As an entrepreneur or business owner, a business email gives your brand a unique identity—that's pretty clear, isn’t it? Aside from registering a business name, a business email is also another factor that gives a professional look to your business and distinguishes you from your competitors.
Either you opt for business emails like support@example.com, which is typical for domain owners or business owners with a website. It is very important to own a business email to make your business or brand more professional and trustworthy to potential customers.
Therefore, this article will discuss the pros and cons of various business email providers and everything you need to know when choosing a business email provider.
WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS A BUSINESS EMAIL?
Well, you might be asking yourself why your business needs a business email instead of a personal email address. Your business or brand needs a business email for the following reasons:
- Brand or business uniqueness
- Business credibility
- Business email builds customers trust
- A more firmer way to present contact information to customers.
Take this lame man as an example for better understanding: Support@example.com and example@gmail.com. When you look closely at these two email addresses, a customer will feel more comfortable patronising the brand using a business email (support@example.com) instead of the personal email (example@gmail.com).
BEST BUSINESS EMAIL PROVIDERS PROS AND CONS
The following are the best business email providers and their pros and cons:
1. GMAIL
Gmail is arguably one of the most popular email services in the world. Gmail is part of Google Workspace, which offers a variety of email services ranging from business emails to personal emails.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Large storage capacity 2. Offers productivity suite 3. Email filters and categories 4. Schedule emails 5. Fast and reliable 6. Better and strong cloud security 7. Spam protection 8. Smart compose in chat |
1. Business email requires a domain name 2. Display of ads in user interface 3. No end-eto-end encrytion like protonmail 4. Reliance of internet connectivity |
2. ZOHOMAIL
Zoho Mail is a reliable, fast, and secured email service provider with tonnes of great features. Zoho Mail has a very clean user interface with the aim of aiding email services within an organisation.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Clean and friendly user interface 2. Up to 5 business email for free on your domain 3. Allows custom domain emails 4. Great privacy and security 5. Allows free plan 6. Integration of calendar and notes 7. Email Migration capabilities |
1. Low storage on free version 2. Great for business but not for personal use |
3. HOSTINGER
Hostinger is a website builder and hosting company that allows you to register a domain name for your business and also get business emails attached to your plan. What does this mean? Hostinger allows you to host your business website and also get business email along with it.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Great user-friendly Interface 2. Custom business email 3. Secured cloud 4. Integration of Ecommerce and marketing features
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1. Only 1gb per mailbox 2. Only one free business email per domain 3. No free plan or free trial 4. Must purchase domain hosting plan to get business email |
4. GMX
Global Mail Exchange (GMX) is a popular email service provider that offers a variety of free email services. GMX is widely used for personal accounts, but business emails are never an exception. GMX is very popular for its unique feature of unlimited email storage.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Unlimited email storage 2. Gives room for large file attachments 3. Features of mail collector and calendar 4. Top quality email security 5. Quick access to all email (MailCheck)
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1. Lacks some advanced features 2. Good interface but not modern interface |
5. PROTONMAIL
Protonmail is another business email provider with the unique feature of high security. Protonmail is widely known for its advanced email security, with its headquarters in Switzerland. Protonmail makes use of email end-to-end encryption for receivers to provide the best security for both personal and business emails.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Advanced security including end-to-end encryption 2. Encrypted emails, contacts and calendar 3. Free version available 4. Password protected business emails 5. Email migration service
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1. Cannot connect a domain business email on free plan 2. Free plan email only has 500MB 3. No productivity suit like Gmail 4. Free version is limited to only 150 messages per day
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6. MICROSOFT 365
Microsoft 365 is similar to Gmail. However, to get an Outlook business email with Microsoft 365, it requires purchasing the Microsoft software, which includes the likes of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
In general, Microsoft Outlook business email is widely preferred by lots of business owners compared to other business email providers.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Perfect Outlook business email 2. Very high storage limit 3. Great business email security 4. The first tier has 50GB email storage without upgrading
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1. No free domain name for your business 2. Expensive for multiple number of email accounts 3. Monthly billing option 4. Interface seems clustered due to numerous number of features
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7. BLUEHOST
Bluehost is a hosting provider that also offers free business email and a free domain that is attached to its hosting plan. If you intend on building a website or e-commerce store for your business, then you can host your website on Bluehost and also get the advantage of a business email address for your business.
If you own a company and you need unlimited business emails for each of your staff and employees, then Bluehost will be your preferred business email provider.
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PROS |
CONS |
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1. Unlimited business email for paid plans 2. Free domain and SSL certificate 3. Can connect business email to Gmail, outlook and others 4. Great email storage allocation
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1. Monthly billing plan isn’t available 2. Hosting plan only offers free business emails for first three month 3. Less communication tools compared to Google workspace |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)
Which business email provider is the best for your business?
It depends on the flexibility you’re looking for. By this, I mean either you're looking for a free business email by just purchasing a domain for your business or you're looking for some sort of paid plan to create multiple business emails for your business or organisation.
Is business email free?
Business emails can be free or paid. It all comes down to the business email provider. Some allow multiple business email creations by just purchasing a domain; others allow it for free by just signing up for a basic plan.
Can I create multiple business emails?
Yes. Various email providers allow for multiple business email creations. Take Zohomail, for example. You can create multiple business emails for your business by just integrating your domain name.
What is the best FREE business email provider?
Gmail, or Google Workspace, remains the most used business email provider around the world. Gmail, or Google Workspace, is the best free business email provider with great security, a productivity suite, and other amazing features. Get a free trial for 14 days before upgrading your plan.
BOTTOM LINE
Having understood the significance of businesses having a business email, it is ideal to ensure your business owns a business email. Potential customers should be satisfied with the mode of customer service provided to them, which is in the form of a business email.
Aside from brand credibility, you really can't overemphasise the tonnes of benefits attached to having a business email for your brand or business. Hence, I urge you to make a move today.