• Your domain name: Yes.
• Mailbox size: 30GB, 2TB, and 5TB.
• Spam and virus protection: Yes.
• Aliases: Yes.
• 24/7 support: Chat, ticket, or phone.
• Archiving and storage: Depending on the plan.

It was really a coin toss whether we kicked this email provider list off with Workspace or Microsoft 365. Both are excellent. Workspace integrates an enterprise-level Gmail management interface with Google Docs, Meet, Calendar, and a wide variety of other tools.

Must read:

• Why I bit the bullet and finally switched from Outlook to Gmail
• Your questions answered: Why I switched from Outlook to Gmail

Pricing is a lot simpler to understand with Workspace than Office 365. Microsoft offers a wide variety of plans and options that also integrate into its other licensing pricing structures. Google gives you just three simple choices: $6 per month, $12 per month, or $18 per month per user, depending on what management features you want.

Unfortunately, when G Suite transitioned to Workspace, the non-enterprise plans lost their unlimited storage. While G Suite was compelling on its own, the unlimited storage made it a must-have. Removal of that capability has reduced Workspace’s appeal, but it still does a great job of mail management.

More details:

• What happens to your G Suite unlimited storage when Google moves you to Workspace?
• Re-homing G Suite storage: No, you can’t find out how much storage your folders use
• Re-homing G Suite storage: Enterprise plan options seem unnecessarily murky

Here’s a special tip: If you want to get support from Google, get a Workspace subscription. As a Workspace customer, I’ve been quite pleased with the level of support provided.

• Your domain name: Yes.
• Cloud storage size: 1TB and up.
• Spam and virus protection: Yes.
• Aliases: Yes.
• 24/7 support: Chat, ticket, or phone.
• Archiving and storage: Depending on the plan.

Office 365 is becoming Microsoft 365 because… why not? Except, not entirely. Home users will still get Office 365. This is a fabulous product, but I swear Microsoft goes out of its way to confuse folks with its branding changes. It’s like it’s a hobby or something.

That said, Microsoft 365 is all the Office desktop apps, all of the Office online apps, Microsoft Teams, all the benefits of Exchange, calendaring, mobile apps, and more. I also have a Microsoft 365 subscription, mostly for the Office apps. That said, you can not go wrong with Office, er, Microsoft 365. And if you love your Outlook email client, you’ll feel right at home with Microsoft 365.

• Your domain name: Yes.
• Mailbox size: 50GB.
• Spam and virus protection: Yes.
• Aliases: Yes.
• 24/7 support: Chat, ticket, or phone.
• Archiving and storage: Added fee.

So, let’s be clear. You’re looking at email hosted on AWS. That’s pretty much the gold standard of cloud environments, on a rarified level that coexists only with Google and Microsoft Azure. Because it’s an AWS-based service, WorkMail integrates with all the other AWS services, allowing you to build out a relatively rich cloud-based, customized infrastructure.

If you’re a small company, just trying to set up a few email boxes, I wouldn’t necessarily go with WorkMail. AWS can be a little challenging to get your head around. But if you’re building out a cloud-based corporate infrastructure where you need a lot of flexibility, security, and Active Directory integration, WorkMail is definitely a viable and proven solution.

• Your domain name: Yes
• Mailbox size: Unlimited
• Spam and virus protection: Yes
• Aliases: Yes
• 24/7 support: Chat, ticket, or phone
• Archiving and storage: Added fee

Rackspace is one of the original cloud infrastructure providers. Today, the company offers a wide range of infrastructure-as-a-service options, including full Exchange hosting, Microsoft 365 management, and traditional email hosting.

The company offers migration assistance from other hosts, a large team of MCSA certified staff, and the ability to support an existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.

You know, when you’re stuck at home during a worldwide pandemic, you have a lot of time to think. And, I’ve been thinking about the name IceWarp. It easily has to be the best name of all our hosting providers, hands down.

More to the point, IceWarp is a company that used to sell its own mail server software, an installable application that competed with Exchange. It has since pivoted to become a hosting provider, using software that runs on its IceWarp server. Its cloud offerings now included shared contacts and calendar, collaborative document editing, mailing list management, web meetings, audio and video calls, mobile apps, and archiving — all available from even the most basic plan. That said, it still offers a way to move off Exchange, claiming “You can easily replace Exchange with IceWarp to save half the cost.”

• Your domain name: Yes.
• Mailbox size: 10GB or 30GB.
• Spam and virus protection: Virus.
• Aliases: Yes.
• 24/7 support: Chat, ticket, or phone (surcharge for priority support).
• Archiving and storage: No.

We reviewed Hostinger quite positively when looking at website hosting providers. It should be noted that the company’s shared web hosting plan does include email accounts and mailboxes.

Also: Hostinger web hosting review: Good support and a killer entry-level price

That said, the dedicated hosting service provided by Hostinger goes a step further, using the Titan email hosting service. Titan email hosting service that provides integrated calendaring along with email management and scheduling features.