There are 3 main email platforms and we are often asked which one should be used so we have outlined a few key differences below.
The key deciding factors are:
– Price
– Multiple computers
– E-mail on your mobile
If you want to use your email account on one computer, keep the costs as low as possible and basic access to email on the go then POP3 is the best solution with POP3 accounts being very cheap and widely supported.
IMAP is the next stage up. You can have your emails on multiple computers and sync between them. You can have basic synchronisation between your computers and your mobile device. The downside and upside of IMAP is that is all stored on the mail server (unlike POP3 where all the emails are on your computer) . The downside of this is that if you have a limited mailbox you can go over the limit if you receive large emails. The upside is that it is backed up by your hosting company.
Hosted Exchange is the king of email solutions. As such you will pay a substantial premium for it. You can have it on multiple computers, it is backed up by your provider, it syncs very well with your mobile device and generally is a joy to use. It also allows for additional functionality including sharing calendars, contacts etc. This can be done with other solutions but none as cleanly as Exchange.
For an idea on pricing you can look at the different email solutions we offer.
