Your address lives on your domain, not in Google. Keep the domain, move the mailboxes, and cancel the subscription last. Done in this order, nobody who writes to you notices a thing.
Before you cancel anything
The costly mistake is cancelling or deleting first. A deleted Workspace account takes its mailboxes with it, and the domain's Google sign-in goes with them, so any Google Analytics, Search Console or Play Console tied to a Workspace user is suddenly orphaned. Move those to a personal Google account before the end.
Write down three lists: every user mailbox, every group address like support@ that forwards somewhere, and every alias. The new host needs all three. Then check the bill you are leaving. On workspace.google.com/pricing, checked 6 October 2026, Business Starter is $7 per user a month on an annual commitment, and Google's Admin Help lists the Flexible monthly plan at $8.40 per user. On an annual plan, cancelling early still owes the rest of the term, so note the renewal date before you decide the switch day.
The order that loses nothing
- New host first. Create the account, add the domain, and create a mailbox per user plus one for each group address. On Faivelo the free trial runs 14 days without a card, and mailboxes cost nothing extra, so there is no reason to skimp on addresses.
- Copy the mail. Each user creates an app password in their Google account (Security, 2-Step Verification, App passwords) and the migration tool copies every folder over IMAP while Google keeps working. Workspace admins may need to allow IMAP for users in the Admin console first. Google Takeout is the backup route; it produces an MBOX file per user.
- Lower the TTL. A day ahead, set the MX records' TTL at the registrar to 300. Mail servers cache MX answers for the TTL, so a low value keeps the cutover short.
- Switch MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Replace Google's five MX records with the new host's. Replace the SPF include, add the new DKIM key, and point DMARC reports at the new host. If your registrar is one Faivelo can connect to, this is done for you; otherwise copy the records it shows you. Check the result with a DNS checker.
- Cancel the subscription. Send a test from an outside address, confirm it arrives at the new host, and wait a day for stragglers. Then in the Admin console open Billing, Subscriptions, Google Workspace, and cancel. The account survives; only the paid plan ends.
- Delete the account last. Once every mailbox has been copied a final time and nothing arrives at Google any more, delete the Workspace account under Account settings. If you skip this, the domain stays claimed by Workspace and you cannot use it for a new Workspace or Google Cloud organisation later.
What you lose, and what you do not
You keep the domain, every address, and every message you copied. Mail apps keep working after you swap the server settings. Forwarding rules and signatures are set up again at the new host; a half hour for a small team.
You lose the Google side of Workspace: shared Drive under the company domain, Docs commenting with company accounts, Google Meet on the domain, Google Groups, and the Admin console's device management. Many small teams keep free personal Google accounts for Docs and Drive and move only the mail, which is the whole point of the exercise. If the team lives in shared Drive, read Faivelo vs Google Workspace first, because that is a real reason to stay.
The week after
Keep the old mailboxes readable until the subscription actually ends, and run one last copy the day before. Update the address in any service that sends you codes, and move Analytics or Search Console ownership to an account that will still exist. Then delete the Workspace account and close the chapter.
Cancel last. Delete after that. Everything else can go first.
Set up the new side today
Add your domain to Faivelo, create the same addresses, and let the migration copy your Google mailboxes while Workspace keeps running. Unlimited mailboxes for $6 a month, no per-user seat to cancel next time.