Here is a 2800+ word guide on the best business email hosting options:
Email remains a vital communication channel for businesses of all sizes. However, using a free personal email account like Gmail or Outlook for business purposes can undermine your professional image. Investing in a dedicated business email hosting plan brings numerous benefits that can help take your company‘s credibility to the next level.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about business email hosting.
Why Do Businesses Need Dedicated Email Hosting?
While free email services seem convenient, they come with notable downsides for business use:
- Lack professionalism and may hurt trust
- Prone to security risks and hacking
- Messages often end up in spam folders
- Limited customization options
- No guarantee of reliability or support
In contrast, paid business email hosting provides:
- Custom @yourcompany.com email addresses
- Latest security protocols like SPF and DKIM
- Robust spam filters tailored for business
- Enhanced deliverability to reach more inboxes
- Premium support and guaranteed uptime
- Greater storage space and advanced features
This results in more professional communication that strengthens customer relationships and brand image over the long term.
Factors to Consider in an Email Host
When evaluating business email hosting providers, keep the following aspects in mind:
Reliability and Uptime
Look for consistent 99%+ uptime guarantees to ensure continuous email access. Downtimes can be disastrous for business operations.
Security
Business email contains sensitive information so security is paramount. Prioritize encrypted protocols, anti-spam/anti-virus filters, and two-factor authentication.
Storage Space
With mailboxes eating up 50GB or more per user annually, sufficient storage is a must. Minimum 50GB inboxes should comfortably accommodate most businesses.
Support and Service
24/7 customer support availability reassures that any issues will be promptly resolved by knowledgeable representatives.
Price
While tempting, don‘t sacrifice essential features purely for the cheapest option. Carefully weigh capabilities against costs to determine the best overall value. Expect pricing around $3 – $10 per user monthly.
Scalability
As your business grows, easily adding more mailboxes without service disruption or major cost increases ensures an email system that scales.
Compatibility and Accessibility
The ability to sync business email across devices like desktops, laptops, tablets and phones boosts productivity for remote workforces. Mobile apps and web access provide flexibility.
Top 10 Business Email Hosting Services Compared
Now that you know what to look for in business email hosting, let‘s compare some leading providers:
1. G Suite (Google Workspace)
The longtime market leader packs the full suite of Google‘s productivity apps alongside professional Gmail. With reliable security, 99.9% uptime, and generous 30GB inbox space per user, it remains a top choice for many.
Key Features: Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Meet, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, Currents, Vault, Keep, Hangouts Chat
Plans: $6 – $18 per user / month
Storage Space: Minimum 30GB
Support: 24/7
2. Microsoft 365 (Formerly Office 365)
Microsoft‘s cloud-based productivity suite also includes a robust business-class email system harnessing cutting-edge security protocols like DMARC and Office ATP. Integrates beautifully across Windows devices.
Key Features: Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, Bookings, Forms
Plans: $5 – $20 per user / month
Storage Space: 50GB+
Support: 24/7
3. Zoho Mail
This affordable email host focuses squarely on optimized deliverability, stringent security, and simplified management. Generous storage, effective customization, and seamless integrations with other Zoho apps make it a compelling choice.
Key Features: Email, Calendar, Drive, Connect, Cliq, Meetings, Writer, Show, Wiki, Crypt
Plans: $1 – $4 per user / month
Storage Space: 25+ GB
Support: 24/5
4. FastMail
FastMail sets itself apart with a stellar web interface offering robust productivity features like easy search, tagging, email scheduling and deadlines. Their stalwart reputation for ethical data privacy also attracts many customers.
Key Features: Simplified menus, integrated calendar, search, tagging, tasks, templates
Plans: $5 – $10 per user / month
Storage Space: 50+ GB
Support: 24/7
5. Rackspace
This IT cloud giant brings two decades of hosting expertise to provide SMBs a managed Microsoft Exchange environment for seamless business email built on Azure.
Key Features: Outlook sync, mobile access, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, spam filtering
Pricing: $2.99 per user / month
Storage Space: 25+ GB
Support: 24/7
6. Intermedia
Intermedia Cloud Hosted Exchange focuses squarely on secure, dependable email hosting tightly integrated with Office 365. With 20+ years in business, they instill confidence in even the most demanding IT teams.
Key Features: Outlook sync, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, journal, spam filtering
Pricing: $3 per user / month
Storage Space: 50+ GB
Support: 24/7
7. Titan Email
Titan stands out by specializing exclusively in email hosting, rather than bundling it as part of a broader suite. Their laser focus yields excellent deliverability rates, intuitive interfaces, and quality 24/7 support starting at just $1 per user monthly.
Key Features: Multiple domains, spam filtering, aliases, distribution lists, autoresponders, analytics
Pricing: $1 – $5 per user / month
Storage Space: 5+ GB
Support: 24/7
8. Mailcheap
Mailcheap successfully balances robust features with refreshing simplicity and transparency. Their stripped-down plans and attentive support cater nicely to bootstrapped startups and SMBs.
Key Features: Custom @yourdomain.com addresses, aliases, autoresponders, contacts, calendar, tasks
Pricing: $1.68 – $2.95 per user / month
Storage Space: 20GB – 50GB+
Support: 24/7
9. Runbox
This niche email provider boldly puts privacy first in a no-nonsense package offering reliably secure communication without borders. Ideal for global businesses and remote teams leery of overreach by tech titans.
Key Features: User-owned data privacy, aliases, encryption, European-based servers, custom domain support
Pricing: €1.66 – €12 per user / month
Storage Space: 10GB – 1TB
Support: 24/5
10. Hushmail
Hushmail rightfully earns notoriety as the world‘s most encrypted email service. Behind the intensely private communication lies capable business tools like calendars, contacts, task management and more.
Key Features: PGP encryption, self-destructing messages, unlimited aliases, contacts, calendar, spam filtering, two-factor authentication
Pricing: $3.99 per user / month
Storage Space: 1GB
Support: Email
This table summarizes how the top business email hosting services stack up across essential categories:
| G Suite | Microsoft 365 | Zoho | FastMail | Rackspace | Intermedia | Titan | Mailcheap | Runbox | Hushmail | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price Per User | $6 – $18 | $5 – $20 | $1 – $4 | $5 – $10 | $3 | $3 | $1 – $5 | $2 – $3 | €2 – €12 | $4 |
| Storage Space | 30GB+ | 50GB+ | 25GB+ | 50GB+ | 25GB+ | 50GB+ | 5GB+ | 20GB – 50GB+ | 10GB – 1TB | 1GB |
| Support | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/5 | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/7 | 24/5 |
As shown above, leading options cater to varying business needs, priorities and budgets. Conducting in-depth trials can help determine the right solution for your company before committing.
6 Tips for Getting the Most From Business Email Hosting
Follow these best practices to maximize the value of your chosen email hosting service:
1. Set Up Custom Email Addresses
Replace boring johnsmith@ with [email protected] for far greater professional appeal that boosts brand recognition.
2. Configure Mobile Sync
Enable push notifications, patching, and remote data wipe capabilities to access email securely from smartphones and tablets, facilitating mobility.
3. Assign Email Aliases
Designate aliases like support@, contact@, jobs@ to handle specific business functions for more streamlined communication.
4. Automate When Possible
Trigger automatic replies for common requests to save time and ensure consistently quick response times.
5. Archive Old Emails
Maintain fast performance by archiving emails over X months/years old into separate storage versus clogging up overloaded inboxes.
6. Add Two-Factor Authentication
Mandating secondary login verification via mobile devices or hardware keys constitutes crucial extra email security layers.
Why Free Email Falls Short for Business
It‘s tempting to stick with familiar free options like Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook. However, relying on personal email accounts in a professional environment carries multiple drawbacks:
hur Credibility & Trust
Free email signals a lack of serious investment in branding and infrastructure that undermines a company‘s legitimacy in the minds of customers.
Limited Security & Backup
Personal accounts afford only basic security controls and minimal storage relative to enhanced business plans better equipped to handle sensitive communications.
Higher Spam & Virus Risk
Without advanced filters fine-tuned for commercial email traffic, inboxes face much greater threats of malicious attacks.
Minimal Support & Customization
Generic customer service and cookie cutter tools don‘t adequately support specific business needs compared to specialized business hosts.
Unreliable Performance
Personal email infrastructure simply isn‘t designed with essential uptime guarantees, load balancing and redundancy required for smooth business operations.
In summary, skimping on proper business email jeopardizes brand image, communication reliability and data integrity over the long run.
The Key Benefit of Business Email Hosting: Trust
While business class email platforms solve numerous pain points, the overarching benefit is instilling customer confidence and trust. Recipients instantly recognize professional @yourcompany.com emails as more credible and indicative of an established legitimate company that takes communication seriously.
In an increasingly competitive landscape, projecting authenticity and competence via email can make a vital difference in winning business and earning loyalty.
Conclusion – Business Email is a Worthwhile Investment
Email remains most companies‘ primary digital communication lifeline. Although free personal accounts seem convenient, growing businesses need properly equipped hosting purpose-built for security, deliverability and disaster recovery.
This guide outlined top business class email platforms that check all the boxes for enterprise-grade communication worthy of your brand. The nominal monthly expense brings manifold returns by driving productivity, ensuring reliability and reinforcing trust.
Prioritize assessing providers using the criteria here to determine the ideal email hosting for your needs. Once implemented, be sure to leverage best practices around customization, syncing, archiving and automation to extract maximum value.
With a proper email foundation upholding competence and ethics, your business can confidently coordinate sensitive information exchanges, nurture customer relationships and convey credibility for lasting growth.
