If you run a small business in the UK and you want a professional email address — something@yourbusiness.co.uk instead of a Gmail or Hotmail — you will quickly hit a question that no one seems to answer clearly.
Do you need Microsoft 365? Google Workspace? Or is plain business email hosting enough?
The honest answer depends on what you actually use day to day. This guide explains what each option includes, what each costs, and which one most UK sole traders and small teams genuinely need.
The three options, briefly
Business email hosting gives you a professional email address on your own domain. You can send and receive email, set up multiple mailboxes, access it from any email app on your phone or computer, and manage it from a control panel. Nothing else is bundled in.
Google Workspace gives you Gmail on your domain, plus Google Docs, Sheets, Drive, Meet, and shared calendars. Priced per user per month.
Microsoft 365 gives you Outlook on your domain, plus Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. Also priced per user per month.
The big practical difference: business email hosting does one thing well. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 bundle a full office suite around the email.
Whether that bundle is worth paying for depends on whether your team would actually use it.
What does business email hosting include?
A business email hosting plan gives you:
- One or more email addresses on your domain (e.g. hello@yourbusiness.co.uk, info@, accounts@)
- Webmail access — log in from any browser, no software needed
- Connection to any standard email app on your phone, Mac, or Windows PC via IMAP or POP3
- Spam filtering
- Mailbox storage (typically 5GB to 25GB per mailbox, depending on plan)
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication — the DNS records that help your emails land in inboxes rather than spam folders
What it does not include: shared documents, video calling tools, cloud file storage, or real-time collaboration features.
If your main need is a professional email address that works reliably, business email hosting is usually sufficient — and considerably cheaper than either platform alternative.
Can I use Outlook with standalone business email hosting?
Yes. You do not need Microsoft 365 just to use the Outlook app for business email.
Outlook can connect to a standard hosted mailbox using IMAP for incoming mail and SMTP for sending. That means you can have an address such as hello@yourbusiness.co.uk, open it in Outlook on your computer or phone, and still keep your email hosted with your web hosting provider.
Microsoft 365 is useful when you need Exchange-specific features such as shared calendars, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, or the desktop Office apps. If your main requirement is simply “I want my business email to work in Outlook”, standalone business email hosting is usually enough.
The settings you need are normally available in your Eazyhosting Control Panel: incoming server, outgoing server, ports, encryption type, username, and password. Once entered into Outlook, the mailbox works like any other email account.
What does Microsoft 365 actually include?
Microsoft 365 Business Basic (currently around £4.83 per user per month, billed annually) gives you:
- Outlook email on your domain (50GB mailbox)
- Web-based Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Microsoft Teams for video calls and internal chat
- 1TB OneDrive cloud storage per user
- SharePoint for shared file management
Microsoft 365 Business Standard (around £10.08 per user per month) adds full desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook installed on up to 5 devices per user.
The email itself is handled by Exchange Online, which is Microsoft's email infrastructure — reliable, well-established, and familiar to most people who have used Outlook at work.
What does Google Workspace include?
Google Workspace Business Starter (currently around £5.75 per user per month) gives you:
- Gmail on your domain (30GB mailbox)
- Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides (browser-based only)
- Google Meet for video calls
- Google Drive (30GB shared across the account)
- Google Chat
Google Workspace Business Standard (around £11.50 per user per month) increases storage to 2TB and adds recording for Meet calls.
The key distinction from Microsoft 365: Google Workspace is entirely browser-based. There are no desktop apps to install. Whether that is a benefit or a limitation depends on how your team works.
What does each option cost for a small UK business?
Here is a rough monthly cost comparison for a sole trader or two-person team:
| Option | Typical cost | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Business email hosting | Often included with hosting, or around £1–£4 per mailbox per month | Professional email on your domain, including Outlook access via IMAP/SMTP, without paying per user for office apps |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Around £4.83 per user per month, billed annually, plus VAT | Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, web Office apps, shared calendars, and Microsoft ecosystem features |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | Around £10.08 per user per month, plus VAT | Businesses that need desktop Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook apps licensed for each user |
| Google Workspace | Around £5.75 per user per month at entry tier, plus VAT | Teams already working in Gmail, Google Docs, Drive and browser-based collaboration |
For a sole trader with a hosting plan that already includes email, the difference is simple: Outlook-compatible business email may already be included. Microsoft 365 becomes worth paying for when you need the wider Microsoft tools, not just a professional inbox.
The cost difference compounds quickly across a team. For five people, you are looking at roughly £5–£20 per month for business email hosting versus £24–£50 per month for either platform at entry tier.
That gap is only worth it if your team is genuinely using the collaboration tools — not just paying for them because they were bundled in.
Who actually needs Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 makes sense when:
- Your team relies on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as primary work tools, not just occasional use
- You need Teams for internal communication or regular video calls with clients
- You exchange Word or Excel files regularly with clients or suppliers who are also on Microsoft, and formatting needs to survive the round trip
- You are in a regulated sector (accountancy, legal, finance) where Microsoft's compliance and audit tools are already expected
- You want desktop Office apps installed locally — especially if you work offline or with large files
For many small UK businesses, this describes them accurately. Office is the default, clients send .docx and .xlsx files, and switching away would create friction. If that is your situation, Microsoft 365 Business Standard is a reasonable choice.
Who actually needs Google Workspace?
Google Workspace tends to suit teams that:
- Already live in Google — Gmail personal accounts, Google Docs, Drive — and want to keep that workflow with a professional domain
- Collaborate heavily on documents in real time, with multiple people editing simultaneously (Google Docs still handles this more smoothly than Word Online)
- Are building a business without legacy Microsoft habits, often in tech or creative sectors
- Prefer a simpler, browser-first setup with no software to install or update
If your team has never really been on Microsoft, shifting to Google Workspace is a gentler step than it might look. But if your team is already used to Outlook and Office, moving to Google creates friction for limited benefit.
Who does not need either?
A larger number of UK sole traders and very small teams than you might expect.
If your primary need is a professional email address that works reliably — something you can check on your phone, reply from your laptop, and that does not embarrass you in front of clients — business email hosting handles that completely.
You do not need Microsoft 365 to get a professional email address. You do not need Google Workspace either. Both platforms bundle tools that are genuinely useful for some teams, but the email itself is available without them.
The question to ask honestly: do you currently use Microsoft Teams? Do you open a shared OneDrive folder regularly? Do you collaborate on a Google Doc with a colleague in real time?
If the answer is no, you are paying for tools you are not using.
A note on email deliverability
Whichever option you choose, your email will only land in inboxes reliably if your DNS authentication records are set up correctly. This means SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — three records that tell receiving mail servers your email is genuinely coming from your domain, not a spammer impersonating you.
This is not a Microsoft 365 vs business email hosting issue. It applies to all three options. What matters is that the records are configured and checked.
If you are not sure whether yours are set up, our business email authentication checklist covers what to look for and why it matters. And if you are wondering whether you need a dedicated DMARC service, the short answer for most small UK businesses is probably not.
What does Eazyhosting include?
Business email is included with every Eazyhosting hosting plan. If you host your website with us, you get professional email on your domain without a separate monthly licence per user.
That means a sole trader with a website hosting plan gets hello@yourbusiness.co.uk set up and working — not as an add-on, just as part of the hosting.
For small businesses that primarily need professional email rather than a full collaboration suite, this removes a recurring cost entirely.
If you later decide you need Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace on top — for Teams, or shared OneDrive folders, or desktop Office apps — you can add that separately. You are not locked into one path.
Common questions
Can I use Microsoft 365 just for email and ignore the rest?
Yes. Many businesses do. But you will be paying for Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Office apps you are not using. If email is the main requirement, business email hosting is a more efficient choice.
Is Microsoft 365 email more reliable than business email hosting?
Not meaningfully. Both use professional mail infrastructure. Reliability depends on your provider's setup, not the platform brand. What affects deliverability most is correct DNS authentication — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — which applies equally to all three options.
Do I need Microsoft 365 to use Outlook?
No. You can connect any IMAP email account — including business email hosting — to the Outlook app on Windows, Mac, or mobile. Microsoft 365 is required if you want Exchange-specific features like shared calendars across your organisation, or if you want a properly licensed desktop version of Office.
Can business email hosting handle multiple mailboxes?
Yes. You can set up as many mailboxes as you need — hello@, accounts@, info@, or named individual addresses. Each is managed separately and can be accessed from any email app.
What if my emails are going to spam?
That is usually an authentication issue rather than a platform issue. Check that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly configured for your domain. Our guide to business email not working covers the most common causes, and our authentication checklist walks through the DNS records to verify.
What is the difference between email forwarding and a mailbox?
Email forwarding passes messages to another address — useful as a redirect, but you cannot reply from the forwarded address. A mailbox stores messages and lets you send and receive from your own domain. If you need a proper professional address, you need a mailbox. Our email forwarding vs mailbox guide explains the difference in more detail.
The straightforward summary
If you need professional email on your own domain and your team does not actively rely on Microsoft Office or Google Workspace tools day to day: business email hosting is enough, and considerably cheaper.
If your team genuinely uses Word, Excel, Teams, or SharePoint as daily work tools: Microsoft 365 is worth the cost — it is better value than paying separately for those applications.
If your team already works in Google Docs and Drive, and you prefer browser-based tools: Google Workspace fits naturally.
Most UK sole traders and very small teams are in the first category. The monthly licence cost of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace is worth paying when you are genuinely using what is included — not as a way to get a professional email address.
If you are not sure what your current email setup includes or whether it is working correctly, get in touch and we will take a look.
