plainmailPlainmail vs Google Workspace
Prices checked November 6, 2026
Google Workspace is a full office suite billed per user. Plainmail is only email, billed per account: one $5 plan covers every domain you own. If you need Docs, Drive and Meet, Workspace is the better buy. If you need real inboxes on lots of domains, Plainmail costs a fraction of it.
Side by side
| Plainmail | Google Workspace | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5 a month, flat | $7 per user a month on an annual plan, $8.40 month to month (Business Starter) |
| 7 mailboxes on 6 domains | $5 a month | $49 a month annual, $58.80 month to month |
| Domains | Up to 50 | One primary domain plus secondary and alias domains, set up one by one |
| Storage | 25 GB shared across your mailboxes | 30 GB per user, shared with Drive |
| DNS setup | Written for you on Cloudflare, Vercel and Porkbun; exact records and checks elsewhere | You add MX, SPF and DKIM records at your DNS host for each domain |
| Mail apps | Any IMAP/SMTP app: Apple Mail, the Gmail app, Outlook, Thunderbird | Gmail on the web and mobile, plus IMAP |
| AI agent access | MCP server and REST API: set up domains, read, send and reply | Gmail API with a Google Cloud project and OAuth app |
| Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar | Not included | Included |
| Bulk and marketing mail | Not allowed | Not meant for it either |
When Google Workspace is the better pick
- Your team works in Docs, Sheets, Drive and Meet every day. Email comes bundled with tools you would pay for anyway.
- You need Google's admin tools for managing people, devices and data.
- You have a few people on one domain, so per-user pricing stays small.
When Plainmail is the better pick
- You own many domains and want a real inbox on each one, not one Gmail with aliases.
- Most of your mailboxes are project addresses like hello@ and support@, not people. Paying a Workspace seat for each adds up fast.
- You want an AI agent to set up the domain and answer mail without building a Google Cloud OAuth app.
- You already read mail in Apple Mail or the Gmail app and don't need another suite.
Switching to Plainmail
- Add your domain in Plainmail and create the same addresses you have today.
- Copy your old mail over with your mail app or any IMAP migration tool. Both sides speak IMAP.
- Let Plainmail write the new MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, or copy them at your DNS host. New mail starts arriving at Plainmail within minutes to a few hours, depending on DNS caching.
- Cancel the old plan once nothing new arrives there.
Get started$5 a month for up to 50 domains and 100 mailboxes