Both give you custom domain email in Gmail.
One costs $29/yr for everything. The other charges $84/yr per mailbox.
Here's what actually differs.
Green checks where both deliver. Honest gaps where they don't.
| Feature | SendMailAs$29/yr | Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domain email | Yes - Custom domain email | Yes - Custom domain email |
| Send from Gmail | Yes - Send from Gmail | Yes - Send from Gmail |
| Receive in Gmail | Yes - Receive in Gmail | Yes - Receive in Gmail |
| SPF / DKIM / DMARC | Automatic | Automatic |
| DNS setup | Automatic | Manual |
| Multiple domains | Unlimited (Pro) | $84/yr each |
| Email addresses | Unlimited (Pro) | $84/yr each |
| Daily send limit | 500 (Pro) | 2,000 |
| Email storage | Gmail free (15 GB) | 30 GB |
| Google Drive | - | 30 GB |
| Google Meet | - | Yes - Google Meet |
| Admin console | - | Yes - Admin console |
| Shared calendars | - | Yes - Shared calendars |
| eDiscovery / Vault | - | Business+ only |
| Setup time | 5 minutes | 15-30 minutes |
Workspace charges per mailbox. SendMailAs charges once.
| Scenario | Workspace | SendMailAs | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 domain, 1 email each | $84/yr | Free | $84/yr |
| 1 domain, 3 emails each | $252/yr | $29/yr | $223/yr |
| 3 domains, 2 emails each | $504/yr | $29/yr | $475/yr |
| 5 domains, 2 emails each | $840/yr | $29/yr | $811/yr |
| 10 domains, 3 emails each | $2,520/yr | $29/yr | $2,491/yr |
Workspace pricing: $7/user/month (Business Starter). SendMailAs Pro: $29/yr flat. Prices as of April 2026.
One flat price vs per-user pricing. The more domains and addresses you have, the bigger the gap.
No migration, no new inbox to learn. Everything stays in the Gmail you already use every day.
No manual MX, SPF, DKIM, or DMARC record configuration. Point your nameservers and we handle the rest.
Add a domain, paste credentials into Gmail, done. No admin console, no verification dance.
Honesty matters. Here's what Workspace does that we don't.
500/day on Pro vs 2,000/day on Workspace. Fine for most people, but if you send a lot of email, Workspace has the edge.
No centralized user management, no domain-wide policies, no data loss prevention. For teams of 1-5 this rarely matters.
No extra Drive storage, no Google Meet with your domain, no shared calendars. You keep what free Gmail gives you.
Google Workspace is a full productivity suite. If your team needs shared Drive, admin controls, domain-wide calendars, and compliance tools, it's worth the $84/yr per user.
But if you're a freelancer, solopreneur, or indie developer who just wants you@yourdomain.com in Gmail - you're paying for a suite you'll never open.
SendMailAs gives you the email part for $29/yr. Unlimited domains. Unlimited addresses. Same Gmail inbox.
Yes. Gmail is a free product. Google Workspace adds business features (custom domain email, shared Drive, admin console) on top of Gmail. SendMailAs gives you the custom domain email part without the rest of the suite - your emails arrive in your free Gmail inbox.
You lose Google Drive with custom domain, Google Meet with branded links, admin console controls, shared calendars under your domain, and compliance/archival tools. If you only need custom domain email in Gmail, you don't need any of that.
Yes. SendMailAs configures SPF, DKIM, and DMARC automatically for every domain - the same authentication standards Workspace uses. Your emails are properly signed and verified. The deliverability difference comes from your sending behavior, not the platform.
If you only use Workspace for email, yes. Point your domain's nameservers to Cloudflare, set up SendMailAs, and your email routes to your free Gmail account instead. Your old emails stay in Gmail. If you rely on shared Drive, admin console, or domain-wide settings, Workspace still makes sense.
Yes. Each domain can forward to a different Gmail address. You can have work@domain-a.com go to your personal Gmail and support@domain-b.com go to a shared Gmail account.
Free plan: 2 addresses on 1 domain. Pro plan ($29/yr): unlimited addresses on unlimited domains. With Workspace, each address costs $7/month ($84/yr) regardless of how many domains you have.
Your emails live in Gmail, so you get Gmail's 15GB free storage (shared with Drive and Photos). With Workspace, you get 30GB per user on the basic plan. If you need more than 15GB of email storage, Workspace has that advantage.
SendMailAs routes inbound email through Cloudflare's infrastructure and outbound through our SMTP relay with full DKIM signing. Both layers have redundancy. For a solo business or small team, this is more than sufficient. For enterprises needing an SLA, compliance tools, or eDiscovery, Workspace is the right choice.