I developed a website for a client who is currently using a Gmail account along with a domain email that forwards emails to their Gmail. They wonder if switching to a hosted email service is worthwhile, given they only receive and send about 30 emails each month. I can think of one major con: communication issues, since if one person replies, others might not be aware unless they are cc'd, which can be forgotten. Additionally, the domain is registered with what seems to be a questionable service, as the setup was tricky. What are people's thoughts on this?
5 Answers
Consider using Fastmail.com for hosted email; it’s a solid choice for this kind of situation.
At that email volume, switching to a hosted service might not offer much benefit. The biggest advantage would be having a shared inbox or better visibility, which doesn't seem necessary for them. If that’s not a concern, sticking with Gmail and forwarding is totally fine. However, I'd recommend fixing that unreliable domain registrar first, as that's often where issues begin.
Wait...so you can actually have a shared inbox? Like, it would still function like Gmail but under their domain? That's super helpful, thanks!
Since they already rely on Google, have you thought about Google Workspace? It can simplify things for them.
To add to that point, if they want a more authentic domain presence, using a paid service might be the way to go. If you’re using a cheaper service without proper setup, their emails could end up in spam folders easily. Gmail offers a good but pricey solution where you just point the DNS to them. If the clients want their own email inboxes, just using cc/bcc would help resolve the communication issue.
Thanks for clarifying! For their business size and email frequency, I'm starting to see that a hosted service could really shine.
With this low traffic, I don't think a hosted email service is necessary. Using Gmail with a domain alias is sufficient. Hosted email is really only needed for shared inboxes, visibility for teams, access control, and for cleaner branding/authentication. The issues about 'who replied' can be managed with shared inboxes or labels in Gmail. If their domain setup is already shaky, adding complexity without clear advantages isn't advisable.
Thanks for the suggestion!