Your site deploys in seconds and the domain is pointed at it. Then someone needs hello@ to work, and the dashboard has no button for that. Here is what each host says to do, priced, and the shortest way through.
What the hosts themselves say
Vercel is plain about it. Its guide Set up email with your Vercel domain, checked 6 October 2026, says "Vercel manages DNS for your domain but doesn't host mailboxes or send and receive email." It names Google Workspace, Zoho Mail and Fastmail as hosted suites, ImprovMX and Forward Email as forwarders, and Resend, SendGrid and Postmark as sending APIs, and it explains that receiving needs MX records plus TXT records for verification and sending.
Netlify's support guide How can I receive emails on my domain?, checked the same day, opens with "Netlify does not provide email services." It points at Zoho Mail for "a very cheap plan for full email service" and ImprovMX as a free forwarder, and adds that "any mail provider should work with our DNS hosting". Then it walks through adding an MX record with the name @ and the value your provider gives you, followed by the SPF, DKIM and DMARC TXT records.
DigitalOcean has no managed mail either. Its long-standing tutorial Why you may not want to run your own mail server notes that outgoing port 25 is blocked by default on Droplets to prevent spam. It sends you to hosted providers (it lists Google, Zoho, Fastmail and Microsoft) for mailboxes, and to Mailgun or SendGrid for transactional sending. Its DNS docs show MX records under Networking, Domains, with a Hostname, the mail server and a Priority field.
What the recommended options cost
| Option | What it is | Price | Three addresses a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace Business Starter | Gmail plus Docs, Drive, Meet | $7 per user on annual commitment, $8.40 on the monthly Flexible plan | $21 to $25.20 |
| Zoho Mail Lite | Mailbox, 5 GB per user | $1 per user a month, billed yearly only | $3 |
| ImprovMX Free | Forwarding to an inbox you already have | $0 for 1 domain, 25 aliases, 500 forwards a day | $0, but no sending |
| Faivelo Starter | Unlimited mailboxes on up to 3 domains, API included | $6 a month flat | $6 |
Google: workspace.google.com/pricing and the Admin Help plan comparison; Zoho: zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html; ImprovMX: improvmx.com/pricing. All checked 6 October 2026. Faivelo is our own product.
Zoho Mail Lite is the cheapest real mailbox for one or two people, and the Netlify guide is right to recommend it. It is billed yearly only, and it crosses $6 a month at the seventh user. ImprovMX is a good forwarder: mail to hello@ lands in your Gmail, but a reply goes out as your Gmail address unless you add SMTP sending, and the free plan does not include it. Google Workspace is the full suite, priced like one.
Faivelo is flat. Three addresses, ten, or a mailbox for every side project on the account cost the same $6, and every mailbox has IMAP, SMTP and a REST API key, which matters if the site that lives on Vercel also sends receipts.
The part the host docs cannot offer: one click
Every option above ends the same way, with you in the host's DNS panel pasting records. Vercel wants them on the domain's DNS Records tab, Netlify under Domains, then the domain, then DNS settings, DigitalOcean under Networking, Domains. Each record has to be exact, and a typo in a DKIM value costs an afternoon.
Faivelo connects to all three hosts with OAuth. Add the domain, click Connect Vercel, Netlify or DigitalOcean, approve, and the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are written into the zone and verified, usually inside a minute. Nothing about the site changes; the A and CNAME records that serve it are not touched. The step-by-step for each host, with the panel's own labels and the traps (a Vercel nameserver move that drops records, a Netlify domain that is only pointed, not hosted), is in the Vercel guide, the Netlify guide and the DigitalOcean guide.
The hosts manage your DNS. They just will not fill it in for you.
Which to pick
One person, one domain, and you already live in Gmail: ImprovMX for receiving is free, and fine until you need to send as the address. One or two people who want a real inbox at the lowest possible price and do not mind yearly billing: Zoho Mail Lite. A team that wants Docs and Meet on every seat: Google Workspace. A developer or small team with one or more domains, who wants hello@ and support@ and an API on one bill: Faivelo, connected in a click.
Connect the host, and the records write themselves
Add your Vercel, Netlify or DigitalOcean domain, approve the connection, and the mailboxes are live. Fourteen days free, no card.