What each business email option costs in rupees, and which one fits the company you actually run
Five providers of email on your own domain in India, priced side by side for 2, 6, 25 and 100 users, then matched to five kinds of company. This page is written by XgenPlus, which is one of the five, so read it that way: every rival price is stated in full with the date we checked it, and every recommendation says why. Prices are per user per month on yearly billing, before 18% GST, checked on 11 September 2026.
Business email in India in 2026 costs between ₹21 and ₹270 per user per month on the plans companies actually buy. The price gap is not about email: the expensive plans bundle a collaboration suite, and the cheap hosting bundles trade away IMAP, storage or support. For a company that needs reliable email on its own domain, hosted in India, working in Outlook and on phones, with a rupee invoice and someone to call, XgenPlus at ₹21 to ₹85 per user is the plan to compare everything else against. The table and the five situations below show where each of the others fits instead.
Five providers, one table, rupees per user per month
Yearly billing, before GST, entry plan of each unless stated. Checked 11 September 2026 on each vendor's Indian price list or, for Hostinger, on the comparison sites that list it. If a price has changed since, write to us and we will correct it the same week.
| Option | Per user per month | Mailbox | Outlook and phones (IMAP, ActiveSync) | Where mail is stored | What the price is buying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XgenPlus Starter to Advance | ₹21 to ₹85 | 2 GB to 30 GB, plans mixed on one domain | Included on every plan | Indian data centres, or your own servers | Email, calendar, contacts, chat, video, online office, Indian-script addresses, rupee invoice with GST |
| Google Workspace Starter | ₹270 | 30 GB shared with Drive | Included | Google regions, not chosen by you on this plan | Gmail plus Docs, Drive, Meet and Gemini; the suite is most of the price |
| Google Workspace Base | ₹99 | Reduced plan | Included | Google regions | Self-service only, not sold or supported by resellers; a cut-down Workspace |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | ₹145 | 50 GB | Included | Microsoft regions, India available | Exchange mailbox plus Teams and web Office; desktop Office costs more |
| Zoho Mail Lite | ₹59 | 5 GB | Included on paid plans; not on the free plan | Indian data centres | Email, and the door into the Zoho suite; free plan is 5 users, webmail only |
| Hostinger business email | ₹25 promotional on a 48-month term, ₹69 to ₹179 at renewal as listed | 10 GB and up | Included | Hostinger's cloud | A four-year prepayment; the headline price is the term, not the plan |
XgenPlus plans continue to Advance Pro ₹111 (50 GB), Enterprise ₹167 (100 GB) and Enterprise Pro ₹399 (unlimited). Full matrix on the pricing page.
What a year costs at four company sizes, before GST
Entry plans from the table. XgenPlus shown on Starter (2 GB) and Premium (10 GB), the two plans most Indian companies pick.
| Users | XgenPlus Starter | XgenPlus Premium | Zoho Mail Lite | Microsoft 365 Basic | Google Starter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | ₹504 | ₹1,200 | ₹1,416 | ₹3,480 | ₹6,480 |
| 6 | ₹1,512 | ₹3,600 | ₹4,248 | ₹10,440 | ₹19,440 |
| 25 | ₹6,300 | ₹15,000 | ₹17,700 | ₹43,500 | ₹81,000 |
| 100 | ₹25,200 | ₹60,000 | ₹70,800 | ₹1,74,000 | ₹3,24,000 |
The difference between the XgenPlus Premium column and the Google column at 25 users is ₹66,000 a year. That is the cost of the collaboration suite, whether or not the team uses it.
Five kinds of Indian company, and the email that fits each
Two founders and a domain
You are on Gmail addresses or Zoho's free plan. Zoho free is genuinely ₹0 for five people, but it is webmail only, so the day a co-founder wants Outlook or the native phone app you are paying for everyone. XgenPlus Starter is ₹504 a year for two, with IMAP and ActiveSync from day one, department addresses like founders@ at no cost, and a Startup Desk that does the setup. The startup page has the first-week checklist.
A 25-person trading, services or manufacturing firm
You need email that works in Outlook, on phones, with shared calendars, and an invoice your accountant accepts. You do not need Docs or Teams to be part of the email bill. XgenPlus Premium (10 GB) is ₹15,000 a year for 25; Google Starter is ₹81,000 for the same people. If you are on a hosting bundle today, check the renewal price on the bundle before the term ends; the ₹25 headline is usually the four-year prepayment. Get a written quotation.
An NBFC, cooperative bank or fintech
Your regulator or your auditor asks where mail is stored and who can read it. You need mailboxes in India, archiving and retention, S/MIME for signed mail, and the option to move on-premise if a circular says so. XgenPlus runs hosted in Indian data centres and as Enterprise on your own servers, and it is the platform behind the RBI-aligned email checklist. Google and Microsoft can hold data in India on the right plans; neither runs on your hardware.
A PSU, government department or their vendor
Procurement wants an Indian OEM, GeM listing, on-premise or air-gapped deployment, and a vendor that answers a tender. XgenPlus is on GeM, runs BSNL's 81 lakh accounts, the Government of Rajasthan's departmental mail and BPCL's retail network, and carries Indian-script addresses. This is the situation where the international suites are not on the shortlist, and the hosting bundles never were. On-premise editions and quotation.
A team that lives in Google Docs and Meet all day
Then Google Workspace is the honest answer and email is a side item of that bill; budget ₹81,000 a year for 25 and for the renewals, which have risen more than once. Two things still worth knowing: XgenPlus includes Xgen Office for Word and Excel files and VideoMeet for meetings, which covers many teams that think they need the suite; and many XgenPlus customers keep Google's free personal tools for the occasional shared document. If email is the thing you actually buy, the ₹66,000 difference pays for a lot.
A Zoho Mail user at the sixth hire
The free plan ends at five users and everyone upgrades together. Mail Lite at ₹59 is fair value and stays in India. XgenPlus Starter is ₹21 with more included, the migration off Zoho free is done by our team, and the sixth person costs ₹252 a year while nobody else changes. What breaks at the sixth hire.
What ₹21 to ₹85 at XgenPlus actually includes, and the proof
Included on every plan
- IMAP, SMTP and ActiveSync: Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and every phone app, plus XgenPlus apps for web, Windows, iOS and Android
- Spam rejected at the SMTP handshake by SpamJadoo, SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up for you, two-step login
- Shared calendars and contacts, department addresses at no cost, plans mixed on one domain
- Xgen IM chat, VideoMeet, Xgen Office in the browser; AI Compose from Starter Pro
- An address in Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil or 80 other scripts beside the English one
- Migration from Google, Microsoft, Zoho, Zimbra or any IMAP service by our team, included from Premium
- Rupee invoice with GST from Data Xgen Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur, and a 30-day trial at ₹2 per user
Proof you can check
- BSNL's consumer and business email since May 2014, 81 lakh live accounts, in BSNL's own words
- The Government of Rajasthan, BPCL Retail and Bharat Gas sign-in pages say "Powered by XgenPlus" today
- ICANN's Universal Acceptance case study on Data Xgen, and the Wikipedia articles on Universal Acceptance and Email address that record the first Indian-script email
- Twenty-five years building email in Jaipur, on GeM for public procurement
All of it is on the case studies page with the sources, and the longer argument is in what an Indian email service is.
The questions people ask before choosing
What is the cheapest business email in India with IMAP included?
At published prices in September 2026, XgenPlus Starter at ₹21 per user per month on yearly billing, with IMAP, SMTP and ActiveSync included, hosted in India. Hosting bundles advertise lower headline prices, but those are multi-year prepayments that renew higher.
How much does business email cost per user in India in 2026?
Between ₹21 and ₹270 per user per month on the plans companies buy: XgenPlus ₹21 to ₹85, Zoho Mail Lite ₹59, Microsoft 365 Business Basic ₹145, Google Workspace Starter ₹270, all yearly billing before 18% GST, checked 11 September 2026.
Is Zoho Mail really free for business?
Yes for up to five users on one domain with 5 GB each, webmail and Zoho's app only. IMAP, POP and ActiveSync are not on the free plan, and a sixth user moves the whole organisation to a paid plan.
Which business email keeps data in India?
XgenPlus and Zoho Mail store mailboxes in Indian data centres on every plan. Google and Microsoft can keep data in India on specific plans and settings. Only XgenPlus also runs on your own servers or air-gapped for regulated and government organisations.
Do I need Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 to use Outlook?
No. Outlook connects to any email service over IMAP and SMTP, and phones over ActiveSync. XgenPlus includes all three, and the migration keeps every address the same.
Why is Google Workspace so much more expensive for email?
Because the price bundles Docs, Drive, Meet and Gemini. For 25 users the gap between Google Starter and XgenPlus Premium is ₹66,000 a year; that is the cost of the suite, whether or not the team uses it.
Can I move my domain to XgenPlus without losing old mail?
Yes. Our team migrates mail, contacts and calendars from Google, Microsoft, Zoho, Zimbra or any IMAP service in batches while the old service keeps working, then switches MX on a day you choose. Included on hosted plans from Premium upwards.
Do Indian companies get a GST invoice for business email?
From Indian providers, yes. XgenPlus invoices every order in rupees with GST from Data Xgen Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur, available in the dashboard the moment payment clears. Foreign providers may invoice without GST or without your GSTIN.
Try it on your real domain for ₹2 a user
Thirty days of full mailboxes, then the plan you choose. Or ask for a written quotation with a three-year comparison against what you pay today.
Start the ₹2 trial → Get a quotation in rupees All plans
Older reading on this topic from the XgenPlus blog: Affordable email hosting in India · Choosing an email hosting provider · Picking the right email hosting service · Avoiding email hosting scams · Six benefits of business email on your domain
