Dear Lifehacker,
So I heard the news that Google Apps for Business is no longer offering free plans to new sign-ups. That sucks because I just bought my own domain! What can I use for email, calendar, and other tools that won't cost me a ton of money?
Sincerely,
Free Reign On My Domain
Dear Free Reign,
You're right, if you haven't signed up for Google Apps for Business with your personal domain already, you're out of luck. Google's promised to grandfather in existing users, so if you already use Google Apps for free, you won't have to pay. (At least, not yet).
However, if you haven't grabbed your own domain yet?which, by the way, you should?Google Apps' email, calendaring, cloud storage, and other services are now $50/user per year. That doesn't mean you're stuck, though. You do have some alternatives, and most of them are free. Let's take a look at your options.
Stick with Google
If all you were looking for from a Google Apps account was the ability to use an email address like yourname@yourdomain.com, you can still have that...sort of. Google has documented the process here, and walks you through how to set up a free Gmail account to send and receive mail as another address. It's not perfect?for example, some email clients will display your mail as "yourname@gmail.com on behalf of yourname@yourdomain.com," and your Gmail address will always be in the headers of your message. Still, you get Gmail's great interface, filters, search, and power tools, all with the convenience and professionalism (for making that internet first impression) of using your own domain. Image by Adria Richards.
This method works well if all you wanted from Google Apps was Gmail with your own domain. If you need cloud storage (Google Drive) or calendaring (Google Calendar) or productivity tools (Google Docs/Sheets/etc) specifically associated with your domain or your domain's email address, then you'll need to keep looking.
Split Your Needs Into Individual Free Apps
We've talked about how you can go Google-free in the past, but if you've just registered a domain and wish you could get Google Apps-like features, your best bet may be to split out your needs into individual free services that can meet your needs:
- Email: Outlook instead of Gmail, with your own domain. Visit the Windows Live Admin Center to link your domain to an Outlook account. It's worth noting that Outlook.com doesn't support IMAP, although it's reportedly "coming soon." Zoho Mail is another great free alternative.
- Calendar: Zoho Calendar instead of Google Calendar. It's the only web-based calendar that really approaches Google Calendar in features. It's not alone though?there's always iCal with iCloud syncing on the desktop and on the web (and mobile, if you live in Apple's ecosystem,) and 1Calendar is another web-based option.
- Productivity: Office Web Apps is free for individual users, and automatically uses SkyDrive for document storage. You can edit word documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations easily, and since Office Web Apps is built by Microsoft, compatibility with desktop documents isn't an issue. If you hook Outlook to your domain's mail and use SkyDrive with that Outlook account, you get really close to the same integration between Google Drive and Gmail with Google Apps. If course, there's also Zoho Office which is also free and fills the same need.
Cloud Storage: Dropbox is our favorite cloud storage solution, mostly because it's so easy to get more space and there's a wealth of developer plug-ins and add-ons for it. Plus Dropbox integrates so well with so many other web services, it's a great option. There's also SkyDrive if you're making the shift to Microsoft's ecosystem. This field is wide, so check out these charts for detailed comparisons of the companies vying for your data, and which ones give you the space and features you want for free.
Consider a Complete Mail and Office Package for Your Domain
Google Apps isn't the only web-based office suite in town. While they're definitely one of the best, there are other companies that offer complete, end-to-end email and productivity solutions. Some of them are free, but most of them will cost you some money, which is important to remember considering Google Apps' $50/user per year price tag isn't great, but it's not bad either. Here are a few worth checking out:
Zoho Office - Zoho offers a wealth of tools, many of which integrate perfectly with Google Apps and your Google Account. Zoho Mail is an attractive webapp with great sorting and junk mail filtering features, and Zoho Office has always been a viable web-based office suite with word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Most apps are free for individual users, and mail is free for one domain and up to three users on that domain with 5GB inboxes each. If you're looking for an all-in-one package without spending anything, Zoho is where it's at.- Microsoft Office 365 - If you think moving your domain over and connecting the pieces between Outlook, Office Web Apps, and SkyDrive on your own is a little kludgy, Office 365 is $6/user per month, adding up to $72/user per year and comes with a ton of features. If it's just email and shared calendars you want, you can use their $4/user per year ($48/user per year) plan and leverage Office Web Apps and SkyDrive for free.
Zoho and Microsoft aren't alone, but they are the best at their price points. There are others we investigated, like Teamlab and VMWare's Zimbra, but the former is entirely too expensive for what you get (and clearly designed at larger companies, not individuals looking to manage a domain) and the latter, although it came from free web-based roots, has gone completely self-or-cloud-hosted and enterprise-focused after it's 2010 acquisition by VMware.
Like we mentioned, if you got in before Google's announcement, you're in good shape?you just won't be able to create new users like you used to, and you may see some of your features siphoned off over time to "encourage" you to upgrade to a paid plan. Either way, it's possible to stick with Google for email, it just requires a little setup, and we're betting that for most people the ability to use your own domain for your Gmail address is what really matters.
If you're giving up on Google though, Microsoft and Zoho have the most compelling alternatives here, and they're still offering them for free. The real question is how they'll respond to the Google announcement, considering both already have paid plans that are competitive with Google's new pricing. Our money is on them offering some new free options to sweeten the pot for disaffected Google Apps users. Keep your eyes peeled, and don't be afraid to diversify.
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
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