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Email at your own domain. What to use, and how to set it up.

An address like hello@yourname.com.au needs somewhere to live: a mailbox at an email provider. Your domain just points at it. For most people we recommend Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Here’s what each costs with GST included, who it suits, and a step-by-step setup guide for each.

Google and Microsoft prices checked 27 October 2026. They set their own prices and can change them.

Only need to receive mail? Forwarding is free

If all you want is for hello@yourname.com.au to land in the inbox you already use, you don’t need a mailbox at all. Every domain on our DNS comes with free email forwarding, set up in your dashboard. The catch: forwarding only receives. Replies come from your other address, and Gmail is removing “Send mail as” for outside addresses in January 2027. Once the address matters to your business, give it a real mailbox.

Whichever mailbox you choose below replaces forwarding on that domain, because a domain’s mail can only go to one place. Email and your domain explains why, and what the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records each do.

The options

Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

Both give you a proper mailbox at your domain, plus a calendar, contacts and documents. Pick the one whose apps you and the people you work with already use.

Google

Google Workspace

$10.89 a month per person, inc GST

Gmail at your own address, plus Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets and Meet. That’s Business Starter on Google’s yearly plan: $130.68 a year per person.

Suits: teams who already live in Gmail and Google Docs, or anyone who wants the familiar Gmail on a computer.

Setup guide Try Google Workspace

Microsoft

Microsoft 365

$11.55 a month per person, inc GST

Outlook email and calendar at your own address, plus Teams, OneDrive and the web and phone versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. That’s Business Basic, paid yearly: $138.60 a year per person.

Suits: businesses that work in Outlook, Word and Excel, or deal with clients who do.

Setup guide Microsoft 365 plans

Our “Try Google Workspace” button is a referral link. If you sign up through it, Google pays us a small one-off fee, and your price is the same. Prefer not to use it? Go straight to workspace.google.com. New to Workspace? Email us for a code for 10% off your first year, one per customer.

Side by side

Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365

The entry plan of each, per person, with GST included.

Feature	Google Workspace Business Starter	Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Price, inc GST	$130.68 a year ($10.89 a month)	$138.60 a year ($11.55 a month)
Storage	30 GB per person, pooled across the team	100 GB mailbox
Read mail in	Gmail on the web and the Gmail app; also Outlook, Apple Mail and iPhone Mail	Outlook on the web and phone, and the free new Outlook for Windows and Mac; also other mail apps
Calendar and contacts	Yes	Yes
Documents and video calls	Docs, Sheets, Drive, Meet	Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the web and phone, OneDrive, Teams
DNS records	You add them with our guide, or we add them for free	You add them with our guide, or we add them for free
Renewal	Billed by Google under its terms	Billed by Microsoft; the yearly plan auto-renews
Free trial	14 days	Yes, see Microsoft’s trial terms
Help from	Google, and us for the DNS side	Microsoft, and us for the DNS side

Google and Microsoft prices are their published Australian list prices for the yearly plans on 27 October 2026, shown with GST included. Either may offer an introductory discount, and their bigger plans cost more. Microsoft’s mailbox size is from its Exchange Online limits page.

Setup guides

How to set up each one

Step by step: the DNS records each one needs, and where they go in your Chill dashboard.

Guide

Set up Google Workspace email

The five records Google needs (verification, MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC), where each goes in your Chill dashboard, and how to check it works.

Read the guide → Guide

Set up Microsoft 365 email

The records Outlook on your own domain needs, where each goes in your Chill dashboard, tested on our own domain with screenshots.

Read the guide →

Rather we did the DNS part? Email us what Google or Microsoft gives you and we’ll add the records to your Chill domain, no charge.

Also available

Just need a simple mailbox? Email via Axigen, through us

If you only need email, with no calendar, documents or team admin, we can set you up with a basic Axigen mailbox at your domain. It’s ordered on its own page and paid separately. It’s never part of buying a domain.

Mailbox size	Price a year, inc GST	Room for
500 MB	$24	Years of text email
1 GB	$36	Some photos and PDFs
5 GB	$60	Plenty of attachments

Prices are per mailbox.

Please read these before you buy

On a computer, use Outlook on your desktop: choose Add account and enter your address (the setup guide has the settings if it asks). Or sign in to Axigen Webmail in your browser at https://ax.email with your full email address and password. Apple Mail and Thunderbird work too. Gmail on the web can’t add it.
On your phone, add it to the Gmail app on Android (or iPhone) as another account, alongside your personal Gmail. All your email is then together in one app, and you switch between accounts by tapping your profile picture. iPhone Mail works too.
It’s email only. No shared calendar, contacts sync or documents. For those, use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
New mail can take a few minutes to show up on your phone, because phone apps check for it every so often.
Large attachments: sent from a mail app such as Outlook or the Gmail app, an email can be up to 50 MB in total, roughly 35 MB of files once encoded. Webmail may allow less. For big files, send a link instead.
It replaces forwarding on that domain. We check with you before we switch it over.
Set up within 1 business day. If your domain is with us, we add the records; if not, we email them to you.
Renews at the same list price, and never automatically: we ask you first.

Order a mailbox Setup guide

FAQ

Email hosting questions

Which email hosting should I choose?

Google Workspace if you and the people you work with already use Gmail and Google Docs; Microsoft 365 if you work in Outlook, Word and Excel. Both include a calendar, contacts and documents. If you only need to receive mail, free forwarding may be all you need.

Does my domain have to be with Chill Domains?

No. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 work with a domain anywhere. Our guides show the steps in the Chill dashboard, but the records are the same wherever your DNS is.

Will setting up email affect my website?

No. Email follows your domain’s MX records and your website follows its A or CNAME records, so you can change one without touching the other.

What happens to my free email forwarding?

A domain’s mail goes to one place, so a mailbox replaces forwarding on that domain. Remove the forwards when you switch.

I have a mailbox from you. Can I move to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 later?

Yes. It’s a standard IMAP mailbox, and both Google and Microsoft have import tools that copy a whole IMAP mailbox across. You then point your domain’s records at the new provider and close the old mailbox once your mail has moved. Our moving guide walks through it.