Creating e-mail accounts with your domain name adds an extra layer of credibility to your business. If you are only out to create a single email account for yourself, the cost can be pretty low.
But if you're like most businesses, you'll likely need at least a few email accounts for yourself, your partners and your staff members.
In this case, solutions like GSuite email (US$6/month per email account) and GoDaddy email hosting (US$5/month) can quickly become expensive.
If you want to keep your costs down and still want to give your clients and customers a more professional front, this guide will show you how to create an unlimited number of custom domain email accounts for under RM180/year.
Let's get started!
The Method: MXRoute E-mail Hosting + Free Gmail
The method we're using today is by hosting our emails with MXRoute and then forwarding the emails to free Gmail accounts.
Pros of Method
- Unlimited number of e-mails on unlimited number of custom domains
- A budget-friendly solution compared to US$6/mo/email account from GSuite
- Send and receive e-mails from multiple custom domains using one free Gmail account
Cons of Method
- Can be complicated to setup for newbies
- If your free 15GB in Gmail is exceeded, you'll still need to upgrade to a paid account which starts from RM8+/month
Setting up Your Custom E-mail Accounts with MXRoute and Free Gmail
Step 1: Set up an account with MX Route
While there are many email hosting in the market, I highly recommend MXRoute.
That's because MX Route is both user-friendly, reliable and affordable. It's also one where they don't put a limit on the number of domain names or email accounts you can create, making it a highly budget-friendly solution.
They offer a few different types of plans, all of which you can add unlimited email accounts to. The main difference between them is the storage.
Since we will be forwarding our e-mail to our free Gmail account, we can go with the cheapest, US$40/year plan.
(If you want to store your emails on MXRoute though, pick a bigger plan)
Step 2: Configure your domain name DNS
The next step is to configure your DNS to MXRoute. You'll get the instructions on how to do this in your inbox upon sign up.
In one of the emails, you'll get information as below:
You'll need the information under "DNS MX Records" and "DNS TXT RECORDS (REQUIRED)" to configure your DNS for MXRoute.
Depends on your domain name provider, you'll need to follow specific instructions on how to add new MX and TXT records to your domain name.
If you're unsure how to do this, just Google: "[your domain name provider] + add a record"
Make sure to complete this step before moving on. Your DNS must be pointed to MXRoute before you can move to the next step.
Use a DNS checker like WhatsMyDNS to check if you want to be sure the DNS has fully propagated.
Make sure to set up the DNS for every domain name you want to create emails for.
Step 3: Set up your email accounts in MXRoute
Once you've added MXRoute's MX and TXT records to your DNS, it's now time to set up your email accounts inside MXRoute.
Login to your MXRoute account. Inside the admin dashboard, scroll down and click on the "Login to DirectAdmin" button at the bottom.
You'll be presented with this screen:
Here, you can select Account Manager > Domain Setup to add domains into your account:
Add all the domains that you want to create emails for. Remember, you should only add domains which you've set up the DNS for in Step 2.
Once that is completed, you can now create emails. Go to Email Manager > E-mail Accounts to start creating your emails:
Just click on "Create Account" and key in your username and password. For the account size, it doesn't really matter as we'll be forwarding the emails to your Gmail later.
Theoretically, we won't be hitting any limits inside MXRoute itself as we won't be using it for storage.
Make sure to keep your login information with you as we'll need it for the next step.
Step 4: Set up your email accounts in Gmail
Once you've set up your email accounts in MXRoute, it's now time to import your emails into Gmail as well as set up your new email account as an alias.
To recap, there are two things we need to do here:
- Forward mail from MX Route to Gmail, and
- Adding your domain name as an alias so you can send your email from the custom domain
Follow these guides to set up 1 and 2 in Gmail:
Check emails from other account
Send emails from a different address or alias
Again, go back to the earlier account information email and configure according to the following:
"IMAP Server: lisa.mxrouting.net
SMTP Server: lisa.mxrouting.net
IMAP PORTS: 993 (SSL), 143 (non-encrypted)
SMTP PORTS: 465 (SSL), 25 (non-encrypted), 587 (STARTTLS),
POP3 PORTS: 995 (SSL), 110 (non-encrypted)"
Remember to use your full email address in the "Username" field to setup (for e.g. luwee@ec.com instead luwee).
Extra Tips for a Smooth Journey
- If you're planning to send and receive from multiple emails, I'd recommend starting out with a new Gmail account. This way, you can take advantage of a fresh 15GB account.
Conclusion
There you go - a pretty straightforward way of setting up your emails. With a combination of MX Route + free Gmail, you can now create an unlimited amount of emails for RM180/year.
While this isn't the only solution out there, I find it to be a pretty easy and affordable one.
Let me know what you think!