A professional email address is one that uses your business’s own domain name, such as jane@yourcompany.com, rather than a free webmail domain. To get one, you register a domain (or use one you already own), sign up for a hosted email service such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, verify the domain with the provider, add the DNS records it gives you and create a mailbox for each person. This guide covers naming formats, what each route costs according to the providers’ own pricing pages on October 26, 2026, and the setup steps.

What makes a professional email address

Two parts of an address carry the signal: the name before the @ and the domain after it.

  • The domain shows who you work for. An address at yourcompany.com tells a recipient the message comes from that organization. Microsoft’s plan pages describe an email domain as the part after the “@” that identifies your organization.
  • The local part (the name before the @) should be easy to read aloud, spell and remember. A first name, a full name or a role works. Nicknames, birth years and long strings of numbers don’t.

A professional address also stays stable. If you change providers later, you keep the domain, so the address on your business cards and invoices doesn’t change.

Step 1: Choose a naming format

Pick one pattern and use it for everyone in the company. Consistency helps colleagues guess an address correctly and keeps the directory tidy.

Format Example Good fit for
first name jane@yourcompany.com Very small teams with no repeated first names
first.last jane.doe@yourcompany.com Growing teams; clear and easy to guess
first initial + last jdoe@yourcompany.com Short addresses for long first names
first + last initial janed@yourcompany.com Teams that prefer first names but need uniqueness
role sales@yourcompany.com Shared inboxes for a function rather than a person

Tips for the local part

  • Plan for duplicates. Two people named Jane will happen. A first.last or initial-based pattern scales better than first names alone.
  • Skip numbers and punctuation beyond a dot. Hyphens and underscores are easy to mishear on the phone.
  • Keep role addresses for shared work. support@, billing@ and hello@ survive staff changes, while a personal address leaves with its owner.
  • Check how outsiders will guess it. People who need to reach a colleague often try common patterns first, which is the same logic behind tools and methods that help you find someone’s email address.

Step 2: Get a domain

If you already have a website, you almost certainly own a domain and can use it for email. If not, register one with a domain registrar. Keep it short, match it to your business name and prefer a widely recognized ending such as .com or a country code your customers know.

Some email providers sell domains too. Fastmail’s pricing page, for example, says you can buy a domain with Fastmail if you don’t own one yet.

Step 3: Choose an email provider

The provider hosts your mailboxes, handles spam filtering and gives you apps for web, desktop and mobile. Here is how three common options compared on their official pricing pages, checked on October 26, 2026.

Provider and plan Listed price Custom domain Storage per user Notes
Google Workspace Business Starter $7/month per user Yes 30 GB pooled Plans billed monthly; price excludes tax
Google Workspace Business Standard $14/month per user Yes 2 TB pooled Adds custom layouts and mail merge
Google Workspace Business Plus $22/month per user Yes 5 TB pooled Adds eDiscovery and Vault
Microsoft 365 Business Basic $7.00 user/month, paid yearly Yes 1 TB Web and mobile versions of the Office apps
Microsoft 365 Business Standard $14.00 user/month, paid yearly Yes 1 TB Adds desktop versions of the apps
Fastmail Business Standard $6 per user/month, or $5 per user/month paid yearly Yes 60 GB per user Business Basic ($4 monthly) does not support your own domain

Google Workspace

Google’s Workspace pricing page lists Business Starter at $7, Business Standard at $14 and Business Plus at $22 per user per month in USD, with tax extra. Each plan includes secure custom business email at your own domain, and the page offers a 14-day trial at no cost. On the day we checked, new customers were also shown introductory discounts for the first 3 months (20% off Starter and 50% off Standard and Plus), so read the price details at checkout. Starter, Standard and Plus can be bought for up to 300 users.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft’s Business Basic plan page lists $7.00 per user per month, paid yearly, with a custom business email address through Exchange, 1 TB of cloud storage per user and web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Business Standard is listed at $14.00 per user per month, paid yearly, and adds desktop versions of the apps. Both plans support up to 300 users. The pages mention a one-month free trial that requires a credit card, and a seven-day window after the paid subscription starts in which you can cancel for a prorated refund.

Until you connect your own domain, Microsoft assigns a default address ending in .onmicrosoft.com, which it calls the fallback domain. That works for testing but isn’t the address you want on a business card.

Other providers

Independent providers can cost less if you only need email. Fastmail’s pricing page lists Business Standard at $6 per user per month, or $5 per user per month when paid yearly ($60 for 12 months), with 60 GB of storage per user split between mail and files and the ability to create custom business addresses with a domain. Its cheaper Business Basic plan does not support your own domain, so check plan details before you pick the lowest price.

Step 4: Connect your domain and create mailboxes

The general flow is the same with every provider: prove you own the domain, create users, then point mail to the provider.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft’s guide to adding a domain to Microsoft 365 lays out the process in the admin center:

  1. In the left navigation, select … Show all, then expand Settings and choose Domains.
  2. Select + Add domain, type your domain name and select Use this domain.
  3. On the page that asks you to verify ownership, confirm the registrar shown is correct and select Verify.
  4. If the registrar supports Domain Connect, Microsoft 365 can add the DNS records for you; otherwise you add them by hand at your registrar.

Two details from that guide save trouble. You need to be a Domain Name Administrator to add or change domains, and you should create users and mailboxes after adding the domain but before adding the MX record, so mail keeps flowing while it moves from your old provider.

Google Workspace

Google’s admin help on setting up MX records for Workspace explains that, after you sign up, you must update the domain’s MX records so incoming mail reaches Google’s servers. In short:

  1. Verify that you own the domain (Google’s troubleshooting notes say this must happen before Gmail can be set up).
  2. At your registrar’s DNS settings, remove the old MX records and add one MX record with the value smtp.google.com, following the registrar’s own format.
  3. In the Admin console, go to Menu, Account, Domains, Manage domains and click Activate Gmail for the domain.

Google warns that new MX records can take up to 72 hours to be recognized, so plan the switch for a quiet day. Use the naming format you chose in Step 1 for every user you add.

Step 5: Add aliases and shared addresses

You rarely need a separate paid mailbox for every address. An alias is a second address that delivers into an existing mailbox.

In Google Workspace, the help page on adding an email alias for a user says you can create up to 30 aliases per user at no extra cost. To add one, an admin goes to Menu, Directory, Users in the Admin console, opens the user, clicks Add Alternate Emails, then Alternate email, types the alias name and saves. Google notes that changes can take up to 24 hours, that two users can’t share the same alias, and that you can’t sign in with an alias.

Aliases suit role addresses that one person handles, such as billing@ for a founder. When several people answer the same address, a shared mailbox or group usually works better.

Step 6: Protect and use the new address

A new professional email address on a new domain has no sending history, so a little care at the start pays off.

  • Turn on two-step verification for every account, admins first.
  • Ask your provider which authentication records to add. SPF, DKIM and DMARC records help receiving servers confirm your mail is genuine.
  • Add a simple signature with your name, role and company website.
  • Start with normal, one-to-one email. Sending large volumes from a brand-new domain is a common way to land in spam. Our guide on avoiding email bounces explains why clean lists matter.
  • Build outreach gradually. If you plan prospecting from the new address, read up on cold outreach by email and on assembling a B2B contact list before the first campaign.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Mixing formats. jane@ for one person and john.smith@ for another confuses everyone.
  • Using a personal domain name for a company. If the business may grow or be sold, register a domain in the company’s name.
  • Letting one person own the domain account. Keep registrar and admin logins in company hands, with at least two admins.
  • Forgetting the MX order on Microsoft 365. Create mailboxes before you switch mail routing.
  • Paying for mailboxes you don’t need. Use aliases or groups for role addresses where your provider allows it.

Setup checklist

  • ☐ Domain registered in the company’s name
  • ☐ Naming format chosen and written down
  • ☐ Provider and plan picked, prices checked on the provider’s own page
  • ☐ Domain verified with the provider
  • ☐ Users and mailboxes created
  • ☐ MX and authentication records added at the registrar
  • ☐ Aliases or shared addresses set up for role mail
  • ☐ Two-step verification on for every account

Evaluating tools for prospecting and list work too? View pricing.

FAQ

Can I get a professional email address for free?

Hosted business suites charge per user, but you can test before paying. Google lists a 14-day trial for Workspace and Microsoft lists a one-month trial for its business plans, after which normal pricing applies.

Do I need a website to have a professional email address?

No. You need a domain, not a website. You can register a domain, connect it to an email provider and never publish a site.

Which professional email format do teams usually pick?

There is no single rule. first.last@ and first-initial-plus-last-name patterns are popular choices for growing teams because they rarely collide and outsiders can guess them.

How many aliases can one Google Workspace user have?

Google’s admin help page says up to 30 email aliases per user, at no extra cost.

Can I keep my address if I change providers?

Yes, as long as you own the domain. You move the mailboxes to the new provider and update the DNS records, and the address itself stays the same.

What is the .onmicrosoft.com address?

It is the default fallback domain Microsoft 365 assigns when you sign up. You can use it during a trial, but connect your own domain for a professional address.

Set up your address this week

Choose a format, confirm your domain and compare the plans above against what your team needs today. The setup is a one-time job, and the result is an address that looks the same on every card, invoice and email signature for as long as you own the domain.