Cheapest Professional Email for Small Business UK: 7 Options Ranked

If all you want is a professional email address that uses your own domain and costs as little as possible, this article is for you. The cheapest options start around £10 a year. The mainstream options sit around £70. Our pillar guide on whether you need a professional email at all covers the legal side; this article covers the cheap end of the market.

1. IONOS Mail Basic, from £0.59 a month

IONOS is the cheapest mainstream option in the UK if you do not mind the renewal price jumping after year one.

Mail Basic starts at £0.59 per mailbox per month on the annual plan, roughly £7 a year. Storage is 2 GB, small but enough for a sole trader who archives regularly. A first-year domain is often included.

The catch: renewal is typically much higher than the introductory rate. Check it before signing a multi-year deal.

2. Namecheap Private Email Starter, £0.88 per mailbox per month

Namecheap is the cheapest option with a properly generous storage allowance.

Private Email Starter is £0.88 per mailbox per month on annual billing, roughly £10.56 a year. Storage is 30 GB, more than Google Workspace entry tier. You get 24/7 support and a 30-day free trial.

The catch is the domain, which adds £6 to £22 a year separately. Total is around £20 a year for one mailbox with a .co.uk domain. Still cheap.

3. One.com Starter, £0.99 per mailbox per month

One.com is a Danish provider with a long UK presence, popular with sole traders who want hosting and email bundled.

The Starter plan is £0.99 per mailbox per month, around £11.88 a year. Storage is a generous 50 GB. The hosting bundle option lets you put a basic site on the same plan.

Email-only works fine. If you want hosting too, the bundle is usually better value.

4. Hostinger Business Email, £1.59 to £3.99 per mailbox per month on renewal

Hostinger is heavily marketed at first-time UK business owners, with low first-year promo prices and higher renewal rates.

The starter plan renews at £1.59 per mailbox per month, around £19 a year, on the 48-month plan. Premium plans renew at £3.99 per mailbox per month. First-year promo rates are significantly lower but do not renew at the promo rate.

Be honest about the renewal when comparing. £19 a year is what you actually pay from year two. Storage is 10 GB on starter.

5. Zoho Mail Lite, around £0.80 a user per month

Zoho is the cheapest entry point, it offers a forever free plan which provides access for up to five users, with 5GB of storage per user, and custom domain hosting. However, the forever free plan is web app only, meaning you cannot use IMAP/POP3 to connect to external apps such as Outlook or Apple Mail.

Mail Lite is £0.80 per user per month for 5 GB storage, or £1 for 10 GB, billed annually. That works out to roughly £10 to £12 a year per user at current rates. This plan allows you to connect to external apps such as Outlook or Apple Mail, as it supports IMAP and POP3.

6. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, £5.75 a user per month

Microsoft 365 is the mainstream choice if you want a grown-up platform without paying for desktop apps.

Business Basic is £5.75 per user per month ex VAT (from July 2026; was £4.90 before), around £69 a year. Storage is a 100 GB mailbox plus 1 TB of OneDrive. Teams is included.

This is the natural choice for UK businesses working with traditional clients who send Word documents.

7. Google Workspace Business Starter, £5.90 a user per month

Google Workspace is the mainstream choice if you prefer a lighter, browser-based setup with AI included.

Business Starter is £5.90 per user per month ex VAT annually, around £70.80 a year. Storage is 30 GB pooled. It includes basic AI tools like Smart Compose. The full “Gemini for Workspace” assistant requires a paid add-on, so factor that in if AI is a priority.

For the full side-by-side, our Workspace vs Microsoft 365 comparison covers cost, storage, desktop apps and admin in full.

Which one is right for you?

For a single mailbox you barely use, pick IONOS or Namecheap. If you want a mainstream platform you can grow into, pick Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

A sole trader who just needs an email for invoices and enquiries can do well with Namecheap at around £20 a year all-in (including the domain).

A limited company with two or more directors should pay the small price gap to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for the better mailbox, integrated calendar and room to grow.

One thing most cheap email providers will not flag: your website still needs to meet UK legal requirements regardless of where your email lives. A privacy policy, cookie notice, terms and conditions, and the right business information in the footer. Run an existing site through our free website compliance checker to see what is missing.

The all-in-one option

If you are weighing the £10-a-year cheapest options against the hassle of setting them up yourself, there is a middle route. Our step-by-step guide to setting up a custom email domain walks through what the setup involves if you do it yourself.

Duport’s website build starts from £360. Mention this article when you get in touch and we’ll honour the £144 rate. That covers a mobile-friendly site with email and domain bundled, live in 72 hours, with about 30 minutes of your time.

For those also registering a limited company, the full bundle is £244 upfront. That covers company formation, your website, email, and seven compliance tools together. Annual renewal is £94.

Cheap email plus a Wix subscription plus a domain plus your time often costs more than the bundle once everything is added up.

FAQs

• What is the absolute cheapest professional email for a UK sole trader?

If you do not mind being restricted to a web browser or a specific app, Zoho’s forever free tier is completely free. If you need a traditional setup that connects to Apple Mail or Outlook, IONOS Mail Basic at around £7 per year (first-year promo) is the cheapest starting point.

• Do I get less reliable email if I pay £10 a year instead of £70?

Reliability of well-known providers is similar; what you lose at the cheap end is storage, AI features and integration with calendar and chat.

• Can I use a free Gmail address as my business email instead?

Legally yes, but trade accounts and bigger customers tend to treat free Gmail addresses as less credible.

• How much does the domain cost on top of the mailbox?

A .co.uk domain costs £6 to £22 a year from a UK registrar, on top of whichever mailbox plan you pick.

• Is my Wix or Squarespace website legally compliant in the UK?

Not automatically. UK law requires your website to include a privacy policy, a cookie notice, clear terms and conditions, and specific business information (such as your registered company name and number if you’re a limited company). Most website builders include template pages for some of these, but they don’t check whether your content is accurate or complete. Use our free website compliance checker to see what your site has and what it’s missing.

Rebecca