Business Email on Your Own Domain: Setup and Costs

Short answer

Email on your own domain (you@yourbusiness.com) comes from an email provider, not from the domain itself. You pick a provider, prove you own the domain, and add a few DNS records that tell the internet where your mail should go and that it’s really from you.

Your four realistic choices, as of October 2026:

Option	Price	Mailbox size	The catch
Google Workspace Business Starter	$7/user/mo on an annual plan ($8.40 on the Flexible plan)	30 GB pooled per user	Storage is shared with Drive
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	$7/user/mo, paid yearly ($5.40 without Teams)	100 GB per user	Compare plans if you need desktop Office apps
Zoho Mail	Free for up to 5 users; Mail Lite from about $1/user/mo billed annually	5 GB per user on Free	Free plan has no IMAP/POP/ActiveSync; check current price on paid plans
Email from your web host	Often included	Varies	Some hosts include it only for a limited time

Host examples: SiteGround’s shared plans include email. Hostinger’s mailboxes are free for the first year, and DreamHost’s for three months. After that, you pay or move.

For a deeper look at the two big suites, see Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace pricing explained.

What it costs for a small team

Team	Google Workspace Starter (annual)	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Zoho Mail
3 people	$252/year	$252/year	Free plan, or about $36/year on Mail Lite
10 people	$840/year	$840/year	About $120/year on Mail Lite

Google is showing an introductory discount for new customers from November 2, 2026; check current price before you sign up.

The DNS records, in plain words

You’ll add these at your domain’s DNS host (usually your registrar or web host). Your email provider gives you the exact values.

• MX (mail exchange): Tells the world which servers receive mail for your domain. Change these and incoming mail goes to the new provider.
• SPF: A list of the servers allowed to send email as your domain. If your website or newsletter tool sends mail for you, it needs to be on the list too. Google’s help notes an SPF record can have up to 10 include: tags.
• DKIM: A digital signature added to each message you send. The receiving server checks it against a public key in your DNS. If the message was altered or forged, the signature fails.
• DMARC: A short policy that tells other servers what to do when a message fails SPF or DKIM: nothing (p=none), send it to spam (p=quarantine), or refuse it (p=reject). It also sends you reports.

Why this matters: Gmail requires every sender to pass SPF or DKIM. Bulk senders (5,000+ messages a day to Gmail) must have SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and keep their spam rate under 0.3%. Even if you send far less, these records keep your invoices and quotes out of spam folders. Our guide to protecting your email covers the account side.

Step-by-step

1. Choose a provider. If your team lives in Gmail and Google Docs, choose Google Workspace. If you use Word, Excel and Outlook, choose Microsoft 365. If you’re on a tight budget with five or fewer people, Zoho Mail’s free plan is a fair start.

2. Make sure you own the domain. It should be registered in your business’s name with an account you control. If you don’t have one yet, see how to buy a domain name.

3. Sign up and verify the domain. The provider gives you a TXT record to add to your DNS. This proves you own the domain.

4. Create the mailboxes. Add each user, plus shared addresses like info@ or billing@. Shared addresses can often be aliases or groups instead of paid mailboxes.

5. Move existing mail, if any. Import it before you switch MX records, so people see their history on day one.

6. Switch the MX records. Remove the old MX records and add the new provider’s. Mail can take a few hours to start arriving at the new place everywhere.

7. Add SPF. One SPF record for the domain, listing your email provider and any other service that sends as you (website forms, newsletters, invoicing tools).

8. Turn on DKIM. Generate the key in your provider’s admin console, add the TXT record, then switch signing on.

9. Add DMARC. Google recommends waiting at least 48 hours after setting up SPF and DKIM. Start with p=none and a mailbox to collect reports. Once reports show your legitimate mail passing, move to quarantine, then reject.

10. Set up phones and computers. Add the account to each person’s phone and mail app, and turn on two-factor sign-in.

Common mistakes

Two SPF records. Adding a second SPF record instead of editing the first can make SPF checks fail. Keep one record and add each sender to it.

Forgetting the tools that send for you. Your website contact form, newsletter platform and invoicing app all send as your domain. If they’re not in SPF and signed with DKIM, their mail lands in spam.

Jumping straight to p=reject. You may block your own legitimate mail. Monitor first.

Using hosting email for the whole team. It works, but it ties your email to your host. Changing hosts later means moving mail too. See best web hosting for small business for which hosts include email and for how long.

Paying for mailboxes you don’t need. Use free aliases or groups for info@ and sales@ where your provider allows it.

When to get help

Get help if you’re moving several people’s mail from one provider to another, if other tools send mail as your domain, or if your DMARC reports show failures you can’t explain. A wrong MX record can mean missed mail, so it’s worth doing carefully. We can get it set up, including mailbox migration and the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

Questions people ask

Can I get a free email address with my domain?

Yes. Zoho Mail’s free plan covers up to 5 users on one domain with 5 GB each, but it doesn’t include IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, so you use Zoho’s web and mobile apps. Many web hosting plans also include mailboxes, though some only for the first few months or the first year.

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for business email?

Both cost $7 per user a month for the entry plan on an annual commitment, as of October 2026. Microsoft 365 Business Basic gives each user a 100 GB mailbox; Google Workspace Business Starter gives 30 GB of pooled storage per user. Pick the one whose apps your team already uses.

What are SPF, DKIM and DMARC?

They are DNS records that prove your email really comes from you. SPF lists the servers allowed to send for your domain, DKIM adds a digital signature to each message, and DMARC tells other servers what to do with mail that fails those checks.

Do I need DMARC?

If you send 5,000 or more messages a day to Gmail addresses, Google requires it. For everyone else it’s strongly recommended, because it makes it harder for someone to send email pretending to be you. You can start with a “none” policy that only monitors.

Will I lose my old emails when I switch providers?

Not if you migrate them. Ask your new provider about its import or migration options before you switch. Plan the switch so you change the MX records once, after the new mailboxes are ready.

Sources

• Google Workspace pricing
• Compare Flexible and Annual/Fixed-Term payment plans (Google Workspace Help)
• Microsoft 365 Pricing for Business
• Zoho Mail Pricing
• Zoho Mail Pricing 2026 (Capterra)
• Email sender guidelines (Gmail Help)
• Set up DMARC (Google Workspace Help)
• Set up SPF (Google Workspace Help)
• Web Hosting (SiteGround)
• Hostinger pricing – web hosting
• Web Hosting, Email & Domain Pricing (DreamHost)