# Cheap/free e-mail hosting from my own domain **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454 "2024-12-10T18:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/1 "2024-12-10T18:29:23Z")
I’ve owned and maintained a business domain, website, and e-mail address for decades. I retired three years ago, and although I want to continue to keep the site up, I no longer use the e-mail address. It’s all hosted at GoDaddy, which has just told me renewing the Microsoft 365 e-mail account for another year will cost me $120. Not worth it. Is there any way to move the e-mail somewhere else for less, or free, while keeping the domain and WordPress site at GoDaddy? Alternately, is there anywhere that I could host everything for less than the $400/year or so that GoDaddy charges me? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/2 "2024-12-10T18:39:04Z")
I think Zoho is free for a single user: [Zoho Mail Pricing and Editions - Free for 5 Users](https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html) They’re not as famous as the big players but they’ve been around forever. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/3 "2024-12-10T18:45:20Z")
Also, check out Cloudways or Gridpane for your WordPress site. They are management interfaces that lets you self host on any cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.) so you’re not tied to WordPress resellers. (Edit: Their prices have gone up and this might not be worth it anymore.) Or [nearlyfreespeech.net](http://nearlyfreespeech.net) if you’re comfortable managing it all yourself. Add some WP caching plug-ins and put Cloudflare in front of it and you can probably host it for pennies a year. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/4 "2024-12-10T18:49:55Z")
It seems Gridpane and Cloudways are more expensive now than I remember. There might be cheaper alternatives. Can you break down the $400/year spending in a bit more detail (specifically how much disk space, bandwidth etc your site uses per month) and I can look for something comparable? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/5 "2024-12-10T18:56:02Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Alternately, is there anywhere that I could host everything for less than the $400/year or so that GoDaddy charges me? Yes, many places. GoDaddy is pretty horrible, you should cut ties with them. I inherited a wordpress site in SiteGround and it’s been a pleasant experience. Their basic WP plan comes with free email, and their regular price is $18/mo total, only $2.99/mo this year. [WordPress Hosting - Fast and Secure Managed by Experts - SiteGround](https://www.siteground.com/wordpress-hosting.htm) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/6 "2024-12-11T16:18:28Z")
Sorry not to get back to you all sooner. I was trapped near the inner circle of thought. > [@Reply](#): > > Can you break down the $400/year spending in a bit more detail (specifically how much disk space, bandwidth etc your site uses per month) I have GoDaddy’s [Managed WordPress Ultimate](https://www.godaddy.com/hosting/wordpress-hosting?isc=WCUS50OFF&cdtl=c_20890652154.g_160206331154.k_kwd-1198109239357.a_689113979510.d_t.ctv_g&bnb=nb&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAjeW6BhBAEiwAdKltMhvoJI0X8ESbK381p4yxbDg553KINjzvJAodeKZUA1OUX_8LVuA6KBoCKYMQAvD_BwE), which is about $275 a year, plus $22/year for the domain, and $120 for e-mail. I don’t happen to know how much disk space I’m using, but I’m sure it’s much less than the 30 GB capacity of the plan. Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll check them out. But now that I’ve looked at GoDaddy’s pricing again, I may be able to get away with downgrading my hosting plan at GoDaddy, and saving \>$100/yr. But since the e-mail is relatively pricey, a way to save on that would still be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/7 "2024-12-11T18:05:26Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > But since the e-mail is relatively pricey, a way to save on that would still be helpful. You can move that anywhere you like then. Google and Microsoft are $6 a month. Zoho is free to a few dollars a month. Fastmail is $5. It basically boils down to which webmail interface you prefer, or if you use a desktop or phone client, their app or IMAP support. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/8 "2024-12-11T18:09:19Z")
Also seconding the anti-Godaddy sentiment. They’re not a good company. But if you were going to move anyway, it might be a good time to get off WordPress altogether. They are imploding a bit because their founder has been on an aggressive spree attacking their own partners. It’s gone to court now. Needless drama ☹ Personally I’d move everything to Wix, which has both a good website builder and email. You can import blog posts from WordPress ([Wix Blog: Importing Blog Posts from WordPress to the Wix Blog | Help Center | Wix.com](https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-blog-importing-blog-posts-from-wordpress-to-the-wix-blog)) but there will be additional work required to move your pages over. Or, you know, might just be a “choose your battles” situation. Moving the email and downgrading the hosting seems like a good middle ground. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/9 "2024-12-11T18:19:30Z")
I should also mention that the ultra cheap version of this (if you don’t like the Zoho free plan for some reason) is that you can stop having a “real” mailbox altogether and just forward its emails to your personal email. It’s a feature offered by some domain registrars, like [https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/308/2214/how-to-set-up-free-email-forwarding/](https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/308/2214/how-to-set-up-free-email-forwarding/) Generally I wouldn’t recommend this because it’s confusing for anyone you reply to (it’ll come from your personal email instead of your business one). But if the email is rarely used and you just want to be able to occasionally get a message there and don’t really care about it, it’s an option. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/10 "2024-12-11T21:35:31Z")
Thanks again. Your last suggestion of forwarding would be fine, because if I ever reply to anyone, it would be from my personal e-mail in any case. I thought of that possibility, but wasn’t sure that GoDaddy would let me do it. I guess I can ask when I call them about downgrading the hosting. As for moving the site, I’ll only do that if I can transfer it directly, without any effort, to a cheaper site. It’s a cobweb site with a database that I built with WP plugins that I only keep going as a sort of legacy service for a few people in my former industry. It’s absolutely not worth trying to rebuild on a new site. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/11 "2024-12-11T21:50:25Z")
The last time I had to move a WP site somewhere…I moved from I think BlueHost or HostGator to Dreamhost. Dreamhost did it for me. Or with a few button clicks. So far they have been an OK host as well. That is, if you just have a WP website. I don’t know to what extent your site is not WP. What I did for my clients who were on the old host, I had paid for their hosting for 5 years at a promo price so it was super cheap, like $150 for 5 years. After 5 years I looked for a similar deal which is where I found Dreamhost, and did the same. Host hopping should be pretty easy if you have a basic site. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/12 "2024-12-11T22:03:51Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I thought of that possibility, but wasn’t sure that GoDaddy would let me do it If they don’t, you can transfer your domain registration to another registrar and still keep your hosting with Godaddy. Any dollar less given to Godaddy is a good thing for the world 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/13 "2024-12-12T15:40:17Z")
Well, I’ve just done something I should have done before starting this thread: Look at the inbox for that account. (To be fair to myself, I had previously some troubles logging in, lost passwords, etc. So it had been a while.) I had thought there might be occasional attempts from people I wanted to hear from. But no, there’s been nothing in the past year but junk and spam. So the only reason not to let this account die is that I used it for one of my Microsoft accounts, and my two laptops and a purchase of Win 11 are registered to that account. The problem is that, for some reason, I created another Microsoft account using my new e-mail address. It has no devices or purchases on it. But its existence means I can’t use that e-mail address as an alias on the old one. And it appears that it’s not easy to transfer purchases from one account to another. Transferring devices may be simpler. It also seems that I can’t just close/delete the new account and then add it as an alias on the old one, because they don’t let you reuse e-mail addresses that have been used before. Any suggestions for how to proceed? Ideally, I’d like to have all the devices and purchases on the new account, or be able to use the new address as an alias on the old account. Which would be easier? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/14 "2024-12-12T16:04:53Z")
If it were me, I’d just change the Microsoft account to a new free Gmail or such. [Change the email address or phone number for your Microsoft account - Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/change-the-email-address-or-phone-number-for-your-microsoft-account-761a662d-8032-88f4-03f3-c9ba8ba0e00b) I think you have to use the Gmail at least once every two years to make sure it doesn’t get deleted, though. It is surprising though that you have a business website with a business email and nobody ever contacts you there. What does the website even do, then? How does it generate any leads? (Just trying to understand the situation so as to not mislead you) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/15 "2024-12-12T16:20:14Z")
I found the page that you linked to, but you’ll notice that it says, “use our guided support tool below to help you update the right information in the right way.” And there’s a button below that says “Edit” (?) that has a dead link. But what I think you’re suggesting is to use a third e-mail address as an alias for the old one? I had considered that, and I have another Gmail address I use as a spam trap, but I’d prefer, if possible to use my new address. But if the other options are impossible or too cumbersome, I’ll do that. As for the business site, I’m retired and the business is defunct. But as I mentioned, it hosts a database that some in the business still find useful, even though it hasn’t been updated in more than three years. I keep the site up as a service to the industry. It gets a few hundred visitors a day, and 6,800+ page views in the last month. Eventually I’ll stop paying for the hosting. (I’ve just discovered that the WP plugins I was using to display the DB have been discontinued, and some of the functionality of my DB pages is therefore gone, unfortunately. But I don’t have the time, patience, or money to look for a fix.) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/16 "2024-12-12T17:04:59Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > But what I think you’re suggesting is to use a third e-mail address as an alias for the old one? Yeah, exactly. I don’t know why it’s not working… maybe email Microsoft for help (if that’s even possible?) > [@commasense](#): > > But if the other options are impossible or too cumbersome, I’ll do that. I’m not sure, sorry… haven’t had to deal with Microsoft account shenanigans in a while. Sounds like you’ve already tried that and it didn’t work. Doesn’t seem like that big a deal, though, if it’s just a Windows 11 and laptop registration? If you can hang on to that spam gmail for a few years, you might ever need that account again. A Windows license isn’t worth that much, and the laptop won’t be either in a couple years; probably just canceling the email would save you money in the same time period. > [@commasense](#): > > I’ve just discovered that the WP plugins I was using to display the DB have been discontinued, and some of the functionality of my DB pages is therefore gone, unfortunately. I see your PM about this and I’ll answer there. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/17 "2024-12-14T04:45:27Z")
Zoho is okay. I used them and cannot recall if they muck around with links or add some message saying they sent it. The latter is fair enough, yet SendInBlue/Brevo screws around with any links so they look really suspicious. Believe it or not, Mailtrap now does email forwarding. 1000 emails a month. More than mailgun which I was having a problem setting up. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-free-e-mail-hosting-from-my-own-domain/1011454/18 "2024-12-20T21:26:03Z")
Thanks to everyone who replied, especially (heh) @Reply, for his offline help and offers, and @ZipperJJ, for mentioning SiteGround. I’ve successfully transferred my WP site, domain, and e-mail there quite painlessly, and all for $56/year instead of GoDaddy’s $400. Thanks again.