Microsoft 365 Alternative: Business Email Pricing

Business email looks like a small line item. A few dollars per account per month — hardly worth fussing over, right? But as your company grows, that small figure ends up in a surprising place in the annual budget. For a 10-person team it’s $840 a year, $4,200 for 50 people, $16,800 for 200. And both Microsoft and Google raise their prices every year.

Current pricing

Public list prices as of today (April 2026):

Note: Microsoft and Google prices are taken from the providers’ official websites. Enterprise discounts, contract length and payment method may change the actual price.

What drives the difference?

The bulk of the cost of Microsoft and Google products comes from add-on capabilities most users don’t actually use: Teams, Meet recording, SharePoint, desktop Office suites, internal OKR apps… You’re billed per email account, but you’re really buying a software bundle.

Ulakmail offers an unbundled service. If you want email, that’s email. If you want security, that’s security. If you want extra domains, they’re a click away. You don’t pay for a Teams license you’ll never use.

Sample bill for 10 users

You run a consultancy with 10 employees. You’ll set up a professional email account for each of them.

• Google Workspace Business Starter: 10 × $6 × 12 months = $720/year
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: 10 × $6 × 12 months = $720/year
• Ulakmail Pro (up to 25 accounts): 1 × $10 × 12 months = $120/year

Same features — custom domain, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, webmail, IMAP — but 83% lower cost. Annual savings of $600. Five-year total: $3,000.

“But I need the Office suite”

Yes, the main value proposition of Microsoft 365 isn’t email; it’s Word + Excel + PowerPoint + OneDrive. Ulakmail doesn’t offer that bundle. But if you’re reading this, you most likely already license Office separately or use free alternatives (LibreOffice, Google Docs free, Microsoft 365 Personal).

The real question is: “Do I need to pay Microsoft an extra $6/month for a Word license?” For most small businesses, the answer is no.

Hidden costs

Easy-to-miss details in big providers’ pricing:

• Additional storage: Once you fill the 30 GB on Workspace Starter you’re forced to upgrade to the 2 TB plan — +$6 per user.
• Archive / retention: Adding Workspace Vault for KVKK or legal retention is +$5.
• Advanced security: MS 365 Business Premium (Defender, Intune) is +$22.
• API usage: Extra quotas for bulk email sending.

These add-ons don’t exist in Ulakmail’s pricing. SPF/DKIM/DMARC, KVKK archive, support — all included in the plan.

Migration cost

So is leaving your existing MS/Google environment hard? Your previous emails move via IMAP, and DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM) are updated once. Ulakmail manages the migration process free of charge — the team handles all the technical work on the domain side for you.

Average migration time: 2–4 hours. Downtime: zero (the old system runs in parallel until the DNS TTL expires).

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are not bad — they are large, reliable products. But their pricing is designed for large-company budgets. For 1–50-person SMBs, $6–12 per account is mostly overpayment.

Ask yourself: “Of the features my team actually uses every month, how many are anything other than email?” If the answer is “very few,” Ulakmail fits both your wallet and your appetite for simplicity.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does migration from Microsoft 365 to Ulakmail take? On average 2–4 hours. Ulakmail manages DNS updates and IMAP email migration free of charge. Downtime is zero — the old system runs in parallel until the DNS TTL expires.

Can I use Office (Word, Excel) on Ulakmail? Ulakmail provides email service only. For Office you can use alternatives like Microsoft 365 Personal, Google Docs or LibreOffice. That way you avoid overpaying for email and keep your Office costs separate.

Are SPF, DKIM and DMARC setups included? Yes. The Pro and Business plans cover SPF/DKIM/DMARC configuration support. See our SPF/DKIM/DMARC guide for the technical details.

Is Turkish support provided? Yes. The Ulakmail team works in Turkish, on Türkiye time, with direct human support. Read more about Turkish support →

Is my data kept in Türkiye? Yes. All emails are stored in data centers in Türkiye; there is no transfer abroad under KVKK Article 9. KVKK and data sovereignty →

See plans → • Request a business quote →