# Zoho Mail 29 Hacker News commenters recommended Zoho Mail and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People recommend Zoho Mail for free email on your own domain that has worked reliably for years, with paid plans around $1 a month; the most common caveat is that IMAP access needs bridges or workarounds. ## Why people recommend it - Free tier with custom domains (5 comments): "It offers a free account with custom domains (which means your account won't get deactived just for non payment)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50253080)) "I've been using Zoho for this for free for years, and I'm pretty sure I set up accounts for my whole family" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49967407)) "just use zoho mail or any other free email that lets you bring your own domain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47203290)) - Reliable with no issues for years (6 comments): "I pay for Zoho mail for all the email accounts for my businesses and I am very happy about the product, the service" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47596453)) "Never had any issues. Support is actually reachable and good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46541441)) "These have all been running for many years and work fine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45851307)) - Cheap paid plans, about $1 monthly (5 comments): "They have free tier available and the paid is like $1 a month - if you grow, you can move or grow with them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49963284)) "I use zoho with three low usage domains and pay $1 a month." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46430174)) "it is pretty decent and extremely affordable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46201048)) - Enough for needs, no reason to switch (3 comments): "which does more than what I need for a custom email" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48033066)) "it’s ‘okay’ enough that it’s not worth switching" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47614033)) "I switched from Google and I'm missing nothing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46428857)) ## What people warn about - Needs bridges for IMAP access (2 comments): "Doesn’t do e2ee theatre and makes me install bridges and tunnels to flyovers just to use imap." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50254494)) "that's not good if you want programmatic inbound access which is what u need for many apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48034571)) - Doubts about company trust (2 comments): "Maybe not perfect from a geopolitical pov, but it will do for now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47488687)) "Zoho is trying their best also in this space - not sure how successful they have been" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46297650)) - Cluttered, hard to navigate (2 comments): "Compared with something like Zoho where I get lost everytime I need to navigate around" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48379552)) "to bloated with feature I don't need" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48381048)) - Costs add up with growth (2 comments): "I moved from Zoho to Gmail, b/c of their pricing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46429840)) "however you dice it, it will use some money" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48032250)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Gmail](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gmail.md): 295 recommend - [mailbox.org email](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mailbox-org.md): 45 recommend - [iCloud Mail](https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud-mail.md): 24 recommend - [HEY email by Basecamp](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hey-email.md): 23 recommend - [Posteo email](https://hackerapproved.com/p/posteo.md): 21 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.zoho.com/mail/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Zoho Mail", https://hackerapproved.com/p/zoho-mail/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).