Email only host for personal domain

[RastaManBob]

Hello!

I am considering purchasing a domain which I intend (at least initially) to only use for personal email addresses of my family and I. Can anybody recommend the best (cheapest?) way to do so? I was hoping I could just use Google Mail giving easy web-based access and a familiar user interface though this does seem to have a monthly fee...

Is there a good free option? If not, what are the best hosts for an email only package for a small number (certainly less than 5 for the moment) of mailboxes? (Though it'd be nice if I could have a few email address all pointed to a single mailboxes counting against my mailbox limit only once).

Hosting my own email is not an option.

Thank you very much!

 

[Pho]

Unfortunately the best webmail I've found for custom domains are either Google Apps or Microsoft's Exchange Online. Exchange Online is cheaper than Google Apps (£2.50/user/month) but obviously adds up quickly.

Most hosts like Tsohost (~£15/year) seem to use Roundcube for webmail. It's very nice but nowhere near as good as Gmail/Microsoft.

One option may be to use someone like Tsohost for your email then add the account to your Gmail account see here. This lets your Gmail account send/receive email from your host using the Gmail interface.

 

[RastaManBob]

Thanks for the reply. Roundcube might not be the end of the world... Are there any cheaper options for a basic hosting service that just so happens to come with features (website hosting) that I would not use? At the moment I probably only need two mailboxes but I must say even £2.50/user/month = £60/year + the domain cost is probably a bit more than I was hoping for what is nothing more than a personal email address. In the future if that rises to (say) 5 users we're talking £150/year + the domain cost which starts to become a little excessive for my needs.

Clearly I've undervalued this and might need to reconsider! Thanks

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

I use TSOHost, they've been fantastic, support times even at silly o'clock int eh morning are lightning fast. I've needed to contact them maybe 3 times in the time I've been with them which must be at least 4 years now.

I use the Pro Package and pay £49.99 a year, iirc this includes a domain when you first join them. This package allows up to 100 mailboxes as well.

There was a 50% off code kicking around for a while too, cant remember what it was tho or where I got it from.

EDIT:
Code: WELCOMEABOARD - 20% off your first order

So £40 for the year

 

[liamcrane]

I have just signed up with one.com for some webspace. There starter pack is free for the first year and you get unlimited email accounts for your domain. Its just a £10 setup fee but this can be reclaimed buy going through something like top cashback.

 

[RastaManBob]

Thanks for the responses.

Immediately after posting my last message (and before checking back!) I actually ended up picking up a domain through namecheap - I spoke to their LiveChat and ended up getting what (I think...) is a good price. I ended up paying a smidge under £120 (actual price was in USD) for 10 year registration of a .me domain including WhoisGuard for the duration.

I since tried to set up mail hosting using Zoho (free!) which was going swimmingly until I decided to enable two-factor authentication. It didn't ask me for my phone number and now I cannot log in (presumably it's trying to send a code to ??? number). What had been a very productive day has ended very frustratingly. Hopefully I'll be able to get it unlocked tomorrow when their support opens. Even if they are happy to close all accounts on that domain and let me re-configure that would be fine but I imagine this will be rather difficult, given the point of TFA.

We'll see... It looks like I might end up needing one of those other hosts after all...

 

[mtalk]

Google mail is the best option if your only usage of the domain is for email.