Free vs Paid Email – What’s the Difference & Advantages?

If you are an online business owner, then you must be aware of how important it is to get a domain name and hosting. You can build your website after getting these two, but do you know having a brandable email ID is another important thing that you should consider while building your website? 

Having a brandable email ID highlights your brand, and makes it distinguished from others. You might also have seen some brands use an email address with their own domain name (like [email protected]) instead of using a generic email (like [email protected]). 

Now, the question arises: do you really need to pay for an email service or, are free email services good to go?  To answer this question, I bought this article for you. In this article, I have discussed the differences and advantages of using free and paid email services. 

Without further ado, let’s look at them!

Free Email Vs. Paid Email

There are two options available for you for email services, i.e., Free and Paid. Both of these services carry their own advantages and disadvantages, but before jumping to that part, let’s learn about them first. 

1. Free Email

As the name suggests, you can get free email services from companies like Gmail, Outlook, AOL Mail, and Yahoo. These companies make money by advertising or by selling other products. 

You don’t only get free email services but also a certain amount of storage for your account ( for e.g., Gmail provides 15GB storage), along with many other features like spam filters and protection from viruses. 

Furthermore, Google and Yahoo, the leaders of free email services, provide additional built-in features like chatting/messaging, cloud storage space, and collaboration with other services. So, if you are new, you can go with these two. 

Benefits of using a free email address;

• These services are free to use. 
• They have a user-friendly interface; you can get started with them in just a few clicks. 
• They offer additional benefits like storage space, virus protection, and spam filters. 

The drawbacks of using a free email address are as follows;

• The providers have the right to delete your account at any time, as you don’t own the account or data.
• As they make money from advertisements, you will often see ads in your inboxes.
• Some providers offer only limited storage and can restrict the number of emails you can receive and send per day.

2. Paid Email

To use paid email services, you will have to pay monthly or annually. The fees can vary from provider to provider and usually range from $5-$10 per month.

This paid email service will allow you to have more storage space in comparison to a free account, along with an email with your domain name. You can also enjoy other benefits like priority customer support, no ads, extra cloud storage space as well as integration with other services. 

If you take my suggestion, I suggest GSuite (aka Google Workspace) or Zoho for paid emails. I am one of the regular users of Gsuite, and I am happy with the results. 

Note: You can use this link to get 20% OFF on Google Workspace.

Benefits of using a paid email address:

• You will be the boss of your data and account; the provider will not have the right to delete your account. 
• You won’t see any ads in your inbox. 
• You will get more storage than with a free account. 
• You may also get the benefit of additional features like cloud storage space or collaboration with other services. 

Drawbacks of using a paid email address:

• You will have to pay a certain amount to use its services. 
• You might face a little difficulty setting up a paid account.

Difference Between Paid and Free Email?

I hope you get a basic idea of what paid and free email is by now. Now, let’s look at more differences between the two based on different features:

Privacy & Security

Storage Space

Storage space is another one of the big differences between paid and free email services.

Note: You can also go for unlimited storage plans, which are offered by some of the providers. 

Advertisements

Unnecessary advertisements can be irritating sometimes and, therefore, are also considered one of the important factors when comparing free and paid emails. 

Spam Filters and Virus Protection

Although spam filtration is provided by paid and free, there are some differences in both spam filters and virus protection, which are as follows: 

Accessibility and Better Customer Experience

There will be times when you might need help from the providers, and here, customer support comes into play. There is a huge difference between customer support of paid and free email accounts, which are as follows: 

Branding and Professional Appearance 

It is another important factor that you should consider while deciding between a paid and free email account. Differences based on this factor are as follows:

Extras, Add-Ons, and Cost

Everyone loves it when they get something extra at the same cost, but you do not get it free email account. Let’s look at some of the differences based on this:

Compatibility with Cross-Devices

Last but not least, compatibility. Whatever email account you choose should be compatible with all devices. There is a remarkable difference between the paid and free email based on compatibility, which are as follows:

These all are the differences between paid and free email. You can consider these differences when deciding between them.

Conclusion

Free and Paid emails both have their perks and drawbacks. I have discussed both in this article. You can thoroughly read them and decide what is good for you. 

In my view, if your business is small and involves a small number of emails, then you can go for the free email account. However, if your business demands more email, extra space, and extra features, then you should opt for Paid emails. 

I hope you find this article helpful and that you find the answers to your questions. If you still have any doubts, you can always contact me. 

That’s all from my side!

Thank you for being a wonderful reader.