Email hosting is one of the basic components that you need for a new (or already ongoing) business.
Whether it’s just corporate communication or big marketing strategies, email hosting will help you solve a lot of communication problems and at the same time save you a lot of valuable time.
In this article, we will take a closer look at exactly what email hosting is and why we need it.
We will also go over a few basic points that you should stick to when choosing the right email hosting provider. At the end, we will also review several of the most popular email hosting solutions on the market.
What is email hosting?
Email hosting is a service that provides server space for mailboxes, managing and sending emails, as well as a higher level of security for online communication. Thanks to email hosting, you can safely and reliably send emails to potential customers or your loyal subscribers.
💡 Tip: If you are new to the world of hosting, be sure to read my article: What is hosting and a domain (and why do we need them)? It will help you understand how hosting works (and you will also learn something about domains 🙂).
Why do we need email hosting?
People use email hosting for a variety of reasons – whether it’s for personal or business purposes:
- Features: Email hosting usually provides more flexibility when sending a large number of emails. Such a service can also help you with storage space management, segmentation, etc.
- Reliability: With email hosting, your mail is stored on a third-party server, which is usually highly reliable and secure. Thanks to this, you don’t have to worry about not being able to access your important emails.
- User environment: Most email hostings also provide users with a very simple and pleasant interface, which you can appreciate especially with complex email marketing strategies.
- Saving time: Work efficiency is also a matter of course. Thanks to email hosting, you can handle all email duties faster.
How to choose email hosting?
When choosing an email hosting provider, it is important to consider several factors.
Many of them depend on what exactly you need email hosting for:
- Security: First of all, you should check and compare the security of hosting between different providers. The level of security and the number of security layers can affect whether and how you avoid potential unwanted hacker attacks in the future. Usually, any good email hosting should provide end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication or MFA ( Multi – Factor Authentication ).
- Availability: The size of the storage space and its availability is another very important factor that can influence your choice of email hosting. You should also check whether the given hosting provider also offers the option of backing up and restoring data (e.g. in the event of an outage or a certain technical malfunction).
- Features: This is purely a matter of personal preference. Each email hosting is slightly different in the number of functions. Therefore, think about what features you definitely need and see which providers can offer them.
- Mobile application: Although you will usually manage your e-mail via a computer, you should definitely not forget to manage e-mails via mobile applications. If you or your employees have to handle messages via smartphone, a pleasant user interface in the application will also play an important role in choosing the right email hosting.
- Customer support: Be sure to check out the support options in case of any technical problem with email hosting. Focus on the forms of customer support (e.g. call, chat, email, etc.), as well as their availability during the week (e.g. 24-hour support, support only on working days, etc.).
- Price: Last but not least, there is of course also the price factor. Try to choose a provider that suits your financial budget.
💡 Tip: If you would like to learn more about choosing hosting (not only for email), be sure to read my article: How to choose the best hosting (not only for WordPress) .
The best email hosting providers
1. Google Workspace
Google Workspace is one of the most famous email providers in the world . If you prefer cloud tools or simply rely on Google applications, Google Workspace is the right choice.
This provider has at least 30GB of storage space, which can of course be increased with higher price packages.
In addition, it provides simple administration tools that you will simply need in case of business.
Popular tools from Google Workspace include, for example: Email, calendar, storage, sharing and collaboration, video conferencing, chat, etc.
The price of this email hosting provider starts at €6 (Business Starter). In addition, it also offers Business Standard, Business Plus and Enterprise packages (individual price):
2. Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is another world-famous email hosting provider (and a great alternative to Google Workspace).
With this provider, you have all the functions you need for email hosting – your own domain , receiving and sending emails, spam filtering, high security + Office applications.
For €10.50/user you also get access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive and OneNote applications .
In addition, you can also use various hybrid tools (such as Microsoft Teams).
The price for Microsoft 365 for business starts at €5.10 (Microsoft 365 Business Basic) and can go up to €18.60 (Microsoft 365 Business Premium).
3. Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail is another email hosting provider and a good alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. This service is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Zoho offers reliable and secure solutions for your email needs, including the option of a custom domain name and integration with other Zoho tools, such as Zoho CRM and Zoho Books .
In addition, you will definitely appreciate functions such as calendar, contacts, communication applications or even WorkDrive .
Although Zoho is less intuitive compared to its competitors, it offers users very detailed instructions and manuals for effectively managing their platform.
Zoho starts at €0.90 / user / month – with increasing storage for individual packages, the price for email hosting also changes, of course:
4. Bluehost
Bluehost is an interesting hosting provider that, among other things, also offers email hosting solutions.
This provider has various great features for email, such as unlimited storage, calendar, synchronization with mobile devices, etc.
In addition, it is also compatible with Google Workspace , thanks to which you can have all your favorite Google applications in one place.
This hybrid integration will give you more flexibility – you can use the functions of Bluehost together with Google Workspace and thus get the best of both worlds.
Bluehost packages are divided into 3 tiers, each of which provides more storage and more features:
- BUSINESS STARTER (€5.67/month)
- BUSINESS STANDARD (€11.33/month)
- BUSINESS PLUS (€17.00/month)
💡 Tip: Interested in this provider? In that case, be sure to read my review: Bluehost – Hosting recommended by the WordPress community .
5. Hostinger
Hostinger is a cheap and reliable email hosting provider that offers many features, including your own domain name, unlimited email accounts and a free SSL certificate for secure communication.
Other interesting features of this hosting provider include, for example:
- Notifications for opened emails: You will receive a notification the moment the user opens your email.
- Custom Email Templates: Hostinger offers the option to set up custom email templates, which can save you a lot of time.
- Follow-up notifications: In the case of an email conversation, you can automatically receive notifications to reply at a certain time.
- Timer for sending: You can prepare all your emails in advance at any time and set the time when they should be sent.
Hostinger offers 2 interesting price packages – Business Email and Enterprise Email – which are reasonably priced:
6. ProtonMail
ProtonMail is an email hosting provider with a strong focus on security and privacy.
All email communication is encrypted, which guarantees protection against unauthorized access to your data.
It also provides a number of features, including a custom domain name and mobile apps.
You can try ProtonMail for free and test its functions such as ProtonMail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, and Proton VPN.
In the case of the free version, you will have 1 GB of data and 1 free email address .
As for paid packages, ProtonMail offers 3 levels:
- Mail Essentials – €6.99/month
- Business – €10.99/month
- Enterprise – individual price
7. Exohosting
Although Exohosting is popular mainly thanks to hosting for websites , it also offers the option of email hosting, where you can easily create an email address on your own domain.
This provider covers everything you need for regular e-mail communication: from large storage, through anti-spam and anti-virus protection, to a large number of own e-mail boxes.
In addition, you can try exohosting for free for 10 days and see if this provider is really suitable for your needs.
A rather pleasant addition of this email hosting provider is the availability of emails on any device – you can handle your communication on a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Exohosting comes with 2 price packages:
- Exo Mail – €1.20/month
- Exo Mail Profi – €1.99/month
Other providers of e-mail boxes and domains
- DreamHost – a simple and affordable email solution where you can also choose your own domain (or transfer it to another hosting if necessary).
- Websupport – a hosting provider where you can create your own e-mail box.
- Webglobe – professional e-mail solution for company mailboxes. With this hosting provider, you also have excellent customer support and effective anti-virus and anti-spam protection.
- Hostcreators – with this provider, you can choose and create your own e-mail domain within a few minutes.
💡 Tip: If you were interested in this article and would like to learn more about the world of hosting services and domains, be sure to read the article: Free web hosting: When is it worth it (and when is it not)?
