Zoho Mail compared with Magpie

Zoho Mail vs Magpie: an in-depth comparison

Zoho Mail and Magpie both give a small business email at its own domain, with a calendar, contacts, tasks and notes beside it. They are built around different things.

  1. Zoho Mail is business email with an admin console, from the company that makes Zoho's other business apps. It is built for an organization that wants a full mail service. Its plans run from free for five people to retention, encryption and single sign-on.
  2. Magpie is one subscription for a small business's software, and Mail is one part of it. Beside the inbox it includes booking pages, invoicing, a helpdesk, a newsletter, a website and more. It is built for someone whose email is one part of running the business.

By Andrew Smales, 4 November 2026. Zoho Mail checked against its own pages on 1 November 2026.

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Mail Inbox with fictional Northline Studio messages and an open recording-session email.

How is Magpie different?

1. Email comes with the rest of the business

One Magpie subscription includes the areas a small business would otherwise buy one at a time:

  • Mail for mailboxes and aliases at your domain, and DNS for the domain's records
  • Helpdesk, which turns a support address's mail into conversations a teammate is assigned
  • Contacts, Meetings and Appointments for the people you work with and the times they book
  • Invoicing, with recurring invoices and online payment, and Store for selling online
  • Newsletter, Outreach, Websites, Forms, Documents, Spreadsheets, Password Vault and the other areas, in the same team

Everything is in one account with one bill. Zoho sells booking, invoicing and its CRM as separate products, and its Mail plans add Calendar, ToDo and Cliq.

2. A team pays one price

The Team plan is one price for up to 25 people, and every mailbox is included. You add a mailbox for each person, or a shared one such as support@, without changing the bill. Zoho Mail's paid plans are priced per user.

3. Your domain's records are set up for you

When Magpie hosts your domain's DNS, it adds the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records for Mail itself. When the domain stays with its registrar, Magpie shows each record with Copy and checks it. Zoho Mail's setup guide has you add each record at the domain's own DNS provider.

Comparing Magpie and Zoho Mail

Zoho Mail does more inside the mailbox and for its admins; Magpie does more around it. Every line in the tables below was checked against Zoho's own pages, linked from each row, and against Magpie's code and Help.

Platform

Zoho MailMagpie
Email at your own domainMailboxes and aliases at the business's domain Paid plans
Free plan with emailMailboxes at your domain without paying Up to 5 people
Filters, tags and a full searchIncoming mail sorted, and every message found Partly
Other mail appsOutlook, Apple Mail or a phone's mail app over IMAP Paid plans
Phone and desktop appsMail on every device In the browser
Encrypted emailS/MIME or OpenPGP Paid plans
AI writing helpSummaries and drafts in the mailbox Paid plans
CalendarEvents, invitations and shared calendars
Contacts, tasks and notesBeside your mail
Shared mailboxOne support@ inbox, with email assigned to a person Paid plans
Admin consoleSingle sign-on, audit reports, a company footer
Retention and eDiscoveryMail kept for a set time and searched for legal records Mail Premium and Workplace Professional
DNS hostingHost the domain's records Not stated
Booking pagesPeople choose a time with you Separate Zoho product
InvoicingInvoices paid online Separate Zoho product
NewsletterEmail to the subscribers who signed up
Choice of where data is keptA data centre in your region

Good to know: Where Magpie says No or Partly, the line under the row says what Magpie does instead. Each gap has an item on Magpie's roadmap, and the line changes on the day it ships.

Setting up: your domain, your people and your old mail

Zoho Mail has a free plan for up to five people and copies old mailboxes across from Google, Microsoft and others. Magpie's Mail needs a paid plan, and starts receiving when your domain's MX record points to it.

Zoho MailMagpie
Get email at my own domain, such as me@mybusiness.com Source
Have email at my own domain for a few people without paying Source Magpie: Mail needs a paid plan: Pro for Personal, or the Team plan for a team. On the free plan a domain can be kept in DNS, but no mailbox can be made at it.
Have the records my domain's email needs set up and checked Source
Buy a domain from the same place that hosts my email Source Magpie: Magpie does not sell domains. A domain is bought from a registrar, then added to Mail with records or with Magpie's nameservers.
Give each person in my business a mailbox of their own Source
Bring my old email over from Gmail, Outlook or another provider Source Magpie: Mail does not copy messages from another provider. Once the domain's MX record points to Magpie, new mail arrives there, and messages already at the previous provider stay where they are.

Good to know: When Magpie hosts your domain's DNS, it adds the mail records itself. Inbox shows the next setup step until there is a mailbox.

Addresses, groups and forwarding

Both host aliases and a catch-all, and send from any of a mailbox's addresses. Zoho Mail adds group addresses with moderation, forwarding to outside inboxes and other accounts' mail.

Zoho MailMagpie
Have more addresses, such as sales@, reach me and send from any of them Source
Make a group address, such as staff@, that reaches several people, and choose who may write to it Source Magpie: An alias can deliver to several members' mailboxes, so one address reaches several people. Anyone can write to it: there is no choice of who may send to it and nothing to approve. Partly
Receive mail sent to any address at my domain Source
Forward my email to an inbox I already have, such as Gmail Source Magpie: Mail delivers only to mailboxes in Magpie. An address cannot forward to an outside inbox, and the mail server refuses a forward route.
Read and send the mail of another account, such as Gmail, from the same inbox Source Magpie: A mailbox receives mail only at its own domain's addresses and sends only from them. Another account's mail stays in that account.

Good to know: Add common addresses in Magpie adds postmaster@, abuse@, info@, support@ and others in one step. An alias can deliver to several people's mailboxes.

Reading and organizing

Both have folders, stars and snooze. Zoho Mail adds tags, conversation view, offline reading and a search that covers attachments and dates. They do it better than we do today.

Zoho MailMagpie
See a conversation's messages together as one thread Source Magpie: The list shows each message on its own. An open message lists the other messages in its conversation, from any folder but Trash and Spam, to open one at a time. Partly
Sort my mail into folders, and folders inside them Source
Put more than one tag on a message Source Magpie: A message is in one folder at a time, and a star is the only other mark.
Mark an email to come back to Source
Search all my mail at once, by sender, date or attachment, and save a search Source Magpie: Search looks in every folder of the selected mailbox except Trash and Spam, at the sender, recipients, subject and text, and Only Inbox narrows it to one folder; Show and sort narrows it to unread or with attachments. It does not search inside attachments or by date, and a search cannot be saved. Partly
Put a message aside until a time I choose Source
Read and answer email with no connection Source Magpie: Mail on the website needs a connection. The Magpie app keeps recent mail on the phone, encrypted, and holds sent messages and changes in an Outbox until it is back online, but it is not yet in the App Store or Google Play.

Good to know: Magpie's search looks in every folder of a mailbox except Trash and Spam, and each result names its folder. A PDF attachment opens in PDF Editor.

Writing and sending

Both undo a send, schedule a message and add a signature. Zoho Mail formats messages on the web and adds templates, read receipts, large attachments, mail merge, AI drafts and encryption.

Zoho MailMagpie
Write, reply to and forward email in my browser Source
Format an email with bold, lists, links and pictures Source Magpie: On the website a message is written as plain text with pictures, and a formatted draft opened there loses its formatting. The Magpie app formats a message with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, lists, quotes and links, but it is not yet in the App Store or Google Play. Partly
Add a signature to the emails I send Source
Start a new email from one I saved Source Magpie: Mail has no saved messages to start from. Helpdesk has saved replies for its own inboxes.
Take back an email just after I send it Source
Write an email now and send it at a time I choose Source
Ask to be told when someone has read my email Source Magpie: Mail asks for no read receipt, and nothing records when a message is opened.
Send a file too big for an email attachment Source Magpie: A message's attachments and pictures can be up to 10 MB together. Secure Files sends a larger file as a secure link, but from its own page, so the link is pasted into the message by hand. Partly
Send one email, filled in with each person's name, to a list of people Source
Have AI summarise an email or draft a reply Source Magpie: Mail has no AI. The assistant and connected AI apps reach many areas through Magpie's MCP server, but not Mail: it has not been published to the assistant yet.
Send an email only the recipient can read Source Magpie: Mail sends ordinary email signed with the domain's DKIM key. It has no S/MIME or OpenPGP.
Send a newsletter or a marketing email to my whole list Source Zoho Mail: Its help says that, by policy, it cannot be used to send mass email or marketing email to unknown recipients.

Good to know: Magpie's Newsletter sends each issue to the subscribers who signed up, which Zoho Mail's policy rules out. Outreach sends sales campaigns from a Mail address.

Filters, spam and automatic replies

Zoho Mail filters spam, runs filters you set, and unsubscribes in one step. Magpie's mail server refuses clear spam, and the rest is sorted by hand.

Zoho MailMagpie
File, forward or delete incoming mail automatically by rules I set Source Magpie: Every message arrives in Inbox, and moving it to a folder is done by hand.
Have spam kept out of my inbox for me Source Magpie: Magpie's mail server refuses clear spam before it is delivered, but Mail does not sort the rest: every message it accepts arrives in Inbox, and Spam is a folder people move messages to themselves. Partly
Leave a mailing list, or block a sender, in one step Source Magpie: Mail has no unsubscribe button and cannot block a sender. A message can be moved to Spam by hand.
Reply automatically while I am away Source

Good to know: Away reply in Magpie answers each sender once every 4 days. It leaves out mailing lists, newsletters and automatic mail.

Calendar, contacts, tasks and more

Both put a calendar, contacts, tasks and notes beside the inbox. Zoho Mail turns an email into a task by itself; Magpie adds booking pages and invoices.

Zoho MailMagpie
Keep a calendar beside my email and invite people to events Source
Keep an address book the whole team shares Source
Keep tasks beside my email and give them to teammates Source
Turn an email into a task Source Magpie: Mail and To-dos are not connected: a To-do is written by hand, and nothing makes one from a message or links back to it.
Jot down notes in the same place as my email Source
Let people book time with me and pay my invoices from the same account as my email Source Zoho Mail: The Mail plans include Mail, Calendar, ToDo and Cliq, and the Workplace plans add office apps and file storage. Booking pages and invoicing are separate Zoho products.

Good to know: Every Magpie area is in the same team and on the same bill. A contact's page lists their invoices, bookings and proposals.

Working together

Both share a support@ mailbox with the team. Zoho Mail adds comments on an email in Streams, and lets you give a colleague your mailbox. Magpie assigns customer email in Helpdesk.

Zoho MailMagpie
Talk an email over with my team beside it, without forwarding it Source Magpie: Helpdesk conversations have notes that only the team sees. A message in Mail cannot be shared or commented on: it is forwarded, or talked over in Chat. Partly
Let an assistant read and answer my mailbox for me Source Magpie: A team mailbox opens for every member or for one member only. There is no giving it to one or two chosen people, no read-only access, and no sending on someone's behalf. Partly
Share a mailbox, such as support@, and give each email to one teammate Source

Good to know: Helpdesk conversations are assigned, tagged, set to waiting and closed, with notes only the team sees.

Apps, access and settings

Zoho Mail has apps for phones and computers, IMAP for other mail apps, Zapier and 73 languages. Magpie's Mail is used in the browser, in English, French, Spanish or German.

Zoho MailMagpie
Use my email fully on my phone Source Magpie: Mail works in a phone's browser, where the list and the open message take turns: it reads, writes, searches, snoozes and schedules mail and adds mailboxes, aliases and domains, but nothing tells the phone when new mail arrives. The Magpie app notifies each new message, but it is not yet in the App Store or Google Play. Partly
Use my email in an app on my computer Source Magpie: Mail is used in a browser on a computer.
Use my email in Outlook, Apple Mail or my phone's own mail app Source Magpie: Mail is read and sent only on the website, in a computer's or a phone's browser. There is no IMAP, POP or SMTP access for other mail apps.
Connect my email to the other apps I use, such as a CRM or Zapier Source Magpie: Mail works with Magpie's own Contacts, PDF Editor, Outreach and Helpdesk. An API key reaches all of Mail through the REST API, reading, filing and sending messages as well as domains and addresses, so a developer can connect a script, but no ready-made connection to a CRM or Zapier exists, and Mail sends no webhooks. Partly
Work through my email with the keyboard Source
Choose a light or dark look Source
Use my email in my own language Source Magpie: Magpie is shown in English, French, Spanish or German. Partly

Good to know: The Magpie app, not yet in the App Store or Google Play, reads and writes mail and notifies each new message.

Admin, security and plans

Zoho Mail's admin console covers single sign-on, audit reports, a company footer, retention and exporting mailboxes. Magpie's team admins add mailboxes and see each one's storage.

Zoho MailMagpie
Protect sign-in with a second step Source
Have my team sign in through our company identity provider Source Magpie: People sign in to Magpie with a password, a passkey, or Apple, Google, LinkedIn or GitHub. There is no SAML single sign-on.
Add a footer, such as a legal notice, to every email my team sends Source Magpie: Mail adds nothing to the messages a team sends, and there is no footer for a whole domain.
See reports of what happened in my team's email, such as suspicious sign-ins Source Magpie: A team admin sees each mailbox's storage on Mailboxes and aliases, but Magpie keeps no log of sign-ins or changes for a team's admins to read.
Keep a copy of every email that nobody can change, for legal records Source Magpie: A message deleted permanently is gone, and Mail keeps no archive that members cannot change.
Get back email deleted by mistake Source Magpie: Trash keeps messages until it is emptied, and they can be restored from it. A message deleted permanently cannot be brought back. Partly
Download all my email, to keep a copy or move elsewhere Source Magpie: Download as .eml saves one message at a time. A whole mailbox cannot be downloaded, and there is no IMAP or POP access to copy it out. Partly
Have plenty of room for my email, and buy more when it fills Source Magpie: Each mailbox has 5 GB, and more cannot be bought. A full mailbox stops receiving until messages are deleted permanently. Partly
Choose the country where my email is kept Source Magpie: Magpie offers no choice of where data is kept. Its privacy policy covers transfers between countries with Standard Contractual Clauses.

Good to know: A Magpie team has up to 25 members on the Team plan, and each mailbox has 5 GB.

Price comparison

How Zoho Mail charges

Zoho Mail charges per user, by plan. Mail Free covers up to five people at one domain, without IMAP or POP. Mail Lite and Mail Premium are email plans; Workplace Standard and Workplace Professional add file storage, documents, chat and meetings. Mail Premium and Workplace Professional add retention and S/MIME. Prices are on Zoho's pricing page, in your currency.

Zoho Mail's pricing page

How Magpie charges

Magpie charges by plan, Free or a paid plan, for everything in the account. Mail needs a paid plan: Pro for Personal, or the Team plan for a team. The Team plan is one price, not a price per mailbox. Prices are on Magpie's pricing page.

Magpie's pricing page

On top of the planZoho MailMagpie
Email without payingMail Free: up to 5 people, 5 GB each, one domainNot included; the Free plan covers the other areas
How a business paysPer user, per month or yearOne Team plan for up to 25 people
Storage5 GB free, 5 or 10 GB on Mail Lite, 30 GB on Workplace Standard, 50 GB on Mail Premium, 100 GB on Workplace Professional5 GB a mailbox
Other mail appsIMAP and POP on paid plansNot available
Retention and S/MIMEMail Premium and Workplace ProfessionalNot available
Your domainCan be bought through ZohoBought from a registrar elsewhere
Booking pages, invoicing and a newsletterSeparate Zoho products, or not offeredIncluded

When to choose Magpie or Zoho Mail

  • Want your business email beside bookings, invoices, a helpdesk, a newsletter and your domain's DNS, for one price for the whole team? Go with Magpie.
  • Want free email for a few people, or a full mail service with filters, apps, encryption and an admin console? Zoho Mail is the right choice.

Recommendations by kind of business

For a business of up to five people that wants free email
Zoho Mail. Mail Free gives up to five people a mailbox at one domain without paying. Magpie's Mail needs a paid plan.
For a company with an IT admin
Zoho Mail. Single sign-on, audit reports, a company footer, retention and mailbox exports are in the admin console. Magpie has none of these for Mail yet.
For a service business with a support@ address
Magpie. Helpdesk assigns each customer's email to a teammate, with internal notes. The same team has the bookings, invoices and contacts.
For a small team that pays per seat today
Magpie. The Team plan is one price for up to 25 people, and every mailbox is included. Zoho Mail's paid plans are priced per user.
For a business that already uses Zoho CRM
Zoho Mail. Extensions bring Zoho CRM and Zoho's other apps into the inbox. Magpie keeps its own Contacts and connects to no CRM.
For a business that sends a newsletter
Either. Zoho Mail's policy rules out mass email, so the newsletter goes through another product. Magpie's Newsletter is in the same team as Mail. Choose by whether the mailbox or one place for the team's work matters more.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Zoho Mail and Magpie?

Zoho Mail is business email with an admin console, beside Zoho's other business apps. Magpie is one subscription for a small business's software. Its Mail is one area beside bookings, invoicing, a helpdesk, a newsletter and a website. Zoho Mail does more inside the mailbox; Magpie does more around it.

Does Magpie replace Zoho Mail?

Yes, for a business that wants email at its domain beside the rest of its work. Magpie hosts the mailboxes and aliases and sets up the domain's records. It shares a support@ mailbox with the team, and Helpdesk assigns each customer's email.

Consider keeping Zoho Mail if you use its free plan, sort mail with filters and tags, or read it in Outlook or Apple Mail. Keep it too if your admin needs single sign-on, retention or audit reports. Zoho Mail does each of these better than Magpie does today.

How much does Zoho Mail cost?

Zoho Mail has Mail Free for up to five people, then Mail Lite, Mail Premium, Workplace Standard and Workplace Professional, priced per user. The prices are on Zoho's pricing page.

How much does Magpie cost?

Magpie has a Free plan and paid plans, each covering every area. Mail needs a paid plan: Pro for Personal, or the Team plan for a team. The Team plan is one price for up to 25 people, not a price per mailbox. The prices are on Magpie's pricing page.

Is Magpie's email free, like Zoho Mail's free plan?

No. Mail needs a paid plan, Pro or the Team plan. Magpie's Free plan includes the other areas, not Mail. Zoho's Mail Free gives up to five people a mailbox at one domain.

Does Magpie have filters or tags for email?

No. Every message Mail accepts arrives in Inbox, a message is in one folder at a time, and you move it yourself. Rules and labels are on Magpie's roadmap. Zoho Mail's filters move, tag, flag, forward or delete incoming mail.

Can I use Outlook or Apple Mail with Magpie?

No. Magpie's Mail has no IMAP, POP or SMTP access, so it is read only on Magpie's website and in the Magpie app. Zoho Mail connects other mail apps on its paid plans.

Does Magpie have a phone app for email?

Mail works in a phone's browser, where it reads, writes, searches, snoozes and schedules mail. The Magpie app reads and writes mail and notifies each new message. It is not yet in the App Store or Google Play. Zoho Mail has apps for iPhone, Android and computers.

Does Zoho Mail have booking pages or invoicing?

Not in Zoho Mail. Booking pages and invoicing are separate Zoho products. Magpie includes Meetings, Appointments and Invoicing in every plan, in the same team as Mail.

Can I send a newsletter from Zoho Mail?

No. Zoho's help says its policy rules out mass or marketing email to unknown recipients. Mail Merge sends personal messages to a list, up to 250 or 500 a day. Magpie's Newsletter sends each issue to the subscribers who signed up, with an unsubscribe link.

Does Magpie encrypt email?

No. Mail sends ordinary email signed with the domain's DKIM key, with no S/MIME or OpenPGP. Encrypted email is on Magpie's roadmap. Zoho Mail has OpenPGP on every paid plan and S/MIME on Mail Premium and Workplace Professional.

Can I bring my old email into Magpie?

No. Mail does not copy messages from another provider. Once the domain's MX record points to Magpie, new mail arrives there, and the old messages stay with the previous provider. Importing old mail is on Magpie's roadmap. Zoho Mail copies mailboxes from Google, Microsoft and other hosts.

How do I move from Zoho Mail to Magpie?

Add your domain to Mail and a mailbox for each address. Then change the domain's MX record to Magpie's, at your registrar or by hosting the domain's DNS with Magpie. New mail arrives in Magpie from then on. Your messages stay in Zoho, where an admin can export each mailbox.

Can I use Zoho Mail and Magpie together?

Yes. Zoho Mail can host the domain's mail while Magpie runs your bookings, invoices, website, newsletter and helpdesk. Magpie's emails to your customers, such as invoices and booking confirmations, are sent by Magpie either way.

Does Magpie have a shared inbox?

Yes. A team mailbox such as support@ opens for every member unless it is made private. Helpdesk turns a support address's mail into conversations that are assigned, tagged and closed. Zoho Mail's shared mailbox, on paid plans, also assigns each email to one person.

Does Magpie have single sign-on or audit logs?

No. People sign in with a password, a passkey, or Apple, Google, LinkedIn or GitHub, and there is no SAML single sign-on. Magpie keeps no log of sign-ins or changes for a team's admins. Zoho Mail's admin console has both.

How much storage does each mailbox get?

Each Magpie mailbox has 5 GB, and more cannot be bought; deleting messages permanently makes room. Zoho Mail has 5 GB a person on Mail Free and up to 100 GB on Workplace Professional. A Workplace plan can buy more.

Where is my data kept?

Zoho picks a data centre by the country chosen at sign-up, among the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Australia and others. Magpie offers no choice of where data is kept; its privacy policy covers transfers between countries with Standard Contractual Clauses.

What is included in Magpie's Free plan?

Booking pages, Invoicing, Store with no Magpie fee, a website, the Newsletter, Forms, Password Vault, Secure Files and a team of 3. Mail is not on the Free plan: email at your domain needs Pro or the Team plan.

If a line on this page is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.

Zoho Mail changes, and so does Magpie. If a line is out of date about either product, email support@magpie.diy with the page that shows it. We check the line against that page, change it, and give it the new date. That goes for Zoho's own team as much as for anyone who uses it.

Email support@magpie.diy

Put your business email beside the rest of the business.

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