Website & Development · Hosting Providers

Zoho Mail

Zoho Mail is email hosting for custom domains with a free plan for up to 5 users in select data centers and paid plans from US$1 per user a month.

Our take: Zoho's pricing page lists the free plan, but it is limited: web-only access, no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, and offered only in select data centers that the pages read do not list.

Best forCustom-domain business email

ReviewedNov 2026Freemium

7.55 criteria · see breakdown

Try ZohoFree, 5 users; $1/user/mo billed yearly (USD)

Zoho Mail is Zoho Corporation's email hosting service for custom domains, with a Forever Free plan for up to 5 users in select data centers. Zoho's pricing page lists the free plan as one domain, 5 GB of mail storage per user and no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, and its help center describes it as web-only. Paid plans start at US$1 per user per month billed annually (Mail Lite), and the Workplace plans add file storage and office apps (Zoho's default USD price list, checked 4 November 2026). Zoho's pages do not say which data centers or regions offer the free plan.

The bottom line

A low-priced hosted email service whose free plan is web-only and available only in select data centers.

Our score

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team. Hover a facet to focus it; click to pin.Tap a facet to focus it.

What it is, and why we rate it

One line each. Open a row for detail.

What it really isHosted email from Zoho Corporation for custom domains, with a free plan for up to 5 users in select data centers, paid Mail Lite and Mail Premium plans, and Workplace bundles that add file storage and office apps.

Our takeZoho's pricing page lists the free plan, but it is limited: web-only access, no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, and offered only in select data centers that the pages read do not list.

Paid mail starts at US$1 per user a month billed annually on Zoho's default USD price list, so confirm the free plan is offered for your account's data center before building around it.

Why we rate itPrices are low and the free plan covers 5 users, but the free plan is region-limited and web-only, and the lowest paid plans have no monthly billing.

The catchThe Forever Free plan is available only in select data centers that Zoho's pages do not list, it excludes IMAP, POP and ActiveSync, and Mail Lite and Mail Premium are yearly only.

Best / not good for

Best for

Small teams that want email on their own domain at a low per-user price
Teams of up to five who can work in webmail on the free plan
Organizations that want mail plus file storage and office apps in Workplace

Not good for

Anyone who needs IMAP, POP or ActiveSync on a free plan
Buyers who need a monthly-billed plan below Workplace Standard
Users in regions where the free plan is not offered

Trade-offs

Friction report

Trade-offs to know before signing up.

Time to value
Verify your domain with DNS records, add users and migrate mail with Zoho's migration tool; Zoho offers a 15-day trial of Mail Premium or Workplace Professional with no credit card.
Scale breakpoint
Free stops at 5 users and 5 GB per user; Zoho says every user on a paid plan is billed at that plan's per-user rate.
Walled garden
Zoho Workplace bundles Zoho's own office apps with mail, and Zoho hosts accounts in regional data centers, so an address that exists in another data center cannot be signed up in a different one.

Still a fit?

If none of these block you, start on the free plan.

Try Zoho

Zoho Mail plans on Zoho's default USD price list

Plan	Price (USD)	Mail storage per user	Notes
Forever Free Plan	Free	5 GB	One domain, up to 5 users, web-only access; IMAP, POP and ActiveSync not included; available only in select data centers
Mail Lite 5 GB	US$1 per user per month, billed annually	5 GB	No monthly plan
Mail Lite 10 GB	US$1.25 per user per month, billed annually	10 GB	Yearly subscription only
Mail Premium	US$4 per user per month, billed annually	50 GB plus 50 GB retention storage	No monthly plan; email retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME
Workplace Standard	US$3 per user per month billed annually, US$4 billed monthly	30 GB	Adds WorkDrive file storage, Writer, Sheet, Show, Cliq and Meeting, among other apps
Workplace Professional	US$6 per user per month billed annually, US$7 billed monthly	100 GB plus 100 GB retention storage	1 TB of team file storage, email retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME
Workplace Enterprise	Contact sales for custom pricing	Not listed	Quote-based, per Zoho

From Zoho's pricing page (zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing), read on 4 November 2026. Zoho says pricing is determined by the customer's country, available currency and billing frequency, applies its default USD price list to countries not covered by another list on the page, and charges local taxes on top. The United States is not named in any other list on the page, so the default USD list is the one that applies to it. Zoho also lists a 15-day free trial of Mail Premium or Workplace Professional with no credit card.

What the free Zoho Mail plan includes and where it is offered

Item	What Zoho says
Users	Up to 5 users in an organization
Domains	One domain
Mail storage	5 GB per user
Access	Web-only access. IMAP, POP and ActiveSync are not included, and Zoho lists IMAP access, forwarding, routing, ActiveSync, SAML single sign-on and white labeling as features exclusive to paid plans.
Sending	Free accounts can address up to 100 recipients per external message; paid accounts up to 150.
Where it is offered	Zoho's pricing page says it is available only in select data centers. Its help center says the plan is currently available only in selected data centers and may not be accessible in all regions. The pages read do not list which.
After the 15-day trial	If free plans are available in your region, the account switches to the Free plan and 5 users are retained. If not, Zoho says mail operations are disabled until you upgrade, with 30 days to upgrade before organization data is scheduled for deletion.

From Zoho's pricing page, its Zoho Mail / Zoho Workplace Subscription help article (updated 2 September 2026) and its Rates, limits, and policies article (updated 2 November 2026), read on 4 November 2026. The 5 free users apply only to the Free plan: Zoho says every user on a paid plan is billed at that plan's per-user rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Zoho Mail really free?Is the free Zoho Mail plan gone?What are the limits of the free Zoho Mail plan?How much does Zoho Mail cost per month?Is Zoho Mail the same as Zoho Workplace?How do I sign in to Zoho Mail?

Is Zoho Mail really free?

Partly. Zoho lists a Forever Free plan that hosts one domain for up to 5 users with 5 GB of mail storage each and web-only access, but marks it as available only in select data centers. Paid plans start at US$1 per user per month billed annually on Zoho's default USD price list, and Zoho offers a 15-day free trial of Mail Premium or Workplace Professional with no credit card (checked 4 November 2026).

Is the free Zoho Mail plan gone?

Not on Zoho's own pages: its pricing page, read on 4 November 2026, still lists the Forever Free plan with a note that it is available only in select data centers. Zoho's help center says the free plan is currently available only in selected data centers and may not be accessible in all regions, and the pages read do not list which data centers or countries get it, so availability depends on where your account is hosted (checked 4 November 2026).

What are the limits of the free Zoho Mail plan?

Zoho lists up to 5 users, one domain, 5 GB of mail storage per user and web-only access, and says IMAP, POP and ActiveSync are not included. Zoho's help center names IMAP access for external clients, email forwarding, email routing, ActiveSync, SAML single sign-on and white labeling as features exclusive to paid plans, and its limits page caps free accounts at 100 recipients per external message. The 5 free users apply only to the Free plan: on any paid plan every user is billed (checked 4 November 2026).

How much does Zoho Mail cost per month?

On Zoho's default USD price list, Mail Lite is US$1 per user per month billed annually (US$1.25 with 10 GB of storage) and Mail Premium is US$4, both on yearly billing only. Workplace Standard is US$3 billed annually or US$4 monthly, and Workplace Professional is US$6 billed annually or US$7 monthly, with local taxes extra. Zoho says pricing depends on country and currency and applies its default USD list to any country not named in another price list, so confirm the figure for your country on Zoho's pricing page (checked 4 November 2026).

Is Zoho Mail the same as Zoho Workplace?

No. Zoho Mail's Lite and Premium plans are email-focused, while Workplace Standard and Professional bundle mail with file storage and office apps. Zoho's pricing page lists WorkDrive, Writer, Sheet, Show, Cliq and Meeting in Workplace Standard, with 30 GB of mail storage per user against 5 GB on Mail Lite, and says one organization can mix Mail and Workplace plans on yearly billing.

How do I sign in to Zoho Mail?

Conversion Gems is a review site and cannot sign anyone in. Zoho's Mail sign-in page is zoho.com/mail/login.html, which leads to accounts.zoho.com and then mail.zoho.com, and Zoho says organization admins open the control panel at mailadmin.zoho.com. Zoho hosts accounts in regional data centers (US, EU, IN, CN, AU, JP), and its help center says signing up with an address that already exists in another data center returns a deployment-region error.