Email hosting vs Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365: what you actually need

By the serverserv team · 7 min read · Updated 21 October 2026

In the email hosting vs Google Workspace choice, email hosting wins if you only need email on your own domain: about $2 to $5 per mailbox a month. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cost $7 to $8.40 per user and make sense when your team also needs online documents, shared storage and video meetings. This guide compares cost per mailbox, features and use cases, then covers SPF, DKIM and DMARC basics.

Email hosting vs Google Workspace: the short answer

Email hosting gives you mailboxes on your domain and little else. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are office suites that include email. Choose by what your team uses all day, not by brand.

• Choose email hosting if you want [email protected] in webmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and phone apps, and you already have tools for documents.
• Choose Google Workspace if your team works in Google Docs, Sheets, Drive and Meet and shares files all day.
• Choose Microsoft 365 if your team relies on Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.

Many small businesses pay for a suite and only use the inbox. If that sounds like you, email hosting does the same job for less.

How much does each option cost per mailbox?

Business email hosting costs about $1.25 to $5.50 per mailbox a month, while Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 start at $7.00 per user a month on annual plans and $8.40 on monthly billing. Prices are in USD per mailbox per month; figures for other providers are at the time of writing.

Plan	Storage	Monthly billing	Longer term
serverserv Email Business	10 GB	$1.99	$1.58 (3-year term)
serverserv Email Suite	25 GB, plus 25 GB file storage	$2.99	$2.39 (3-year term)
Google Workspace Business Starter	30 GB pooled per user	$8.40	$7.00 (annual)
Google Workspace Business Standard	2 TB pooled per user	$16.80	$14.00 (annual)
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	50 GB mailbox, 1 TB OneDrive	$8.40	$7.00 (annual)
Microsoft Exchange Online Plan 1	50 GB mailbox	Annual only	$4.00 (annual)
Zoho Mail Lite	10 GB	Annual only	$1.25 (annual)

For a team of five on a 1-year term, serverserv Email Business costs $99.95 a year (5 x $19.99). Google Workspace Business Starter or Microsoft 365 Business Basic on annual billing cost $420 a year (5 x $7.00 x 12). Microsoft raised Business Basic from $6.00 to $7.00 on 1 July 2026, so check current prices before you commit.

What do you get with each?

All three give you addresses on your own domain, webmail, phone access and spam filtering. The differences are storage, collaboration tools and billing terms.

Feature	serverserv Business Email	Google Workspace Business Starter	Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Email on your domain	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mailbox size	10 or 25 GB	30 GB pooled per user	50 GB
Access	Webmail, IMAP and SMTP	Gmail on web and apps	Outlook on web and apps
Calendars and contacts	Shared, on both plans	Yes	Yes
Documents	Online Word, Excel and PowerPoint on Suite	Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive	Web and mobile Office apps, 1 TB OneDrive
Video meetings	Not part of the plans	Meet	Teams
Billing terms	Monthly, or 1, 2 or 3 years	Monthly or annual	Monthly or annual
Renewal	No price jump	Current list price	Current list price

The suites also add admin and security controls that matter more as a team grows. For a handful of people who mostly send and receive email, those extras rarely get used.

What does your business actually need?

Count mailboxes, not people, and pay for a suite only if people will use its apps. Most small teams fall into one of these groups:

• Solo or freelancer: one mailbox. 10 GB is enough for most people, and Email Business is $1.58 a month on a 3-year term.
• A website plus a few addresses: serverserv web hosting already includes email accounts, 5 on Starter and 25 on Business, so you may not need a separate plan. A separate email plan keeps mail independent of your website, so a busy site or a site move does not touch your inbox.
• Small team sharing calendars: Email Business, with 10 GB mailboxes and shared calendars and contacts, or Email Suite for 25 GB mailboxes and online documents.
• Team that lives in shared documents and video calls: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, whichever matches the apps you already use.

Two more ways to save. Addresses such as info@ or sales@ often do not need their own mailbox, because an alias or forwarder can deliver them to someone who has one; ask your provider whether aliases are included. And one domain's mail normally goes to a single provider, because its MX records point to one place. Splitting staff between a suite and cheaper mailboxes is possible but needs extra routing, so most small teams pick one.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC: the basics

SPF, DKIM and DMARC are three DNS records that prove your email really comes from your domain. Without them your messages are more likely to land in spam, and Gmail and Yahoo require them from anyone who sends in bulk.

Record	What it does	Where it goes	Example
SPF	Lists the servers allowed to send mail for your domain	TXT record on the domain itself	v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
DKIM	Signs each message so receivers can check it with a public key	TXT record at selector._domainkey	Key supplied by your email provider
DMARC	Tells receivers what to do when SPF or DKIM fails, and sends you reports	TXT record at _dmarc	v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]

1. Get the SPF value and DKIM key from your email provider. Google Workspace uses include:_spf.google.com and Microsoft 365 uses include:spf.protection.outlook.com.
2. Add them as TXT records wherever your domain's DNS is managed. Keep only one SPF record per domain; if several services send for you, combine them in that one record.
3. Start DMARC at p=none so nothing is blocked while you read the reports.
4. After a few weeks with no failures from your own senders, move to p=quarantine, then p=reject.
5. Check your records with dig TXT yourdomain.com +short and dig TXT _dmarc.yourdomain.com +short.

Remember every other service that sends as your domain, such as a newsletter tool, an online shop or a contact form. Each one must be in your SPF record or sign its mail with DKIM.

Switching providers without losing email

You can switch without losing messages by setting up the new mailboxes first, copying old mail across with IMAP, and only then changing the MX records. Done in that order, nothing goes missing.

1. Lower the TTL on your MX records to 300 seconds a day before the move, so the change spreads quickly.
2. Create the same addresses and aliases at the new provider.
3. Copy existing mail across with IMAP, using the provider's import tool if it has one, or a desktop mail app with both accounts added.
4. Change the MX records to the new provider and update SPF and DKIM at the same time.
5. Keep the old account for a week or two and copy across anything that arrived during the change.
6. Update phones and mail apps with the new server settings.

If you are moving to serverserv, open a ticket after ordering and our team will tell you the steps for your current provider.

Business email at serverserv

serverserv Business Email is priced per mailbox, with webmail, IMAP and SMTP, and spam and virus filtering on every plan. Pay monthly with no contract, or prepay 1, 2 or 3 years for a lower monthly rate.

• Email Business: 10 GB mailbox with shared calendars, contacts and tasks, $1.99 monthly or $1.58 a month on a 3-year term.
• Email Suite: 25 GB mailbox with 25 GB of file storage and online Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, $2.99 monthly or $2.39 a month on a 3-year term.

Plans renew at the same price you paid for the same term. If a price ever has to change, you get at least 30 days' email notice and can cancel before renewal. You need a domain: use one you own or register one on the domains page. All plans are on the business email page.

Questions

Sources

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft: compare Exchange Online plans
• Google Workspace pricing (Email Vendor Selection)
• Fastmail pricing
• Zoho Mail pricing (iTechGuides)

Prices from other companies are as published at the time of writing and can change.