How To Get a Free Business Email Mailbox in New Zealand
A comparison of the Internet's best business email services and charges
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It's 2016 — business branding and exposure is everything. In an ever-connected world, your business can only thrive with an online presence and one of the best ways to do this is with a domain-associated business email address.
So where are the cheapest and free business email providers for New Zealand businesses? Let us tell you.
Every day, New Zealanders make thousands of searches online to discover products and services through the most popular search engines Bing, Google, and Yahoo. As they find their way to your website, seeing a professional Business Email address such as info@mydomain.co.nz will enhance your professional appearance.
A business email address also needs an email hosting service to host your business mailbox and the world of email providers is constantly changing every year. Prior to 2014, there were a number of free business email providers however as they have increasingly started to monetise their service, we provide an in-depth analysis for all the current paid and free email services available.
The chart below highlights 7 important features you should look for in an Email Service provider:
The needs for every email service are unique, but these items will keep your customers in perfect connection with your business 24/7 and ensure you can focus on growing your business.
If you're planning on having multiple email addresses and avoid added costs, look for a service that allows multiple email addresses within the same plan. This gives you the freedom to add accounts like office@ or sales@, as well as setting up an email account for each sales team member etc. Before making any decision, you should, of course, visit the business email hosting provide's own website for a broader view of their features and packages. Please consider this a starter guide to help you build your small business branding with a professional email address.
So where are the cheapest and free business email providers for New Zealand businesses? Let us tell you.
Every day, New Zealanders make thousands of searches online to discover products and services through the most popular search engines Bing, Google, and Yahoo. As they find their way to your website, seeing a professional Business Email address such as info@mydomain.co.nz will enhance your professional appearance.
A business email address also needs an email hosting service to host your business mailbox and the world of email providers is constantly changing every year. Prior to 2014, there were a number of free business email providers however as they have increasingly started to monetise their service, we provide an in-depth analysis for all the current paid and free email services available.
The chart below highlights 7 important features you should look for in an Email Service provider:
- POP, IMAP and Webmail accessibility
- New Zealand-Based Hosting
- 1GB+ of Disk Space
- More than ONE Email Addresses
- 24/7 Phone Technical Support
- Server Reliability
- Value for Money
The needs for every email service are unique, but these items will keep your customers in perfect connection with your business 24/7 and ensure you can focus on growing your business.
If you're planning on having multiple email addresses and avoid added costs, look for a service that allows multiple email addresses within the same plan. This gives you the freedom to add accounts like office@ or sales@, as well as setting up an email account for each sales team member etc. Before making any decision, you should, of course, visit the business email hosting provide's own website for a broader view of their features and packages. Please consider this a starter guide to help you build your small business branding with a professional email address.
Why Business Email?
As opposed to free email solutions such as GMAIL, Hotmail and Yahoo, a business email address can give your business a more professional image giving the branding to your company's domain name (eg sales@mydomain.co.nz). In addition, you have a platform that quarantines your emails and allows you to have dedicated support, uptime and service. A professional email address will be advert-free and have affordable pricing that team members to be added with ease.
As opposed to free email solutions such as GMAIL, Hotmail and Yahoo, a business email address can give your business a more professional image giving the branding to your company's domain name (eg sales@mydomain.co.nz). In addition, you have a platform that quarantines your emails and allows you to have dedicated support, uptime and service. A professional email address will be advert-free and have affordable pricing that team members to be added with ease.
The 4 BEST Email for Business Services - Google, Voyager, Spark & ZOHO
#1 - Google Apps
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In one sentence: The world's most popular paid email hosting service comes at a price. Is it worth it?
What we like?
What we like?
- The speed, reliability, 24/7 support and reliability of the service.
- A HUGE 30GB storage limit.
- The syncing with all your other Google products - Calender, Youtube etc.
- The costs! Google charges US$5/email account. So if you're a growing business, this is going to get expensive as you add to your team.
- You're paying for a service with Google - it doesn't get bigger than that. But for value, consider ZOHO or Voyager as reliable (and cheaper) alternatives.
#2 - Voyager / Net24
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In one sentence: A solution from one of New Zealand's most liked ISP. Just watch the storage space limits!
What we like?
What we like?
- Packed with 5 Mailboxes, freephone support, Net24 deliver a reasonable service. Voyager is notably committed to providing unrivalled levels of customer service as an ISP, and with Net24 you're backed up by two of the best. The pricing per mailbox if you take advantage of the five allowed is $12, a fraction of the annual charges levied by Spark or Google Apps for email hosting.
- 500MB Storage, with additional 100MB available at a price of $1/month. If you're a big sender of files, and not a fan of deleting, you may use this up quite quickly and then ongoing fees may shoot up.
- If you like great support and service and don't use email in great volumes (or delete emails regularly), the Voyager/Net24 is a potential winner.
#3 - Spark
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In one sentence: A reliable, established and trusted provider of business email...at a price.
What we like?
What we like?
- A massive 30GB email storage, and excellent New Zealand support.
- The pricing - but you are paying for the service of one of New Zealand's biggest companies. If you are a Spark customer already, their pricing may be able to be packaged into an existing service - it's worth a call to their team to see if you can get a concession for their email hosting service.
- Consider Spark if you can get better pricing with an already existing business relationship, otherwise it may get expensive.
#4 - ZOHO Mail
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In one sentence: The internet's only 100% Free email hosting service. And it delivers a reliable email service.
What we like?
What we like?
- It's free. That is huge. We also like the support manuals that are provided for connecting the platform to a number of devices.
- You can have up to 25 email accounts, with 5GB of space in each! This is HUGE!
- The ease of setup. It takes about 10 minutes if you have access to your control panel.
- Because it's free, there is little support other than ZOHO community boards, but you get what you pay for in this respect, and in our experience the solution operates reliably meaning your business emails will always be sent and delivered.
- ZOHO is PERFECT for any business wanting to control their costs. If you are a New Zealand startup, small business or established SME looking to adopt business email but don't want a financial commitment, Zoho is 100% for you.
Alternative Business Email Options - Our Results and Analysis
1. YouHost
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In one sentence: An entry-level plan which delivers value, reliability and a range of custom features.
What we like?
What we like?
- The 5GB storage, 100% uptime and security and a range of useful apps that integrate into the web-based email platform.
- Ticket only support and overseas hosting - not a New Zealand service in any form.
- A cheap provider, but offering little next to a free plan other than email support.
2. OpenHost
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In one sentence: A solution that delivers value, reliability and true "New Zealand love", all in the form of an email hosting package!
What we like?
What we like?
- A generous limit of up to 10 email accounts, freephone support and easy setup. This makes business email for a startup
- 1GB Disk Space in total, which may be limiting. Add-on options are available for more disk space (the ongoing monthly price effectively doubles for every 1GB needed).
- A cheap and cheerful solution, which will suit businesses looking for a paid, local New Zealand service without the escalating costs charged if you add more team members.
3. FreeParking
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In one sentence: An excellent, value-rich service that has everything small businesses need to sustain a reliable business email service.
What we like?
What we like?
- The features are generous - 5GB of Email Storage, Kiwi hosting and support, 5 email accounts (plenty for a small business) and a "99.99% Uptime Guarantee"
- Nothing - and FreeParking has an excellent reputation as an email hosting solution.
- FreeParking delivers a package that is worth taking up. At 1/5 the price of Google Apps, this is your backup paid option with a trusted New Zealand brand.
4. PureWeb
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In one sentence: A powerful package with ALL the options. PureWeb is generous!
What we like?
What we like?
- The package is rich in inclusions - a massive 25 GB of storage, Unlimited Aliases (meaning accounts) and phone support. This is quite a powerful offering, which a business with imminent growth plans should carefully consider.
- Not much, if anything.
- If you have a growing business and need a lot of email accounts, PureWeb could be your solution.
5. Discount Domains
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In one sentence: A basic email hosting option, limited to 1GB of space and let down with contact form/email-only support.
What we like?
What we like?
- It's an email hosting service....that's about it.
- 1GB shared storage for ALL accounts is limited, but the service allows an additional 1GB of space for $20/year.
- Contact-form only support, which means slower response times in general.
- This is a middle-of-the-road option, and better value email hosting services can be found elsewhere.
6. CrazyDomains
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In one sentence: An email hosting service that offers good support at a reasonable price, let down by a complex control panel and slow email-based support.
What we like?
What we like?
- The service - expect helpfulness
- Good value for a paid email hosting solution, backed by American service.
- Slow email replies for simple support queries, albeit communicated effectively.
- Not a New Zealand provider, despite a .co.nz domain.
- CrazyDomains is better value ($77/year) if you are a business, wanting up to 10 email addresses. If not, we suggest a more cost-effective local email hosting provider.
Other Services Available
1. GoDaddy
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In one sentence: Aggressive, American and customer service driven. If it wasn't for the pricing being so steep, we'd see it as top contender.
What we like?
What we like?
- The service! It doesn't get much better than GoDaddy. 24/7 phone, live chat and some of the best support agents in the business.
- The speed and ease of the control panel, meaning changes and setup is near-instant.
- The pricing. At $10+ a month, the value isn't there.
- If you want 24/7 support, contact GoDaddy via online chat and ask for a discount on the service. If you can get it for <$100/year, it would be a strong contender based on the level and quality of support offered.
2. Vodafone
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In one sentence: An expensive service, which ties you to registering a domain with Vodafone.
What we like?
What we like?
- Not much. Certainly not the range of "fees" for a simple Email For Business service - business email shouldn't be complicated, but Vodafone thinks otherwise!
- The "Set up fee" (~$10 for a .co.nz, ~$50 for anything overseas) - this is unique to any provider we surveyed. If you want to change registrar, another fee of ~$34 is applied. These costs are unusual and not something we recommend, as it over complicates matters.
- The ongoing monthly costs - $10+ per month, plus the obligation to have your domain with Vodafone.
- The ongoing support - we have not had the best experience with a lot of foreign-based service, time delays and inconclusive answers. Vodafone has great branding, but the service needs to meet the promise in our opinion.
- Unless you are a Vodafone customer and being offered extremely discounted pricing, we suggest you look for another business email service.
3. KiwiLink
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In one sentence: New Zealand's most expensive Email hosting service - you will not find any pricier offerings!
What we like?
What we like?
- Kiwilink is a small company, which potentially means dedicated service. That's about it.
- High pricing, low value.
- An apparent lock-in to additional website hosting
- Kiwilink is unsuitable for most SMEs looking for domain email, but we've included them as their offering is similar to others and if you are an existing client then more competitive pricing may be available.
