Best Email Hosting · head-to-head

Google Workspace vs Fastmail

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for email hosting. Fastmail has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.

Fastmail has the lower entry price — Google Workspace starts at $8.4/mo, Fastmail at $4/mo. Free tier: Google Workspace No, Fastmail No. HIPAA: Google Workspace Yes, Fastmail No.

As of 2026-09-02 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Google Workspace

$8.4/mo entry
Entry price$8.4/mo (Business Starter)
Free tierNo
HIPAA (BAA)Yes
SOC 2Yes
GDPRYes
Best forTeams already using Google Docs/Sheets/Slides ecosystem

Fastmail

$4/mo entry
Entry price$4/mo (Business Basic)
Free tierNo
HIPAA (BAA)No
SOC 2
GDPRYes
Best forPrivacy-conscious individuals and small teams who do not handle PHI

Sources — Google Workspace: workspace.google.com (verified 2026-09-02) · Fastmail: fastmail.com (verified 2026-09-02)

Key features

Google Workspace: Custom domain Gmail with 99.9% uptime SLA; End-to-end S/MIME encryption (Business Plus and Enterprise); Gemini AI writing assistant built into Gmail; Spam/phishing/malware blocking (99.9% catch rate per vendor); Google Vault eDiscovery and retention (Business Plus+); DLP and data classification (Enterprise); SAML 2.0 SSO and 2-step verification; SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certified; HIPAA BAA available via Admin console

Fastmail: Masked Email aliases for privacy (1Password integration); Spy pixel blocking and tracker removal; CalDAV/CardDAV for standards-based calendar and contact sync; Scheduled send, snooze, and undo send; Custom Sieve filter scripting for advanced email rules; Email retention archive for legal compliance (Business Professional); GDPR compliant with Standard Contractual Clauses for EU/UK data transfers; 30-day free trial with no credit card required

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