MailHow vs Zoho Mail
Zoho Mail Lite is $12/user/year and genuinely cheaper than MailHow. Here is exactly what that $12 does and doesn't buy for someone running several domains.
The short version
Let's be straight about this one: Zoho is cheaper than us, and for a lot of people it is the right answer. Lite is $12/user/year, includes IMAP, and allows up to 30 domains and 30 aliases into a single mailbox. If that fits you, buy it — we would rather tell you that than sell you $29. Where it stops fitting is the model underneath: Zoho is per-user business email. Every genuinely separate mailbox is another seat, sending limits are deliberately unpublished, and the whole product is built for an organisation, not for one person with several projects.
What it costs: one person, five domains
$29/yr flat. Unlimited domains, unlimited addresses, no seats — because the unit is you, not a user account.
One Lite seat covers up to 30 domains and 30 aliases feeding one mailbox: $12/yr, and cheaper than us. But each genuinely separate mailbox is another seat — 15 discrete inboxes is 15 seats, about $180/yr.
Side by side
| MailHow | Zoho Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Price for one merged mailbox | $29/yr | $12/yr |
| Price for 15 separate mailboxes | $29/yr | ~$180/yr (15 seats) |
| Domains | Unlimited | Up to 30 per org |
| Aliases into one mailbox | Unlimited | Up to 30 |
| Native apps | Web (mobile-friendly); no native apps yet | iOS, Android, and an admin app |
| Calendar & contacts | CalDAV/CardDAV; no calendar web UI yet | Full calendar and contacts, ActiveSync |
| Public API | Yes (v1) | Yes, including provisioning and audit/SIEM |
| Sending limits | 100/hour, published | Unpublished — “dynamic, based on each user’s reputation” |
| Free tier | Free to receive, with IMAP | Free plan exists, but web + mobile only — no IMAP or POP |
| Hosting | Germany (Hetzner) | Own datacentres, EU region available |
A green check marks a row where Zoho Mail beats us. Figures checked 2026-07-08 — they change their prices and we change ours, so verify before you buy.
Where Zoho Mail is better
- It is cheaper. $12/yr versus our $29/yr, and for a single merged mailbox that is a real saving.
- Native mobile apps, a full calendar and contacts, and ActiveSync. We have none of those yet.
- A deep admin console and a genuinely comprehensive API, including provisioning and audit logs.
- A very large company that is not going to disappear. We are a young one, and that is a fair thing to weigh.
Documented friction with Zoho Mail
Every item below links to its source. We list only things that are published and checkable — not rumours, and not our opinion of them.
Sending limits are deliberately unpublished — Zoho's usage policy describes them as dynamic and based on each user's reputation.
Zoho Mail usage policyAccounts can be locked from sending for “unusual activity”, with a resolution process Zoho documents but does not make predictable.
Zoho blocked-accounts documentationThe free plan does not include IMAP or POP — it is web and mobile only.
Zoho Mail pricing
Which one should you actually buy?
- Price is the deciding factor and one merged mailbox is all you need.
- You want native mobile apps and a calendar today.
- You are buying for an organisation with several people, which is what Zoho is actually built for.
- You want your sending limit written down instead of discovering it when sending stops.
- You want the free tier to speak IMAP, so you can use a real mail client without paying first.
- You run more projects than an org chart, and per-seat pricing keeps punishing you for it.
Receiving on your own domains is free on MailHow, with no card — so you can point one domain at us, leave the rest where they are, and see for yourself before moving anything. Start free.
Sources
Checked 2026-07-08. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it — including when the correction favours Zoho Mail.