Why use your own domain for email
An address on your own domain tells people who you are before they open the message. An invoice from accounts@yourcompany.com looks like it came from a business; the same invoice from yourcompany.accounts@gmail.com looks like it might not have.
It also stays yours. You own the domain, so you can change email providers later without changing a single address on your cards, invoices or website. And every person, plus shared addresses like support@ and orders@, sits under one name your customers already know.
Four ways to get email on your own domain
They differ in whether you can send as your domain, whether a team can share addresses, and whether you pay per person.
| Option | What you get | Catch | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forwarding only | Mail for your domain lands in an inbox you already have | Replies come from your personal address | Free with Cloudflare Email Routing |
| Gmail with a custom domain | Forwarding into Gmail, plus “Send mail as” your domain | Each person sets up an outgoing mail server; shared addresses are messy | Free Gmail, plus a sending service |
| Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 | A mailbox per person, plus office apps and storage | You pay for every person on the team | From $7 per person a month |
| Digismak | An inbox per person and shared addresses, on your own Cloudflare account | Browser only, no office apps; your domain must be on Cloudflare | $5 a month for everyone, paid to Cloudflare |
If you need Google Docs or Microsoft Word as well, a suite is the right buy. If you only need email, you’re paying $7 to $7 per person for apps you won’t open.
Gmail with a custom domain: how it works, and where it strains
Plenty of people start here, because they already live in Gmail. Setting it up takes two halves. First, forward your domain’s mail into Gmail; Cloudflare Email Routing does this for free. Second, add your address in Gmail under Settings, Accounts, “Send mail as”, which asks for an outgoing mail server for your domain, with its own username and password.
For one person it works. For a team it strains. Every person repeats the setup in their own Gmail. A shared address like support@ has to be forwarded to several people, so each gets a copy and nobody can see who already answered. Replies can reveal the personal Gmail address behind the business one if a setting is missed. And when someone leaves, their copy of every conversation leaves with them.
A custom Gmail domain proper, meaning Gmail itself running on your domain, is Google Workspace, at $7 per person a month on a yearly plan. Digismak gives you the team part (one inbox per person, shared addresses everyone sees, conversations that stay with the company) without the per-person price, in the browser instead of the Gmail app.
Free domain email: what’s actually free
Receiving is the easy part. Cloudflare Email Routing forwards mail for any address on your domain at no cost, and Digismak can put that mail in a proper shared inbox on Cloudflare’s free plan too. Digismak itself is free while in early access.
Sending is where free runs out. To reply from your own domain, Digismak uses Cloudflare Email Sending, which needs Cloudflare’s Workers Paid plan at $5 a month. That one plan covers every address on the domain and includes 3,000 sent emails a month.
Some providers advertise free custom domain email with a catch in the fine print: web access only, a cap on users, or no sending from your domain. Check what happens when you reply before you move your team.
How to create email with your own domain
Here is the whole setup with Digismak. It takes a few minutes, most of it waiting for Cloudflare to verify the domain.
Have your domain on Cloudflare
If you bought your domain elsewhere, add it to Cloudflare for free and switch its nameservers. Cloudflare copies your existing DNS records, so your website keeps working.
Check your domain on Digismak
We read its DNS and current email setup. If it already gets mail through Google or Microsoft, we tell you and wait for you to confirm the switch.
Connect Cloudflare
Create an API token limited to that one domain and paste it in. Digismak adds the mail records and turns on sending, signed for your domain.
Create your addresses
Pick your own address, add teammates by the email they already use, and add shared addresses like hello@. Everyone signs in with a code, no passwords.
What custom domain email costs for a team
Per-person plans grow with every hire. Digismak runs on one Cloudflare plan for the whole domain, and Digismak itself is free during early access:
| Team | Google Workspace Business Starter | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Digismak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 people | $14 | $14 | $5 |
| 5 people | $35 | $35 | $5 |
| 10 people | $70 | $70 | $5 |
| 25 people | $175 | $175 | $5 |
See how the numbers compare in detail on our cheap business email page, or read how the Cloudflare side works on Cloudflare email hosting.
Questions
Can I use Gmail with a custom domain?
Yes, two ways. Forward your domain’s mail to Gmail (Cloudflare Email Routing does this free) and add your address under Gmail’s “Send mail as”, which needs an outgoing mail server for your domain. Or pay for Google Workspace, which puts Gmail on your domain from $7 per person a month.
Is there free email with your own domain?
Receiving can be free: Cloudflare Email Routing forwards it, and Digismak can put it in a team inbox on Cloudflare’s free plan. Sending from your domain needs Cloudflare’s $5 a month Workers Paid plan, which covers the whole team.
How do I create an email address with my own domain?
Move the domain’s DNS to Cloudflare, connect it to Digismak with an API token, and pick your address. Setup adds the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for you.
Do I need to buy a domain first?
Yes. Any registrar works, as long as you then point the domain’s nameservers to Cloudflare. Cloudflare also sells domains itself, at cost.
Will my website break if I move DNS to Cloudflare?
It shouldn’t. When you add a domain, Cloudflare scans and copies your existing DNS records. Check that your website’s records are listed before you switch the nameservers.
Can several people share one address like support@?
Yes. In Digismak, shared addresses are free and everyone on the team can read and answer them. See shared inboxes.
Can I keep my current email while I set this up?
Setup reads your current mail records first and changes nothing until you confirm. If your domain already uses Google or Microsoft for mail, it waits for you to agree to the switch.
Is there a limit on how many addresses I can create?
Digismak doesn’t charge per address or cap them. Add a person or a shared address and the price stays the same.