Rackspace Email review: plans, pricing and email features for agencies
Rackspace Email is a hosted business mailbox from Rackspace Technology, a San Antonio cloud company. It gives you webmail, Outlook access and round-the-clock phone support without an office suite.
It suits small agencies that only need email. Plans start at $10 a mailbox a month with no contract.
- Best for
- Small agencies that want a plain business mailbox with phone support and no office suite
- Price
- $10 a mailbox a month
- Account minimum
- Applies. Amount not published
- Free trial
- 14 days
- Mailbox size
- 25 GB
- Shared inboxes
- Free aliases and group lists. A shared inbox needs its own paid mailbox
- Legal hold
- None. The archive add-on keeps mail 7 years by default
- AMS connections
- None listed
- Contract
- Month to month
Our take
Rackspace Email is a simple, supported mailbox you can drop at any time. Free migration and unlimited aliases make the switch easy.
It falls short for agencies with compliance needs. There is no legal hold or encrypted email, and a real shared inbox costs a full mailbox.
Price the $18 archiving plan if you must keep records. At that price, compare Intermedia and Microsoft 365, which include legal hold.
Pros
- Month to month with no long-term contract
- Free migration, self-serve or done by Rackspace
- Unlimited free aliases
- Phone, chat and ticket support any hour
Cons
- No legal hold or encrypted email
- A shared inbox needs its own paid mailbox
- Not Exchange, so AMS add-ins may not work
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Price a mailbox | Mailbox | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rackspace EmailMail, calendar and contacts | $10 | 25 GB | Webmail, Outlook access, 30 GB of file storage and unlimited aliases |
| Email PlusPhone sync and shared calendars | $12 | 25 GB | Phone sync, shared calendars, instant messaging and Office-compatible apps |
| Email Plus with ArchivingAgencies that must keep records | $18 | 25 GB | A searchable archive with unlimited storage |
Prices are per mailbox each month in US dollars, as of October 2026, from rackspace.com. Email Plus adds $2 and archiving adds $6 a mailbox.
What it would cost you
Cost per month
First-year cost
Email cost per client a month
Uses the monthly prices in the table above.
Good to know before you buy
- Rackspace's pricing page says account minimum monthly charges apply. It doesn't publish the amount.
- Archive exports run by Rackspace cost $6 a GB as EML files or $9 a GB as a PST file.
- Loading old mail into the archive costs $6 a GB.
- Moving mail in from another provider is free.
Which plan has it
| Feature | Rackspace Email | Email Plus | Plus with Archiving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 GB mailbox | |||
| Unlimited aliases and group lists | |||
| Two-step sign-in for webmail | |||
| Phone sync for mail, calendar and contacts | |||
| Shared calendars and contacts | |||
| 30 GB file storage | |||
| Searchable archive |
AMS and CRM connections
| Connects to | Type | How | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Outlook | Mail app | Built in | Reads the mailbox in desktop Outlook |
| Phone sync (ActiveSync) | Mobile | Email Plus | Keeps mail, calendar and contacts in step on phones |
| MigrationWiz | Migration | Built in | Moves mail from POP, IMAP, Exchange and Microsoft 365 |
| Rackspace Email Archiving | Archive | Add-on | Copies inbound, outbound and internal mail for search and export |
| Cloud Office API | Admin | API | Lets an IT partner script account changes |
No agency system is listed. Rackspace Email is not Exchange, so AMS add-ins built for Exchange or Microsoft 365 may not work. Test your AMS before you move.
Phishing and sign-in protection
- Two-step sign-in
- For webmail and the control panel, by app or text message
- Who controls it
- The admin sets it to required, optional or off for each domain
- Spam and viruses
- Premium filtering with blocklists and safe lists
Encryption for client documents
No encrypted email to clients. Rackspace lists no way to send a client an encrypted message, though archived mail is stored encrypted. Use a secure portal from your AMS or carrier for policy documents.
Retention, archive and legal hold
- Archive
- Captures inbound, outbound and internal mail with attachments, on the Archiving add-on
- Storage
- Unlimited
- Retention
- 7 years by default. The admin can change it or turn it off
- Search and export
- Full-text search and tags. Export as PST, EML, text, PDF or HTML
- Legal hold
- Not offered
- What it misses
- Spam, mail deleted by a rule and mail forwarded without a saved copy
Mail past the retention period is purged for good. Set the period to match your state's record rules.
Backup and recovery
- Deleted mail
- Users can recover purged mail from Trash for 14 days
- Deleted mailbox
- Restore within 14 days by recreating the same username
- Long-term copy
- Only the Archiving add-on. No separate backup product
Domain setup and sending limits
- SPF
- Rackspace publishes the records to add
- DKIM
- Turn it on in the control panel, then add a TXT record
- DMARC
- Rackspace recommends adding it with SPF and DKIM
- Who edits DNS
- Rackspace if it hosts your DNS. Otherwise your agency at its DNS host
SPF, DKIM and DMARC prove that mail from your domain is really yours. A Verify TXT Record button checks the work.
When a producer leaves
Lock the mailbox
Change the password in the control panel.
Keep the mail
Leave the mailbox open, or rely on the archive if it is on.
Catch new mail
Delete the mailbox, then add an alias with the old address that forwards to someone else.
Stop paying
Deleting the mailbox ends its monthly charge.
Remove that alias first if you ever need to restore the old mailbox.
Getting started
Start the trial
Sign up online or call 1-866-201-7852.
Add your domain
Add DNS records so mail can reach Rackspace.
Move old mail
Use MigrationWiz yourself or ask the migration team. Either is free.
Clean folder names
Remove special characters before the move.
Switch over
Point your MX record, which tells the internet where your mail goes, to Rackspace.
POP moves only the inbox. Exchange and Microsoft 365 moves bring contacts, calendars and tasks too.
Admin and support
- Admin console
- Cloud Office Control Panel
- Support
- Phone, chat and ticket around the clock
- Large accounts
- Sales handles 200 or more mailboxes
Rackspace closed its hosted Exchange service after a December 2022 ransomware attack. Rackspace Email runs on a separate platform.
Contract and your data
- Term
- Month to month with no long-term contract
- Getting your mail out
- Download it over IMAP, or export from the archive
- Export fees
- Free if you run it yourself. Charged by the GB if Rackspace runs it
Rackspace Email alternatives
- Intermedia Exchange EmailFrom $10.60 a user a month billed yearlyReal Exchange in Outlook, with unlimited storage and managed migration
- FastmailFrom $3 a user a month billed yearlyLower price, with free shared addresses and a 30-day trial
- Zoho Mail and WorkplaceFree for 5 people. Paid from $1 a user a monthLower prices, with legal hold on Mail Premium
- Microsoft 365Email only from $4, full suite from $7, a user a month billed yearlyFree shared mailboxes and an Applied Epic Outlook add-in
See every option in business email providers.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Rackspace Email cost?
$10 a mailbox a month, or $12 for Email Plus.
Does Rackspace Email keep mail for compliance?
Only with the Archiving add-on, which keeps mail 7 years by default. It has no legal hold.
Is Rackspace Email the same as Exchange?
No. It is Rackspace's own mail platform, so test your AMS before you switch.
Can staff share an info@ inbox?
An alias can forward info@ to several people for free. A true shared inbox is a paid mailbox.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, for 14 days.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the pricing, terms and product pages published by Rackspace 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 Rackspace Email quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where Rackspace Email has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.