Formerly known as Rackspace Hosted Exchange, Rackspace Email Plus is a low-cost email hosting answer for users that need only slightly more than just a mailbox but less, than a full productivity suite like the ones that come with two of our Editors’ Choice winners Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Google Workspace Business Standard.
Still, its email-only features do well enough. Each mailbox comes with 25GB of storage, 30GB of online sharing, desktop file synchronization, access to online document and spreadsheet editors, and mobile sync for email, calendars, and contacts.
Rackspace Email Pricing and Plans
Rackspace offers its email hosting services across two tiers. First is the Rackspace Email tier, which costs $2.99 per user per month. This level includes integration with Microsoft Outlook, a spam and virus filter, and 25GB worth of email storage space.
The tier we tested, Rackspace Email Plus, costs $3.99 per user per month and adds file storage, support for ActiveSync, and a basic set of productivity apps that work with the Microsoft Office suite. Email storage remains at 25GB but the file storage bucket is another 30GB. There’s also an Archiving option, which isn’t a tier unto itself but an additional feature you can add to Rackspace Email Plus. It brings email archiving to your management arsenal for another $6.99 per user per month.
That’s a good overall value, though not quite as good as our lowest-cost contender, IceWarp Cloud. That platform starts at $2.50 per user per month and while it doesn’t offer more email storage at that tier, it does include 20GB of file storage. Above its Lite tier, IceWarp quickly beats Rackspace in both email and file storage.
Getting Started
Rackspace is fairly simple to set up. You must add your domain for starters. The company is happy to host your domain if you like, or you can provide your own. Be prepared for the standard rigmarole of verifying ownership and setting up your DNS and MX records. Once you’ve done that, you can start adding users. There are three tiers of users, which you can mix and match as needed. The first is simply a basic mailbox—POP3 and IMAP access with limited storage that only costs $1 per month. The next tier up is suitable for your typical office user, and the focus of this review. Beyond that, Microsoft 365 is offered as an add-on for users who need it.
Once you’ve created a few mailboxes, you can finish the rest of the setup process by creating any aliases you want (alternate names for your mailboxes). You can also create group lists, which let you email multiple recipients with a single address. Also useful are a block list and safe list similar to IceWarp’s blacklist and whitelist. It’s possible to manage your company’s directory as well. The remaining options center around webmail, very basic retention settings, and access rights.
I felt that the Rackspace control panel looked a bit dated and lacked the power offered by more better-evolved, low-cost options such as IceWarp and Zoho Mail. It would have been nice, for example, to have the ability to define more specific rules that govern spam. For the price, Rackspace Email Plus is a step behind in this area.
Email Client and Collaboration Tools
The webmail and calendar apps are fairly primitive, but do support basic Office document and spreadsheet formats. They’re definitely not even close to being fully compatible with Microsoft Office, and the spreadsheet lags significantly behind Google Sheets, too, which has near parity with Excel apart from a few minor areas. The Rackspace platform does offer real-time collaboration similar to Google Workspace’s, but while you can use its tools in a pinch, most people are going to prefer Microsoft Outlook or their favorite email client.
In terms of email and calendar, Rackspace basically gets the job done. There aren’t any bells and whistles, but you can check your messages, set up an appointment, and send out invites as you’d expect. I strongly suspect that most customers will be using the service for its IMAP/POP3 support and disregard the web app except during travel or emergencies. Rackspace does support a synchronization tool called ActiveSync that keeps your email, contacts, and calendar synced to the cloud. It isn’t as fancy as the always-on quality of Exchange, but it works, even if it’s older technology.
Perhaps the most useful value-add is the file-sharing capabilities. 30GB is nothing to sneeze at, and if you need to bolt on a cheap alternative to a product like Dropbox, you could do worse. That said, it’s hard to ignore Rackspace’s limits when compared to something like the terabyte of cloud storage available to each user as part of the OneDrive component in Microsoft 365 Business Premium (though it does outstrip the cheapest version of Google Workspace, which offers only 10GB of storage).
Rackspace Security and Third-Party Integration
Rackspace has a solid track record for protecting data. The company is SOC certified and has made its SOC 3 Report available to download (the other two are available after signing a nondisclosure agreement). One disappointing bit, however, is that the company will only sign a HIPPA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for Microsoft 365 accounts. That rules out Rackspace Email and Email Plus as viable options if you have sensitive medical records to deal with.
The cloud drive is protected with 256-bit encryption, which is beefy compared to most. Information in transit, of course, is protected via Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Mailboxes are also defended by antivirus and anti-spam components, which is standard practice in today’s market.
Surprisingly, Rackspace doesn’t integrate with anything else. There is no API (application programming interface) and no clear plans to introduce one. To be honest, an API isn’t necessary for what Rackspace offers—basic email hosting with a few frills, which is exactly what some folks need. If you do need integration, Rackspace probably figures you’ll opt for its Microsoft 365 plans.
A Fair Value with a Microsoft Focus
Rackspace’s basic email tier is probably the best value if you’re just looking for low-profile email inboxes. Email Plus tries to be a middle ground between those looking for something entry-level and customers that need the company’s Microsoft 365 offering. But it comes up short when you compare it to other products in the same price bracket. Still, being able to mix and match basic email with Microsoft 365 is a big benefit, and could be a draw for businesses looking to augment their core use of Microsoft Office without giving everybody a full Office license.
Overall, though, there are just too many other good options out there to recommend Rackspace as a first stop. Zoho Mail is a fine low-cost pick, while Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Google Workspace Business Standard are our Editors’ Choice honorees and well worth their cost if your budget permits.
