When you start a business, you pay a lot of attention to various aspects like your website, social media presence, blogs, SEO, etc. However, one important thing that most people don’t talk about a lot is the choice of Email Hosting for the business. Broadly speaking, there are two types of email services to choose from – free and paid. Today, we will talk about Free vs Paid Email Hosting services for your Company Email.
A free email service is one that ends in a generic domain name like Gmail or Yahoo. On the other hand, a paid service allows you to create email ids that end in the domain name of your business and make it a professional email address. So, how do you choose between the two? Here are some pointers.
Comparison between Free and Paid Email Hosting Services
| Feature | Free Email Hosting | Paid Email Hosting |
| Privacy | When a company offers free email services, how does it make money? By placing advertisements based on your preferences and usage history. Therefore, your details are not completely private and are used by the service provider like Gmail, Yahoo, etc. to earn revenue. | Unlike free email services, in paid services, your personal details are completely private since you pay for it. |
| Accessibility | Most free email providers ensure that their services are accessible across multiple devices and from any location. | Cheap email providers might try to cut costs by not providing all the required features. Hence, you must ensure that you check this factor before buying. |
| Customer Trust | Imagine sending an email to a prospective client from a Gmail account. The chances are that he will see it skeptically since you can be anybody and not necessarily someone from the company you claim. This does not work well for initial trust-building. | Paid email services allow you to use your company’s domain name for creating the email ids. Therefore, people tend to trust the email since it is visible proof of the fact that is has come from the organization. |
| Scalability | Most free email providers offer limited storage and features. While some offer a paid upgrade, the free plans are limited. Therefore, scaling up within the free plan is restricted. | Paid services allow you to scale up the resources as required. If you are expecting your business to grow soon, then you can look for a plan that offers cost-efficient scaling options. |
| Costs | These plans are free. Hence, they are beneficial to small businesses and startups who are still testing the waters. | These plans are better for those who know what they want from their email service and are willing to pay accordingly. |
Summing Up
Hence, as you can see, while free services are easier on the pockets, they have certain limitations. Hence, it is important to assess the email requirements of your business before choosing one. Research well and look for a cost-efficient option that helps you focus on your business without having to worry about the technical aspects of email services. Good Luck!
