This is not self-hosting related but If all you need is *@domain.tld (wildcard and any number of emails) without the ability to send out emails easily, try Cloudflare Email routing , this will forward all emails received on *@domain.tld (amy@domain, [email protected] ) to another of your existing email (can be gmail or proton mail or any other email address). if you need 1 to 5 inbox with easy setup and limited storage, try Zoho mail Forever Free plan* : Easy setup, Five free inbox with 5GB/User on custom domain. Can send and receive email compared to Cloudflare Email routing. Outlook - E5 developer account: Microsoft offers E5 developer account to Developers for 3/4 months, you can get 1 easily and as long as there are some developer activity, it will renew itself. (Not recommended) Skiff mail: Easy setup, 1 inbox with send and receive on custom domain (10GB storage on free), they also have refer bonus edit: clarifying cloudflare email routing and E5 Developer account recommendation edit2: skiff announced that it will discontinue its email service as of 16/02/2024 edit3: Zoho Forever free plan and cloudflare email routing clarification edit4: Zoho has started restricting their free forever email services. For now, it is "Available only in select data centers" Answer from Bekar_vai on reddit.com
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/selfhosted › best way to get [email protected] for free or cheap?
r/selfhosted on Reddit: Best way to get [email protected] for free or cheap?
October 12, 2023 -

So I have researched about self hosting your own email server such as Mailcow but it seems pretty divided on whether or not you should do it due emails potentially not getting delivered due to spam filters and such. So I'm kinda not interested in self hosting so I'm wondering what is the next best option to get my own email ideally for free but maybe settle for really cheap?

Edit: I have my own domain already.

Edit2: Thank you all! I have my domain with Cloudflare so I have tried their email routing but would like to be able to send from it too. I'll check out some other suggestions.

Edit3: Wow this got a lot of replies. Again thanks all for the recommendations. I haven't had a chance to actually check any out yet (busy weekend) but I will get to it.

Edit4: So I've had a little time to look at some of the options and it looks like maybe Zoho, onepoundemail or PurelyMail. They are both fairly cheap and around the same price. Anyone know how they compare?

Edit5: I ended up paying for Zoho for $12/year. So far it's doing everything I wanted and more. Very happy with it! Thank you all!!!

Top answer
1 of 61
74
This is not self-hosting related but If all you need is *@domain.tld (wildcard and any number of emails) without the ability to send out emails easily, try Cloudflare Email routing , this will forward all emails received on *@domain.tld (amy@domain, [email protected] ) to another of your existing email (can be gmail or proton mail or any other email address). if you need 1 to 5 inbox with easy setup and limited storage, try Zoho mail Forever Free plan* : Easy setup, Five free inbox with 5GB/User on custom domain. Can send and receive email compared to Cloudflare Email routing. Outlook - E5 developer account: Microsoft offers E5 developer account to Developers for 3/4 months, you can get 1 easily and as long as there are some developer activity, it will renew itself. (Not recommended) Skiff mail: Easy setup, 1 inbox with send and receive on custom domain (10GB storage on free), they also have refer bonus edit: clarifying cloudflare email routing and E5 Developer account recommendation edit2: skiff announced that it will discontinue its email service as of 16/02/2024 edit3: Zoho Forever free plan and cloudflare email routing clarification edit4: Zoho has started restricting their free forever email services. For now, it is "Available only in select data centers"
2 of 61
71
For email, I use MXRoute . They're especially affordable if you snag them on sale , which they have now and then . One possible option would be to use Cloudflare's free email forwarding to a regular (free) gmail account, and set that gmail account to send all outgoing mail via MxRoute (using Gmail's "send-as" feature), or though any other mail sending servie with a free tier, with your personal domain; I also setup a mail rule in Gmail to flag/tag all email that was sent directly to the gmail address, so I would notice it.
🌐
Zoho
zoho.com › home › custom domain email
Create Custom Domain Email Address in Zoho Mail - Free for 5 Users
If you are a small business or team with five users or less and limited needs, then you can opt for the free custom email address plan, which includes 5GB for each user and email hosting for a single domain.
Discussions

Custom email domain for free on Gmail - Networking & Firewalls - Lawrence Systems Forums
Hi I’m a hobbist trying to create a custom domain email on gmail for free. It uses a domain routing rule to point the emails to a gmail email address and on the gmail side it uses an app password to to access the gmail SMTP sever for this custom email address. More on forums.lawrencesystems.com
🌐 forums.lawrencesystems.com
1
April 8, 2025
Custom domain free
Hallo, I own a domain and it is hosted by Microsoft on one of the free accounts they provided a number of years ago. It works fine as is however I am wondering about upgrading to 365 personal. I don't want to lose access to my existing email though. Would I be able to continue to use my custom ... More on learn.microsoft.com
🌐 learn.microsoft.com
3
10
January 21, 2023
Best Email Host For Custom Domain?
I haven't used any of those but I do use Purelymail which at $10/year is probably cheaper than all of them unlimited domains, unlimited addresses, unlimited subaccounts (if you want to give addresses to your friends without sharing your password with them) More on reddit.com
🌐 r/selfhosted
47
9
February 22, 2024
Best way to get [email protected] for free or cheap?
This is not self-hosting related but If all you need is *@domain.tld (wildcard and any number of emails) without the ability to send out emails easily, try Cloudflare Email routing , this will forward all emails received on *@domain.tld (amy@domain, [email protected] ) to another of your existing email (can be gmail or proton mail or any other email address). if you need 1 to 5 inbox with easy setup and limited storage, try Zoho mail Forever Free plan* : Easy setup, Five free inbox with 5GB/User on custom domain. Can send and receive email compared to Cloudflare Email routing. Outlook - E5 developer account: Microsoft offers E5 developer account to Developers for 3/4 months, you can get 1 easily and as long as there are some developer activity, it will renew itself. (Not recommended) Skiff mail: Easy setup, 1 inbox with send and receive on custom domain (10GB storage on free), they also have refer bonus edit: clarifying cloudflare email routing and E5 Developer account recommendation edit2: skiff announced that it will discontinue its email service as of 16/02/2024 edit3: Zoho Forever free plan and cloudflare email routing clarification edit4: Zoho has started restricting their free forever email services. For now, it is "Available only in select data centers" More on reddit.com
🌐 r/selfhosted
347
295
October 12, 2023
People also ask

What is custom email domain?
Custom email domain is the name of your brand or website domain that you use to generate email addresses for your company, instead of using the email provider's generic name. For example, a custom email domain can be used to create email addresses in the format [email protected].
🌐
zoho.com
zoho.com › home › custom domain email
Create Custom Domain Email Address in Zoho Mail - Free for 5 Users
How many custom email addresses can I have with a domain?
There is no limit to the number of email addresses you can create with your domain name. The free plan comes with a cap of five custom domain email addresses, whereas the paid plan can be extended to any number you would require.
🌐
zoho.com
zoho.com › home › custom domain email
Create Custom Domain Email Address in Zoho Mail - Free for 5 Users
Can I migrate my existing emails to hostinger email hosting service?

Yes, you can. Once you’ve purchased a plan and created an email account, you can use our easy-to-use Email Import tool to migrate emails from your previous provider in a few clicks. No need for any technical know-how on your end. You can check this article to learn how to migrate business email services to Hostinger.

🌐
hostinger.com
hostinger.com › email hosting
Business Email | Get a Professional Email Address in Minutes
🌐
Moosend
moosend.com › email marketing › 8 free email domain providers for 2025 [guide]
8 Free Email Domain Providers For 2025 [Guide]
1 day ago - ... Is it 100% free? Yes, Mail.com is a 100% free domain name provider that you can use without requiring web hosting or domain registration. However, you can’t create custom domain names.
🌐
Lawrence Systems
forums.lawrencesystems.com › networking & firewalls
Custom email domain for free on Gmail - Networking & Firewalls - Lawrence Systems Forums
April 8, 2025 - Hi I’m a hobbist trying to create a custom domain email on gmail for free. It uses a domain routing rule to point the emails to a gmail email address and on the gmail side it uses an app password to to access the gmail …
🌐
InMotion Hosting
inmotionhosting.com › blog › free-email-providers-custom-domain
Free Email Provider for Custom Email Domain | InMotion Hosting
September 17, 2025 - Choose a free email provider with a custom domain capability from our top 3 picks. Get a professional custom email domain.
🌐
Titan Email
titan.email › home › free email domain for business: google workspace & outlook alternatives
Free Email Domain for Business: Google Workspace & Outlook Alternatives
3 weeks ago - Neo offers a 15-day free trial option to build your email account with a free custom email domain. However, the pricing of the email hosting service starts from $1.99 per mailbox per month, where you can get a free custom email domain, an AI ...
Find elsewhere
🌐
Truehost
truehost.com › free-email-services-with-custom-domain
Free Email Services with Custom Domain: A Comprehensive Guide
October 7, 2025 - Yandex Mail is a Russian-based service that provides free email hosting for personalized domains. Although Yandex is less well-known outside of Russia, it provides a reliable email service with some features normally available from premium providers. ... How it Works: You may connect your custom domain to Yandex’s email service by adding DNS records.
Top answer
1 of 3
3

Hi. I'm Brian and I'll try to help.

If you purchase a Personal or Family subscription, the custom domain should still apply. However, as of November 20, 2023, Microsoft will no longer support custom domains with Microsoft 365 Personal or Family. It will be supported with the Microsoft 365 business subscriptions. Custom domains should still work if you have one but you won't be able to create a new one. My personal inclination is to not use a feature for which there no longer is support because if it were ever to break, it would never be fixed and there would be no recourse. It's not that much more expensive to get a business subscription if a custom domain is important to you when using Microsoft 365 and you don't need to be an actual business to subscribe.

I use a custom domain with the free version of Outlook.com. Microsoft (or GoDaddy) is not the registrar. I have my custom domain point to a mailbox that I then forward to my @outlook.com address and I have the custom address configured as an alias for that Outlook.com mailbox. I also have it set as the default From address. If I use the web interface, the From address is my custom address and people receiving my messages see that address whether it's a new message or a reply to an existing message. It doesn't work as straight-forward with a mail client (you would see "on behalf of" in the From address). However, there's a work-around for that as well if you create a send-only account in the client that sends messages you want to show as From the custom address through the real custom domain mailbox rather than relaying through Outlook.com. It can take just a bit more thought about the From address when sending, but I'm so used to it now I rarely make a mistake. I most often use a Chromebook for my normal computer work and since that uses the web interface, the From is always good.

As long as the code you purchase is a genuine Microsoft 365 code and not, say, a code for Microsoft Office Professional Plus, which is often a pirated license, it shouldn't make a difference.

2 of 3
0

Hi David

I'm Anna and I'd be happy to help you with your question. In this Forum, we are Microsoft consumers just like yourself.

Yes, you can continue to use your custom domain with a personal 365 account. You would need to configure the custom domain in the Office 365 admin center and update the MX records for your domain to point to the Office 365 mail servers.

If you decide not to renew your subscription, your account will be downgraded to the free version, which means you will lose access to certain features and services that are only available with a paid subscription. However, you will still be able to access your email using the free version of Outlook.com.

You can use a code purchased elsewhere to upgrade to Office 365 Personal, as long as it is a valid code for that product and it hasn't been used before. You will need to redeem the code in the Microsoft Store or on the Microsoft website, and then follow the instructions to upgrade your account.

I hope this helps ;-), let me know if this is contrary to what you need, I would still be helpful to answer more of your questions.

Best Regards,

Anna

Give back to the community. Help the next person with this problem by indicating whether this answer solved your problem. Click Yes or No at the bottom.

🌐
Dynadot
dynadot.com › email
Free Custom Email Domain - Boost Your Brand | Dynadot
Elevate your business emails with a free custom email domain. Create professional, branded addresses for your team at Dynadot.
🌐
Hostinger
hostinger.com › email hosting
Business Email | Get a Professional Email Address in Minutes
Business Email
Purchase a business email account based on your domain or company name. Boost your brand trust with email hosting services today.
Price   $0.35
🌐
Google Workspace
workspace.google.com › business › new-business
How To Create a Professional Business Email | Google Workspace
Show you're in business and look professional with custom email at your company domain. Create personalized email addresses for your team like joe@yourcompany. ... Your plan includes 30GB of cloud storage, file sharing, video conferencing, 24/7 support, and more. Easily upgrade to unlimited storage when you need it. A user is defined as one personalized email address (you@yourcompany). Group email aliases such as sales@yourcompany and support@yourcompany are included free and don't count as users.
🌐
Apple Support
support.apple.com › en-us › 102540
Use Custom Email Domain with iCloud Mail - Apple Support
When you subscribe to iCloud+, you can use a custom domain name that you already own to personalize your iCloud email address, or you can purchase a new domain.
🌐
Tutanota
blog.flock.com › free-email-hosting-with-custom-domain
Free Email Hosting Custom Domain | 5 Custom Email Domain Platforms
In both cases, domain registration is usually free for the first year; however, you must pay renewal charges afterward. In this article, we will explore the benefits of free email hosting and custom domains with top email service providers.
🌐
Proton
proton.me › support › proton mail › custom email domain › domain setup
How to use a custom domain with Proton Mail | Proton
Learn how to set up a custom domain with your Proton Mail account to send and receive email at @yourdomain.
🌐
Geekflare
geekflare.com › hosting › free email hosting
Free Email Hosting on Custom Domain
February 27, 2025 - You can continue using your preferred email hosting service, like Google or Microsoft, while enjoying Cloudflare’s flexibility. This is particularly useful for businesses, as it simplifies redirecting different inquiries, such as sales or support, to the appropriate recipients. Create email addresses and routing emails for free. Create custom email addresses for a domain.
🌐
GoDaddy
godaddy.com › resources › skills › domains › how to create and set up an email address with your domain name
How to create and set up an email address with your domain name
We’ll cover the setup process, and we’ll talk about how to put your new custom-domain email to work. Editor’s Note: You can get a free professional email for one year with GoDaddy hosting plans.
Published   October 15, 2025
🌐
Neo
neo.space › blog › free-email-hosting-with-custom-domain
Free Domain Email Hosting (Custom Domain) - 4 Ways
Neo provides an easy solution for those looking to set up a free domain email hosting (custom domain). With Neo, you can set up your email on an existing domain or use a new .co.site web domain that you can access via Neo. space. It's user-friendly and secure, with a strong focus on data protection.
🌐
mail.com
mail.com › mail › domains
More than 100 free custom email domains | mail.com
✓ Check domain availability and sign up for free email account ✓ Get custom email address for free ✓ See email address example list
🌐
The Digital Nonprofit
thedigitalnonprofit.com › use-gmail-own-domain-free
How to Use Gmail with Your Custom Domain Name for Free
October 16, 2025 - For business emails, you’ll just choose your custom domain as the sender. Gmail is smart enough that if you reply to an email, it will automatically use the email address that received the message. The Gmail portion of this method is 100% free. However, you will need to have an email host to make it work.
🌐
ImprovMX
improvmx.com
Effortless Email Forwarding for Custom Domains
Set up in seconds to send & receive emails from your custom domain. Absolutely free. Rock-solid infrastructure.