Google Apps Alternative

I have been using Google Apps (Standard Edition) ever since I started using my first custom domain email and I continue to be a great fan of it till date. The reason why I still use and recommend Google Apps is because of their phenomenal features, simplicity and its availability free of cost. I got free 50 email accounts when I signed up for it in early 2009 (Before January 2009 it was 200 email accounts).

• On May 10, 2011 the number of free email accounts dropped from 50 to 10
• December 7, 2012 Google discontinued the free version of Google Apps

Those who subscribed the service before December 7, 2012 can continue to use the service free of cost.

But, what about if you are signing up today? The only option in Google Apps is to subscribe for their business edition.

Google Has officially ended its 10 user Free Google Apps Accounts and the search for a free Google Apps Alternative began. You can still get a 1 user Google Apps account through the Google Apps Engine but since it’s only good for one user it doesn’t really make sense for anybody other than people building apps that need a noreply@domainname.com email.

I started to look for a Google Apps Alternative because I didn’t want to setup an email server for all my new hosting clients and most importantly as replacement for Google Docs. Thankfully there are few Google Apps Alternative services that are defiantly good enough to replace Google Apps and not look back.

Zoho Mail  is a great replacement for Google Apps and has loads of add-ons. I love the fact that even the free version is completely add free. The interface is nice and very easy to get used to. They have android and iOS apps and have a 99.9% uptime guarantee. The main downfall is that the free version only allows a maximum of 5 users. That may work for some people but it’s just too few for most of my clients. My typical client setup includes 3 primary email accounts. sales@domainname.com info@domainname.com and webmaster@domainname.com, It still leaves the client only 2 emails.

The best Google Apps Alternative I found to date is the new outlook.com you can use your own custom domain and since its Microsoft you get excel/word/PowerPoint all better than the Google Docs we all grown use to. There’s also a nice online calendar and the UI is very clean and modern. You are allowed 500 emails/users and get 7 gigs space free on SkyDrive. After using it for a few days I have really grown used to it and the main thing I miss about Google Apps is the option to get a Google Voice number for free. I’m not sure how long Google is going to give out Free Google Voice numbers since it looks like it’s moving away from free services. I’m starting to keep an eye out on Google Analytics alternatives in case the big changes coming soon include eliminating free Analytics. Online Outlook is very easy to setup.

If you have any other alternatives I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Thanks
R.karthikeyan