Gmail aliases vs a multi-domain email host: which works for several domains?

Gmail’s own aliases all end in @gmail.com, so they can’t give you addresses on your domains. The free workaround, forwarding each domain into Gmail and replying through “Send mail as”, stops sending in January 2027, when Google ends “Send as” for addresses that aren’t Google accounts. For several domains after that, the choice is Google Workspace ($7 a user a month) or a host that takes every domain: for one person on three domains, Purelymail costs $10 a year, Migadu costs $19 a year, SuperMailOS costs $36 a year. Every Google fact below comes from Google’s own help pages and every price from the provider’s own page; the check dates are under sources.

What can Gmail’s aliases do for a custom domain?

A free Gmail account can’t receive your domain’s mail directly, because no MX record can point at it: mail arrives by forwarding or, for existing users until January 2027, by POP. Google also notes that people on Outlook and some other services may see your mail as “from yourname@gmail.com on behalf of” the address you chose. And forwarded mail is re-sent from a server your domain’s SPF record doesn’t list, so SPF can fail at the next hop (DKIM survives if the message isn’t changed).

What changes in January 2027?

So the popular free set-up for several domains, forwarding each one into a personal Gmail (Cloudflare’s Email Routing receives without a limit on its free plan) and replying through “Send mail as” with an SMTP service such as Amazon SES ($0.10 per 1,000 emails sent, à la carte), keeps receiving after January 2027 but can no longer reply as your domains from Gmail. Mail you’ve already imported stays in your mailbox. The step-by-step options are in Gmail is ending “Send as” and POP: what to do before January 2027.

How do Google Workspace aliases and alias domains compare?

Google Workspace is Gmail on your own domain, and it is the way to keep Gmail’s inbox for several domains. Each user can have up to 30 aliases at no extra cost; an account holds up to 600 domains, of which up to 20 can be alias domains that give every user a matching address on another domain. Business Starter is $7 a user a month on the Annual Plan or $8.40 on the Flexible Plan, whatever the number of domains. Google says Workspace’s own “Send as” isn’t affected by the January 2027 change. The details, including secondary domains versus alias domains, are in Google Workspace with multiple domains.

What does a multi-domain email host do differently?

• Mail arrives directly. Each domain’s MX record points at the host, so there is no forwarding hop for SPF to fail on and nothing to fetch.
• Each domain sends as itself. Mail leaves the host’s servers signed with that domain’s own DKIM key, not relayed through a personal account.
• Addresses cost little or nothing. SuperMailOS has unlimited free aliases on every domain; Migadu’s addresses are unlimited; Purelymail sets no hard limits; Microsoft 365 allows up to 400 aliases per user.
• Replies come from the right address. On SuperMailOS, answering mail sent to hello@ on one domain sends from that address by default. Elsewhere it’s usually a per-address setting worth checking.

What does each setup cost for one person with three domains?

Billed yearly, cheapest first, in US dollars before tax:

SuperMailOS isn’t the cheapest: Purelymail and Migadu cost less, and Purelymail is $10 a year with no hard limits. What $36 buys on Pro is one inbox for every domain, unlimited free aliases and the mail server run for you. Zoho Mail’s free plan covers one domain only, so it isn’t priced here; nor is Fastmail, whose US-dollar prices we couldn’t verify. The email cost calculator prices your own team.

Which one should you pick?

• You only want throwaway addresses for sign-ups. Gmail’s plus addresses are enough and stay free.
• Your team works in Google’s apps. Google Workspace keeps Gmail’s inbox, adds your domains and isn’t touched by the change.
• You run several domains and want email, not a suite. A multi-domain host is cheaper per person and treats every domain as a first-class sender.
• Price is all that matters. Purelymail or Migadu cost less than anything else here.
• You’re on the free Gmail workaround today. Plan the move before January 2027; new “Send as” set-ups may already be refused.

Where do these facts come from?

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