9To5Mac

Apple takes aim at Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 with new hosted business email - 9to5Mac

2026-03-24 · 00:00 UTC ·Bradley C ·2 min read

Brief

Apple is expanding its enterprise footprint by bundling hosted email, calendar, directory, domain purchasing, and device-management-adjacent services into a new Apple Business portal aimed at organizations with up to 500 employees. The offer is notable less for technical novelty than for pricing and packaging: a free custom-domain business email option with 5GB per user, plus paid iCloud storage upgrades up to 2TB from $0.99 per user per month. Apple is also including baseline administrative features such as calendar delegation and a company directory, making the product viable for small teams that want a lightweight productivity stack without immediately adopting Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Technically, Apple is avoiding hard lock-in by supporting IMAP for email and CalDAV for calendars, which should preserve interoperability with Windows and Android clients. The likely near-term wedge is startup formation and greenfield SMB IT, not migrations from incumbent enterprise suites.

Why it matters

Apple’s new Apple Business platform adds hosted business email, calendar, and directory services for organizations with up to 500 users, positioning it as a free alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for small companies and startups.

Key details

  • Businesses can use a custom domain they already own or buy a new domain directly from Apple; each user receives 5GB of free iCloud storage, with upgrades up to 2TB starting at $0.99 per user per month.
  • Apple included business-oriented features such as calendar delegation for executive/assistant workflows and a built-in company directory with user groups and personalized contact cards.
  • The service uses open standards rather than a closed Apple-only stack: email works with any IMAP-capable client and calendar works with CalDAV-compliant apps, enabling compatibility across Android and Windows devices.
  • 9to5Mac argues Apple is mainly targeting net-new businesses rather than trying to displace entrenched Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace deployments, especially as Google’s legacy free custom-domain offering ended in 2022.
Cleaned source text

title: Apple takes aim at Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 with new hosted business email - 9to5Mac

author: Bradley C

content_type: article

publication: 9To5Mac

published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00

source_url: https://9to5mac.com/2026/03/24/apple-takes-aim-at-google-workspace-and-microsoft-365-with-new-hosted-business-email/

word_count: 496

For over a decade, the enterprise email and calendar market has been a two-horse race between Microsoft and Google. If you started a new company, you bought your domain and immediately signed up for either Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. With the launch of the new Apple Business platform, Apple is officially throwing its hat into the ring to challenge Google and Microsoft with a free business email service.

Fully hosted email and custom domains

Apple is introducing fully integrated email, calendar, and directory services directly within the new Apple Business portal for up to 500 users. Businesses can use their own custom domain name or purchase a new one directly from Apple. Users get 5GB of free iCloud storage, but IT teams can easily upgrade users to tiers up to 2TB starting at just $0.99 per user per month.

These new services are designed to streamline operations right out of the box. Apple is including essential business scheduling tools like calendar delegation, which is an absolute requirement for busy executives and assistants, and a built-in company directory. This directory will make it easy for employees to connect with user groups and view personalized contact cards across their devices.

Apple’s new business email will be compatible with any IMAP-capable email client. Apple’s calendar service will support any CalDAV-compliant calendar app. This means full support across Android and Windows as well.

9to5Mac’s take

From an IT perspective, it is clear that Apple is targeting net-new businesses and startups. If you are a founder walking into an Apple Store to buy a MacBook and an iPhone to start your company, Apple can now offer you the device management software, the custom domain, the hosted email, and the company calendar all under one roof.

I don’t believe many businesses that are entrenched in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 will switch today, but Apple is likely to continue expanding this solution over time. A big part of that is that it’s free. While Google offered free @yourdomain.com email for many years, it was phased out in 2022. If Google and Microsoft continue to slowly raise prices, Apple’s free business email will remain a free alternative built right into macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.

The technical aspect of this announcement is that Apple is supporting open standards for email and calendar, so there is no requirement for businesses to swap out their entire fleets if they have some users on Android or Windows.

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