Email with your own domain: how to get info@your-company.ch

For an email address with your own domain you need two things: a domain such as your-company.ch and a service that runs mailboxes for that domain. This can be your web hosting, a separate email plan or an office suite such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. A few DNS records then point to the mail server, and you set up the mailbox on your devices. This article explains which option suits you, what it costs and how to take your existing emails with you.

Why your own domain instead of Gmail, Bluewin or GMX?

A free address is handy for private use. But if you write quotes, send invoices or represent an association, an address with your own name pays off:

• Trust: A quote from info@muster-joinery.ch looks more reliable than one from muster.joinery@gmail.com. Recipients immediately see which company the message belongs to.
• Independence: The address is yours as long as you own the domain. You can change email provider without your address changing. A free address, by contrast, is tied to its provider.
• Several addresses: info@, quotes@, accounts@ or one address per employee are easy to set up with aliases and forwarding.
• Control when staff change: If someone leaves the company, the mailbox stays with you. You can forward it or hand it over to their successor.
• Deliverability: With SPF, DKIM and DMARC you prove that emails really come from you. This lowers the risk of ending up in spam.

Also check the terms of use of your current free service: many show advertising or are expressly intended for private use.

What you need

1. A domain. For Switzerland, .ch is the obvious choice; for Liechtenstein, .li. The domain does not have to be with the same provider as the mailboxes.
2. An email service that runs mailboxes for your domain. We present the three common options below.
3. Access to the domain’s DNS management to set MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. It is wherever the domain’s nameservers point.
4. A program or app: webmail in the browser, the mail app on your smartphone, Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird.

Tip: Choose a name you can easily spell out over the phone: short, without hyphens and without umlauts. Domains with umlauts are possible, but impractical as email addresses because not all programs handle them correctly.

Three ways to your own email address

1. Email included in a web hosting plan

Most web hosting plans include mailboxes. If you have a website anyway, this is the simplest solution: one contract, one control panel, and the DNS records are usually already set correctly. Note that email storage usually counts towards the plan’s storage. If you change hosting provider later, the mailboxes move too.

2. Separate email plan without a website

A pure email plan is a good fit if you do not need a website or if your website runs with a website builder or an agency. You then only change the email records in the DNS, and the website stays where it is. Billing is per mailbox or per plan with several mailboxes.

3. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace

Here email is part of an office suite with programs such as Word, Excel and Teams, or Google Docs and Meet. Billing is per person and month; prices depend on the chosen plan and the term. This is mainly worthwhile if you use these programs anyway. For email alone it is usually the most expensive option.

How much does an email address with your own domain cost?

The costs are made up of the domain and the email service. A .ch domain costs around CHF 10 to 20 per year depending on the provider. Look at the renewal price: many providers advertise a lower price for the first year. A single mailbox is available from a few francs per month. Whether a larger plan is worthwhile depends mainly on these points:

• Number of mailboxes: How many people need their own mailbox with their own password?
• Aliases and forwarding: How many additional addresses should go into existing mailboxes?
• Storage: If you keep a lot of attachments, you quickly need more than a few gigabytes.
• Calendar and contacts: Should appointments and addresses be in sync on all devices and shared within the team?
• Term: Annual billing is often cheaper, monthly billing more flexible.

Tip: Not every address needs its own mailbox. Set up addresses such as info@ or quotes@ as an alias that delivers to an existing mailbox. This saves mailboxes and therefore money.

The DNS records in brief

For emails to reach you and your own messages not to land in spam, the domain needs four records. You get the exact values from your email provider.

Since February 2024, Google and Yahoo have required senders to authenticate their emails with SPF or DKIM. Anyone sending large volumes also needs DMARC. Without these records, your messages end up in spam more quickly with many recipients.

There may only be one SPF record per domain. If a newsletter service or your accounting software also sends emails on your behalf, that service belongs in the same record. With DMARC it is best to start with p=none, evaluate the reports for a few weeks and then tighten the policy step by step to quarantine or reject.

Taking your existing emails with you

When switching from a free address or another provider, no emails are lost if you proceed in this order:

1. Create the new mailbox before you change the MX record.
2. Copy existing emails to the new mailbox via IMAP: with the new provider’s import function, with a tool such as imapsync, or by drag and drop in a mail program where both accounts are set up.
3. Lower the TTL of the DNS records, then change the MX record. From now on, new emails arrive in the new mailbox.
4. After one or two days, sync once more so that emails from the transition period are also transferred.
5. Switch your devices to the new server settings. Export calendars and contacts as iCal and vCard files and import them into the new account.
6. Only cancel the old account once everything has been checked.

If you have been using POP3, your emails are often stored only locally on your computer. Move them into the new IMAP mailbox in your mail program. With a free address, it is best to set up automatic forwarding to the new address and inform your contacts gradually.

Email with your own domain, but no website

A domain does not need a website. For email, the DNS records described above are enough. If your website runs with another provider, leave its records (usually A or CNAME records) unchanged and only adjust MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

Be careful when changing nameservers: the whole DNS zone then moves. All existing records must be created again in the new zone, otherwise your website or email will stop working.

Tip: Before every change, note down all existing DNS records, for example as an export or screenshot of the zone. That way you can undo a mistake in a few minutes.

Step by step

1. Check and register a domain, or use an existing one.
2. Choose a solution: email in web hosting, a separate email plan or an office suite.
3. Create mailboxes, aliases and forwarding with long, unique passwords.
4. Set MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC and check them with a test email to a Gmail or Outlook address. The header should show spf=pass, dkim=pass and dmarc=pass.
5. Set up your smartphone, computer and tablet.
6. Transfer your existing emails and forward the old address.

At HostOn, mailboxes are included in all web hosting plans, starting with Web Hosting Rigi at CHF 11.90 per month. For email without a website there is Email Mailbox with one mailbox and 15 GB for CHF 2.90 per month, and Email Business with up to 10 mailboxes sharing 25 GB for CHF 6.90 per month, each with webmail, calendar and contacts as well as spam and virus protection. Billing is annual, all prices incl. VAT.

An example: a .ch domain (CHF 6.90 in the first year, then CHF 14.90 per year) and Email Mailbox (CHF 34.80 per year) cost CHF 41.70 together in the first year and CHF 49.70 in the following years. On request we transfer your existing emails free of charge, including from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.