I finally decided to leave Google Workspace for one of my business email accounts and move it to MXroute. The reason was simple: cost efficiency.
I was paying $7 per month for one Google Workspace email user. Over a year, that is $84. With the exchange rate I was using when I wrote the Indonesian version, it came close to around 1.4 to 1.5 million rupiah per year.
That may not feel like much if you only look at one month. But after a few years, and especially if I ever need more email accounts, the cost starts to matter.
MXroute, on the other hand, has a Medium plan listed at $69 per year with 25 GB of storage. It also supports unlimited domains and unlimited accounts on every plan. That pricing model fits my current use case better than paying per user.
I checked the storage usage of my business email after about five years. It was only around 2 GB. That made me think: maybe I do not need a full office suite just to keep email running.
Why I moved to MXroute
The main reason was cost. With one yearly MXroute plan, I can create multiple email accounts for multiple domains without paying per user like I would with Google Workspace.
For my current setup, business email only needs to send and receive mail reliably. Google Workspace is still a solid product, and I still use Google services for other things. But for this specific email use case, MXroute feels more reasonable.
If you are still comparing older custom domain email options, I also wrote about using a custom domain with Gmail. The setup is different, but it gives useful context if you have tried a few email approaches over the years.
My migration plan
I did not move everything in one shot. I wanted to do it slowly so the old email archive stayed safe and the new mailbox worked before I changed DNS records.
- Buy the MXroute plan that fits the storage requirement.
- Add the domain to the MXroute panel.
- Create the same email username that I used in Google Workspace.
- Check the mail client settings from the MXroute panel.
- Prepare a backup of old email before changing DNS.
- Change the domain’s mail DNS records so new mail goes to MXroute.
- Test sending and receiving email after DNS changes propagate.
The important part is not to rush. If the email address is used for business, a wrong DNS change can make messages land on the wrong server or stop arriving entirely.
Email DNS records
After adding the domain to MXroute, the next step is DNS. The main record to change is usually the MX record, because that decides where incoming email should be delivered.
I also paid attention to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They do not deliver incoming mail by themselves, but they help receiving servers decide whether messages from your domain are legitimate. If you want a separate reference, I previously wrote about setting up DKIM records.
If you are not used to DNS, take screenshots or notes of the old values before changing anything. That makes rollback easier if something behaves strangely.
Backing up the old mailbox
Before fully moving away, I wanted to keep a copy of the old mailbox. The account had been used for about five years, so losing the archive was not an option.
For the archive transfer, I used Thunderbird. I wrote the step-by-step process in a separate article: how I moved email from Google Workspace to MXroute with Thunderbird.
What I changed from the Indonesian version
I checked the current provider references before translating this. Google Workspace Business Starter is currently shown at $7 per user per month on the annual plan. MXroute’s Medium plan is listed at $69 per year with 25 GB storage, unlimited domains, and unlimited accounts. Those numbers match the original article, so I kept them.
The technical part I clarified is the role of DNS records: MX handles incoming mail routing, while SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are mainly about authentication and deliverability.
Conclusion
Moving from Google Workspace to MXroute was mostly an efficiency decision for me. Email still works, but the yearly cost is lower for the way I use it.
If you rely on Google Workspace features every day, staying there may still make sense. But if you mainly need email hosting for several domains or several accounts, MXroute is worth considering.
Just make sure the old mailbox is backed up, the new account exists in MXroute, and the DNS records are changed carefully.
