Writer: Jordan Sprogis
Editor: Christina Lewis
Reviewer: Lynn Cadet
Do you know email is just hitting middle age? Some 50-plus years after the first email was sent, electronic mail is still our go-to method for various communication needs, from sharing ideas and discussing important matters to resolving issues.
It’s an integral business tool that costs nothing, so finding an email service provider that strikes the perfect balance between functionality and ease of use is a must for a budding business. To streamline your search, we’ve compiled a list of free email account hosting services you can rely on in your day-to-day operations.
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Free Email Accounts With Web Hosting
When you fork over your hard-earned money for a web hosting plan, you may as well get email for free, right? These hosting providers will do the trick when it comes to seamlessly integrating a professional email with your business site.
1. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.99
- Easily import contacts, messages, and calendars
- Antivirus checks and anti-spam
- 1-click integrations with 50+ productivity tools
- Collaborate with polls, shared to-do lists
- Less than $2 per mailbox per month!
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Showing major value, Hostinger email plans come complete with all the collaboration and productivity tools you’d expect from higher-priced hosts. We especially love the easy integrations with platforms like Twitter, Google Drive, and others. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 50 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
Hostinger offers up to 100 free email accounts and one gigabyte per mailbox. While it’s not an unlimited offering, it’s plenty for small and medium businesses. As a bonus, the automatic configuration feature makes setting up your account on different devices and email clients like Thunderbird and Outlook easy.
The Email Import tool quickly migrates your emails from your current email provider. Hostinger is big on automation, so you can enable auto-replies, redirect incoming messages to multiple accounts using email forwarding and aliases, set up a catch-all account, and more.
From a security standpoint, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication prevent phishing attacks and other related risks. And carrier-grade spam and virus protection covers internal emails within the same domain. The Access and Action Logs featured in the company’s modified control panel grants a birds-eye view of activity across numerous accounts.
2. SiteGround.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- Unlimited email hosting at your domain
- Built in webmail interface compatible with multiple webmail and email clients
- Secure email protocols and anti-spam solutions
- Easy management with Site Tools
- Ideal for business email hosting with 99.9% uptime
- Get started on SiteGround now.
SiteGround offers excellent email hosting services — compatible with all major webmail and email clients, including RoundCube and Outlook. Email hosting customers get unlimited email accounts at their domain, secure email protocols, and SPAM filters. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 Year) | 6 minutes |
Every SiteGround hosting plan grants you an unlimited number of free email accounts at your domain name — just keep in mind that 10 gigabytes is the limit for email quota. One of my favorite perks is a free Email Migrator tool, which is available to migrate your mailboxes. But you can also choose a paid professional website migration if you want experts handling every detail.
The user-friendly webmail interface provides access to your emails from anywhere, with the option to set autoresponders and forwarders. SiteGround supports SMTP, POP3, and IMAP protocols and throws in free spam protection for good measure.
If you’re looking to do a bit of email marketing, SiteGround offers a free trial for its comprehensive tool that leverages AI integrations to save you work and time. We’re talking AI-generated text and gallery, automatic creation of signup forms, and a whole lot more handy features.
3. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.75
- FREE software for webmail, newsletters, contact forms, list management, and spam filtering
- Unlimited inboxes, forwarding, and autoresponders
- Secure POP3, IMAP, and SMTP messaging
- Unlimited storage and transfer with FREE SSL
- Get more than 87% off today (was $7.99/month)
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
Combining the internet’s most popular and secure email technologies with high-speed and reliable infrastructure, A2 Hosting ensures your messages are delivered on time. As a recipient, you’ll appreciate the company’s multiple spam filtering programs, along with autoresponders and forwarding. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 100 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD | New or Transfer | 4 minutes |
When I reviewed A2 Hosting’s email plans, I quickly noticed its unlimited features. It doesn’t matter what A2 Hosting plan you choose. You can create unlimited POP3/IMAP/SMTP-supported email addresses for which you can set storage quotas in cPanel. The web host doesn’t place any limits on email storage, which means you have the total storage associated with the account at your disposal.
Built-in tools allow easy migration of existing messages and contacts you can access via a full-featured webmail application and native apps for Android and iOS devices. A2 Hosting does its best to keep unwanted emails at bay with advanced spam filters that automatically identify and block spammy content. Plus, you can create custom blocklists and block specific email accounts and domains.
You get loads of productivity and usability features such as email templates, follow-up reminders, contact groups, and a priority inbox. Multi-account support is available with the option to add personal and professional email accounts for easier management.
4. GoDaddy.com
Monthly Starting Price $6.99
- Professional email solutions on your domain
- Microsoft Outlook and Office 365 available
- World-class data security and spam filtering
- HIPAA-compliance features with premium plans
- 99.9% uptime guaranteed
- Get started on GoDaddy now.
Arguably the most noteworthy name in domain and email hosting, GoDaddy touts premium, affordable email and productivity solutions for personal use and businesses of all sizes. Whether you just need a couple gigs of email storage or a robust hosted email server with Office 365, GoDaddy has you covered. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB – 100 GB | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
I chose GoDaddy as my first web host, so I have a soft spot for it. GoDaddy switches up the status quo by offering users a free trial of two Microsoft Office 365 email mailboxes with 10 gigabytes of dedicated storage for email, contacts, and a shared online calendar. All Microsoft 365 email plans include the Outlook web app, server-side data security and spam filtering, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a 99% uptime guarantee.
The support team will lead you through the migration process and be on standby 24/7 to assist you in any way you need. You can customize your inbox any way you want. For instance, you can establish rules for incoming messages, create block/allow lists and aliases, and improve collaboration with a distribution group.
GoDaddy also offers additional tools for a more secure email and robust experience, such as advanced spam, malware, and phishing security, on-demand and policy-based encryption, and daily email backups. The hosting provider has a separate email plan you can combine for the ultimate email package.
5. DreamHost.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.59
- Automated malware scans
- Unlimited domain hosting
- Unlimited email accounts with POP/IMAP/SMTP
- FREE eCommerce store tools and PCI compliance
- Streamlined proprietary control panel
- Get started on DreamHost now.
While DreamHost’s price might be a little steep compared to other high-value hosting providers, the company gives customers ample time and reasons to get hooked and stick around. The company, which started in the founders’ dorm room in 1997, offers an industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
All DreamHost web hosting plans, except Remixer Standard and Shared Starter, include email hosting. So you get a dedicated email at your domain name and the choice of unlimited addresses with the Shared Unlimited plan.
In terms of disk space, 25 gigabytes is the current limit. The default allocation per address is 200 megabytes, so you may want to increase or remove the limit. All the standard features are there, though DreamHost adds a little touch here and there, including inbound spam filtering that automatically adapts to emerging threats.
The company’s webmail is automatically configured to connect to the DreamHost mail server, though it doesn’t support web calendar or chat functionality. It’s a rather easygoing affair, so you won’t have any problems organizing messages between folders, setting up automatic delivery filters, employing custom aliases for routing — you know, the usual. Additionally, you can opt for paid email-only hosting plans.
6. InMotionHosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- FREE domain registration or no-downtime transfer
- Unlimited SPAM Safe™ email with IMAP
- 1-click app installer and FREE marketing tools
- Business-class hardware and eCommerce-ready
- SSD storage plus FREE backups and SSL security
- Get started on InMotion now.
For business-class email hosting, look no further than InMotion Hosting. They offer a free domain name, SSD drive, and secure IMAP email, plus Google app integration with a three-step wizard. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 days | 100 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
Regardless of whether you’re eyeing shared hosting, WordPress hosting, or a VPS plan from InMotion Hosting, each comes with email already set up and ready to go on the same server as your future hosting account. The cheapest Core plan will grant you 10 email addresses with one gigabyte per inbox, while other plans raise the bar with unlimited email addresses and progressively more disk space.
The hosting provider’s helpful support teams will seamlessly transfer your contacts and messages to its email server for free. I found InMotion’s security features pretty enticing as well. Proprietary SpamSafe filtering service and hack and malware protection save time and money by weeding out junk mail. You can also create specialized filters to discard or reroute certain types of mail.
Further optimization for a more streamlined workflow includes setting up email forwarders, autoresponders, and the like. If you’re already using a third-party email hosting service, InMotion Hosting makes it easy to combine its web hosting with Office365 or Google Workspace. This is a great benefit for users like me, who prefer using tools they’re familiar with.
7. HostGator.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.29
- Unlimited email accounts and storage
- FREE migration, domain, and SSL certificate
- Webmail access via Horde and Roundcube
- FREE SpamAssassin and weekly backups
- Seamless G Suite upgrade for more productivity
- Get started on HostGator now.
Woven into HostGator’s well-appointed web hosting plans is all the email power you’ll ever need. Unlimited addresses and storage, coupled with ready-to-go Horde and Roundcube webmail clients, combine with the host’s high-class infrastructure to provide reliable and secure sending environments. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Shared hosting plans from HostGator come with unmetered bandwidth, which means you are not charged for the use of emails and web hosting space according to the bandwidth you typically use in normal business website operations. The lowest-tier Hatchling plan has a storage capacity for emails of up to 100 megabytes per cPanel, while other packages have unlimited email storage capacity.
One downside I noticed is a 500 outgoing email hourly limit per domain, so be sure to keep an eye on that. The email host uses SpamAssassin by Apache, arguably the best open-source anti-spam platform, giving site owners an easy means to filter and classify emails as spam and block them.
Some other advanced tools from HostGator I like are unlimited email aliases, autoresponders, mail forwarding, and the possibility to create up to 25 mailing lists. But any mailing list larger than 5,000 addresses will require you to pony up for a dedicated server or VPS hosting solution.
8. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.00
- Business email with a personal consultant
- Choice of IONOS mail, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace mailboxes
- FREE domain or transfer included
- Create up to 500 email accounts
- Premium tools for email marketing available
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
If the budget factor is on your mind when searching for a web host, rest easy. 1&1 IONOS has a wide range of packages, including reduced rates for the first few months (or year) and starter plans for all of their web hosting and website building services. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Each web hosting plan by IONOS supplies one email account with two gigabytes of storage, email forwarding, webmail 2.0, and anti-phishing and anti-spam defense. You can also add premium antivirus software to get an extra layer of defense against viruses and other online threats.
Although IONOS only offers one email per account, it has the best price of any host on this list. In my research, I discovered that you can add mailboxes and extra SSD room to your package anytime. For larger businesses, IONOS offers separate email marketing plans, as well as company email solutions that are better suited for larger customer bases, such as the Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft 365 packages.
You can also get the Google Workspace Business Starter at no cost for the first three months. All of Google’s productivity tools are included, as are 30 gigabytes of storage per user, a free domain for the first year, and shared calendars, contacts, and tasks.
9. Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- FREE domain and unlimited emails
- Secure email with 3 webmail solutions
- $200 in advertising credits with Google and Bing
- Google app integration available
- FREE Office 365 mailbox for your first 30 days
- Get started on Bluehost now.
For email hosting with security and tons of available features, Bluehost is one of our favorites. The company includes a free domain name for a year, POP3 and IMAP security for unlimited emails, plus email forwarding and three web-based email solutions. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 100 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
Those who fancy Bluehost as their hosting solution will get a 3-month free trial of the company’s Professional Email offering that sends 25 gigabytes of storage and 25 email aliases your way. Although you get fewer inboxes than you do with Hostinger, each inbox will have the same amount of storage. And thanks to a unified inbox, you can integrate your other accounts (social or business) for simplified management.
Freelancers, small businesses, and individual professionals will surely appreciate essential productivity and collaboration features that are part of the deal. These include an integrated calendar, address book, task manager, and tools to handle all kinds of documents — all shielded by spam and virus protection.
Users can access their professional email account from any device with an internet connection, whether through web-based interfaces or a popular email client on desktop and mobile platforms. If you prefer Google and its line of products, Google Workspace is also an option for a few bucks a month.
Other Free Email Hosting Services
There’s “free,” and then there’s free, where sending emails doesn’t cost a dime whatsoever. What follows are free email providers you can use with no strings attached, albeit with certain restrictions (as expected).
10. Gmail
Gmail is the absolute ruler of free email hosting, and it is the go-to email service for many (including myself) who rely on Google’s expansive ecosystem of products and services. That’s really the gist of having Gmail: access to former G Suite (now Google Workspace) applications.
The ad-free email is the foundation for all sorts of features, from voice and video chats through Google Meet to sharing project work files (Google Docs for the win!) with people on your team. And with 15 gigabytes of storage shared across the Google account, there’s enough maneuvering room for the less demanding users.
Another major advantage is the fact that we’re talking about Google, meaning it doesn’t get any more secure than this — at least in terms of free email. The outstanding mailbox security blocks 99.9% of dangerous links, malware, and spam, with advanced phishing protection in tow.
11. Outlook
One of the veterans on the list (if you’re counting Hotmail — I am), Microsoft Outlook stands as a tested and reliable email service that will primarily attract fans of the tech titan’s arsenal. Each user gets 15 gigabytes of disk space, equal to Gmail, and a fairly clean interface to go about their business.
Much like Gmail, Outlook’s competitive edge is integration with a broad spectrum of apps, ranging from social media like Facebook and communication apps such as Skype to task management software like Trello.
Naturally, most of the Microsoft 365 lineup is interconnected, as is OneDrive for storage. You can access your account via a desktop or mobile app, and it comes with an online calendar, basic security measures, and a message filter, to name a few things.
12. Proton Mail
With just 500 megabytes of free storage (you can increase it to one gigabyte by completing four simple account setup actions), Proton Mail may not be the first choice for many. But I believe it makes up for it with a strict focus on privacy.
For starters, no personal information is required to open an account, nor is it permanently associated with the account. So, if you need to email someone anonymously, this is the provider you’re looking for. Next, your messages and other data are protected by end-to-end and zero-access encryption, so no one but you can read them — not even Proton.
Getting around the inbox is easy, with plenty of sorting and labeling features to neatly organize everything. Proton Mail is compatible with external email clients, and you also get free access to all of Proton’s privacy-by-default services: Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, and Proton VPN. I strongly recommend Proton for privacy-conscious users.
13. Yahoo! Mail
Creative agencies and business owners who dabble in media-related projects will surely appreciate Yahoo Mail for its one terabyte of storage, the most we’ve seen yet. Unmatched by virtually every other free email service, this generous allocation alone will likely drive signups among users who value keeping all their emails without worrying about deletion.
There’s more to Yahoo Mail, as you can personalize your inbox with themes, colors, and layout preferences, making it feel more like your own. Seamless integration with other Yahoo services will be a big plus for Yahoo fans, while Android and iOS apps offer good functionality for managing emails on the go.
It’s worth mentioning that the free version displays ads in the inbox. I don’t have a problem with that, but I can see how it can be intrusive for some users. Also, the interface feels slightly dated and less intuitive if you care about that sort of thing.
14. Zoho
Via its Free Forever Plan, Zoho offers a no-cost alternative to predominantly popular email providers. With a five-gigabyte per user and a 25-megabyte attachment limit, it provides enough space for most personal and basic business email needs.
Up to five users can share the same free plan, making it suitable for small businesses and small-scale projects. Zoho Mail employs plenty of security measures to keep everything tidy, including two-factor authentication and encryption protocols.
However, I found that Zoho does have some disadvantages. You won’t see many advanced features, and you can only use email addresses associated with a single domain you own. It’s possible to manage your email through the web interface or dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android, though there is no POP/IMAP access.
15. iCloud Mail
As iPhones and Macs became increasingly popular, so did iCloud Mail, mainly because it comes preinstalled on these devices. When you create an AppleID and set up your iCloud Mail account, you’ll receive 5 gigabytes of free iCloud storage for your mail, photos, and other content.
Every iCloud Mail user can add up to three additional domain email addresses to the account to categorize messages or keep a particular address private. Obviously, it works seamlessly across Apple devices, which means you can receive push notifications on your Apple Watch, for instance, whenever a new email lands. As such, this is primarily an email for users within the Apple ecosystem.
As with most free email hosts, I did find some downsides to iCloud mail. Free “Apple Mail” (as some call it) is light in terms of features like email scheduling or priority inbox, and integrations with any third-party email client and app aren’t its strong points. The good news is that Apple’s powerful spam filters and tight security keep your inbox clean as a whistle.
What Is Email Hosting?
Email hosting is an online service that rents out and operates email servers, predominantly as a separate offering along with regular web hosting.
Now, you may be thinking, “Isn’t this the same as signing up for a Gmail or Yahoo account?”
You’re not the first one to ask that. The answer is no because email hosting provides a more premium product, so to speak. You get an email address that matches the domain name of your website rather than having gmail.com or yahoo.com attached to it.
This is very important to highlight. When you’re doing business and rely on email to facilitate it, establishing trust is vital. In today’s digital climate, anyone can create a free email account and misrepresent themselves as a business for whatever purpose, nefarious or otherwise.
On the other hand, a custom email address branded with your domain separates you from the spammers and scammers of the world. It acts as your online identity and marketing communication channel, so being professional in this regard is paramount.
Just ask yourself who you would trust in such a situation, and you’ll understand the importance of email hosting for businesses.
Plus, your company’s email hosting plan can furnish as many email addresses as you need. Every employee or department can have a separate custom domain email with which to represent your company.
How Much Does Email Hosting Cost?
Not much, to be fair.
Take A2 Hosting, our top pick of free email account hosting services, as an example. You can get started for free when you purchase a web hosting plan for a mere $2.99 monthly. It’s worth noting that the low price tag is derived from the underlying servers that data is hosted on — shared hosting servers.
Make no mistake: This is still a deal worth taking, especially if you run your business on the tightest of budgets. Heck, even certain mid-sized companies will get a lot of mileage out of starter plans if they play their cards right.
If you need more, you’ll do well to psych yourself up for parting with $15 to $20 every month to pay for increased storage, advanced features, and close-knit security. I might help you with that ordeal — here’s a list of the cheapest email hosting services my colleague Laura compiled. I’m sure you’ll find a suitable partner there.
How Can I Host My Email for Free?
Gmail is always an option, if only because you can leverage so many of Google’s family of products.
One can argue that your best bet is to sign up with a service like Zoho Mail and its Free Forever Plan. This is a permanently free plan, which means you can use it as long as it fulfills your needs.
Similarly, Proton Mail could be what you’re looking for because it bundles its email hosting with other useful products, so you get a two-for-one kind of deal for a business email address.
Keep in mind that these are, for the most part, highly restricted plans and predominantly envisioned for personal use. As such, these emails are not intended for business use, though nobody will stop you from using them for that purpose.
Carefully research and make sure you understand the specific limitations and potential drawbacks of free email hosting before committing. Consider your needs and priorities to ensure the free plan you choose meets your requirements or, at the very least, doesn’t give you headaches on a regular basis.
Once again, feel free to take a look at our list (we’re big on them) of free business email hosting plans — it can’t hurt!
Which Is the Best Free Email Service for Small Businesses?
Though an email hosting provider like A2 Hosting or Hostinger (or any other in this article) offers “almost free” email hosting plans, you’ll still have to pay a fee to obtain their services.
I’m not trying to play semantics here, but the truth is that if you’re set on purchasing hosting for your company, the included email capabilities can undoubtedly be perceived as “free.”
In that regard, A2 Hosting is my top pick for business email. It’s super affordable, intuitive, and showers you with all the features you need to thrive. I’d also take a look at Hostinger if I were you, as it manages to find that sweet spot between usability, convenience, and price.
Email on a Budget
Who would have thought that more than half a century ago, email and the ubiquitous ‘@’ symbol would have this much staying power? And you can get it at no expense!
As much as all of us like stuff we don’t have to pay for, free isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. While free email providers offer a convenient starting point, their limitations can hinder professional communication and growth.
Investing in a paid email hosting service may be a better long-term solution. Remember: A small investment can yield significant benefits in terms of professionalism, security, and control over your email experience. After all, you’re trying to run a respectable business, not a couple of lemonade stands.
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