For e-mail and a personal domain, I use the following:
E-Mail Hosting: https://www.zoho.eu/
Domain Registrars: https://www.ovh.co.uk
You can register with zoho with a domain for free and get a personal email account that way. Hopefully that might be able to help you out a little =]
Makes a lot of sense.
All of my domains are with Gandi but I use Cloudflare for DNS
Why do people use their own domains and email servers (purely looking at email here).
I’ve tried a few times, but always thought the cost doesn’t justify it (even though it’s never super expensive).
When you’ve got such convenience with the generic domains (iCloud, Outlook etc), I always end up going back to them.
The only things I can think of are…
Privacy
Personalisation
Ownership
Anything I’m missing?
TSOhost are my go-to. Cheap, reliable and great support.
Portability. You get to choose and switch providers whenever you want, without having to update your email address at various websites.
Very true.
But even that one I struggled to convince myself it was enough.
Especially when the likes of Hotmail/live/outlook or iCloud have been around (and will likely be around for a long time).
I want to use one, but I’m finding the hassle/cost (both relativel minor),to outweigh the convenience!
Hotmail/Outlook/Gmail are all great if you want no hassle free email.
I got my first domain when free email platforms where Hotmail and Yahoo and large number that don’t exist anymore. Additionally my online identity is part of my brand and my domain is a part of that too. (Both personal and business). I’ve been thefifthrace using thefifthrace.com for many many years
I also like the security aspect, as it’s my email on my terms. No one is scanning my email and filling my feed with relevant ads, loans 
or scanning my email for any other money making reason.
Setting up a personal domain is also a lot easier than it used be.
I think it worth noting that I think personal email at least is dying. I know someone using Yahoo. During their latest breach he said he wasn’t worried because most of his online communication are via WhatsApp, iMessage and social media. Even plane tickets booked through and app and website don’t really need an email because he can access the data in app and get his boarding pass on his phone
I think this is the thing for me.
I tried to set up an “online presence” once (simple blogging type stuff, a few reviews etc).
Maintaining the website become a chore, which took the enjoyment out of the content creation (which I enjoyed).
Any e-mail issues I had, seemed bigger in proportion than the very few (hardly ever?) email issues I’ve had with the likes of Outlook etc, and took longer to sort out (mainly because I don’t live this stuff day to day, so it was back to square one every time I needed to sort a problem out).
I appreciate I could google this (relatively easily as well) - But from your experience, what’s the annual cost of a decent hosted email service (ignore the cost of the domain for now, because I appreciate that is very dependant on what it is)?
Hey @nickh
I currently use ProtonMail for my personal domain which is €288 per year. It includes support for 6 email addresses, multiple domains and you get ProtonVPN as part of the package. It’s quite easy to setup and the privacy aspect is definitely a bonus.
However Google Apps (now gsuite) is only £36 per year per user, Office365 essentials is £42 per year per user and most domain providers will give you at least one free email with a domain. I personally think if your paying more than £75 per year per user you’re probably paying too much unless your hardcore into tech.
Personally I like being able to sync my calendar and contacts (something ProtonMail doesn’t do yet). It makes moving to new devices a lot easier.
For personal users I normally recommend Google Apps as it’s easy to setup and a familiar interface to most people. It’s also great for family domains because you can manage everyones email from one place
I have ProtonMail as well (personal/non paid plan) - But I don’t really use it, and I don’t know anyone else that does to take advantage of the end to end privacy features (not that my e-mails are particularly exciting).
Would you recommend going with GSuite over Office365 (if I wanted to manage a family of 4 for example)?
definitely gsuite over Office365 for family’s. Office365 still isn’t compatible with Microsoft ID’s which makes sites that use OAUTH a pain where it’s available.
Gsuite is a google account so single sign in to third parties much easier.
I would say this though… if you’re giving emails to kids and you need/want to monitor them, Office365 is the better route as you won’t need their password to check their email account
There is also Outlook Premium (sort of like Office365 for families but I’ve never used it).
Pah! I’ll have to look into it.
Even 50 quid per year for the same functionality (but a personal account), just seems a little pointless for my personal circumstances.
Maybe I’m just yet to find the filler domain I like 
Have you thought about GSuite? Something like £3 a month
I use hover.com for my domains. I started using them when they sponsored every podcast I listened to. I used to use Ghandi, but I find their interface ugly to the point of unusable. Hover is smooth and easy to navigate.
For emails I use Google Apps for my personal domain, and Office365 for some work projects. I prefer Gmail’s interface for email but using Office 365 means I get access to the Office suite of software on my iMac and laptop too.
A very bright spark mentioned about “push” email to iOS…
Am I right in thinking that only Office365 would offer this through exchange?
I need to transfer my domain soon as it’s set to expire also need a free (if possible) place to host one page.
Outlook does yes, though I find with Fetch you’ve never more than a few mins behind anyway.
Are there any other email services that offer push (where you can use a custom domain)?
I hate fetch - I like my 1 email per day to be instant!
Google Apps (Gsuite) supports activesync and push email
ProtonMail supports push email via it’s app
Interesting - I’m going to try one I think (just basic basic personal email stuff).
I’m not sure I’d ever get to the point of justifying 12 quid per month for family members as well.
I signed up to Migadu, and they looked really good!
But I don’t think they support push…