Count the people who need private access before counting the email addresses on your website. One person can often use several addresses through aliases on a single mailbox. Two colleagues who need separate histories need independent accounts; a jointly handled enquiries address calls for supported shared access.
If email is part of a new website purchase, compare shared-hosting packages after mapping those roles. An offer with many mailboxes is useful only if its storage and access model fit the people doing the work.
Mailbox, alias, forwarder or shared inbox?
A mailbox holds a person’s messages
A mailbox has storage and account access. Use separate mailboxes when people need independent correspondence, credentials and account recovery. Check each mailbox’s capacity: a quota applies to stored messages, not simply to the number of addresses pointing at it.
An alias gives an existing mailbox another address
An alias directs messages to an existing user’s mailbox. In Microsoft 365, an alias is associated with that user’s account rather than providing another sign-in. Other providers have their own alias allowances and sending behaviour.
Receiving as an alias and replying as that alias are separate questions. Confirm that the service and the email application let you use the intended From address before printing it on invoices or publishing it online.
A forwarder passes mail to another destination
A forwarder sends incoming messages onwards, for example to an existing mailbox elsewhere. Forwarding alone does not provide a new stored mailbox or permission to send replies from the advertised business address. Check whether a local copy is retained and which service is responsible for replies.
A shared mailbox supports a team role
A shared mailbox is for work such as enquiries that several authorised people handle. Access should be delegated through each person’s account where the service supports it. A shared password makes it harder to remove one person’s access without affecting everyone.
Microsoft 365 illustrates the distinction: people accessing a shared mailbox need their own licensed Exchange Online mailboxes. A shared mailbox can generally hold up to 50 GB without a separate licence for that shared mailbox, but larger capacity and some advanced features require additional licensing. Microsoft also says the shared mailbox account is not intended for direct sign-in. These are Microsoft 365 rules, not a promise about basic email bundled with every web host.
Two worked address maps
The businesses below are fictional. The maps describe what to buy and verify, rather than instructions for creating accounts in a particular control panel.
One consultant, three ways to contact them
- Named address: the consultant’s main mailbox and sign-in.
- Enquiries: an alias to that mailbox, because the same person answers it.
- Accounts: another alias to the same mailbox, because there is no separate accounts user.
The result is one stored message history, not three private accounts. If it occupies 700 MB, all three addresses still depend on the capacity of that one mailbox. For instance, Hostinger’s current one-year email trial lists 1 GB per mailbox; the aliases do not multiply that quota. Confirm growth room and the relevant plan rather than treating a starting allowance as a permanent fit.
Two colleagues and one enquiries desk
- First colleague: an independent mailbox and sign-in.
- Second colleague: another independent mailbox and sign-in.
- Enquiries: a delegated shared mailbox in a service that supports both colleagues accessing it.
This brief needs two personal accounts and one shared working space. In Microsoft 365, the two people need the relevant Exchange Online licences; the shared mailbox’s licence depends on its size and features. A package advertising three basic mailboxes does not establish that it offers delegated access or the same collaboration model.
If enquiries only needs to reach one colleague, an alias may be enough instead. Make that choice from the actual workflow: who receives the request, who replies and who needs to see the history.
Test the address map before publishing it
- Send a uniquely labelled message from an external account you control to each public address. Check the intended destination receives it.
- Reply from the application the business will use. Check the recipient sees the intended sender address, rather than assuming alias receiving proves alias sending.
- For shared work, check each authorised person can access and reply through their own account. Confirm how the team will see sent replies and avoid answering the same request twice.
- Record who owns account recovery and how access will be removed when a colleague leaves.
If those checks fail, change the service or address design before promoting it. Adding more aliases will not create private histories or delegated access.
Turn the map into a buying brief
List the required personal mailboxes, aliases, shared workspaces and current storage separately. Use our guide to email included with web hosting to check how those requirements interact with included hosting email and the end of a free period.
Then check the web-hosting shortlist. Keep an existing email service if it already meets the role map; the website and email do not have to be bought from the same supplier.
Sources and photo credit
Documentation checked on 29 October 2026.
- ITA Network Solutions UK — mailbox, alias and forwarder roles
- Microsoft — user aliases and shared-mailbox distinction
- Microsoft — shared mailbox access and licensing
- Hostinger — mailbox resources and trial limits
Cover photo: Angela Roma / Pexels. Illustrative photograph; it does not show an email interface, provider facility or migration test.