Why teams look for alternatives to Google Workspace
Google Workspace charges for every person on the team, whatever they use. Business Starter costs $7 per person a month on a yearly plan, or $8.40 on the month-to-month Flexible plan. A team of 10 pays $70 a month, and each new hire adds $84 a year. The price is the same for someone who lives in Docs and someone who only reads mail.
So before you compare Google Workspace alternatives, answer one question: does your team need the suite, or only the email?
Shared addresses add to the bill. An alias like hello@ is free, up to 30 per user, but only one person receives its mail. Google’s shared inbox, the kind several people work from, is an ordinary user account that others are given access to. Google licenses every user account, so in practice that inbox costs another $7 a month. The free workaround is a Google Group used as a Collaborative Inbox.
Suite prices move, too. Microsoft raised Business Basic, its entry plan, from $6 to $7 per person on July 1, 2026. Moving to the other big suite keeps the per-person bill.
Google Workspace vs Digismak: cost by team size
Digismak runs on your own Cloudflare account, on Cloudflare’s Workers Paid plan: $5 a month, paid to Cloudflare, for every address on the domain. Digismak itself is free during early access. Here’s the monthly bill next to the entry plans from Google and Microsoft:
| Team | Google Workspace Business Starter | Microsoft 365 Business Basic | Digismak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $35 | $35 | $5 |
| 10 people | $70 | $70 | $5 |
| 25 people | $175 | $175 | $5 |
| 40 people | $280 | $280 | $5 |
Over a year, a team of 10 saves $780 against Business Starter, and a team of 25 saves $2,040. The $5 includes 3,000 sent emails a month for the whole account, then $0.35 per 1,000. Receiving is unlimited.
Google’s bigger plans widen the gap: Business Standard is $14 and Business Plus $22 per person a month. Our Google Workspace pricing breakdown lists every plan, with a calculator for your team size.
What you keep, and what you give up
Digismak replaces Gmail. It doesn’t replace the rest of Workspace, so check this list against how your team works before you move anyone.
You keep
- Every address on your own domain, so your cards, invoices and website stay the same
- Shared addresses like support@ and sales@ that everyone on the team can read and answer, at no extra cost
- An inbox in any browser, on a laptop or a phone
- Mail signed for your domain, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up for you
You give up
- Google Docs, Sheets and Drive
- Google Meet and Google Calendar
- The Gmail app on your phone: Digismak runs in the phone’s browser instead
- Desktop mail apps like Outlook and Apple Mail, because Digismak has no IMAP access
If your team writes in Docs every day, keeps its files in Drive or meets on Meet, stay with a suite. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 is the right buy then, because the per-person price pays for tools you use. Digismak fits teams whose work runs through email, with files and calls handled somewhere else.
Two things work differently from Gmail. People sign in with a 6-digit code emailed to an address they already use, so there are no passwords to reset. And admins add, suspend and remove people from one admin console, with no license to buy for each.
How to switch from Google Workspace without losing mail
Export, set up, switch, then cancel. Google deletes your users’ data after you cancel and can’t restore it, so cancelling always comes last.
Export your Google mail
Each person can download their own mail with Google Takeout, if your admin allows it. A super admin can export the whole organization with Google’s Data Export tool. Google says that export usually takes about 72 hours and can take up to 14 days. It’s deleted automatically after 60 days, so save a copy somewhere else.
Check your domain on Digismak
Your domain’s DNS has to be on Cloudflare; moving it there is free. Setup reads your mail records, sees that Google receives your mail today, tells you so, and changes nothing until you confirm.
Connect Cloudflare and confirm
Create a Cloudflare API token limited to that one domain and paste it in. Once you confirm, setup points your MX records at Cloudflare Email Routing and turns on sending with DKIM. It adds a DMARC record if your domain has none, then sends a real test email through the whole path. It usually takes a few minutes.
Add your team
Add each person’s address and your shared ones, with the same names as before. Everyone signs in with a code sent to an email address they already use.
Cancel Google last
Once mail has stopped arriving at Google and your export is saved, cancel in the Google Admin console under Billing, then Subscriptions.
Digismak can’t import old mail from Google yet. Your history stays in your export, or in Google until you cancel. Check your billing plan before you pick a date. On an annual plan, Google charges the rest of the contract when you cancel. On the Flexible plan, charges stop right away.
For every Google screen along the way, from Takeout to the cancel button, follow our guide to cancelling Google Workspace without losing your email.
Other Google Workspace alternatives, and who each suits
Digismak isn’t the only way out, and for some teams it isn’t the right one. These are the alternatives we’d weigh:
| Alternative | Price | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | $7 per person a month, yearly, or $8.40 month to month | Teams that want a full suite and prefer Microsoft’s office apps and Teams. Its shared mailboxes need no license of their own up to 50 GB. |
| Zoho Workplace or Zoho Mail | Workplace Standard: $3 per person a month, yearly, or $4 monthly. Mail Lite: from $1, yearly only | Teams that want a cheaper suite with WorkDrive file storage (Workplace), or a low per-person price with desktop mail apps over IMAP (Mail). |
| Proton Mail Essentials | $6.99 per person a month, yearly, or $7.99 monthly | Teams that want a mailbox each with Proton’s own apps, 15 GB per person. Desktop mail apps need Proton Mail Bridge, a program installed on each computer. |
| Purelymail | $10 a year for the whole account, not per person | Technical teams that want the lowest price and IMAP for desktop apps, and can manage without 24/7 support. Heavy use moves you to pay-as-you-go pricing. |
| Digismak | $5 a month for the whole team, paid to Cloudflare; Digismak is free during early access | Teams with their domain on Cloudflare who need personal and shared addresses in a browser inbox, and no office apps. |
Purelymail costs less than Digismak at any team size. Digismak’s case is how it works: your mail runs through your own Cloudflare account, and the whole team answers shared addresses from one inbox. Against per-person plans, Digismak costs less than Zoho Mail Lite from 6 people and less than Workplace Standard from 2. Proton and Microsoft cost more at any team size. If Zoho is on your list, see Digismak vs Zoho Mail for the detail.
Questions
Is there a free Google Workspace alternative?
Zoho’s Forever Free plan covers up to 5 users on one domain, in the browser and Zoho’s app only. Zoho says it’s available only in some regions. Digismak is free during early access and can receive mail on Cloudflare’s free plan. Sending from your domain needs Cloudflare’s $5 a month Workers Paid plan, which covers the whole team.
What’s the cheapest alternative to Google Workspace for email?
Purelymail’s simple plan is $10 a year for a whole account. Among per-person plans, Zoho Mail Lite starts at $1 a person a month, billed yearly. Digismak is $5 a month for the whole team, so from 6 people it costs less than Zoho Mail Lite (US prices, September 2026).
Will I lose my emails if I leave Google Workspace?
Not if you export them first. Google deletes your users’ data after you cancel and can’t restore it. Download your mail with Google Takeout or the Data Export tool first. Digismak can’t import old mail yet, so your history stays in that export.
Can I keep using the Gmail app or Outlook?
No. Digismak has no IMAP, POP or SMTP access, so the Gmail app, Outlook and Apple Mail can’t connect to it. It’s a browser inbox that works on computers and in your phone’s browser.
What’s a good Gmail alternative for business?
If you want another full suite, Microsoft 365 or Zoho Workplace. If you only need email on your own domain, Zoho Mail and Proton Mail charge per person, while Purelymail and Digismak charge per account. Digismak is $5 a month for the whole team, paid to Cloudflare.
Do I have to move my domain to Cloudflare?
Its DNS has to be on Cloudflare, but the domain can stay registered where it is. Moving DNS is free, and Cloudflare copies your existing records when you add the domain. Check your website’s records are listed before you switch nameservers.
How long does it take to switch from Google Workspace?
Digismak’s setup usually takes a few minutes, most of it Cloudflare verifying your domain. Plan around Google’s side. A full Data Export is ready no sooner than 48 hours after you start it, and usually takes about 72 hours, though it can take up to 14 days.
Do shared addresses like sales@ cost extra?
Not in Digismak: shared addresses are free, and everyone on the team can read and answer them. In Google Workspace, aliases and Google Groups are free, but a shared inbox is an ordinary user account, which in practice needs a license.