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It is time for me to evaluate my custom domain email service. I had the original/free Google workspace with custom email domain. In 2021, they charged me $6/mon

It is time for me to evaluate my custom domain email service. I had the original/free Google workspace with custom email domain. In 2021, they charged me $6/month to keep that option afloat. To be honest, I think $6/month is a bit expensive for just email usage. I don't even use any other stuff coming with Suite. My question for this group: how do I get out of this without losing my email domain?

nickflood 4y ago
I've had the same free Google Apps account with forwarding for me and couple friends on my custom domain. We didn't use the mail boxes themselves, only forwarded email from the custom address to our free mailboxes. When they moved me to a paid plan, I researched multiple options to keep forwarding for multiple users and ended up getting a forwardemail.net service for 3 EUR/mo.
ktross 4y ago
You could sign up for fastmail and point your domains DNS records there. It's $5/mo and they make it easy to import your existing emails from gmail. I switched to them when Google stopped offering free workspace accounts. It's been great so far.
- georgemcbay 4y ago
  I also switched to fastmail with my own domain and also have had a great experience with it. It was super simple to import my data over from google and it's all still there and searchable. For me it wasn't really anything to do with the cost, just a token decision to opt out of the google hegemony over email to some degree. Been well over a year at this point and I don't miss gmail at all.
chambo622 4y ago
It was possible to opt into a continued free plan for legacy free G Suite users. Not sure if you lost that option by upgrading to a paid plan.
bl4ckneon 4y ago
Zoho is a good option if it's just you and you want a custom domain for your email. Used them for a few years without needing to pay. Moved over to proton mail (paid) for my email now, it comes with cloud storage, calandar, and VPN too. You also get simpleLogin included, a mail forwarding service for your custom domain names so you can make burner email addresses if you want.
- codeslave13 4y ago
  I migrate my family to zohos family plan when all the crap started with the free google plan. Been about a year and no complaints. Zohos spam filters are much better too imho.
- cja 4y ago
  Did you try pasting an image into an email yet in Proton?
ilyt 4y ago
Pay another provider to host it (I assume you own the DNS domain). Running your own is also an option but honestly if you don't have knowledge to set it up right now it's probably not all that great option.
AJRF 4y ago
One thing that people are surprised by when I tell them is; Apple iCloud+ will let you have up to five custom domains, with up to three personalised email addresses per domain for just 0.79p (UK) If you are just looking for email, that's shockingly good value. You do get iCloud Docs with that too, but that product offering is a bit naff and iOS/iPadOS/macOS only. If you are using Apple products, it's very good value for money. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212514 https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212514
- szundi 4y ago
  Or just buy some used iPhone for pennies, and you are good to go. Works from Outlook, Browser, Apple Mail, other email software, etc.
- lawgimenez 4y ago
  I’m on iCloud+ too with customized email domain setup for each of my family. On Linux I would just go to icloud.com to access my Apple email, notes, etc. I wish there was an easier solution but iCloud access on Linux sucks.
  - AnonC 4y ago
    > On Linux I would just go to icloud.com to access my Apple email, notes, etc. I can understand the point about Notes being accessible only from a browser, but why isn’t IMAP an option to access email on Linux?
    - lawgimenez 4y ago
      Thunderbird has a severe syncing issue with iCloud email. I missed several emails because of this issue.
- CharlesW 4y ago
  > Apple iCloud+ will let you have up to five custom domains, with up to three personalised email addresses per domain for just 0.79p (UK) I migrated from Google Workspace when Apple added custom domain support. The email migration itself was simple — I used `imapsync` and followed the instructions below. It's been several months since the move, and I can report that it all "just works". https://blah.cloud/miscellaneous/migrating-google-workspaces-to-icloud-custom-domain/ https://blah.cloud/miscellaneous/migrating-google-workspaces...
Danieru 4y ago
I migrated to Midagu and am very happy with it. It has a nice logical volume strata pricing model which works perfect for a small company like us. Granted we're a bootstrapped business so our economics are important to me. Workspaces was just too expensive for the service provided. Microsoft Office was cheaper back in it's hayday.
caogecym 4y ago
Gmail (the free consumer facing one) can configure custom domains right? Does that not address your need? https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own-domain-name/#free https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own-domain-na...
- UltimateEdge 4y ago
  The article that you linked shows how to "Allow Gmail to receive emails using POP3". That is to say, your mail should already be hosted elsewhere, and you'd be using the Gmail web app as a client for your email hosted on a different server.
  - caogecym 4y ago
    Don't recall setup email server, but did purchase domain and setup DNS record that point to google mail server such as gmr-smtp-in.l.google.com. This might be a better link from Google https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3251241?hl=en&visit_id=638122096467226258-2571470584&rd=1#custom-forwarding&zippy=%2Cset-up-email-forwarding-with-custom-name-servers https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3251241?hl=en&visi....
    - UltimateEdge 4y ago
      Yes, Google Domains allowing for email forwarding sounds like a reasonable feature. But when it comes to sending mail, the support pages say: > While these directions let you send emails from a custom email alias at your domain, email recipients can still find your personal Gmail address if they inspect the email headers. To me, this is no replacement for a mailbox on my own domain.
jjcon 4y ago
Are you aware that for small groups and individuals workspace can still be free? I was upset they were going to charge me as well but they carved this out last minute - https://support.google.com/google-workspace-individual/answer/10758004?hl=en https://support.google.com/google-workspace-individual/answe...

nickflood 4y ago

I've had the same free Google Apps account with forwarding for me and couple friends on my custom domain. We didn't use the mail boxes themselves, only forwarded email from the custom address to our free mailboxes. When they moved me to a paid plan, I researched multiple options to keep forwarding for multiple users and ended up getting a forwardemail.net service for 3 EUR/mo.

ktross 4y ago

You could sign up for fastmail and point your domains DNS records there. It's $5/mo and they make it easy to import your existing emails from gmail. I switched to them when Google stopped offering free workspace accounts. It's been great so far.

georgemcbay 4y ago
I also switched to fastmail with my own domain and also have had a great experience with it. It was super simple to import my data over from google and it's all still there and searchable. For me it wasn't really anything to do with the cost, just a token decision to opt out of the google hegemony over email to some degree. Been well over a year at this point and I don't miss gmail at all.

chambo622 4y ago

It was possible to opt into a continued free plan for legacy free G Suite users. Not sure if you lost that option by upgrading to a paid plan.

bl4ckneon 4y ago

Zoho is a good option if it's just you and you want a custom domain for your email. Used them for a few years without needing to pay. Moved over to proton mail (paid) for my email now, it comes with cloud storage, calandar, and VPN too. You also get simpleLogin included, a mail forwarding service for your custom domain names so you can make burner email addresses if you want.

codeslave13 4y ago
I migrate my family to zohos family plan when all the crap started with the free google plan. Been about a year and no complaints. Zohos spam filters are much better too imho.
cja 4y ago
Did you try pasting an image into an email yet in Proton?

ilyt 4y ago

Pay another provider to host it (I assume you own the DNS domain). Running your own is also an option but honestly if you don't have knowledge to set it up right now it's probably not all that great option.

AJRF 4y ago

One thing that people are surprised by when I tell them is; Apple iCloud+ will let you have up to five custom domains, with up to three personalised email addresses per domain for just 0.79p (UK) If you are just looking for email, that's shockingly good value. You do get iCloud Docs with that too, but that product offering is a bit naff and iOS/iPadOS/macOS only. If you are using Apple products, it's very good value for money. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212514 https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212514

szundi 4y ago
Or just buy some used iPhone for pennies, and you are good to go. Works from Outlook, Browser, Apple Mail, other email software, etc.
lawgimenez 4y ago
I’m on iCloud+ too with customized email domain setup for each of my family. On Linux I would just go to icloud.com to access my Apple email, notes, etc. I wish there was an easier solution but iCloud access on Linux sucks.
- AnonC 4y ago
  > On Linux I would just go to icloud.com to access my Apple email, notes, etc. I can understand the point about Notes being accessible only from a browser, but why isn’t IMAP an option to access email on Linux?
  - lawgimenez 4y ago
    Thunderbird has a severe syncing issue with iCloud email. I missed several emails because of this issue.
CharlesW 4y ago
> Apple iCloud+ will let you have up to five custom domains, with up to three personalised email addresses per domain for just 0.79p (UK) I migrated from Google Workspace when Apple added custom domain support. The email migration itself was simple — I used `imapsync` and followed the instructions below. It's been several months since the move, and I can report that it all "just works". https://blah.cloud/miscellaneous/migrating-google-workspaces-to-icloud-custom-domain/ https://blah.cloud/miscellaneous/migrating-google-workspaces...

Danieru 4y ago

I migrated to Midagu and am very happy with it. It has a nice logical volume strata pricing model which works perfect for a small company like us. Granted we're a bootstrapped business so our economics are important to me. Workspaces was just too expensive for the service provided. Microsoft Office was cheaper back in it's hayday.

caogecym 4y ago

Gmail (the free consumer facing one) can configure custom domains right? Does that not address your need? https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own-domain-name/#free https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own-domain-na...

UltimateEdge 4y ago
The article that you linked shows how to "Allow Gmail to receive emails using POP3". That is to say, your mail should already be hosted elsewhere, and you'd be using the Gmail web app as a client for your email hosted on a different server.
- caogecym 4y ago
  Don't recall setup email server, but did purchase domain and setup DNS record that point to google mail server such as gmr-smtp-in.l.google.com. This might be a better link from Google https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3251241?hl=en&visit_id=638122096467226258-2571470584&rd=1#custom-forwarding&zippy=%2Cset-up-email-forwarding-with-custom-name-servers https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3251241?hl=en&visi....
  - UltimateEdge 4y ago
    Yes, Google Domains allowing for email forwarding sounds like a reasonable feature. But when it comes to sending mail, the support pages say: > While these directions let you send emails from a custom email alias at your domain, email recipients can still find your personal Gmail address if they inspect the email headers. To me, this is no replacement for a mailbox on my own domain.

jjcon 4y ago

Are you aware that for small groups and individuals workspace can still be free? I was upset they were going to charge me as well but they carved this out last minute - https://support.google.com/google-workspace-individual/answer/10758004?hl=en https://support.google.com/google-workspace-individual/answe...