The cheapest email hosting is a flat host: Purelymail at $10 a year or Migadu from $19 a year, each covering any number of domains and addresses on one account. Among per-user providers, Zoho Mail Lite at $1 a user a month is the lowest. LotsMail is $5 a month per domain, so it beats the big per-user suites once a few people share a domain.
If you want a cheap email hosting service, how you are charged matters more than the headline price. Per person, the bill grows with every hire. Per domain, it grows with every domain. Flat per account, it barely grows at all. I opened each provider's own pricing page on 24 October 2026 (LotsMail rechecked on 26 October 2026) and worked out what 1, 5 and 10 people cost on one domain, and what 10 domains cost. Prices are US dollars before tax, list prices only: I left out introductory and Black Friday offers.
What each option costs a month
Price per month on yearly billing where the provider offers it (competitors checked on 24 October 2026, LotsMail on 26 October 2026). LotsMail is shown at its $5 monthly price; on yearly billing Starter is $50 a year, $4.17 a month. For 10 domains, LotsMail Pro covers 5 domains in the plan and the other 5 cost your plan's rate, which makes it $40 a month; on Starter it is $50.
| Provider and plan | You pay for | 1 person, 1 domain | 5 people, 1 domain | 10 people, 1 domain | 10 people, 10 domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purelymail simple pricing | Your account | $0.83 | $0.83 | $0.83 | $0.83 |
| Migadu Micro, then Mini | Your account | $1.58 | $7.50 | $7.50 | $7.50 |
| Zoho Mail Mail Lite | Each user | $1 | $5 | $10 | $10 |
| LotsMail Starter (Pro for 10 domains) | Each domain | $5 | $5 | $5 | $40 on Pro ($50 on Starter) |
| Fastmail Standard | Each user | $5 | $25 | $50 | $50 |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | Each user | $7 | $35 | $70 | $70 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Each user | $7.00 | $35.00 | $70.00 | $70.00 |
| Proton Mail for Business Mail Essentials | Each user | $6.99 | $34.95 | $69.90 | $129.90 |
How I worked each cell out:
- Purelymail: $10 a year for the account, whatever the number of users and domains. The page says heavy use can move you to usage-based "advanced pricing".
- Migadu: Micro is $19 a year (5 GB, 20 outgoing messages a day, yearly only). One person fits; for a team I used Mini at $90 a year ($7.50 a month, 30 GB, 100 outgoing a day). Limits are shared by every domain and mailbox on the account.
- Zoho Mail: $1 a user a month billed yearly (5 GB per user, no monthly plan). Zoho also has a Forever Free plan: one domain, up to 5 users, 5 GB each, without IMAP, POP or ActiveSync. For one domain and up to 5 people that is $0.
- LotsMail: Starter is $5 a month for 1 domain with unlimited mailboxes, addresses and teammates; Pro is $20 for 5 domains and Business $60 for 20. Each extra domain costs your plan's rate, so 10 domains are $50 on Starter or $40 on Pro. Every domain shares 10 GB and 1,000 outbound deliveries a month; a busy team of 10 can add more sending with an add-on (listed on the pricing page).
- Fastmail: Standard is $5 a user a month yearly ($6 monthly) and is the first business plan that takes a custom domain.
- Google and Microsoft: $7 a user a month. Google needs a one-year commitment; Microsoft is paid yearly. Both pages price per user and show no per-domain charge.
- Proton: Mail Essentials is $6.99 a user a month yearly, with a cap of 3 custom domains. Ten domains need Workspace Standard ($12.99 a user, 15 domains), so that cell is 10 × $12.99.
What 5 people on one domain cost a year
| Provider and plan | How it adds up | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Purelymail | One flat account | $10 |
| LotsMail Starter | 1 domain, yearly billing | $50 |
| Zoho Mail Lite | 5 users × $1 × 12 | $60 |
| Migadu Mini | One flat account | $90 |
| Fastmail Standard | 5 users × $5 × 12 | $300 |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | 5 users × $7 × 12 | $420 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | 5 users × $7 × 12 | $420 |
| Proton Mail Essentials | 5 users × $6.99 × 12 | $419.40 |
Two things stand out. Purelymail is cheapest at every size, and flat hosts pull further ahead as domains grow: Purelymail and Migadu stay put at 10 domains, where LotsMail is $40 a month on Pro and Zoho Mail Lite is $10. And for five people on one domain, the per-user suites cost 5 to 7 times what a per-domain price does. That is the case where LotsMail is worth a look; at one person or ten domains, the flat hosts and Zoho cost less.
1. Purelymail: the lowest price, for people who set things up themselves
$10 a year, with no hard limits on users, custom domains or storage. You get IMAP, POP3 and SMTP, so Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and phone mail apps all work today, plus webmail, sieve filters and routing rules. Purelymail's own page lists the trade-offs: no 24/7 support staff, an interface that isn't always intuitive, and occasional blocks by obscure mail servers.
Choose Purelymail if price is the whole decision and you're comfortable with DNS and mail apps.
2. Migadu: flat pricing with a plan ladder
Migadu prices per account, not per mailbox or per domain, and its FAQ says many users are agencies hosting clients' domains under one roof. Plans are Micro $19 a year, Mini $9 a month or $90 a year, Standard $29 or $290 and Maxi $99 or $990, with daily sending and receiving quotas that grow by plan. It supports SMTP, IMAP and POP3 with webmail, so mail apps work today, and admin access can be limited to chosen domains (not on Micro). Support is email and tickets.
Choose Migadu if you want a flat price with mail apps and clear daily limits.
3. Zoho Mail: the cheapest per-user plan, and a free one
Mail Lite is $1 a user a month billed yearly, Mail Premium $4, and the Workplace plans ($3 and $6 yearly) add Zoho's office apps. Zoho's pricing page lists mobile and desktop apps and a calendar on the paid plans, and its help pages let you add several domains under one organization. There is a 15-day trial of the top edition with no card. Zoho also advertises an MCP connection (Zoho MCP) for AI agents.
Choose Zoho Mail if you have a small team, want mobile apps and calendar, and per-user pricing at $1 suits you. The Forever Free plan fits one domain and up to 5 people who don't need mail apps.
4. LotsMail: one price per domain for the whole team
LotsMail is business email on your own domain, priced per domain. Starter is $5 a month or $50 a year for 1 domain, Pro $20 or $200 for 5 domains, Business $60 or $600 for 20 domains, and every plan has unlimited mailboxes, addresses and teammates. On every plan each domain gets 10 GB of shared storage and 1,000 outbound deliveries a month; add-ons for more are on the pricing page. Pay as you go is $6 a domain a month from LotsTech Credits, and new accounts get 5,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card. See pricing.
What you get for it:
- Shared inboxes like support@ with access set per mailbox, so nobody passes a password around.
- A full inbox in the browser on phone, tablet and desktop: threads, search, drafts, attachments.
- Delivery status on every send, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC records checked for you.
- Your DNS and website stay where they are.
- If a payment lapses, sending stops at once, incoming mail keeps arriving for 14 days and then pauses, and your mail is never deleted.
LotsMail works with the AI agent you already use. Connect ChatGPT, Claude or any MCP client at https://api.lotsmail.to/mcp (setup on the connect page) and choose read, draft or send access for each mailbox. Nothing sends without you, and there is no built-in AI and no model cost. Domains, DNS, team and billing are set up in the dashboard, which does the whole job on its own too. Try this once it's connected:
In LotsMail, list the unread threads in hello@ that need a reply today and write a draft for each. Don't send anything.
Be clear about what it doesn't do yet. Mail apps (Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird over IMAP and SMTP) are coming soon, so today you read mail in the browser or through your assistant. Importing old mail is planned, with no date, and LotsMail has no calendar. LotsMail has no group email or distribution lists: an address delivers to one mailbox, so use a shared mailbox for team@. It is for normal business email, not newsletters or cold outreach.
Choose LotsMail if you have several people or role addresses on a domain and want a flat bill as the team grows. If you only need one mailbox, or you have many domains, Migadu, Purelymail and Zoho Mail Lite cost less.
5. Fastmail: independent, with mail apps and calendars
Fastmail's business plans are Basic $3, Standard $5 and Professional $9 a user a month on yearly billing ($4, $6 and $10 monthly), with a 30-day trial. Standard (60 GB per user) is where custom domains and third-party apps such as Outlook and iPhone Mail start, and every plan has shared addresses, shared calendars and a shared address book. Fastmail also has an MCP server with read-only, write and send access levels.
Choose Fastmail if you want an independent provider with calendars and mail apps and don't mind $5 a person.
6. Google Workspace: the whole suite
Business Starter is $7 a user a month with a one-year commitment, Standard $14 and Plus $22, up to 300 users, with 30 GB of pooled storage per person on Starter. You get Gmail on your domain with Gemini in Gmail, Meet, Calendar and Drive. Google's page also shows a "% off for 3 months" offer for new customers; I used the standard price.
Choose Google Workspace if your team lives in Google's apps and meetings.
7. Microsoft 365: Outlook and Teams
Business Basic is $7.00 a user a month paid yearly, with web and mobile Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Teams and custom business email. Standard with Copilot is $23.50 and Premium with Copilot $32.00.
Choose Microsoft 365 if your team works in Outlook and Office.
8. Proton Mail for Business: privacy first
Mail Essentials is $6.99 a user a month on yearly billing (15 GB, 3 custom domains, 10 addresses each), Workspace Standard $12.99 (1 TB, 15 domains) and Workspace Premium $19.99 (3 TB, 20 domains). Mail works with Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Mail, with a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Choose Proton if privacy is the first requirement and your domains fit the plan's cap.
Cheap hosts I left out of the table
Hostinger Mail and Neo sell per mailbox and lead with promotional and long-term prepaid prices, so I had no like-for-like list price to compare. Namecheap Private Email's pricing page didn't load for me on 24 October. I'd rather leave them out than quote a number you can't get.
How to choose
- Lowest price at any size: Purelymail, or Migadu if you want a clear plan ladder.
- One to five people, cheapest per person, with mobile apps: Zoho Mail Lite, or the free plan if one domain and webmail are enough.
- Several people or role addresses on one domain, flat bill: LotsMail. For more on that math, read Unlimited business email accounts.
- Many domains: flat hosts first. The best email hosting for multiple domains compares them on domain limits and shared inboxes.
- You need Outlook, Office or Google apps: Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. See Microsoft 365 alternatives for business email if the per-person bill is the problem.
- A small business choosing among all of these: The best business email for small business.
FAQ
What is the cheapest email hosting for a custom domain?
Purelymail at $10 a year, with no hard limits on users or domains, and Migadu from $19 a year. Zoho Mail Lite is the lowest per-user price at $1 a user a month billed yearly, and Zoho's Forever Free plan costs nothing for one domain and up to 5 users, without IMAP, POP or ActiveSync. Prices checked on 24 October 2026.
Is there a cheap email hosting service with unlimited mailboxes?
Yes. Purelymail and Migadu put unlimited addresses and domains on one flat account, and LotsMail has unlimited mailboxes, addresses and teammates for one price per domain from $5 a month. Purelymail is cheaper than LotsMail at any size, and Migadu is cheaper once you have several domains.
Is per-domain pricing cheaper than per-user pricing?
For several people on one domain, yes. Five people cost $5 a month on LotsMail Starter against $35 on Google Workspace Business Starter or Microsoft 365 Business Basic. With 10 domains and one person each it flips: $40 a month on LotsMail Pro against $10 on Zoho Mail Lite.
Can I use Outlook or Apple Mail with the cheapest hosts?
With Purelymail, Migadu, Fastmail Standard and Proton, yes: they support mail apps today. Zoho lists mobile and desktop apps on paid plans. LotsMail doesn't yet: mail apps over IMAP and SMTP are coming soon, importing old mail is planned with no date, and LotsMail has no calendar. Today it works in the browser and through ChatGPT, Claude or any MCP client.
What happens to my email if I stop paying?
On LotsMail, sending stops at once, incoming mail keeps arriving for 14 days and then pauses, and your mail is never deleted. Every provider handles this differently, so read the terms of a cheap plan before you rely on it for important mail.
Is a free Gmail address a cheaper option?
It costs nothing, but it isn't email on your own domain, and your clients see the free address. If you want your own domain for $10 a year, Purelymail is the lowest price on this list.
Sources (competitors opened on 24 October 2026, LotsMail rechecked on 26 October 2026)
- LotsMail: pricing, connect page, agent docs
- Purelymail: pricing, home page
- Migadu: pricing, home page
- Zoho: Zoho Mail pricing, adding domains, Zoho MCP
- Fastmail: pricing, MCP server help
- Google: Workspace pricing
- Microsoft: Microsoft 365 business plans
- Proton: Proton Mail for Business pricing
- Hostinger: business email; Neo: pricing