Should your business email be [email protected] or [email protected]? The difference shows in every email you send, and it decides what happens on the day you want to change provider. How you set up the domain also affects whether your email arrives, because Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com check that email claiming to come from a domain really does.

This guide covers what the options cost in Sweden, the three DNS records that decide whether email reaches the inbox, how to move existing email without losing anything and how to protect the accounts. We name the big platforms, with prices and sources. Swedish web hosts are described as a type.

As of 21 October 2026. Prices were read on the providers’ own pricing pages and the requirements in Google’s, Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s own documentation, on the same day. Prices are excluding VAT (moms, 25 per cent in Sweden) unless stated otherwise. Sources are listed at the end. Prices change, and we update the article when they do.

Why should a business have email on its own domain?

Because the address then belongs to the business, not to the provider. That gives you four things.

  • Customers see who is writing. An address on the same domain as your website shows that the email comes from the business and not from a private person. That is our assessment. With your own domain you can also ask recipients’ email services to stop messages that claim to come from your domain but do not. That is what DMARC does.
  • You own the address. The address follows the domain, and the domain belongs to whoever is registered as its holder. According to the Swedish Internet Foundation (Internetstiftelsen), which runs .se, whoever registers a domain name becomes its holder, and payment in itself does not give ownership. So make sure the domain is in the business’s name, not an employee’s or an agency’s. What a domain costs is covered in How much does a website cost in Sweden in 2026?
  • You can change provider. Where email to your domain is delivered is controlled by the domain’s MX record. If you move from your web host to Google or Microsoft, or the other way round, you change the record and keep the addresses. An address ending in @gmail.com or @hotmail.com cannot come with you.
  • Newsletters need it. Google’s guidelines say senders should not impersonate a Gmail address. Google treats an email with an @gmail.com address as the sender that was not sent from Gmail’s servers as spoofed, and bulk senders that do this get temporary failure codes. So send newsletters from an address on your own domain. How to set up a newsletter is covered in Email marketing for local businesses.

How much does email on your own domain cost?

From a few tens of kronor a month for the whole business to around EUR 25 per user per month for the largest plans. Google Workspace Business Starter costs EUR 6.80 and Microsoft 365 Business Basic SEK 66.91 per user per month on an annual plan. Email included with web hosting is priced per package, not per user.

Service and planPrice per user per month, excl. VATCommitmentStorage
Google Workspace Business StarterEUR 6.80 with a one-year commitment, EUR 8.10 withoutAnnual or none, billed monthly30 GB per user, pooled across the business
Google Workspace Business StandardEUR 13.60 with a one-year commitment, EUR 16.20 withoutAs above2 TB per user, pooled
Google Workspace Business PlusEUR 21.10 with a one-year commitment, EUR 25.30 withoutAs above5 TB per user, pooled
Microsoft 365 Business BasicSEK 66.91 on an annual subscription paid yearly, SEK 80.29 on a monthly subscriptionThe annual subscription renews automatically1 TB per user
Microsoft 365 Business StandardSEK 133.82 on an annual subscription paid yearly, SEK 160.58 on a monthly subscriptionAs above1 TB per user
Email with Swedish web hostingSEK 29–99 a month in the first year and SEK 79–299 on renewal, for the whole package. Email-only packages from SEK 79 a monthVaries. Read the renewal termsVaries
Proton Mail EssentialsEUR 6.99 billed yearlyOne year15 GB per user

Google shows its prices in euros in Sweden and says they do not include tax. Microsoft says its prices exclude VAT, and Proton that taxes may apply. According to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), VAT is 25 per cent on almost all goods and services.

Google Workspace: Gmail for business

If you search for Gmail for business, Google Workspace is what you find: Gmail on your own domain, together with Google Drive, Calendar and Meet. The storage in the table is shared between email and files in Drive. Business Starter has video meetings with up to 100 participants, and Business Standard adds recording and up to 150 participants.

With a one-year commitment you save 16 per cent, according to Google, and both options are billed monthly. When we read the pricing page, Google offered new customers up to 50 per cent off for the first three months, for a limited time and for the first 20 users.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard

Microsoft 365 Business is Microsoft’s equivalent, with email in Outlook. Business Basic has the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, plus Teams. Business Standard adds the desktop versions, on up to five computers, five tablets and five phones per user.

  • Without Teams, Microsoft sells versions labelled EES: Business Basic for SEK 51.61 and Business Standard for SEK 103.13 on an annual subscription.
  • With Copilot, Business Standard is highlighted on the comparison page for SEK 224.63. Without Copilot it costs SEK 133.82, according to the product page.
  • Cancelling: a monthly subscription can be cancelled without a fee, but an annual subscription paid in advance is not refunded if you cancel early, according to Microsoft’s FAQ.

Microsoft changed its plans and prices on 1 July 2026, according to the pricing page.

Email included with web hosting

The cheapest option, and often already paid for. At the Swedish web hosts we read, packages included anything from one email account to an unlimited number of addresses, for SEK 29–99 a month in the first year and SEK 79–299 a month on renewal, excluding VAT. Email-only packages without a website started at SEK 79 a month. Webmail and spam filtering were included, but not office apps like those in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Check two things: that the host signs outgoing email with DKIM for your domain, and what happens to your email when you cancel the hosting. If it has not been moved, it may disappear when the contract ends.

Proton and others

Some email services sell mainly on privacy and encryption. Proton offers Mail Essentials for EUR 6.99 per user per month billed yearly, with 15 GB and up to three custom domains, and Workspace Standard with 1 TB for EUR 12.99. Compare other services of the same kind in the same way: price per user, commitment, storage and support for SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your domain.

Which option fits?

  • If the business works in Word and Excel on the computer: Microsoft 365 Business Standard, because the desktop apps are included.
  • If most work happens in the browser and on phones: Google Workspace Business Starter or Microsoft 365 Business Basic.
  • One or two addresses and no shared files: email with your web hosting may be enough, if DKIM is available.
  • If privacy matters most: a service such as Proton.

That is our assessment. More important than which provider you choose is that the domain and the admin account are in the business’s name and that the DNS records are right.

Why do my emails go to spam?

Often because the recipient cannot check that the email comes from your domain. That is decided by three DNS records: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Google says unauthenticated email may be marked as spam or rejected. Google’s guidelines also point to other causes:

  • A service sending in your name is missing from the SPF record. The contact form on your website, the booking system, the invoicing software and the newsletter tool can all send email with your address as the sender. Google lists services like these among those the SPF record should cover.
  • The records exist but are wrong, for example two SPF records or two DKIM keys on the same name. More on that below.
  • Recipients mark your email as spam. Google wants the rate below 0.3 per cent, ideally below 0.1 per cent, and says many complaints make later email from the same sender more likely to land in spam.
  • The sender name or subject line is misleading, for example “Re:” on an email that is not a reply.

SPF, DKIM and DMARC in plain English

SPF says who may send, DKIM shows that the email is genuine, and DMARC says what the recipient should do when something does not add up.

  • SPF is a list of the servers allowed to send email for your domain. The recipient compares the server that sent the email with the list. Google says the list should include everyone who sends email for the domain.
  • DKIM is a digital signature in every email. Your email service signs the message, and the key the signature is checked against sits in your DNS. If the signature matches, the recipient knows the email comes from the domain and was not altered on the way. Gmail requires a key of at least 1,024 bits, and Google recommends 2,048.
  • DMARC ties the two together. The domain in the From field, the one the recipient sees, must match a domain that passes SPF or DKIM. The record also says what the recipient should do when it does not: deliver anyway (p=none), put the email in spam (p=quarantine) or reject it (p=reject). It can also ask recipients to send you reports.

The records cost nothing in themselves. What matters is that they match the services that actually send email in your name.

Comparison of the four DNS records that decide whether email on your own domain arrives: MX says where email is delivered and goes wrong if old MX records are left behind, SPF lists the servers allowed to send and goes wrong with two SPF records or a missing service, DKIM signs every email and goes wrong with two keys on the same name, and DMARC says what happens when the check fails and goes wrong if it is missing or set to p=reject before everything is tested.
Four records in your domain’s DNS, what they do and the mistakes that get email stuck. Keep one SPF record and one key per DKIM name. As of October 2026.

Example: the DNS records for a domain on Google Workspace

This is what the records look like for a domain that only sends email through Google Workspace. The name @ means the domain itself. You get the DKIM value from your email service, and it is unique to each domain.

MX
Name:  @
Prio:  1
Value: smtp.google.com

SPF, TXT record
Name:  @
Value:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

DKIM, TXT record
Name:  google._domainkey
Value:
v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=[the key from Google]

DMARC, TXT record
Name:  _dmarc
Value:
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]
  • ~all at the end of the SPF record asks the recipient to mark email from servers that are not listed as spam. Google recommends ~all.
  • Microsoft 365 uses the SPF value v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all, and DKIM is added as two CNAME records, selector1._domainkey and selector2._domainkey, with values you get from Microsoft.
  • Add DMARC once SPF and DKIM work. Google says to wait 48 hours after setting them up, start with p=none, read the reports and then move to quarantine or reject.
  • The report address in rua should not be your normal inbox, because there can be a lot of reports. Google recommends a separate address or group.

Duplicate SPF records and duplicate DKIM keys

Four mistakes that are easy to make, and that make email get stuck:

  • Two SPF records. A domain may only have one SPF record. With two, the result under the SPF standard (RFC 7208) is permerror, a permanent error, and Microsoft says the recipient then cannot tell which record applies. It easily happens when a new service asks you to add a record starting with v=spf1 and it ends up next to the old one. Merge them into one, for example v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:[the service's address] ~all.
  • Two DKIM keys on the same name. Each key sits on its own name, a selector, for example google._domainkey. If two different keys sit on the same name, for example after DKIM was set up a second time, the recipient may pick either of them under the DKIM standard (RFC 6376), and the order is not defined. The signature can then pass sometimes and fail sometimes, so email lands in spam seemingly at random. Remove the record that does not match the key in your email service’s settings.
  • Too many SPF lookups. The check may make at most ten DNS lookups, and every include counts, including those nested inside other services’ records. Microsoft points out that fewer than ten includes is therefore not enough as a check. More than ten also gives permerror.
  • Old MX records left behind. Google says to remove other MX records when you add Google’s, because email might otherwise not work properly.

What have Gmail and Yahoo required since February 2024?

Since 1 February 2024, Gmail has required everyone sending to personal Gmail addresses to have SPF or DKIM. Anyone sending around 5,000 emails or more a day must have SPF, DKIM and DMARC and offer one-click unsubscribe. Yahoo started enforcing equivalent requirements the same month.

  • A bulk sender, according to Google, is anyone sending close to 5,000 emails or more to personal Gmail accounts within 24 hours. Email from the same primary domain is counted together, including subdomains, and anyone who has crossed the threshold once is treated as a bulk sender permanently.
  • Yahoo gives no threshold and says its bulk sender rules apply to those sending a significant volume.
  • Gmail’s rules cover email to personal accounts, meaning addresses ending in @gmail.com or @googlemail.com, not businesses using Google Workspace.
RequirementAll sendersBulk senders
AuthenticationSPF or DKIMSPF and DKIM
DMARCRecommendedAt least p=none, and the domain in the From field must match the SPF or DKIM domain
UnsubscribeRecommended: an easy way to unsubscribeOne click in marketing email and a visible link in the message. Yahoo requires unsubscribes to be honoured within two days, and Google recommends 48 hours
Spam complaintsBelow 0.3 per centBelow 0.3 per cent
TechnicalValid PTR records for the sending servers and correct message format. Gmail also requires encrypted transfer (TLS)The same

Gmail requires one-click unsubscribe under the RFC 8058 standard and does not accept a mailto link, which Yahoo does. Google also says enforcement has been stepped up since November 2025, and that email not meeting the requirements may be rejected temporarily or permanently.

If you send a newsletter to a few hundred customers, you are not a bulk sender by Google’s definition. The rules for all senders still apply, and with all three records in place you meet the authentication requirements even if your mailings grow.

What does Microsoft require from senders to Outlook.com?

Equivalent requirements, since 5 May 2025. Domains sending more than 5,000 emails a day to Microsoft’s consumer service Outlook.com, with addresses on outlook.com, hotmail.com and live.com, must pass SPF and DKIM and have DMARC of at least p=none, aligned with SPF or DKIM and preferably both.

Microsoft announced the requirements on 2 April 2025 and said at the time that non-compliant email would first go to the junk folder. In an update on 29 April 2025, Microsoft said such email would instead be rejected with the error code 550 5.7.515 from 5 May 2025. The post still also contains the older wording about the junk folder, so expect that email failing the requirements may be rejected.

The requirements apply to Outlook.com, not to businesses’ email in Microsoft 365. Microsoft says senders below 5,000 emails a day also benefit from the same settings, and recommends a sender address that can receive replies and an unsubscribe link that works.

How do you move existing email without losing anything?

Set up the new service first, copy the old email and switch the MX record last. Cancel the old service only once everything has arrived.

  1. Take stock. List all addresses, aliases and forwards, and every service that sends email in your name: contact forms, booking systems, invoicing software and newsletters.
  2. Save your DNS records. Make a copy of every record before you change anything, so you can roll back.
  3. Create the accounts in the new service and verify the domain. With Microsoft, the mailboxes must exist and be licensed before old email can be moved via IMAP.
  4. Copy the old email. Google Workspace has an import tool for email from Microsoft Exchange Online, from other services via IMAP, from another Workspace account and from a regular Gmail account. Microsoft 365 can move email via IMAP, but according to Microsoft only email and folders, not contacts, calendars or tasks, and at most 500,000 items per mailbox and messages of up to 35 MB. Export contacts and calendars separately.
  5. Switch the MX record when the accounts are ready, and remove the old MX records. Google says it can take up to 72 hours for a new MX record to take effect, so keep the old service running in the meantime.
  6. Update SPF and add DKIM, and DMARC once those two work.
  7. Collect the last of it. Copy over any email that arrived at the old service while the MX record was taking effect. Microsoft describes checking that all email is routed to the new service before you stop the synchronisation.
  8. Test, then cancel. Send one email to a Gmail address and one to an Outlook.com address. Open the email in Gmail, choose More and Show original, and check that SPF, DKIM and DMARC say pass. Only then cancel the old service, and find out how long it keeps your data.

In our assessment, the easiest time to switch the MX record is an evening or a weekend, when little email comes in. If you are changing website provider at the same time, also read about the domain, DNS and email in Website lock-ins in Sweden.

Security: sign-in, shared inboxes and who owns the account

In our assessment, three things do most for security: two-step verification, individual sign-ins instead of shared passwords, and an admin account owned by the business. Add a routine for invoices.

Two-step verification on every account

Turn on two-step verification for everyone, and require it for admins. Google says it is especially important for super admins, whose accounts control access to all the business’s data, and that Google enforces it for admin accounts. Security keys are the most secure form, according to Google, because they resist phishing. With Microsoft, security defaults, which are turned on in new tenants when they are created, require all users to register for multifactor authentication. According to Microsoft, that can block over 99.2 per cent of identity-based attacks.

Shared inboxes instead of shared passwords

If several people answer info@ or booking@, give them access with their own sign-ins instead of sharing a password. Then two-step verification sits with each person, you can see who did what, and when someone leaves you remove one person instead of changing the password for everyone. That is our assessment.

  • Microsoft 365 has shared mailboxes. They hold up to 50 GB without a licence of their own, and Microsoft says not to sign in directly to the shared mailbox’s account.
  • Google Workspace has groups that can be used as a collaborative inbox in Google Groups, where members can take and assign conversations.
  • Admin accounts should not be shared either. Google says each admin should have their own account, otherwise the audit log cannot show who did what.

Who owns the admin account?

The business, not an employee and not an agency. The admin account can create and delete users, reset passwords and manage billing and licences, so whoever holds it effectively controls the business’s email. Google recommends more than one super admin account, each managed by a separate person, so that another account can take over if one is locked out or compromised. Microsoft recommends as few global admins as possible, but that someone else can reset the password if an admin is locked out.

Our recommendation: the owner holds the main account with two-step verification, and there is a backup account. An agency or IT consultant gets their own account with the permissions the job requires, and it is removed when the job is done. The same goes for the sign-in to the domain and DNS. Why it pays to own your channels yourself is covered in Why you shouldn’t depend on Instagram or Bokadirekt alone.

Fake invoices and fraudulent email

  • Bogus invoices. The Swedish Police (Polisen) say you should not pay an invoice for something you did not order, but dispute it in writing and report it to the police. Polisen also describe invoices that are really offers, with the terms in small print.
  • Changed payment details. If you get an email saying a supplier has changed its bank giro or account number, call the supplier on a number you already have before you pay. Polisen point out that an email address can look genuine without being so, and advise contacting the sender through contact details you look up yourself.
  • Links to sign-in pages. Phishing, according to Polisen, is about getting you to click a link and hand over details, and a fake address can differ from the real one by a single character. Sign in by going to the service’s address yourself.
  • Email in your name. With DMARC set to quarantine or reject, you ask recipients to put email that claims to come from your domain, but fails the check, in spam or reject it. It does not stop domains that merely look like yours.
  • If you have been tricked, contact your bank straight away to try to stop the payment, and report it to the police on 114 14, the Swedish non-emergency number, according to Polisen.

Checklist: email on your own domain

Frequently asked questions

How much does email on your own domain cost in Sweden?

Google Workspace Business Starter costs EUR 6.80 per user per month with a one-year commitment and EUR 8.10 without. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs SEK 66.91 per user per month on an annual subscription and SEK 80.29 on a monthly subscription. Email included with web hosting cost SEK 29–99 a month in the first year for the whole package at the Swedish web hosts we read. All prices exclude VAT, as of 21 October 2026.

How much does Google Workspace cost?

With a one-year commitment, Business Starter costs EUR 6.80, Business Standard EUR 13.60 and Business Plus EUR 21.10 per user per month. Without the annual commitment the prices are EUR 8.10, 16.20 and 25.30. Google says the prices do not include tax. As of 21 October 2026.

How much do Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard cost in Sweden?

Business Basic costs SEK 66.91 and Business Standard SEK 133.82 per user per month on an annual subscription paid yearly. On a monthly subscription they cost SEK 80.29 and SEK 160.58. The prices exclude VAT, as of 21 October 2026.

What are SPF, DKIM and DMARC?

Three records in your domain’s DNS. SPF lists which servers may send email for the domain, DKIM is a digital signature showing that the email comes from the domain and has not been altered, and DMARC tells the recipient what to do with email that fails the check and where to send reports.

Why do my emails go to spam?

Often because the recipient cannot check that the email comes from your domain: SPF, DKIM or DMARC is missing or wrong, for example two SPF records, or a service sending in your name is not listed in the SPF record. Email that many recipients mark as spam also gets worse delivery.

Do Gmail’s bulk sender rules apply to my business?

The stricter rules apply to anyone sending around 5,000 emails or more a day to personal Gmail addresses. All senders still need SPF or DKIM, a spam complaint rate below 0.3 per cent and to meet Google’s technical requirements. Yahoo does not give a threshold for when its bulk sender rules apply.

Sources

All web pages read on 21 October 2026 unless stated otherwise. Prices may change, and Google’s discount is a limited-time offer.