The best email setup depends on how many people need to send mail, how many real inboxes are needed, and whether forwarders can reduce unnecessary mailbox costs.
Not every business needs a long list of separate email inboxes.
In many cases, clients assume they need multiple full email accounts when what they actually need is:
one main email inbox
a few forwarding addresses
a cleaner structure for public-facing communication
That is usually more efficient and more cost-effective.
For most businesses, we typically recommend using:
hello@yourdomain.co.za as the main public-facing address
This works especially well for:
websites
contact pages
social media
general enquiries
basic customer communication
It keeps the brand feeling clean, simple, and professional.
A full email account has its own inbox, password, and storage allocation. It is meant for someone who needs to:
log in
send emails directly
receive emails directly
manage their own mailbox
Examples:
hello@yourdomain.co.za
admin@yourdomain.co.za
sales@yourdomain.co.za
A forwarder does not usually have its own inbox. It simply sends incoming mail to another existing email address.
This is often useful when:
you want multiple public-facing addresses
you do not want to manage multiple separate inboxes
different enquiry types can still land in one main mailbox
Examples:
sales@yourdomain.co.za - forwards to - hello@yourdomain.co.za
info@yourdomain.co.za - forwards to - hello@yourdomain.co.za
bookings@yourdomain.co.za - forwards to - hello@yourdomain.co.za
A forwarder is often the better choice when:
the address only needs to receive mail
nobody needs to log into it directly
the goal is just to catch enquiries under different names
you want to reduce mailbox clutter and cost
one person or team can handle all incoming messages from one central inbox
This is especially useful on the Email Spark package.
On the Email Spark package, we often suggest keeping things simple:
use one main real mailbox
use forwarders for any extra public-facing addresses
For example:
real mailbox: hello@yourdomain.co.za
forwarders:
info@yourdomain.co.za
sales@yourdomain.co.za
support@yourdomain.co.za
bookings@yourdomain.co.za
That way, the business still looks structured from the outside without paying for unnecessary separate inboxes.
A separate full mailbox is usually the better option when:
a person needs to send from that address directly
different team members need their own login
departments need their own independent inboxes
mail should not all flow into one place
proper separation of communication is important
For example, if someone needs to actually send mail as sales@yourdomain.co.za, then that should usually be a real mailbox, not just a forwarder.
Includes:
5 email accounts
5GB storage quota
1 mailing list
250MB quota per mailbox
Best for:
small businesses, startups, or simple operations that only need one main inbox and a few structured addresses
Typical recommendation:
Use one main mailbox like hello@yourdomain.co.za, then use forwarders where possible.
Includes:
10 email accounts
10GB storage quota
2 mailing lists
1GB quota per mailbox
Best for:
small teams that need a few real inboxes for different people or roles
Typical recommendation:
Use a mix of real mailboxes and forwarders depending on who actually needs to send and log in.
Includes:
20 email accounts
15GB storage quota
5 mailing lists
1.5GB quota per mailbox
Best for:
growing businesses with multiple staff members, role-based inboxes, and more regular email use
Typical recommendation:
Use dedicated accounts for core staff or departments, with forwarders where it still makes sense.
Includes:
unlimited email accounts
25GB storage quota
unlimited mailing lists
1.5GB quota per mailbox
Best for:
larger teams, businesses with many departments, or setups that need a broad email structure
Typical recommendation:
Best when multiple real inboxes are needed across the business and flexibility matters more than minimising account count.
Email hosting pricing does not include domain registration.
Where applicable, domain registration is charged separately at:
R250 once-off additional
In most cases, the cleanest approach is:
set up one strong main inbox
use hello@yourdomain.co.za as the public-facing contact email
add forwarders for extra addresses where needed
only create separate full inboxes for people or roles that genuinely need to send from those addresses
That keeps the setup professional without making it unnecessarily messy or expensive.
The smartest email setup is usually not the one with the most inboxes. It is the one that matches how the business actually operates. For many smaller businesses, one main mailbox plus smart forwarders is the cleanest and most practical route.