How to create a business email address with your own domain

By the serverserv team · 6 min read · Updated 21 October 2026

To create a business email, register a domain, sign up for email hosting, create a mailbox such as [email protected], then add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records your provider gives you to the domain's DNS. Most people finish in under an hour. This guide covers each step, when to use a mailbox, alias or forwarder, and how to set the account up on your phone and computer.

How to create a business email: what do you need first?

You need two things: a domain name and an email hosting plan. The domain gives you the part after the @, and the email host stores your mail and sends it.

Step	What you do	Typical time
1. Domain	Register a domain, or use the one your website already has	5 minutes
2. Email host	Choose a plan and the number of mailboxes	5 minutes
3. Addresses	Create mailboxes, aliases and forwarders	5 to 10 minutes
4. DNS records	Add MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC	15 minutes, plus waiting time
5. Apps	Connect your phone and computer	10 minutes
6. Test	Send and receive, then check the headers	5 minutes

A free address that ends in gmail.com or outlook.com is not a business email. Customers cannot tell it apart from anyone else's, and you lose it if that account is ever closed.

Step 1: choose and register your domain

Use the domain your website uses, or register a short one that is easy to say aloud and spell. Keep it renewed, because if the domain lapses your email stops working.

• Pick .com or your country's ending if that is what your customers expect.
• Avoid hyphens and numbers that people mishear on the phone.
• Turn on auto-renew and protect the registrar account with a strong password and two-factor sign-in.

Then decide on an address format. Common choices are firstname@ or firstname.lastname@ for people, and role addresses such as info@, sales@, support@ and billing@ for jobs that may change hands. You can register, transfer or renew a domain on our domains page.

Mailbox, alias or forwarder: which do you need?

Give each person a mailbox, and use aliases or forwarders for extra addresses that one person or team reads. That way you pay only for the mailboxes, since most providers price per mailbox.

Type	What it is	Usual cost	Use it for
Mailbox	Its own login and storage; sends and receives	Priced per mailbox	Each person
Alias	An extra address that delivers into an existing mailbox	Usually included	info@ or sales@ in a small business
Forwarder	Passes mail on to another address, even outside your domain	Usually included	Copies to your accountant, short-term redirects
Shared mailbox or group	One address that several people read	Depends on the provider	support@ for a team

Alias limits vary. At the time of writing, Hostinger includes 5, 10 or 30 aliases per mailbox depending on the plan, and Namecheap's Launch plan includes 10.

Example: a three-person firm needs three mailboxes. info@ and sales@ can be aliases of the owner's mailbox, so the bill stays at three. Forward to outside addresses such as Gmail sparingly, because forwarded mail can fail sender checks at the destination and land in spam.

Step 2: compare email hosts on monthly and renewal price

Compare the price per mailbox on the term you will actually use, and check what it renews at. Some low prices only apply to the first term.

Provider and plan	Storage	Price per mailbox, at the time of writing
serverserv Email Business	10 GB	$1.99 monthly; $1.58 a month on 3 years
serverserv Email Suite	25 GB, plus 25 GB file storage	$2.99 monthly; $2.39 a month on 3 years
Google Workspace Business Starter	30 GB pooled	$8.40 flexible; $7.00 on an annual plan
Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Exchange mailbox plus Teams	$8.40 monthly; $7.00 yearly
Microsoft Exchange Online Plan 1	50 GB	$4.00, annual commitment only
Fastmail Basic	6 GB	$4 monthly; $3 annual
Hostinger Business Email Starter	5 GB	$0.39 intro on a 48-month prepay; renews at $1.59

Choose an office suite such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 if you need its documents and video calls. If you need email only, a dedicated email plan usually costs less per mailbox.

serverserv plans renew at the price you paid. If a price ever has to change, you get at least 30 days' notice by email and can cancel before renewal. If you already host a site with us, the web hosting Starter plan includes 5 email accounts and Business includes 25.

Step 3: add MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records

These four DNS records tell the world where to deliver your mail and prove that mail from your domain really comes from you. Your email host gives you the exact values; you add them wherever your domain's DNS is managed.

Record	Type and name	Example value	What it does
MX	MX at @	10 mx1.mailhost.example	Says which server receives your mail
SPF	TXT at @	v=spf1 include:spf.mailhost.example ~all	Lists the servers allowed to send as your domain
DKIM	TXT or CNAME at selector._domainkey	v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIB...	Signs each message so changes are detectable
DMARC	TXT at _dmarc	v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]	Tells receivers what to do when checks fail, and sends you reports

• One SPF record only. If a newsletter or invoicing tool also sends as your domain, merge its include into the same record. SPF allows at most 10 DNS lookups.
• Delete old MX records from a previous provider, or some mail will go to the old server.
• Tighten DMARC slowly. Start with p=none, read the reports for two to four weeks, then move to p=quarantine and later p=reject.

Gmail and Yahoo have required SPF, DKIM and DMARC from bulk senders since 2024, and mail without them is more likely to be filtered for everyone. Check your records with dig MX example.com +short and dig TXT _dmarc.example.com +short, or nslookup -type=mx example.com on Windows. Changes usually show within minutes to a few hours, and can take up to 48 hours depending on the record's TTL.

Step 4: set up business email on your phone and computer

Add the account as IMAP for incoming mail and SMTP for outgoing mail, with your full email address as the username. Your host gives you the server names.

• Incoming (IMAP): port 993, SSL/TLS.
• Outgoing (SMTP): port 465 with SSL/TLS, or 587 with STARTTLS, with authentication on and the same username and password.
• Avoid POP3 if you read mail on more than one device, because it downloads and removes messages instead of keeping them in sync.

Where to add the account

• iPhone and iPad: Settings, Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, Add Account, Other, Add Mail Account (on older iOS: Settings, Mail, Accounts). Choose IMAP.
• Android: in the Gmail app, tap your profile picture, Add another account, Other, then choose Personal (IMAP).
• Outlook on Windows or Mac: Add account, enter your address, and choose IMAP if asked.
• Apple Mail on Mac: Mail, Add Account, Other Mail Account.
• Thunderbird: Account Settings, Account Actions, Add Mail Account. It often finds the settings for you.

Then test. Send a message to a Gmail address, open it, choose Show original from the three-dot menu, and check that SPF, DKIM and DMARC all say PASS. Reply to make sure incoming mail arrives too.

Which serverserv email plan should you choose?

Email Business suits most people who need a professional address with webmail, calendars and their own mail apps. Choose Email Suite when you need more storage or online documents.

• Email Business: 10 GB per mailbox, webmail, IMAP and SMTP, shared calendars, contacts and tasks, spam and virus filtering. $1.99 monthly, $1.67 a month on 1 year, or $1.58 a month on 3 years.
• Email Suite: 25 GB per mailbox, 25 GB of file storage and online Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. $2.99 monthly, $2.50 a month on 1 year, or $2.39 a month on 3 years.

Prices are per mailbox. See Business Email for details, register your domain on the domains page, and pay by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. If a plan is not yet shown in the order form, open a ticket and we will set it up for you.

Questions

Sources

• Google Workspace pricing (Email Vendor Selection)
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft Exchange Online plans
• Fastmail pricing
• Hostinger Business Email
• Namecheap Private Email

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