If you want an email address like you@yourbusiness.co.ke, you have two main options: professional email hosting on your own hosting account, or a hosted business email suite like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Both put your business name in the email address. The difference is in cost, storage, features, and who manages the underlying mail server.
What each option actually is
Professional email hosting runs on your hosting account's mail server, usually managed through your control panel (cPanel or DirectAdmin). You create mailboxes yourself, and access them through webmail or a desktop/mobile mail app.
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are separate paid subscriptions from Google and Microsoft. Your email still uses your domain name, but the mailboxes live on their servers, not your hosting account. You point your domain's MX records to their mail servers instead of your host's.
Cost
Professional email hosting is typically bundled with your hosting plan or available as a low-cost add-on, with no extra per-mailbox charge. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 charge a monthly fee for every single mailbox you create, billed in US dollars, which adds up quickly once you have several staff email accounts.
Storage and mailbox limits
Mailbox storage on professional email hosting depends on your hosting plan's disk space allocation, which you can usually increase if needed. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 mailboxes come with a fixed storage quota per plan tier (commonly 15GB to 50GB or more), which is generous for most small businesses but is not adjustable outside their pricing tiers.
Features
- Professional email hosting gives you solid webmail, spam filtering, autoresponders, mail filters, and forwarding, all managed from your control panel.
- Google Workspace adds Gmail's interface, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Meet, and shared calendars.
- Microsoft 365 adds Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, and Teams.
If your team already relies on Google Docs or Microsoft Office for daily work, that integration can be worth the extra cost. If you mainly need reliable email and don't need the extra apps, it's an added expense you may not use.
Setup and migration
Switching between the two doesn't mean moving your domain or your hosting. You only need to update your domain's MX records to point mail delivery to whichever service you choose. Your website can stay on your existing hosting account either way, since website hosting and email hosting are handled by separate DNS records.
Changing MX records affects only where new email is delivered. Test the new setup with one mailbox before moving your whole team over, and keep the old mailboxes accessible until you've confirmed mail is flowing correctly to the new destination.
Which one should you choose?
- Choose professional email hosting if you want simple, reliable business email without a per-mailbox subscription fee, and you don't need shared cloud office apps.
- Choose Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 if your team already works inside Gmail or Outlook and needs the shared calendars, video calls, and document collaboration tools that come with it.
Either way, your domain stays yours and you can switch providers later by updating your MX records, without having to change your website or re-register your domain.
For step-by-step DNS instructions if you choose the hosted-suite route, see How to Set Up MX Records for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. If you'd rather keep your email on your hosting account, see ZIPROF's professional email hosting service.