Migadu vs Zoho Mail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zoho Mail grades higher than Migadu: 3.2 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho Mail grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Migadu
Swiss email hosting with unlimited addresses at a flat price
Zoho Mail
Ad-free business email hosting with calendar, tasks and notes
Which one is for you
Pick Migadu if
- Fits if you own a domain and want many addresses without per-mailbox prices
- Works for people who are comfortable setting up DNS records
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need 2FA on mailboxes or encryption, as its own page says it has neither
- Skip it if you want phone or chat support, as it offers neither
- Tight if you send in volume: daily limits apply, and it says it's meant for human email, not bulk
- Watch out: Micro lacks mailbox limit settings, welcome messages and multi-administrator access
- Watch out: the interface is English only
Pick Zoho Mail if
- Fits if you run a small business and want addresses on your own domain for $1 a person a month
- Works for teams already on Zoho CRM or Projects, which plug into the inbox
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you just want a free personal inbox, because Gmail and Outlook need no domain and no setup
- Not for you if you want Apple Mail or Outlook on the free plan, which has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync and isn't in every data centre
- Tight if you never delete anything, as Mail Lite gives each person 5 GB, or 10 GB for $1.25
- Watch out: Mail Lite and Mail Premium are yearly only, and retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME start at $4 a person
- Watch out: the phone app gets reports of missing emails and a delete button that misbehaves
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMigaduFair | 3.2GPAZoho MailVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BMicro is $19 a year, about $1.58 a month, but it's limited to 200 incoming and 20 outgoing messages a day. Mini at $9 a month is where limits loosen. | AMail Lite is $1 a person a month, billed yearly, where the low quarter of this category starts at $4 and the middle is $8. Even Workplace Standard, with the office apps and chat in it, is $3. Mail Lite has no monthly option, though. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free trial with no card, though the listing doesn't state its length. No free plan. Refunds are 100% within 14 days. | CFree for up to 5 people on one domain, which is unusual, but the walls are close: 5 GB each, no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, so no Apple Mail, Outlook or Thunderbird, and Zoho only offers the plan in some data centres, so you may not be able to get it at all. |
| Features | CUnlimited addresses and domains, standard protocols, setup help and forwarding. Gaps its own page lists: no 2FA on mailboxes, no encryption, a basic calendar and an English-only interface. | BMail on your domain with SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI, a calendar, tasks, notes, shared drafts, Streams for commenting on an email, an admin console and a free migration tool. Retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME sit on the $4-and-up plans. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You point your domain's DNS at it and use standard mail apps, with no first-party apps. | B4.6 from about 8,000 App Store ratings, a notch under Gmail's and Outlook's apps. Short of top marks because there's homework first: you point your domain at Zoho before any mail arrives, and reviewers find settings split between inbox and admin screen. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only on the listing, plus standard IMAP clients. No phone or desktop app of its own, and no integrations listed. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, with paid plans readable in Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird over IMAP. It plugs into Zoho CRM, Projects, WorkDrive and Cliq, and there's Zapier. The free plan has no IMAP, so it's Zoho's own apps only. |
| Best for | unlimited addresses on your own domain | email on your own domain from $1 a head |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Migadu and Zoho Mail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Migadu starts at $1.58 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Mail starts at $1 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Zoho Mail scores higher and starts $0.58 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 11 score higher than Migadu for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Mail for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Zoho Mail also covers tasks.
At a glance
| Migadu | Zoho Mail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per year (Micro, no monthly option) | $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB) |
| Free plan | None | Forever Free Plan: email hosting for one domain and up to 5 users, with 5 GB of mail storage each. IMAP, POP and ActiveSync are not included, and it is available only in select data centers. |
| Free trial | Free trial, no credit card required; length not stated | 15-day free trial of the highest edition, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Migadu | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | migadu.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Migadu
- Its own drawbacks page lists no 2FA on mailboxes, no encryption, basic calendar, English-only interface and no phone or chat support.
- Daily incoming and outgoing limits apply per plan, and Migadu says it is meant for human email use, not bulk sending.
- The Micro plan lacks mailbox limit settings, welcome messages and multi-administrator access.
- Refunds are 100% within 14 days, though extensive use may be deducted.
Zoho Mail
- The free plan covers one domain and 5 users, has no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access, and is offered only in select data centers.
- Mail Lite and Mail Premium are sold on yearly subscriptions only. Monthly billing exists only for the Workplace plans.
- Email retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME are limited to Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.
- Zoho states 24x7 support by email, phone and live chat for paid plans, and guided migration by a dedicated agent only for companies with more than 50 users.
Key features
Migadu
- Unlimited addresses and domains
- Plans are flat per account; extra mailboxes, addresses and domains cost nothing, and usage across them counts toward one quota.
- Standard protocols
- Webmail, SMTP, IMAP4 and POP3, with no proprietary protocols or clients, so any current mail client works.
- Setup help
- Migadu says it can set up your DNS for email for you at no extra fee, and includes a built-in DNS service.
- Soft storage limits
- Storage allowances are soft, so mail does not bounce for a full mailbox; daily message limits are enforced.
- Forwarding and auto-responders
- Messages can be forwarded to up to 25 other addresses, and an auto-responder handles absences.
Zoho Mail
- Email on your own domain
- Addresses at your company's domain with group addresses and email and domain aliases. SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI are built in.
- Calendar, tasks, notes and bookmarks
- A calendar, contacts, ToDo, notes and bookmarks sit inside the mailbox, so events and tasks are handled in the same window as mail.
- Streams and shared drafts
- Streams lets a team comment, assign tasks and post announcements around email. Drafts, single emails and whole folders can be shared for review or delegation.
- Zia AI assistant
- Zia drafts replies and summarizes long threads, and Zoho Mail can be connected to AI apps through Zoho Mail MCP.
- Admin console and compliance
- Role-based access, security policies, audit logs and two-factor authentication for admins. Retention, eDiscovery and S/MIME come with Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.
- Migration tools
- A free automated tool moves email, contacts and calendars from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or any IMAP provider, with migration specialists available at no extra charge.
Plans
Migadu
Micro$19
per year, no monthly option
5 GB, 200 incoming and 20 outgoing messages a day, with some features unavailable.
Mini$9
per month, flat per account
30 GB, 1,000 incoming and 100 outgoing messages a day, best-effort support.
Standard$29
per month, flat per account
100 GB, 3,000 incoming and 500 outgoing messages a day, with office-hours support.
Maxi$99
per month, flat per account
500 GB, 10,000 incoming and 2,000 outgoing messages a day, with 24x7 priority support.
Zoho Mail
Forever Free$0
One domain and up to 5 users with 5 GB of mail storage each. No IMAP, POP or ActiveSync access; offered only in select data centers.
Mail Lite$1
per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)
Custom-domain email with 5 GB of mail storage per user, or 10 GB for $1.25, plus calendar and tasks. No file storage.
Workplace Standard$3
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
30 GB of mail storage per user plus WorkDrive, the office apps, Cliq, Meeting and Vault. File storage starts at 100 GB per team.
Mail Premium$4
per user / month, billed annually (no monthly plan)
50 GB of mail storage and 50 GB of retention storage per user, with email retention and eDiscovery, S/MIME and mobile access management.
Workplace Professional$6
per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
100 GB of mail and 100 GB of retention storage per user, 1 TB of team file storage, the Premium compliance tools and Zoho Connect.
Workplace EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits across the Workplace products, with Active Directory cloud sync and endpoint controls. Priced through Zoho sales.
Ways to pay less
Migadu
- Annual discount
Yearly plans save at least a month
Mini, Standard and Maxi cost $90, $290 and $990 per year, which the pricing FAQ says saves at least one month against monthly billing.
- Nonprofit
Discounts for non-profits and students
The pricing FAQ says non-profits get a significant discount on request, and students do too with a valid student ID.
Zoho Mail
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
Zoho's pricing FAQ cites a discount of roughly 20% for annual billing. Workplace Standard is $3 per user / month billed annually against $4 monthly, and Workplace Professional $6 against $7.
- Nonprofit
Special pricing for nonprofits
The pricing FAQ says non-profit and charitable organizations get special pricing, arranged by contacting Zoho sales.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Migadu or Zoho Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Migadu starts at $19 per year (Micro, no monthly option), and Zoho Mail starts at $1 per user / month, billed annually (Mail Lite, 5 GB). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Migadu or Zoho Mail?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zoho Mail has a free plan. Migadu does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Migadu and Zoho Mail run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zoho Mail lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.