Best Email Hosting

Contributor, Benzinga

If you are starting a business, don’t overlook the importance of signing up for an email hosting service. As your business begins to grow, you will be glad you signed up for a quality email hosting company. It will provide security, add credibility and establish a professional brand image for your business. 

What Does Email Hosting Mean?

Email hosting is a service that allows you to send, store and receive emails on a server provided by a professional hosting provider. An email hosting service also lets you set up a professional email address that incorporates your domain name.

Without professional email hosting, emails will not have the proper impact. If your business sends emails from free email accounts like Gmail or Yahoo, they will lack credibility.

Why Do You Need Email Hosting?

Businesses need email hosting because email is still the most effective marketing tool for any business. Professional email hosting is necessary for the following reasons: 

Site performance

When you purchase a separate email server, your site will perform better. Business emails and web files should not be hosted on the same server. Hosting email and web files on the same server could cause competition over the resources and decrease the performance of both.

This is very important for businesses that regularly send and receive communication from customers that require immediate attention.

Specific customer support 

Your website provider’s customer support team might be experts in dealing with web hosting issues, but their grasp on email hosting could be inferior. You want to have a customer service team explicitly trained on topics that may arise with your email.

Professionalism

Generic emails are not professional. An email such as your.business@gmail.com appears more clumsy than an email such as info@yourbusiness.com.

Security

Email hosting protects your business from viruses, lost passwords and hackers. Having email hosting means you will be able to recover your emails associated files. 

Customization 

Email hosting allows you to customize your mailbox. You will get benefits like email forwarding, mail archiving, mail monitoring and mail grouping, which is impossible with free email accounts. 

The Best Email Hosting Providers

There are free email providers that you could use for your business. However, these platforms will limit your storage, leave your email addresses looking unprofessional and put your business at risk for viruses and hackers. 

We have put together a list of the best email hosting companies for 2021. These companies vary in price and features, so it’s essential to find the best option. 

1. Best Overall: Rackspace

Rackspace is a top overall email hosting option. If you’re looking for affordable email hosting for your business, small businesses can give their emails a professional look without investing much money. 

Rackspace offers premium filtering to keep your inbox free from spam and malicious activities. It also provides complete privacy and security to sensitive business data. Rackspace also lets users keep email their access on Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.

All Rackspace plans are affordable for small businesses. Prices start at $1.99 per month and increase to $6.99 per month. The premium plan includes email archiving, instant messaging and a few other useful features. 

2. Best for Data Loss Prevention: Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is the best email hosting service for companies that use multiple Microsoft apps.

Microsoft 365 is one of our top picks because you get email sending and receiving, custom domain addresses, spam filters and data loss prevention. With a single subscription, you get a hosted email, desktop and mobile access to Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Skype and OneNote apps.

There is a basic plan for $4 per month, but we recommend the $20 per month premium plan. This plan is best for businesses that require secure, remote work solutions with advanced cyberthreat protection and device management. All plans are free for the 1st month and require an annual contract. 

3. Best for Cloud Hosting: Google Workspace

Google Workspace is the top email hosting service for simplicity and businesses that prefer keeping everything on the cloud.

Google Workspace’s administration tools are simple to use. They have the advanced features businesses need, such as Google Vault for compliance archival. Since everyone knows how to use Gmail, onboarding is easy.

Google Workspace costs $5 per month for the basic plan that includes core Google apps and 30GB storage per user. It is $10 per month for the business plan that includes unlimited storage (for accounts with 5 or more users), Vault and audit reports.

4. Best for Email Marketing: A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is perfect for businesses looking for countless email tools and features to help you with your email marketing.

If you are big on email marketing, A2 Hosting is perfect for your business. Included for free are Webmail through Roundcube and Horde, BoxTrapper to verify the sender, SpamAssassin to filter spam, Barracuda for enhanced spam filtration by checking each incoming email, email authentication and forwarding, MX Entry to send emails, auto-responders, mailing lists, encryption and many more.

We recommend the Turbo Boost pricing option for $9.99 per month if you sign up for 3 years. Included are unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe storage, free and easy site migration, free automatic backups, Turbo (up to 20X faster) and a money-back guarantee.

5. Best for Guaranteed Privacy: Zoho

Zoho is an encrypted and secure email hosting service best for businesses looking for guaranteed privacy. 

We think Zoho is one of the best email hosts in 2021 because of its powerful and straightforward control panel. Users can execute all the settings, customization and configuration quickly. Adding users, setting up policies and managing group names are straightforward.  

The most popular pricing plan is $4 per month. Each user receives 50 GP per user and the ability to upload huge attachments up to 1 GB. You’ll also receive White Labeling, which lets you rebrand our email solution with your logo and custom login URL.

6. Best for Inexpensive Software: Namecheap

Namecheap is one of the best email hosting options as it does not require expensive software and does not have any privacy concerns. It is perfect for both individuals and businesses.

With Namecheap, you get a free trial for 2 months to experience the platform’s efficacy. This helps you correctly select a plan that will benefit your entire business.

The most popular plan is $2.12 per month and includes 3 free mailboxes, 30GB for emails, 15GB for files and full mobile sync support. Namecheap also offers its email hosting for 2 free months. It’s important to note that the renewal price rises to almost $12 per month after 1 year. 

Which Email Hosting Providers Should You Avoid?

There are a few providers that may not be the best for business email hosting. Here are few hosts you will want to research a bit more before you sign up:

  • Namesilo: Lots of downtime and error messages
  • Dreamhost: Support team not very familiar with email hosting issues
  • Hostgator: Lots of hidden fees related to email hosting
  • GoDaddy: Issues putting important email into spam and spam into your inbox

The Right Email Host Makes a Difference

Once you purchase the email hosting service that fits your needs, you’ll want to set up an email address. If you have a website for your business, the best option is to use that domain name for your email.

You will need to set up an account, assign administrators and verify your information. The next step usually involves adding users. The users will be the employees or team members who will get an email address. 

If you need help along the way, contact customer support. The right email hosting company will be able to walk you through the process from start to finish and get your business emails up and running in no time. 

If you are starting a business, don’t overlook the importance of signing up for an email hosting service. As your business begins to grow, you will be glad you signed up for a quality email hosting company. It will provide security, add credibility and establish a professional brand image for your business. 

Contents

What Does Email Hosting Mean?

Email hosting is a service that allows you to send, store and receive emails on a server provided by a professional hosting provider. An email hosting service also lets you set up a professional email address that incorporates your domain name.

Without professional email hosting, emails will not have the proper impact. If your business sends emails from free email accounts like Gmail or Yahoo, they will lack credibility.

Why Do You Need Email Hosting?

Businesses need email hosting because email is still the most effective marketing tool for any business. Professional email hosting is necessary for the following reasons: 

Site performance

When you purchase a separate email server, your site will perform better. Business emails and web files should not be hosted on the same server. Hosting email and web files on the same server could cause competition over the resources and decrease the performance of both.

This is very important for businesses that regularly send and receive communication from customers that require immediate attention.

Specific customer support 

Your website provider’s customer support team might be experts in dealing with web hosting issues, but their grasp on email hosting could be inferior. You want to have a customer service team explicitly trained on topics that may arise with your email.

Professionalism

Generic emails are not professional. An email such as your.business@gmail.com appears more clumsy than an email such as info@yourbusiness.com.

Security

Email hosting protects your business from viruses, lost passwords and hackers. Having email hosting means you will be able to recover your emails associated files. 

Customization 

Email hosting allows you to customize your mailbox. You will get benefits like email forwarding, mail archiving, mail monitoring and mail grouping, which is impossible with free email accounts. 

The Best Email Hosting Providers

There are free email providers that you could use for your business. However, these platforms will limit your storage, leave your email addresses looking unprofessional and put your business at risk for viruses and hackers. 

We have put together a list of the best email hosting companies for 2021. These companies vary in price and features, so it’s essential to find the best option. 

1. Best Overall: Rackspace

Rackspace is a top overall email hosting option. If you’re looking for affordable email hosting for your business, small businesses can give their emails a professional look without investing much money. 

Rackspace offers premium filtering to keep your inbox free from spam and malicious activities. It also provides complete privacy and security to sensitive business data. Rackspace also lets users keep email their access on Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.

All Rackspace plans are affordable for small businesses. Prices start at $1.99 per month and increase to $6.99 per month. The premium plan includes email archiving, instant messaging and a few other useful features. 

2. Best for Data Loss Prevention: Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is the best email hosting service for companies that use multiple Microsoft apps.

Microsoft 365 is one of our top picks because you get email sending and receiving, custom domain addresses, spam filters and data loss prevention. With a single subscription, you get a hosted email, desktop and mobile access to Microsoft's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, Skype and OneNote apps.

There is a basic plan for $4 per month, but we recommend the $20 per month premium plan. This plan is best for businesses that require secure, remote work solutions with advanced cyberthreat protection and device management. All plans are free for the 1st month and require an annual contract. 

3. Best for Cloud Hosting: Google Workspace

Google Workspace is the top email hosting service for simplicity and businesses that prefer keeping everything on the cloud.

Google Workspace’s administration tools are simple to use. They have the advanced features businesses need, such as Google Vault for compliance archival. Since everyone knows how to use Gmail, onboarding is easy.

Google Workspace costs $5 per month for the basic plan that includes core Google apps and 30GB storage per user. It is $10 per month for the business plan that includes unlimited storage (for accounts with 5 or more users), Vault and audit reports.

4. Best for Email Marketing: A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is perfect for businesses looking for countless email tools and features to help you with your email marketing.

If you are big on email marketing, A2 Hosting is perfect for your business. Included for free are Webmail through Roundcube and Horde, BoxTrapper to verify the sender, SpamAssassin to filter spam, Barracuda for enhanced spam filtration by checking each incoming email, email authentication and forwarding, MX Entry to send emails, auto-responders, mailing lists, encryption and many more.

We recommend the Turbo Boost pricing option for $9.99 per month if you sign up for 3 years. Included are unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe storage, free and easy site migration, free automatic backups, Turbo (up to 20X faster) and a money-back guarantee.

5. Best for Guaranteed Privacy: Zoho

Zoho is an encrypted and secure email hosting service best for businesses looking for guaranteed privacy. 

We think Zoho is one of the best email hosts in 2021 because of its powerful and straightforward control panel. Users can execute all the settings, customization and configuration quickly. Adding users, setting up policies and managing group names are straightforward.  

The most popular pricing plan is $4 per month. Each user receives 50 GP per user and the ability to upload huge attachments up to 1 GB. You’ll also receive White Labeling, which lets you rebrand our email solution with your logo and custom login URL.

6. Best for Inexpensive Software: Namecheap

Namecheap is one of the best email hosting options as it does not require expensive software and does not have any privacy concerns. It is perfect for both individuals and businesses.

With Namecheap, you get a free trial for 2 months to experience the platform’s efficacy. This helps you correctly select a plan that will benefit your entire business.

The most popular plan is $2.12 per month and includes 3 free mailboxes, 30GB for emails, 15GB for files and full mobile sync support. Namecheap also offers its email hosting for 2 free months. It’s important to note that the renewal price rises to almost $12 per month after 1 year. 

Which Email Hosting Providers Should You Avoid?

There are a few providers that may not be the best for business email hosting. Here are few hosts you will want to research a bit more before you sign up:

The Right Email Host Makes a Difference

Once you purchase the email hosting service that fits your needs, you’ll want to set up an email address. If you have a website for your business, the best option is to use that domain name for your email.

You will need to set up an account, assign administrators and verify your information. The next step usually involves adding users. The users will be the employees or team members who will get an email address. 

If you need help along the way, contact customer support. The right email hosting company will be able to walk you through the process from start to finish and get your business emails up and running in no time.