The cheapest way to get family@yourname.com
Every option starts with the domain, $10 to $20 a year for a .com. What comes after depends on whether you need real mailboxes, and for how many people.
Updated October 2026
Short answer
What does it cost a family of six?
A year of email for six people, cheapest first, in US dollars. Apart from ours, every row also pays for the domain every year.
| Option | Six people, per year | Domain setup | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Email Routing + free Gmail | $0 | Automatic if the domain uses Cloudflare | Forwarding only. Replying from the new address takes extra setup in Gmail |
| Zoho Mail, free plan | $0 for five people, not six | Yours | Five people at most, and Zoho's own apps only, no Apple Mail or Outlook |
| iCloud+ 50 GB | $11.88 | Automatic if you buy the domain through iCloud | Everyone needs an Apple Account, and the 50 GB covers the whole family's iCloud, photos too |
| Forward Email | $36 | Yours | 10 GB shared by everyone |
| Fastmail Family | $132 paid yearly, $168 monthly | Yours | Domain setup and renewals are yours |
| InboxFamily | $228, plus $15 once for a .com | Done for you | Email only: no calendar or file storage. 5 GB a mailbox |
| Proton Family | $287.88 paid yearly | Yours | Apple Mail and Outlook only through Proton Bridge on a computer |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | $504 on the annual plan | Yours | A business suite, billed per person. $604.80 without the commitment |
Cloudflare Email Routing + free Gmail
- Six people, per year
- $0
- Domain setup
- Automatic if the domain uses Cloudflare
- The catch
- Forwarding only. Replying from the new address takes extra setup in Gmail
Zoho Mail, free plan
- Six people, per year
- $0 for five people, not six
- Domain setup
- Yours
- The catch
- Five people at most, and Zoho's own apps only, no Apple Mail or Outlook
iCloud+ 50 GB
- Six people, per year
- $11.88
- Domain setup
- Automatic if you buy the domain through iCloud
- The catch
- Everyone needs an Apple Account, and the 50 GB covers the whole family's iCloud, photos too
Forward Email
- Six people, per year
- $36
- Domain setup
- Yours
- The catch
- 10 GB shared by everyone
Fastmail Family
- Six people, per year
- $132 paid yearly, $168 monthly
- Domain setup
- Yours
- The catch
- Domain setup and renewals are yours
InboxFamily
- Six people, per year
- $228, plus $15 once for a .com
- Domain setup
- Done for you
- The catch
- Email only: no calendar or file storage. 5 GB a mailbox
Proton Family
- Six people, per year
- $287.88 paid yearly
- Domain setup
- Yours
- The catch
- Apple Mail and Outlook only through Proton Bridge on a computer
Google Workspace Business Starter
- Six people, per year
- $504 on the annual plan
- Domain setup
- Yours
- The catch
- A business suite, billed per person. $604.80 without the commitment
Prices checked in October 2026 on each provider's own page: Cloudflare, Zoho, Apple, Forward Email, Fastmail, Proton, Google. Microsoft 365 Family isn't in the table: since November 30, 2023, it can't create new addresses on your own domain.
Is free forwarding enough?
For one person who mostly receives mail, often yes. Forwarding has no mailbox of its own: mail sent to anna@yourname.com lands in Anna's existing Gmail, and her replies go out from her Gmail address unless she sets up "Send mail as" with an outgoing mail server.
A family needs that setup once per person, and each of them keeps an inbox at Google or Microsoft underneath. If what you want is the family's own mailboxes, start at iCloud+ in the table, or Zoho if you are five or fewer.
When does per-person pricing stop being cheap?
Sooner than it looks. Google Workspace charges $7 per person a month on the annual plan: $84 a year for one person, $252 for three, $504 for six. Fastmail Family, Proton Family and InboxFamily charge once for the household, up to six people. Fastmail is cheaper than Workspace from the second person, InboxFamily from the third.
Comparing Workspace with the family plans in more detail? Read the Workspace comparison.
The domain is the cost that comes back
Everywhere else the domain is a separate bill, every year, and if a renewal fails, every address on it stops working. We charge it once, when you sign up, and renew it for as long as you stay. It's registered in your name, so it leaves with you if you go.
Not sure you want to handle the setup at all? See which services do it for you.
One price for the whole family
Six mailboxes, ten aliases and your own domain, set up and renewed for you. $19 a month.
Find your family's domain