What is Email Hosting?

Email hosting is an Internet/ web hosting service that runs and leases out email servers. These Email Hosting service providers are aimed at more demanding users like small businesses that need to use their own domain name to distinguish themselves from other companies. Using an Email Hosting service allows a smaller business to maintain a stronger brand identity, improve business scalability and increase email security without needing high technical knowledge.

Pros of Using an Email Hosting Service

• Premium Email hosting providers can supply advanced email packages hosted on dedicated email platforms.
• The Email Hosting provider will usually offer a secure authentication scheme with filtering, replication, and rerouting and often use customized open-source applications like RoundCube, SquirrelMail, or Horde.
• With Email Hosting, you can expect better uptime helping avoid critical errors, and communicate in a faster more reliable way than with a free webmail provider. This is especially important for businesses that regularly send and receive instructions or orders from customers that require immediate attention.
• Email Hosting is usually a paid premium service offering far more options than a typical free webmail site such as Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail.
• If your website is hacked or suffers a DDOS attack, then using an Email Hosting Service means you can still communicate with your customers.
• If you need to migrate your website to a new server then you will not need to move your emails as they are hosted for you by your Email Hosting Service. This will save time and the likely expense involved with a potential move.

Cons of Using an Email Hosting Service

• If you need more than one email account for your business, then the costs of using an Email Hosting Service can quickly add up as you usually must pay per user. Some providers will offer per-user discounts when you reach certain numbers of email users.
• There are often restrictions on the size of emails or the number of emails an account can send.
• The email client offered by the Email Hosting service may not be suitable for all your needs.
• An Email Hosting Service may be an expensive choice compared with hosting your own email server. This will depend on whether you have the in-house ability to run a server efficiently.

Larger businesses tend to host their own email server providing the business with even more control and security.