IONOS Business Email review: plans, pricing and email features for agencies
IONOS sells low-cost business mailboxes on your own domain, plus hosted Exchange and resold Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. IONOS is the web host once called 1&1.
It fits solo agents and small offices that want the cheapest domain mailbox. Mail Basic starts at $1.10 a month on a 3-year term.
- Best for
- Solo agents and small offices that want the lowest price on a domain mailbox
- Price
- From $1.10 a month for one mailbox on a 3-year term
- Free trial
- None. 30-day money-back guarantee
- Mailbox size
- 2 GB on Mail Basic. 50 GB on Mail Business and Exchange
- Shared inboxes
- Forwarding only. No true shared inbox
- Legal hold
- With the $2.50 a month archiving add-on
- AMS connections
- None listed
- Contract
- 3-year term on mail plans
Our take
IONOS wins on price if you can live with a 3-year term. The archiving add-on gives even small agencies legal hold for $2.50 a month.
The gaps show once you have staff. There is no true shared inbox, and each person has to turn on two-step sign-in for themselves.
Read the renewal prices before you sign. Mail Basic roughly doubles after the first term.
Pros
- Mail Basic starts at $1.10 a month
- Archive add-on with legal hold, $2.50 a mailbox
- Free browser tool to move old mail
- A free domain with every plan
- Phone support any hour, with a personal consultant
Cons
- 3-year term to get the advertised mail prices
- No true shared inbox
- Two-step sign-in is up to each user
- 2 GB mailboxes on Mail Basic
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Price a month | Term | Renews at | Mailbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mail Basic 1One mailbox | $1.10 | 3 years | $2 a month | 2 GB |
| Mail Basic 2525 mailboxes in one package | $2 | 3 years | $4 a month | 2 GB each |
| Mail BusinessCalendar and phone sync | $3 | 3 years | 50 GB | |
| Hosted Microsoft ExchangeOutlook 2024 included | $10 | 1 year | 50 GB |
Prices in US dollars, as of October 2026, from ionos.com. Mail Basic 25 is one price for 25 mailboxes, and every other price is per mailbox. Mail prices hold for the 3-year term and rise at renewal. Exchange starts at $4.50 a month for 6 months, then $10.
Add-ons
- Email Archiving is $2.50 a month for every mailbox, with 5 GB that grows as needed.
- Restoring a deleted mailbox is a one-time fee quoted by phone.
- Hands-on migration help is quoted by IONOS. The self-serve tool is free.
Also resold by IONOS
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $9 a person a month, cancel anytime.
- Google Workspace Business Starter at $8.40 and Business Standard at $16.80 a person a month.
Buy Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace through IONOS and IONOS supports it, not Microsoft or Google. See our Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 reviews for those suites.
Which plan has it
| Feature | Mail Basic | Mail Business | Hosted Exchange |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free domain | |||
| Webmail | |||
| Phone sync for calendar and contacts | |||
| Public calendars and address books | |||
| Desktop Outlook license | |||
| 100 GB shared team folder | |||
| Archive with legal hold | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on |
AMS and CRM connections
| Connects to | Type | How | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Outlook | Mail app | Built in | Connects over IMAP, POP3 or phone sync. Exchange comes with Outlook 2024, per IONOS's Exchange page |
| Phone sync (ActiveSync) | Mobile | Mail Business | Keeps mail, calendar, contacts and tasks in step |
| IONOS Email Archiving | Archive | Add-on | Archives IONOS mailboxes and outside IMAP accounts |
| HiDrive | Files | Mail Business | Links webmail to IONOS cloud storage |
No agency system is listed. IONOS names no AMS or CRM. Agencies that rely on an Outlook add-in should test it on the Exchange plan before they commit to a term.
Shared inboxes and aliases
- Forwarding
- Send info@ to several staff. They reply from their own address
- Shared login
- Several staff sign in to the info@ mailbox and reply as info@
- Catch-all
- Mail to any address at your domain lands in one mailbox
- Shared calendars and address books
- Mail Business shares calendars, address books and tasks with set permissions
A shared login means no record of who sent what. Agencies with E&O exposure should prefer forwarding.
Phishing and sign-in protection
- Two-step sign-in
- Authenticator app for webmail. Mail apps then use app passwords
- Who turns it on
- Each user, in webmail
- Spam filter
- Allow and block lists for each mailbox
- Virus scanning
- Premium virus protection on Mail Business and Exchange
Encryption for client documents
Encrypted in transit only. IONOS encrypts the connection with SSL and TLS. It lists no way to send a client an encrypted message, so use a secure portal for policy documents.
Retention, archive and legal hold
- Archive
- Every sent and received email with attachments, from the day you turn it on
- Retention
- Set your own retention times
- Legal hold
- Yes, on the archive
- Search
- Tags and a review process. An outside auditor can be given access
- Outside mailboxes
- Can archive accounts at other providers over IMAP
- Deleting archived mail
- Only a data protection officer, and every access is logged
Backup and recovery
- Provider backup
- Daily backups with failover between data centers
- Deleted mailbox
- Can be restored up to 7 days after deletion, for a fee
- Single emails
- Restore in one click from the archive
- Your own copy
- Export from webmail as EML or ZIP files
Domain setup and sending limits
- SPF and DKIM
- On by default when IONOS hosts your DNS
- Outside DNS
- Add an SPF include and three DKIM CNAME records
- Sending limit
- 50 emails an hour in week one, rising to 500 an hour after 30 days
- Bulk mail
- Use IONOS Email Marketing or another sender
The hourly cap matters for renewal notices and newsletters. Send those through your AMS or a marketing tool.
When a producer leaves
Lock the mailbox
Change its password in the IONOS account.
Keep the mail
Leave the mailbox open, export it from webmail or rely on the archive.
Catch new mail
Rename the address or forward it to another mailbox.
Deleting an address also deletes its mailbox, so export first.
Getting started
Order online or by phone
Call 484-424-7392. A domain comes with the plan.
Create the mailboxes
Give each one enough room for the mail you will move.
Run the migration tool
It copies mail over IMAP or POP3 in the browser. It also brings contacts and calendars from Exchange.
Switch over
Point your MX record, which tells the internet where your mail goes, to IONOS.
Catch late mail
Run one more pass to copy mail that came in during the move.
Don't change passwords or delete folders during the move. It takes a few hours for most mailboxes.
Admin and support
- Admin console
- One IONOS customer account for every mailbox
- Support
- Phone, chat and email around the clock, with a personal consultant
- Uptime credit
- Covers web hosting only, not email
Contract and your data
- Term
- 3 years on mail plans. 1 year on hosted Exchange
- Renewal
- Renews on its own for the same length, with notice 30 to 60 days ahead
- Leaving early
- No refund for the rest of a prepaid term
- Refunds
- 30-day money-back guarantee on your first order. Exchange fees aren't refundable
- After you cancel
- The account and its mail may be deleted. Export first
From the IONOS general terms and conditions, checked October 2026.
IONOS Business Email alternatives
- Zoho Mail and WorkplaceFree for 5 people. Paid from $1 a user a monthLow prices with a 15-day trial and no 3-year term
- FastmailFrom $3 a user a month billed yearlyFree shared addresses and month-to-month billing
- Rackspace Email$10 a user a month, month to monthPhone support and a 25 GB mailbox with no long term
- Microsoft 365Email only from $4, full suite from $7, a user a month billed yearlyBuy direct for free shared mailboxes and AMS add-ins
See every option in business email providers.
Frequently asked questions
How much does IONOS business email cost?
Mail Basic is $1.10 a month for one mailbox and Mail Business is $3 a person, both on 3-year terms.
Can I cancel IONOS email early?
Yes, but you get no refund for the rest of a prepaid term. New orders have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Does IONOS offer legal hold?
Yes, through the Email Archiving add-on.
How many emails can I send from IONOS?
New accounts start at 50 an hour and reach 500 an hour after 30 days.
Does IONOS work with Outlook?
Yes. Hosted Exchange includes Outlook 2024, and the mail plans connect over IMAP or phone sync.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the pricing, terms and product pages published by IONOS Business Email, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan IONOS Business Email quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where IONOS Business Email has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.