comparison · updated 2026-10-05
adbtd vs Google Workspace for cold email
Google Workspace is the default answer to “where do our mailboxes live?”, and many teams start cold outreach on extra Workspace seats. It is an excellent collaboration suite and a costly, constrained place to run outbound. Here is how it compares with a dedicated mail server.
Disclosure: this page is published by adbtd. We tried to describe Google Workspace the way its own website does, and every price below links to the page we read it on. If something has changed, email hi@adbtd.com and we will correct it.
The short version
Google Workspace charges per user: Business Starter is $8.40 per user per month on the flexible plan or $7 with an annual commitment. Every sending mailbox you can sign in to is a user; aliases are free but are not separate accounts. Gmail enforces sending limits of 2,000 messages per user per day and 2,000 external unique recipients per day, and mail leaves from Google’s shared, constantly changing IP ranges.
adbtd is a mail server, not a suite. You get mailboxes at $1.99 each and a dedicated IP at $19 a month, with no Docs, Drive or Meet attached. Your mail leaves from an IP that only you use, signed with your own domain.
Keep Workspace for your team’s primary mail and collaboration. The question here is only where your outbound mailboxes should live, and for that, paying for a full productivity seat per sending address is often the most expensive option.
adbtd vs Google Workspace at a glance
| adbtd | Google Workspace | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Your own Postfix + Dovecot mail server in a single-tenant container, sending from your domains. | A productivity suite: Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Meet. Each mailbox is a full user account. |
| Pricing model | $1.99 per mailbox + $19 per dedicated IP, per month. No plan tiers, no per-message fees. | Business Starter $8.40 per user per month (flexible) or $7 (annual commitment). Standard $16.80 / $14. |
| Dedicated IP | Always. Minimum one per account, never shared with another customer. Pin IPs to domains. | No. Google’s outbound IP ranges are large, shared and change often. |
| Domains & DNS | Bring domains from any registrar (we don't sell domains yet). SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT and BIMI records generated for you, then audited every six hours. | Use any domain you own; you publish Google’s SPF, DKIM and DMARC records yourself. Up to 30 aliases per user, but aliases cannot sign in. |
| Warmup | No warmup network. A recommended ramp, plus Google Postmaster, Microsoft SNDS and blocklist monitoring in the dashboard. | Not included. No IP warmup needed, but new domains and mailboxes still need a ramp. |
| Sending limits | None enforced. You own the IP's reputation; the docs recommend a ramp. | 2,000 messages per user per day (1,500 via mail merge), 2,000 external unique recipients a day; sending locked up to 24h when exceeded. |
| Access | IMAP, SMTP submission, webmail, inbound forwarding and webhooks. Works with any tool that speaks SMTP / IMAP. | IMAP and SMTP via OAuth; password logins were switched off in March 2025, app passwords for devices that can’t do OAuth. |
| API & agents | REST API for everything in the dashboard, plus an MCP server for AI agents. | Gmail API and Admin SDK, built for Google’s own platform. |
| Billing | Monthly, cancel any month. USD, EUR or GBP at the same numbers. | Flexible monthly or annual commitment, per user. |
Pricing at 10, 50 and 200 mailboxes
Each Workspace sending mailbox is a paid user. We used Business Starter, the cheapest plan, on monthly flexible billing. Domains are extra on both.
| 10 mailboxes | 50 mailboxes | 200 mailboxes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| adbtd | $38.90 / mo 10 mailboxes + 1 dedicated IP | $118.50 / mo 50 mailboxes + 1 dedicated IP | $436 / mo 200 mailboxes + 2 dedicated IPs |
| Google Workspace | $84 / mo 10 users × $8.40 · $70 on annual | $420 / mo 50 users × $8.40 · $350 on annual | $1,680 / mo 200 users × $8.40 · $1,400 on annual |
Prices as of October 2026, in USD, monthly billing, before tax. adbtd: $1.99 per mailbox and $19 per dedicated IP, nothing else; the IP count is your choice (minimum one). Google Workspace: US list prices from Google’s billing help page. Prices vary by country, and Google runs introductory discounts for new customers.
Where adbtd and Google Workspace differ
Paying for a suite to send email
A Workspace seat includes storage, Docs, Meet and admin tooling that a sending mailbox never uses. For a few founders’ mailboxes that is irrelevant. For 50 outbound mailboxes it is $420 a month on flexible billing, against $118.50 on adbtd with a dedicated IP included.
Aliases do not get around this: Google allows 30 aliases per user at no extra cost, but they are not accounts, cannot sign in, and their mail lands in the main user’s inbox, which is not how sequencers and warmup tools expect separate senders to behave.
Shared Google IPs vs a dedicated IP
Google’s own documentation says its mail servers use a large range of IP addresses that change often. That is a strength for a new sender, because Google’s infrastructure carries an established reputation and there is no IP to warm. It also means your sending identity is your domain alone, on infrastructure you neither see nor control, governed by Google’s policies.
With adbtd the IP is yours. You can see its blocklist status, register it with Microsoft SNDS, rely on a stable PTR record, and separate different kinds of mail onto different IPs. You also have to warm it up, which takes a few weeks.
Built-in limits and authentication
Gmail’s limits (2,000 messages and 2,000 external unique recipients per user per day) are far above what any cold mailbox should send, so in practice they only bite when something goes wrong, and when they do, sending is locked for up to 24 hours. More relevant is access: since March 2025 Google requires OAuth for IMAP and SMTP, so every tool you connect needs Google sign-in support or an app password.
adbtd has no platform cap, and every mailbox gets ordinary SMTP and IMAP credentials that work in any client, sequencer or script.
When Google Workspace is the better choice
Google Workspace is the better choice when:
- The mailbox belongs to a person who also needs Docs, Calendar and Meet. Your team’s real mailboxes belong on a collaboration suite. adbtd is not one.
- You send a small number of personal emails a day from your main team. A few founders writing to prospects by hand do not need separate infrastructure.
- You cannot wait for IP warmup. Google’s infrastructure needs none; a new dedicated IP needs a few weeks.
- Your organisation standardises on Google admin and security tooling. Single sign-on, device management and Vault apply to every Workspace seat.
Why teams switch from Google Workspace to adbtd
- Cost per sending mailbox. $1.99 instead of $8.40, and no suite features paid for and never used.
- Separation from the primary domain. Outbound mailboxes on secondary domains and a dedicated IP keep campaign problems away from the company’s main Workspace tenant.
- Plain SMTP and IMAP. Standard credentials for every mailbox, no OAuth set-up per tool.
- Visibility. Per-IP blocklist checks, Postmaster and SNDS data, spam scoring of every outbound message and DNS audits every six hours, in one dashboard.
Before you move anything, send a real message from your current setup to check.adbtd.com and keep the score: it is a free baseline to compare against after the switch. The full price list is on the pricing page, and the cold email infrastructure setup guide walks through domains, warmup and the Google / Yahoo / Microsoft sender rules.
Frequently asked
What are Google Workspace’s sending limits?
Google lists 2,000 messages per user per day (1,500 through mail merge, 500 on trial accounts), 10,000 total recipients and 2,000 external unique recipients per day. Hitting a limit can block sending for up to 24 hours. adbtd enforces no platform sending limit.
Can I use Google Workspace aliases as separate cold email mailboxes?
Not really. Google allows up to 30 aliases per user for free, but aliases are not Google Accounts, cannot sign in, and their mail arrives in the main user’s inbox. Each independent sending mailbox needs its own user licence.
Does Google Workspace give you a dedicated IP?
No. Google says its mail servers use a large range of IP addresses that change often. adbtd gives every account at least one dedicated IP.
How much does Google Workspace cost for 50 cold email mailboxes?
On Business Starter, $420 a month on flexible billing or $350 with an annual commitment, at US list prices as of October 2026. On adbtd, 50 mailboxes and one dedicated IP cost $118.50 a month.
Looking for a Google Workspace alternative?
Your own Postfix and Dovecot stack on a dedicated IP, your domain in every header.$1.99 per mailbox and $19 per dedicated IP per month, cancel any month.
Sources
- Google Workspace flexible and annual plan prices (checked October 2026)
- Gmail sending limits in Google Workspace (checked October 2026)
- Google Workspace email aliases (checked October 2026)
- Google IP address ranges for outbound mail (checked October 2026)
- Transition from less secure apps to OAuth (checked October 2026)