The Best Email Hosting for Web Agencies and Their Clients

Email hosting sounds like a solved problem. Pick a provider, point some DNS records, done. But ask a room full of agency owners where they host their clients’ email, and you’ll get a surprisingly strong set of opinions — along with a few hard-won lessons about deliverability, support burden, and what happens when a hosting provider has a bad year.

The bigger question many agencies have settled on isn’t just which provider — it’s whether they should be involved in client email hosting at all.

This post is a summary of a Tuesday Toolbox discussion inside The Admin Bar community, where agency owners shared their go-to email hosting setups and what they’ve learned along the way.

The Most Mentioned Email Hosting Providers

These providers came up repeatedly in the discussion:

• Google Workspace
• Zoho Mail
• MXroute
• Microsoft 365
• Proton Mail

A number of other providers and approaches came up as well (we’ll get to those).

Why Agencies Choose These Email Hosting Providers

Google Workspace

The default recommendation for client email — even among agencies that use something else themselves.

Google Workspace came up more than any other provider in this thread. What’s interesting is that many members who use something cheaper or more privacy-focused for their own email still point clients toward Google. The reason is almost always the same: clients already know how it works.

“Most of the new clients are less technical but understand how Google products work, so keeping it familiar for them just makes their life easier. The extra cost is worth it if it means the customer is happier and the whole process is more accessible.”

Alison Donnellan

“You’ll pry Google Apps for Business out of my cold dead hands. It’s easy to use, easy to setup, stable and provides a centralized place.”

Melodie Moore

“I always try to nudge clients towards Gmail or Office 365 as it’s large storage, great uptime, and no support needed from me after setup.”

Tim Dickinson

That last point — no support needed after setup — came up repeatedly and is worth underlining. When clients are on Google or Microsoft, they call Google or Microsoft when something breaks. When clients are on a smaller provider you recommended, they call you.

Troy Glancy’s rule of thumb is practical: Google Workspace unless they love Outlook, then M365. Luke Humble guides clients to one of the two big platforms and lets them pick based on preference. Cathy Larkin has been on Google Workspace since the free days and notes most of her clients land there too.

Pete Fairclough used to offer email hosting on his own servers and eventually stopped: “Deliverability issues and the added support burden wasn’t worth the hassle in the end.”

Best fit: clients who want a familiar, well-supported inbox experience and agencies who want to minimize email-related support requests.

Zoho Mail

The affordable alternative that keeps showing up.

Zoho Mail was the second most-mentioned provider in the thread — and almost always for the same two reasons: price and reliability. At around £1/month per user, it’s a fraction of Google Workspace’s cost while covering the core email functionality most clients actually need.

“Zoho for me and clients. Affordable, secure and easy to set up. Love the application passwords — can be created and seen once.”

Ilias Grigoriadis

“Easy to set up, reliable, great interface and GDPR compliant.”

Irene Koukia

“I made the switch from MS and Google to Zoho Mail for new clients. Old clients who want to stay with Google or MS are not forced to switch, but I don’t offer it anymore.”

Raoul Hulsmans

Alex Celeste uses Zoho for their own agency email — partly because they were already using Zoho Invoice — and recommends it or Google Workspace to clients. Ajay D’Souza is on Workspace but taking Zoho seriously after seeing how often it came up in this thread.

Shanto Asif uses Zoho Workspace alongside Proton for personal use, noting it’s cheaper than the alternatives while covering everything he needs.

Best fit: agencies who want to offer clients a capable, affordable email solution — especially those already in the Zoho ecosystem, or clients who don’t need the full Google or Microsoft productivity suite.

MXroute

The value pick for agencies managing multiple client domains.

MXroute came up consistently from members managing email across many client accounts. It’s a no-frills shared email hosting provider — flat pricing, straightforward setup, no per-account charges that balloon as clients grow their teams.

“If you just need solid email functions and not all the other features provided by Google Workspace, then MXroute is a great option.”

Nael Notur

“Clear interface, no futchy futchy things nobody uses.”

Bas Buis

“It’s easy to set up many accounts and cheap for a guy managing several clients like me with several email addresses.”

Isaac Fomo

John Egan uses MXroute most of the time but helps clients get onto Google Workspace when they want it — then explicitly hands support off to Google. Lawrence Ladomery uses Google for his main business domain and MXroute for everything else. Rob Marlbrough uses MXroute for all client email and Apple Mail with a custom domain for his own personal use.

Best fit: agencies or freelancers who manage email for multiple client domains and want straightforward, affordable hosting without per-mailbox pricing at scale.

Microsoft 365

The enterprise default for business-focused clients.

Microsoft 365 came up less often than Google Workspace, but it has a clear use case: clients who are already deep in the Microsoft ecosystem, prefer Outlook, or operate in industries where Microsoft tools are the standard.

“Microsoft 365 — we are a Microsoft partner and most UK businesses grow into Microsoft services at some point.”

Matthew Temple

“Google Workspace unless they love Outlook — then it’s M365.”

Troy Glancy

Melodie Moore is firmly in the Google camp and notes she pays a “high admin cost” with Microsoft. Ajay D’Souza is considering M365 primarily for the additional storage. Pete Fairclough now refers clients to an IT partner who sets them up with Microsoft 365, having stepped back from managing client email himself.

Best fit: clients in Microsoft-heavy industries or those who specifically prefer Outlook and the Microsoft productivity suite.

Proton Mail

The privacy-first choice for the privacy-conscious.

Proton Mail came up from several members — almost always in the context of privacy and data sovereignty rather than features or price. For agencies and clients who are deliberately moving away from Google’s ecosystem, Proton is the most commonly mentioned destination.

“Proton all the way these days!”

Andrew D. Forbes

Gerson El uses both Proton and MXroute. Cathy Larkin noted a library client she works with uses Proton — a natural fit for an organization with privacy obligations. Shanto Asif uses it for personal email alongside Zoho for clients.

Best fit: agencies or clients prioritizing privacy, European data hosting, or a deliberate move away from Google and Microsoft infrastructure.

Notable Mentions

These also came up in the thread:

• Infomaniak — Rose Newell’s pick; a Swiss-hosted provider at €18/year for five addresses, with K Suite Business for solopreneurs. She considered self-hosting with Stalwart but concluded the IP reputation risk wasn’t worth it when Infomaniak is so affordable.
• Fastmail — Dave Randolph’s choice; a well-regarded independent email provider with a strong reputation among privacy-minded users
• Forward Email — Kevin Hayes uses it for send/receive on custom domains; open-source and free, though he flagged that Gmail is shutting down the external SMTP send feature at the end of the year, which will affect users sending through Gmail clients
• Apple iCloud Mail — Rob Marlbrough’s personal email for $0.99/month on a custom domain; a tidy option for solo operators in the Apple ecosystem
• Titan Email — Patrick Gallagher is considering it as an alternative to Google Workspace, noting the margin on Workspace at $12/month per user is almost entirely profit for Google
• QBoxmail — Matt Hancock resells it to a handful of businesses at a markup; a lesser-known option worth knowing about for agencies interested in white-label email reselling
• CraneMail by NameCrane — Angelo Seraphim uses it for personal mailboxes alongside Google Workspace and xCloud for clients
• Cloudflare Email Routing — Md Shahjahan built a custom email client on top of Cloudflare’s email routing and workers, complete with AI features, MCP support, auto-draft, and auto-filters. He’s still refining it and considering open-sourcing it — Jordan Trask also flagged Cloudflare’s own agentic inbox project as a related resource

The Support Burden Question

This topic came up enough in the thread that it deserves its own section.

Several members have made a deliberate decision to stay out of client email hosting entirely — and it’s not because they don’t know how. It’s because they’ve learned that email support is a bottomless pit.

David Appleby put it plainly: “Find a good IT person and refer all the email to them. Supporting email is bad business in my experience.”

Pete Fairclough ran email on his own servers for clients, ran into deliverability issues, and eventually referred all new clients to an IT contact who handles Microsoft 365 setups. Alex Celeste draws a clear line: help with DNS as needed, but no active support for personal email hosting. Client transactional email through Mailgun — yes. Personal inboxes — no.

The recurring theme: when clients are on Google or Microsoft, support calls go to Google or Microsoft. When they’re on a smaller provider you recommended, they come to you. For many agencies, the math on that isn’t worth it regardless of the margin on the hosting.

Christian McKinney is building his own privacy-first email platform after a rough year with Rackspace and plans a public launch in October. The Rackspace situation — which caused significant disruption for many businesses — was the kind of event that prompts agencies to reconsider their email infrastructure choices from scratch.

Patterns We Noticed

A few things stood out across the thread:

• Many agencies use one provider for themselves and recommend something different to clients. The personal setup (Proton, Zoho, MXroute, Fastmail) is often privacy-focused or cost-optimized. The client recommendation (Google Workspace, M365) is driven by familiarity and support handoff.
• The support burden is a legitimate business decision. Multiple members have consciously stepped back from managing client email — not because they can’t, but because the ongoing support cost isn’t worth the revenue. Referring clients to the big platforms or to an IT partner is increasingly common.
• Zoho is underrated. It came up more than Microsoft 365 in this thread, which might surprise people who think of email hosting as a two-horse race between Google and Microsoft. For clients who don’t need the full productivity suite, Zoho covers the email basics at a fraction of the cost.
• Privacy concerns are driving real decisions. Proton, Infomaniak, Forward Email, and Fastmail all came up from members who are deliberately avoiding Google and Microsoft infrastructure — for themselves, for clients, or both. This isn’t fringe behavior anymore.
• Self-hosting is possible but risky. Rose Newell considered it, Pete Fairclough tried it and stepped back, Patrick van Elk still does it on a VPS. The consensus from those who’ve thought it through: IP reputation risk and deliverability headaches make self-hosted email harder than it looks, and the cost savings rarely justify it unless you know what you’re doing.

How to Choose the Right Email Hosting

These questions can help frame the decision — for your own agency and for clients:

• Does the client already have a preference or existing setup? (Often the right answer is to leave it alone)
• Will you be providing ongoing support, or handing support off to the provider?
• Does the client need the full productivity suite (Drive, Docs, Teams) or just reliable email?
• Is privacy or data sovereignty a priority?
• Are you managing email across many client domains? (Changes the pricing math significantly)

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Hosting for Web Agencies

What is the best email hosting for small business clients? Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are the most commonly recommended options for clients — primarily because clients recognize them, the interfaces are familiar, and support calls go to Google or Microsoft rather than back to the agency. For budget-conscious clients who just need reliable email, Zoho Mail at around £1/month per user is a strong alternative.

Should web agencies manage email hosting for their clients? Many experienced agencies in this community have decided no — or have significantly limited their involvement. The support burden from client email issues rarely justifies the revenue, and deliverability problems can be difficult to resolve without deep expertise. A common approach: help with DNS setup, then refer clients to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or an IT partner for ongoing support.

What is MXroute and is it reliable? MXroute is a shared email hosting provider with flat-rate pricing — no per-account charges as you scale. It came up consistently from members managing email for multiple client domains who want straightforward, affordable hosting. It’s not as feature-rich as Google or Microsoft, but for basic IMAP email it’s well-regarded in this community.

What’s the best privacy-focused email hosting option? Proton Mail and Infomaniak both came up as privacy-first alternatives. Proton is Swiss-based and end-to-end encrypted. Infomaniak is also Swiss-hosted and offers five email addresses for around €18/year — Rose Newell noted it’s so affordable there’s little reason to self-host. Fastmail is another option with a strong privacy reputation.

What happened with Rackspace email hosting? Rackspace experienced significant email service disruptions that affected many businesses. It came up in this thread as a cautionary example — Christian McKinney cited it as the reason he started building his own email platform. If you or your clients are still on Rackspace email, it’s worth evaluating alternatives.