Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are excellent, but they have one catch: you pay for every mailbox, every month. For a 10-person office that's fine. For a company with 60 people — many of whom send only a few emails a day — the bill grows quickly and keeps growing as you hire. That's where your own mail server comes in.
What "your own mail server" means
Instead of renting mailboxes per user, you run business email software on a server you control — either a machine in your office or, more commonly, a managed cloud server. You can create as many mailboxes and aliases as you need. The only real limit is the server's storage, and that can be upgraded.
Your staff still get everything they expect: webmail, Outlook on their computers, and email on their phones.
The benefits
- No per-user fees — add staff without increasing your email bill.
- Unlimited mailboxes and aliases — for role addresses, seasonal staff and shared inboxes.
- Control over your data — you decide where email is stored and how long it's kept.
- Your own rules — mailbox sizes, attachment limits and retention set to suit your business.
The trade-offs, honestly
A mail server is not "set and forget". To work well, it needs:
- Security updates and monitoring, so it stays safe and online.
- Spam and virus filtering, so junk stays out of inboxes.
- Daily backups, so no email is ever lost.
- Correct DNS records — SPF, DKIM, DMARC and reverse DNS — so your emails land in inboxes, not spam folders.
It also doesn't include office apps like Word, Excel or Teams. If your team relies on those, a mix of both (see below) often works best.
This is why most businesses have their mail server managed for them. With the right setup and monitoring, your own server can be just as dependable as the big platforms.
Who it suits
- Businesses with 20 or more mailboxes
- Companies with many staff who only need basic email — factory floor, warehouse, drivers or field teams
- Organisations that want their email data kept on their own server
- Anyone whose email licence bill keeps growing every year
The hybrid option
You don't have to choose just one. A common setup is Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for managers and office staff who need the full apps, and your own mail server for everyone else. With the right routing, both can often work on the same company domain — we'll tell you whether it suits your case.
Still deciding between the big two? Read Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace.
What a proper setup includes
- Mail server on your own hardware or a managed cloud server
- Webmail, Outlook and mobile setup for every user
- Spam and virus filtering
- Daily backups and 24x7 monitoring
- SPF, DKIM, DMARC and reverse DNS for reliable delivery
- Migration of existing email from your current provider
Paying too much for email?
Tell us how many mailboxes you have — we'll compare the cost of each option and send you a fixed quote.