Managed WordPress Hosting Does Not Include Email: The Gap Nobody Mentions on the Pricing Page

Which hosts include email (and which do not)

Every premium managed WordPress host excludes email. Every budget shared host includes it. The pricing pages for WP Engine, Kinsta, and Flywheel do not mention email at all. Search their pricing pages for the word "email" and you will find it only in the context of "email support" or "email notifications." Not email hosting.

WP Engine published a blog post defending the decision: separate infrastructure reduces shared IP blocklisting risk, simplifies migration, and lets each service optimize independently. They are right about the technical tradeoff. But the explanation is buried in a blog post, not on the pricing page where it belongs.

Kinsta's documentation states plainly: "we don't provide email as a part of our hosting plans." They recommend Google Workspace and have a one-click MX record setup for Gmail in MyKinsta. WP Engine's support page says: "configuring custom email solutions is out of scope for WP Engine Support."

The real monthly cost with email added

Take a small business with 3 email users. On Bluehost shared hosting, total cost is $3-10/month with email included. Move to Cloudways with the Rackspace add-on and the total becomes $17/month. WP Engine plus Zoho Mail Lite: $33/month. Kinsta plus Zoho: $38. Push it to Google Workspace for calendar and collaboration, and WP Engine reaches $51/month, Kinsta $56. Pressable with its built-in Titan add-on lands at $35.50.

The gap between shared hosting and managed WordPress plus email ranges from $7 to $53 per month, or $84 to $636 per year for the same business with the same email needs. That cost difference never appears on any managed WordPress pricing page comparison. It only shows up in the first month's invoice when you realize email was not part of the deal.

The Cloudways + Rackspace combination at $17/month total is the cheapest managed WordPress setup with email included. But the Rackspace add-on pricing has a shelf life problem.

Email solutions ranked by cost

Free tier: Cloudflare Email Routing

The setup that costs nothing and works for solo operators: Cloudflare Email Routing forwards @yourdomain.com to your personal Gmail or Outlook. Configure Gmail's "Send mail as" feature for outbound, and you can reply from your custom domain without a separate inbox. No cost, no separate app, no new login. The limit is scalability. All email funnels through one personal inbox, which stops working once you have two people who need independent mailboxes.

Zoho Mail Free is the other $0 option: 5 users, 5 GB storage, but web-only access. No IMAP, no POP3, no mobile email apps, one domain. Functional for testing, impractical for daily use.

Budget tier: $1-5/user/month

Zoho Mail Lite at $1/user/month is the best value at any price point for basic business email. Full IMAP, POP3, ActiveSync, and mobile app support with 5 GB per user. Three users costs $3/month. Zoho Mail Premium at $4/user adds 50 GB, archival, eDiscovery, and S/MIME if compliance requires it.

Cloudways customers have the Rackspace add-on at $1/mailbox/month with 25 GB and IMAP. At that price it is the most storage per dollar available, but it depends on Rackspace infrastructure that just had a major price shock (more on that below). Pressable's Titan add-on runs $3.50/mailbox with a 90-day free trial, but it is locked to Pressable hosting.

For agencies managing dozens of client domains, MXRoute at $59/year (about $4.92/month) offers unlimited accounts and unlimited domains at a flat annual rate. Small company, community-style support, annual billing only. It is the budget workhorse for anyone who needs more than 5 mailboxes without per-user pricing.

Business tier: $6-7/user/month

Google Workspace Starter at $7/user/month (annual) or $8.40 monthly. 30 GB, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Meet. The price went up 17-22% in January 2025 and may rise again. Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $6/user with 50 GB, Outlook, Teams, and 1 TB OneDrive is the slightly cheaper alternative, going to $7/user in July 2026. For businesses that need collaborative calendaring and video calls, these are the only real options.

One provider to avoid buying direct: Rackspace at $10/mailbox/month, up from $3 until March 2026. A 233-700% increase that made direct Rackspace email the worst value on the market.

The DNS migration checklist

When you move from shared hosting (where email works automatically) to managed WordPress (where it does not), the following DNS changes are required. Miss any of them and email breaks silently.

1. Before canceling shared hosting: Set up your new email provider (Google Workspace, Zoho, etc.) and verify your domain ownership. Do not cancel the shared plan until the new email service is confirmed working.
2. Update MX records: Point your domain's MX records to your new email provider. For Google Workspace: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM at priority 1, plus four alternates. For Zoho: mx.zoho.com at priority 10, plus mx2.zoho.com.
3. Add SPF record: One TXT record per domain. For Google: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all. Only one SPF record is allowed per domain (RFC 7208). Multiple SPF records cause a PERMERROR and receivers treat all your email as potentially spoofed.
4. Add DKIM record: A CNAME or TXT record provided by your email service. Verifies email was not forged in transit. Each provider generates a unique key; follow their setup guide exactly.
5. Add DMARC record: Start with v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com to monitor before enforcing. Upgrade to p=quarantine or p=reject after confirming SPF and DKIM pass consistently.
6. Wait for propagation: DNS changes take 24-48 hours. Send test emails to Gmail during this period and check headers via "Show original" to verify SPF and DKIM both show PASS.
7. Configure WordPress transactional email: WordPress uses PHP's mail() function by default, which sends unauthenticated email from the server's IP. Install WP Mail SMTP or FluentSMTP and route WordPress emails through your email provider or a transactional service (Brevo, Mailgun, SendGrid). Otherwise your contact form submissions, password resets, and WooCommerce order confirmations will fail SPF checks and land in spam.

The most dangerous migration mistake: canceling shared hosting before the new email service is fully configured and MX records have propagated. Email sent to your domain during the gap period bounces. There is no queue, no retry, no "we'll hold it for you." The sender gets a bounce notification (if their mail server sends one) and your email is gone.

The Rackspace price surge and what it means for Cloudways

In March 2026, Rackspace raised its direct email hosting price from $3 per mailbox per month to $10. A 233% increase at the low end. Partners and resellers reported increases up to 706%, with six weeks' notice.

Cloudways sells Rackspace Email as a $1/mailbox/month add-on. That price is now one-tenth of what Rackspace charges direct customers. Either Cloudways has a wholesale agreement that protects the $1 rate, or the add-on is being subsidized at a loss, or the price increase has not yet reached Cloudways customers. The $1 rate was still active as of June 2026, but given the magnitude of Rackspace's price change, it is reasonable to question how long it will hold.

If you are on Cloudways and relying on the $1 Rackspace add-on as your primary email, consider setting up a fallback. Zoho Mail Lite at $1/user/month provides comparable functionality with IMAP support. Migrating email between providers is straightforward (export via IMAP, import via IMAP), but switching MX records during a forced migration is stressful when your business email is at stake.

FAQ