£1.20/moinc VAT · £86 over 3 years. Affiliate link: we may earn a commission, which never changes a score. Why this pick?
Which provider is best for UK small businesses choosing professional email on their own domain? We rank 7 providers with a published score built from prices (inc VAT) and features verified on each provider's own site. Commission is never an input.
Why scores differ from the homepage. Every guide uses the same six score components but weights them for the job. This one counts renewal price (30%) and guide features (30%) most; the homepage's all-round score gives renewal price the biggest share. So IONOS scores 6.3 here and 6.2 overall (#7 on the homepage, where WebHosting UK is #1). See this guide's weights · Methodology
Small print under each price is exactly as the provider advertises it. Buttons are affiliate links (disclosure). Converted figures add VAT at 20% where prices are quoted ex VAT (or the basis isn't stated). 3-yr cost = intro price for the promo period then renewal. Providers that bill in US dollars or euros are converted to pounds for scoring at the ECB reference rate for 26 Oct 2026 ($1 = £0.7492, €1 = £0.8382; source: Frankfurter/ECB). Advertised foreign-currency prices are shown next to every converted figure.
How the score works for this guide
Each component is scored 0–10 and weighted as shown. Commission is never an input. Full methodology.
Host
Renewal price (inc VAT) 30%
Intro price (inc VAT) 5%
Trustpilot 15%
Support 15%
Guide features 30%
UK data centre 5%
Total
IONOS
10.0
10.0
8.5
10.0
0.1
0.0
6.3
Fasthosts
8.3
10.0
9.0
4.0
0.1
0.0
5.0
WebHosting UK
2.6
5.0
9.5
10.0
0.0
10.0
4.5
Proton
2.6
1.0
0.0
0.0
10.0
0.0
3.8
Microsoft 365
4.6
1.9
0.0
0.0
7.3
0.0
3.7
Google Workspace
3.6
1.4
0.0
0.0
6.8
0.0
3.2
123 Reg
6.3
5.0
4.0
2.0
0.1
0.0
3.0
Guide features: Mailbox GB per £, Office apps included, Video meetings included. Only features verified on the provider's own site count. WebHosting UK: Renewal price not published: scored as the highest renewal in this guide.
What to look for: business email
Price per userSuites charge per person; host bundles often share a price across several small mailboxes.
StorageFrom 2 GB per mailbox on hosting bundles to 100 GB+ on suites.
Office apps and video callsGoogle Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Proton bundle documents and meetings.
CommitmentMicrosoft 365's price needs an annual subscription; Google offers a monthly Flexible plan.
This guide compares the business email suites (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Proton) with the cheaper mailbox plans sold by UK hosts, on one published score: renewal price per mailbox or user inc VAT (30%), storage per pound plus whether office apps and video meetings are included (30%), support (15%), Trustpilot (15%), UK data centre (5%) and intro price (5%). For hosts' mailbox bundles see our separate best email hosting UK ranking, which scores on mailboxes and storage per pound alone.
IONOS scores highest at 6.3/10. Fasthosts is second at 5.0.
1-year term (£23.88 today, renews at £47.88/yr ex VAT)
Verified 2026-11-01. Suite prices are per user; host bundles may cover several mailboxes for one price (see the specs). Trustpilot scores for Google, Microsoft and Proton cover the whole company page, not just business email.
Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Proton?
Google Workspace Business Starter: Gmail on your domain with Docs, Sheets, Drive and Meet; 30 GB pooled storage per user. £7 per user a month on the monthly Flexible plan or £5.90 on an annual plan (ex VAT).
Microsoft 365 Business Basic: Exchange email in Outlook with Teams and web and mobile Office apps; 100 GB mailbox per user. £5.40 per user a month on an annual subscription (ex VAT).
Proton Workspace Standard: end-to-end encrypted email under Swiss law, with Drive, Docs, Meet, VPN and Pass; billed in USD, EUR or CHF.
Hosting email (IONOS, Fasthosts, 123 Reg, WebHosting UK): the cheapest way to get a few mailboxes on your domain, but no office apps and smaller mailboxes.
British brand, UK data centres, strong small-business hosting
Pros
UK data centres
24/7 UK phone support
Generous storage
Free domain included
Cons
Renewal jump after 3–12 month promo
Few mailboxes on cheaper plans
Green-energy claim self-declared
Scored plan: Mail Basic 5, 5 mailboxes, 2 GB each. 6-month promo, then monthly. Email hosted in "secure European data centres". Trustpilot 4.8/5. Verified 2026-11-01.
Swiss end-to-end encrypted business email with Drive, Docs, Meet, VPN and Pass in Proton Workspace
Pros
End-to-end encrypted email, Swiss jurisdiction
1 TB storage per user on Workspace Standard
Includes Proton Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet, VPN and Pass
Cons
Billed in USD, EUR or CHF (no GBP)
Dearest per-user option here
Trustpilot score covers all Proton products
Scored plan: Workspace Standard, Per user: 1 TB storage, encrypted mail, Drive, Docs, Meet. Per user, billed yearly ($155.88/user every 12 months). Converted from US dollars at the ECB reference rate for 26 Oct 2026 ($1 = £0.7492); you are billed in USD, so the pound figure moves with the exchange rate. Proton also sells a cheaper Mail Essentials plan whose price wasn't shown on the page we checked. Trustpilot 2.1/5. Verified 2026-11-01.
Gmail on your own domain with Docs, Sheets, Drive and Meet; priced per user in pounds
Pros
Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Drive and Meet
Monthly Flexible plan with no commitment (£7/user)
30 GB pooled storage per user on Starter
Cons
Storage is shared between email and Drive
Trustpilot 1.3 from few reviews of workspace.google.com
UK data regions only on higher plans
Scored plan: Business Starter (Flexible), Per user: 30 GB pooled storage, Gmail, Meet (100 people), Docs/Sheets. Monthly, per user, no commitment (£5.90/user/mo on an annual plan). Price per user; annual plan £5.90/user/mo. Trustpilot 1.3/5. Verified 2026-11-01.
Established UK brand with cheap 3-year lock-in deals
Pros
Very low upfront for 3-year lock
Free domain & SSL
cPanel control panel
Long-established UK brand
Cons
High renewal prices
3-year lock-in commitment
Mixed support reviews
Scored plan: Professional Email Pro Light, 1 mailbox, 10 GB. 1-year term (£23.88 today, renews at £47.88/yr ex VAT). Per mailbox; data-centre location for email not stated. Trustpilot 3.8/5. Verified 2026-11-01.
Zoho shows prices by region and its official pricing page didn't display a UK (GBP) price to our checker on 27 Oct 2026, so we can't verify a pound price to score it on the same basis. Zoho's page lists Mail Lite (5 GB or 10 GB per user, billed annually) and Mail Premium (50 GB), plus a free plan for up to 5 users without IMAP/POP.
Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for a small UK business?
Both include email on your domain, calendars, file storage and video meetings. Microsoft 365 Business Basic is £5.40/mo per user ex VAT on an annual plan with a 100 GB mailbox; Google Workspace Business Starter is £7/mo per user on its monthly Flexible plan (£5.90 on an annual plan) with 30 GB pooled storage. If your team lives in Word and Excel, Microsoft 365 fits; if you prefer Gmail and Docs, Google.
What is the cheapest professional email in the UK?
The cheapest per month in this guide is IONOS Email Basic (5 accounts) at about £14 in year one inc VAT. Host bundles are cheapest but have small mailboxes and no office apps.
Is Proton Mail good for business?
Proton offers end-to-end encrypted email under Swiss law, plus Drive, Docs, Meet, VPN and a password manager on Workspace plans. It's dearer per user than Google or Microsoft and bills in USD, EUR or CHF.
Can I use business email without changing my website host?
Yes. Email follows your domain's MX records, so you can keep your website where it is and point email at Google, Microsoft, Proton or a host.