That's an argument for custom domains: if your email address is [yourname]@[yourdomain].com, it's easy to switch from Google Apps to a different provider.
Finding a way to make that a viable option for non-techies is, sadly, an exercise left for the reader.
Interesting that you say that. That's one reason why I've always used my own domain name (that I own) for my email rather than rely on a @gmail.com or @yahoo.com or other email.
I still use gmail for my email (using the hosted app service) but ultimately I want to make sure I use my own domain.
And this is why, back in 2007, I registered my own domain, and signed up for then-free Google Apps for Your Domain (then GSuite, Google Workspaces, whatever they're calling it now). Earlier this year I moved my email to Fastmail, and I can move it elsewhere if I want to, with zero disruption or downtime.
I really wish email providers would make custom domains either the default, or a very obvious option when signing up. Google is already a domain registrar, and other providers could partner with one. Granted, this option would not be free (though Google could probably swing making it free; they just wouldn't let you use the domain for anything else unless you start paying for the registration), so that would reduce its desirability for most people, unfortunately.
(On the downside, I wish I could convert my GSuite account to a regular Google Account, because GSuite accounts are occasionally crippled in random ways, and now I'm not even using the email part of it anymore. But that's a separate complaint.)
In addition, you should also considering buying a domain for yourself and then using Google Apps or one of the other alternatives to host it. It's such a huge hassle to change email address everywhere, you are better off having control over it as well.
Switching to a custom domain is a good idea even if you don't pay for Google Apps. Because if Google kicks you off for whatever reason, you just change your MX record and your email is fine.
If all you want is the email address, you can simply transfer your domain to Google Domains and use their free GMail integration. That'll save you $48/year assuming you don't value any of the other paid features in Google Apps.
Caveat: While you might use Google Apps to host your email [1], I would be leery of using Google to register the domain name that you use for this.
A major point of this exercise is being able to use control of the domain name registration to change its email support settings (change your email host), if/when needed.
You might find exercising control of a registration initiated through Google, and/or moving such a registration to a different registrar, difficult. And if so, you face Google's [cough] "legendary" customer support.
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[1] I believe that you can still host a single address for free; multiple addresses / users under an Apps account is now a paid-only feature.
Of course that only applies to Google Apps and not @gmail.com addresses.
But good point, and I reckon that's another good reason for anyone using email for professional purposes to get their own domain and use it.
(One of my pet peeves is seeing businesses advertise a www.mycompany.co.uk website and a bob@aol.com address. Small places do it a lot - why would you buy a domain and not use it fully? Why?)
I am using my own domain, but after trying self-hosting (downtime stress while I am on vacation) and paid hosting (lacks decent webmail), I now use Google Apps to actually host the email.
My reasons for using my own domain are simple:
* I want to be able to switch whenever I want, without having to email everyone telling me I changed address.
* When I use it professionally, my domain is my "business card", where I host my website with portfolio etc.
I had a gmail lockout scare recently for my custom domain.
And I deeply want to change providers. google is currently both my e-mail provider and my domain registrar.
The only thing holding me back is I have a custom domain, I'm not specialized in the web, and it's not super intuitive how to set up my hosting with one company, name registration with another, and e-mail with a third. All for the same custom domain.
My email provider doesn’t have control of my domain. In my registrars settings I just put my email providers server addresses where they told me to and I’m under the impression that if my email provider ever jerked me around I could just go in there and change those server addresses to someone else’s with no input needed from my email provider.
Did google do something different with these accounts? I didn’t even think they offered a registrar service when they stopped letting you register free custom domain gmails accounts.
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