams that need to collaborate on tasks.
• Inclusive features: Google Workspace is one of the easiest business email service providers to use, as its plans come with everything you need to set up your professional email along with the extra features we mentioned above. It’s perfect for beginners who need advanced productivity features, unlike Amazon WorkMail, which is more complicated to navigate.
• High storage limits: Gmail’s starting plan has 30GB per user, which is already more than enough storage for the average person. You can easily upgrade to 2TB to 5TB per user by purchasing their more premium plans. This makes Gmail one of the top providers in terms of storage.

Our Expert Opinion

Google Workspace’s plans that include Gmail for business email start at $6 a month. These feature-rich plans are very affordable, especially as they also come with industry-leading collaboration and productivity apps. Shared docs, spreadsheets, presentations, calendars, and video conferencing make it the best email provider for just about any small business, especially for collaborative teams.

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IONOS: Best Cheap Business Email Provider

IONOS is a top web hosting company that also offers premium business email for as low as $1 per month. Although its features are basic, the price is hard to beat. You can use IONOS’ web-based mail interface or easily connect your email address to your favorite email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail).

On the cheapest plan, you get 2GB of storage, anti-spam filters, SSL/TLS certificates, a 70MB max attachment limit, and a free domain name ($12 to $15 per year value). On the premium plan, which is still very affordable at just $5 per month, you get all that plus basic collaboration tools like a shared calendar and advanced antivirus protection.

IONOS Pricing & Plan Features

*Extra users come with additional fees

IONOS goes on our top list for best business email services, which means all of its features are pretty solid, specifically the following:

• Affordability: IONOS’ plans are extremely cheap, starting at just $1 per month. The only other business email service that’s this cheap is Zoho Mail. But Zoho doesn’t come with the other nifty features that IONOS brings, like a free domain name and great security.
• High attachment limits: Though not as high as Zoho Mail or Microsoft 365, IONOS’ attachment limits are respectable and definitely more than enough for the average user.
• Security features: By upgrading to the $5 per month plan, you get IONOS’ premium antivirus on top of data encryption and filters—an extremely affordable solution for businesses dealing with sensitive content.

Our Expert Opinion

Although you won’t get the most advanced features on IONOS (for example, it lacks collaboration features like video conferencing), at $1 to $5 per month for its premium plans, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better (or cheaper) basic business email provider. It has everything you need to get started, includes advanced anti-virus and anti-spam protection, and even throws in great extras like a free domain name.

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Microsoft 365: Best Business Email Service for Large File & Storage Needs

Microsoft 365 is the best email provider for businesses that want to use the Microsoft Office 365 productivity suite, those that need a ton of storage, and those that send or receive large attachments. Though the base tier is very similar to Google Workspace, including the same price of $6 per user, per month, it includes a massive 1TB of cloud storage via OneDrive (compared to 30GB with Google Workspace).

The base tier also allows video conferencing with up to 300 participants, compared to 100 for the comparable Google Workspace plan. All plans include the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) suite with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps that so many know and love. Want more information on how to set up Microsoft 365? Create your Microsoft 365 business email in just a few easy steps.

Microsoft 365 Pricing & Plan Features

Microsoft 365 has a slew of amazing tools and features, especially for teams looking to take advantage of the Microsoft 365 family of business apps. Here are just a few of them:

• High attachment limits: At 150MB for both outgoing and incoming attachments, Microsoft 365 is a great choice for businesses that send (and receive) large email attachments.
• Extra-large storage capacities: Microsoft 365 offers 1TB of storage per user on every single one of their plans. If you’re looking to spend $6 per user, per month and need large storage capacities, Microsoft 365 blows even Gmail out of the water.
• Power Automate: Microsoft 365 business plans all come with Power Automate, a service that allows you to synchronize and get data between apps to automate workflows within the Microsoft 365 system.

Our Expert Opinion

Microsoft 365 offers competitive pricing for plans that include a ton of cloud storage—1TB, to be exact—for just $6 per month. Large attachment limits and automation features are also massive perks. However, some businesses may not need all these features, and may instead prefer a more simple business email interface like Gmail to the feature-packed Outlook email client. For this, choose Google Workspace.

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Bluehost: Best Email Provider for New Businesses

Bluehost is a leading web hosting provider and its plans are packed with extras, including a free domain and free business email addresses. Bundled with web hosting, a free domain, an SSL certificate, and five free email addresses, the entry-level plan starts at just $2.95 per month.

Hosting plans all come with a drag-and-drop WordPress website builder, making it the best business email provider for startups and small companies needing to build an online presence. Get step-by-step instructions for how to set up business email with Bluehost webmail.

Bluehost Pricing & Plan Features

Bluehost’s inclusive plans make them the best choice for businesses looking to set up their professional web presence in one go. Here are the features that allow you to do so:

• Unlimited users and storage: Bluehost is the only business email provider on our list that offers unlimited storage and accounts. At $5.45 per month, this is a great value. Take note that this is just the introductory price, and it renews at $13.99.
• All-inclusive plans: Bluehost isn’t the typical business email service. Though they offer standalone email plans via Microsoft 365, shared hosting plans give from five up to unlimited business email addresses starting at just $2.95 per month. Aside from email and web hosting, plans come bundled with a free domain name, SSL/TLS security to encrypt your data and protect it from hackers, and a drag-and-drop website builder.
• Affordable way to build an online presence: Considering the features that Bluehost provides starting at $2.95 per month, it’s well worth the money for new businesses building a web presence for the first time.

Our Expert Opinion

Bluehost is a web hosting provider that includes free business email hosting in web hosting plans. Plans start at just $2.95 per month for both web hosting and business email in one package with five free professional email addresses or $5.45 per month for unlimited professional email accounts. This makes it a good choice for new businesses that are building an online presence and need both web hosting and email at a great value.

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Zoho Mail: Best Free Business Email Provider

For the cheapest business email option (if you have a domain name), look no further than Zoho Mail. The free Zoho Mail plan includes up to five free business email addresses and, like IONOS, the cheapest premium plan costs just $1 per month.

In addition to free Zoho Mail and basic plans, there are Workplace plans well-suited for teams. They include a 30GB plus 10GB shared storage plan at $3 per user, per month or a 100GB plus 100GB shared storage plan priced at $6 per user, per month.

They also include email hosting on multiple domains, Zoho Office Suite, Zoho Cliq (collaboration tools), mobile apps, large file upload limits, and from 10 to 100 participant video meetings. These tools make them comparable to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and at $3 per user, per month, the Standard plan is half the cost of either of those providers.

Unlike Microsoft 365, there are low attachment size limits on the free plan and low storage limits overall. For this reason, it’s best for those who don’t depend heavily on email, but who want a business email address to maintain a professional image. Check out what’s involved with setting up Zoho Mail for business.

Zoho Mail Pricing & Plan Features

*The 10GB option costs $1.25 per month

Zoho Mail is a very affordable business email service with some great features to help you get started. Here are the features to look at:

• Free-forever plan: Zoho Mail is the only business email provider on our list that offers a free forever plan. Though the plan might have significant limitations (e.g., five maximum users, 5GB of storage, and a 25MB attachment limit), it’s still a great option for startups and extremely small businesses on a budget.
• Large attachment limits: With a maximum attachment limit of 1GB for outgoing emails, Zoho Mail is a top option for businesses that need the ability to send large attachments.
• Available collaboration tools: On the Workplace plans, you get a suite of collaboration tools like shared documents and sheets, and video conferencing—very similar to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. This is extremely useful for businesses looking for an alternative to Google or Microsoft as well as teams utilizing other Zoho apps, such as for email marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and so on.

Our Expert Opinion

Zoho Mail is widely regarded as one of the best ways to get a free business email address, making it a great choice for budget-conscious businesses that need five or fewer email addresses. Paid plans start at $1 per user, per month, but the low cost is at the expense of high storage space. If your business relies heavily on email, the best options are Bluehost and Microsoft 365.

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Amazon WorkMail: Best Email Provider for Niche Services

Amazon WorkMail is unique among business email providers in that it doesn’t offer traditional plans. Instead, you pay a base fee of $4 per user to get 50GB, and you can add to your plan (and its cost) by adding more feature integrations. It’s ideal for those needing niche features from Amazon Web Services (AWS) as well as those using other Amazon platforms, such as web hosting via AWS.

Currently, AWS has over 200 different services in over 100 different categories, like health, analytics, game technology, robotics, and media. These services are intended to help you scale your business. Safe to say that if your small business belongs in a niche industry, you’ll probably find the features you need via AWS.

The end price can vary wildly—up to hundreds of dollars a year. However, you can get by on just the base price if you’re not looking for any other features. Still, Google Workspace is much more beginner-friendly for top-notch basic business email features, as is Microsoft 365, which is known for business-class email security.

Amazon WorkMail Pricing & Plan Features

Amazon WorkMail has an extremely unique system, especially compared to the other business email service providers in the market. Here are some features to take into account:

• Affordable base prices: Starting at $4 per user, per month, Amazon WorkMail is extremely affordable—though it doesn’t include more specialized features.
• A la carte service options: With over 100 Amazon integrations possible, businesses have the ability to create plans with features addressing their own unique needs.
• Relatively high storage limits: For just $4 per month, you get 50GB of storage per user. It may not seem like a lot, but 50GB is more than enough email space for the average user.

Our Expert Opinion

Amazon WorkMail is a unique product that bundles with Amazon’s other services, making it a great option for businesses that need niche features or Amazon Web Services users. It’s a little too technical for the average small business owner, so unless you’re really interested in testing out Amazon’s services, we highly recommend going with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 instead.

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How We Evaluated the Best Email Providers for Small Businesses

All businesses need email addresses that can be accessed quickly, securely, and reliably with enough storage to keep messages from bouncing. However, some companies only need a single email address, while other businesses require a scalable email solution. For that reason, we looked at a range of options that can serve anyone from the sole proprietor wanting a free address to a growing business with multiple employees.

The criteria we used to evaluate the providers on this list include:

• Price
• Ease of use
• Available storage
• Security and accessibility
• Spam and virus protection
• System integrations
• Scalability
• Customer support

Taking everything into account, we determined that the best business email provider for small businesses is Google Workspace. While not the cheapest option, it will save your business money by including the productivity and collaboration tools you’d need to purchase separately anyway. Take advantage of the 30-day free trial to test the limits of what your business can get with Gmail business email and Workspace software.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which is better: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

For teams that need collaboration tools, Google Workspace is better with its more modern and user-friendly tools. However, Microsoft 365 has better security on its more premium plans and advanced features that allow you to automate processes within the Microsoft 365 system—perfect for businesses with more advanced needs. The Outlook business email client is also more full-featured than Gmail.

Get the complete breakdown of Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365, or check out our full review of Microsoft Outlook for business.

How do you create a custom email address for business use?

It’s easy to create a custom email address, such as an email address that uses your domain name (e.g., “[email protected]”). First, get a domain (e.g., yourbusiness.com), which you can purchase from a domain name registrar like GoDaddy or Hover for around $12 per year. Then, get email hosting and set up access to your email with your favorite email app. For more help, follow our instructions to create a custom email address.

How do I choose a professional email address?

There are three main rules when choosing a professional email address. First, always use your own domain. Second, maintain a consistent username email format across your company. Third, create generic email addresses that forward to you or your team, such as [email protected], to display on your site to prevent spam and protect the privacy of your main email address. Learn how to create a professional email address in four easy steps.

Bottom Line

Businesses depend on email communication, so you need to choose email services that are dependable, feature-rich, and affordable. For small businesses looking for the cheapest business email provider, we recommend IONOS. However, for small businesses looking for the best business email service overall, Google Workspace, which comes with Gmail business email and a slew of productivity and collaboration tools, is our number one pick.

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