Uncommon Comforts Plain comparisons of the tools you keep your people and your work in

Fastmail alternatives in 2026

Compare Fastmail with Google Workspace, Zoho Mail and Connections Email on trials, support, data location and how each handles your own domain.

By Uncommon Comforts ยท

Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.

Compare Fastmail with Google Workspace, Zoho Mail and Connections Email by trial length, support hours, where data is kept and how you pay. The table shows what each source states, and "not published" marks what it does not.

OptionPriceFree trial
Fastmailnot published30 days, no credit card required for business use [1]
Google WorkspacePer user per month, tax not included [2]; billed monthly in US dollars [2]; annual commitment saves 16% [2]; Enterprise by contacting sales [3]14 days on all plans [3]
Zoho Mailnot publishedFree trial available, length not published [4]
Connections EmailConnections Free, $0 [5]; Connections Pro, $39.99 a month [5]; Connections Business, $99.99 a month [5]not published

Why people who run things look past Fastmail

Fastmail says that, as a paid service, it only serves its customers, with no personal data mining or ads. [1] It offers a free trial of 30 days with no credit card required for business use. [1] Users choose their primary data residency, either EU or USA. [1] A Masked Email feature keeps a real email address private. [1] Fastmail says its support team is online 24/7. [1]

Nothing in those facts is a complaint. Some people want a price shape that is stated up front. Others want a choice of more data center regions, a free starting point, shared storage across a team, or a way for their own app to send mail. The Fastmail facts on this page do not cover those points, so check Fastmail's own plan page for each one. The options below are the tools whose sources do say something about them.

Google Workspace: business email with shared storage and video meetings

Google Workspace prices are per user per month and do not include tax. [2] All plans are billed monthly, with prices in US dollars. [2] An annual, one-year commitment saves 16%. [2] New customers can get up to 30% off their first 3 months. [2] That discount has a limit: the introductory price applies only to the first 20 users added, for 12 months. [2]

All plans feature a free 14-day trial. [3] Storage is pooled per user and shared across the organization. [3] Starter includes 30 GB of pooled storage per person [2] and video meetings for up to 100 participants. [2] Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus can be purchased for a maximum of 300 users. [3] Enterprise plans have no minimum or maximum user limit [3] and are priced by contacting sales. [3]

Zoho Mail: business email with a free migration tool

Zoho Mail offers a free trial. [4] Zoho says every paid plan includes 24x7 support by email, phone and live chat from real engineers. [4]

Zoho says its plans start at a fraction of the cost of comparable Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 tiers. [4] Its migration tool is free and can move emails, contacts and calendars from Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another mail provider that supports IMAP, the common mail-access standard. [4] Zoho's migration specialists can help at no extra charge. [4]

Customers can pick from more than 10 data centers worldwide, including in the US, EU, India, Australia and Japan. [4] Zoho Mail offers ad-free email [4] and a formal 99.9% uptime SLA, which is a written promise about availability. [4] SPF, DKIM, BIMI and DMARC, which are checks that help other mail servers trust your messages, are built in. [4]

Connections Email: a web inbox for the domains you own

Connections Email has a web inbox. [5] One view shows the newest mail from every group of email accounts you belong to, so you don't have to switch between them. [5] You can connect more than one domain you own, meaning more than one web address that comes after the @ sign in an email address, and send and receive on each of them. [5] If Google or Cloudflare already handles your domain's mail, you can keep that arrangement and still receive messages here at a separate address under your domain, for example one that begins with inbox. [5]

You can search by subject, by whether a message has an attachment, and by date, and you can leave out words you do not want to see. [5] Settings include message spacing, undo send, notifications, signature, automatic replies when you are away, and filters. [5] You can set how long you have to cancel a sent message, up to five minutes. [5] Gmail-style keyboard shortcuts let you compose, move between messages, archive and reply. [5]

Your app can send mail from your connected domain with one POST request. [5] A newly connected domain's daily sending limit rises on its own over 30 days, starting at 50 a day. [5] A health view shows your bounce and complaint rates. [5] An address that cannot receive mail permanently, or that marks your mail as spam, is blocked from future sends right away. [5] Connections' own domains can't be used to send email, so sending needs a domain you own. [5]

You sign in with your Connections login, the one sign-in shared across Connections products. [5] Connections products are free with limits, and going over a limit stops the action instead of billing you. [5] There is also a paid plan called Connections Pro, which is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product. [5]

How to pick the right Fastmail alternative

Start with the trial and support you need. Fastmail offers 30 days free with no credit card for business use. [1] Google Workspace offers a free 14-day trial on all plans. [3] Zoho says every paid plan includes 24x7 support by email, phone and live chat. [4]

Then look at where data is kept. Fastmail lets users choose EU or USA. [1] Zoho lists more than 10 data centers worldwide. [4]

If you are moving from another provider, Zoho's migration tool is free and moves emails, contacts and calendars. [4] If your team already relies on shared storage and video meetings, Google Workspace pools storage across the organization. [3] Its video meetings allow up to 100 participants. [2]

If you run several domains, want your own app to send mail, or want to keep Google handling your main mail while receiving elsewhere on a subdomain, Connections Email covers those points. [5] [5] [5]

Finally, check how paying works for each option. Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [5] For Connections Email, no live page lets a member pay for email, so ask what you would be buying before you plan around it. [5]

Frequently asked questions

Does Fastmail offer a free trial?

Fastmail offers a free trial of 30 days with no credit card required for business use. [1] Google Workspace offers a free 14-day trial on all plans. [3] Zoho Mail offers a free trial. [4] Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [5]

Where does Fastmail keep its data?

Fastmail lets users choose their primary data residency, either EU or USA. [1] Zoho Mail says customers can pick from more than 10 data centers worldwide, including in the US, EU, India, Australia and Japan. [4] For Google Workspace and Connections Email, check where data is held, since the facts here do not state it.

Is Google Workspace priced per user?

Google Workspace prices are per user per month and do not include tax. [2] Plans are billed monthly in US dollars, [2] and an annual, one-year commitment saves 16%. [2] Enterprise pricing is available by contacting sales. [3] The introductory price covers only the first 20 users added, for 12 months. [2]

Can Connections Email send mail from an app?

Your app can send mail from your connected domain with one POST request. [5] A newly connected domain's daily sending limit rises on its own over 30 days, starting at 50 a day. [5] An address that cannot receive mail permanently, or that marks your mail as spam, is blocked from future sends right away. [5] Connections' own domains can't be used to send email, so connect one you own. [5]

Does Zoho Mail include support on every paid plan?

Zoho says every paid plan includes 24x7 support via email, phone and live chat from real engineers. [4] Users on paid plans can reach Zoho's team at any time. [4] Fastmail says its support team is online 24/7. [1] Zoho's migration specialists can help at no extra charge. [4] Check that the support hours apply to the plan you choose.

Connections products are free with limits, and going over a limit stops the action instead of billing you. [5] Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [5]

Try Connections Email

Sources

  1. Fastmail, fastmail.com, read 2026-11-01
  2. Google Workspace, workspace.google.com/pricing, read 2026-10-08
  3. Google Workspace, workspace.google.com, read 2026-10-08
  4. Zoho Mail, zoho.com/mail, read 2026-10-08
  5. Connections Email's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)

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