Third-party comparison · not affiliated with either
Migadu vs. Fastmail: bare-metal budget host vs. polished all-rounder.
Migadu starts at $19/yr for 5 GB with unlimited domains and mailboxes on every tier, up to $990/yr for 500 GB. Fastmail starts at $60/yr for one person with 60 GB and full calendar/contacts sync, with Business plans billed per user from $36/yr. Migadu is cheaper per domain hosted; Fastmail includes more finished product — search, calendar, contacts, and native mobile apps — per person.
Migadu is a minimal, developer-oriented mail host: unlimited domains and mailboxes at every tier, priced purely on storage. Fastmail is a mature, feature-complete webmail with its own calendar, contacts, search, and mobile apps — priced per person, with business plans billed per user.
They serve different buyers more than they compete head-to-head. This page lines up what each actually includes for the money, sourced from each vendor's own pricing page.
Updated July 2, 2026 (2026-07-02)
I · The verdict
In one sentence.
Migadu is cheaper for many domains and mailboxes — one account, one price, no per-seat multiplier. Fastmail is the more complete product — first-class calendar and contacts sync, fast full-text search, Masked Email, and iOS/Android apps that Migadu doesn't publicly advertise. If you're hosting a dozen small domains and just need reliable SMTP/IMAP, Migadu is the cheaper fit. If you want one polished daily-driver mailbox with a few custom domains attached, Fastmail is built for exactly that.
II · Feature by feature
Feature by feature.
- Entry price$19/yr (Micro, 5 GB)$60/yr billed annually (Individual, $5/mo effective)
- Pricing modelFlat per account, storage-tiered — unlimited domains/mailboxes on every tierPer person (Individual/Duo/Family) or per user (Business plans)
- Domains per accountUnlimited, fair-useCustom domains supported on every plan; exact cap not published on the pricing page
- Storage, entry tier5 GB (Micro, $19/yr)60 GB total — 50 GB mail/calendar/contacts + 10 GB files (Individual, $60/yr)
- Calendar & contactsNot advertised on public marketing pagesFull CalDAV/CardDAV, shared calendars on Duo/Family, sharing on Business
- SearchStandard IMAP search via mail clientFast built-in full-text search, a long-standing Fastmail strength
- Native mobile appsNot advertised; standard IMAP/webmail accessFirst-party iOS and Android apps
- Business (multi-seat) pricingSame flat per-account pricing regardless of mailbox countPer-user: Basic $3/user/mo, Standard $5/user/mo, Professional $9/user/mo (billed annually)
- Retention / compliance archiveNot advertised on public pagesBusiness Professional plan includes an email retention archive for legal compliance
III · How to choose
Pick the right one.
Choose Migadu if
You're hosting many domains or mailboxes and want one flat account price, not a per-seat bill.
- You run several small domains and don't want the price to multiply per mailbox.
- You mainly need reliable SMTP/IMAP/POP3 and a plain webmail, not calendar/contacts sync.
- You want the lowest entry price for light usage ($19/yr for 5 GB).
Choose Fastmail if
You want one excellent, feature-complete daily mailbox with a few custom domains attached.
- You want fast search, native mobile apps, and calendar/contacts sync built in.
- You're paying for 1–6 people (Individual/Duo/Family) rather than a dozen domains.
- You need a compliance retention archive, which only Fastmail's Professional tier documents.
IV · A deeper look
Where the money goes
Migadu's price scales with storage, not people: the same $290/yr Standard tier covers unlimited domains and mailboxes up to 100 GB combined. Fastmail's price scales with people: Individual is one person for $60/yr, Duo is two for $96/yr, Family is up to six for $132/yr, and Business plans bill per user starting at $36/yr ($3/mo) on Basic. For someone running ten small brand domains with light mail volume, Migadu is dramatically cheaper. For a household or a small team that wants a mature shared calendar and contacts, Fastmail's per-person price buys more finished product per dollar.
V · A deeper look
Feature completeness vs. minimalism
Fastmail has shipped calendar, contacts, search, Masked Email, Scheduled Send, and Snooze as first-class features for years, with native mobile apps. Migadu's public marketing focuses on the mail transport layer itself — SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, aliasing, and catch-all — without advertising a calendar or contacts product. Neither approach is wrong: Migadu is closer to “infrastructure you configure yourself,” while Fastmail is closer to “a finished consumer mailbox that happens to support your own domain.”
VI · Annual cost, low to high
The numbers, in US dollars.
| Tier | Migadu | Fastmail |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Micro — $19/yr, 5 GB | Individual — $60/yr, 60 GB (1 person) |
| Mid | Mini — $90/yr, 30 GB | Duo — $96/yr, 120 GB (2 people) |
| Higher | Standard — $290/yr, 100 GB | Family — $132/yr, 360 GB (up to 6 people) |
| Top | Maxi — $990/yr, 500 GB | Business Professional — $108/yr per user, 150 GB/user |
VII · A note from the people who make Folio
Editorial aside — not a sales pitch
Neither is trying to solve reply-From auto-selection across brands — that's the gap Folio fills.
Migadu and Fastmail both do an excellent job of hosting custom-domain mail — one minimal and cheap, one polished and complete. Folio is a narrower tool for a specific operator shape: one person, several distinct business identities, one reading view.
Where Folio fits
- You run 3+ brand domains and want them to feel like one inbox, with the reply-From address chosen automatically per message.
- You want per-domain DKIM handled for you at setup instead of hand-managing DNS TXT records per domain.
- You'd rather see a colour-coded identity per domain in the reading pane than remember which account tab you're in.
Where it doesn't — pick Migadu or Fastmail instead
- You want the cheapest possible per-domain mailbox and don't need a unified multi-brand reading experience — Migadu is purpose-built for that.
- You want the most mature single-mailbox product with calendar, contacts, and search as first-class citizens — that's Fastmail's core strength today.
- You're a small team paying per seat and don't need per-domain identity switching — Fastmail's Business tiers are built for that.
Common questions
Questions readers ask.
Is Migadu cheaper than Fastmail?
- For hosting many domains under one account, usually yes — Migadu's price is set by storage tier, not by the number of domains or mailboxes. For a single person who wants a full mailbox with calendar and contacts, Fastmail's $60/yr Individual plan is competitive once you count included features, not just the sticker price.
Does Migadu have a calendar like Fastmail?
- We could not find a calendar or contacts (CalDAV/CardDAV) product advertised on Migadu's public marketing pages as of the checked-on date below. Fastmail documents full calendar and contacts sync as a core feature on every plan.
Can I use unlimited domains on Fastmail like I can on Migadu?
- Fastmail's pricing page confirms custom-domain support on every plan but does not publish a specific numeric domain cap the way Migadu explicitly advertises "unlimited domains." If you need a large number of domains specifically, verify Fastmail's current domain limits with their support before committing.
Which is better for a small team?
- Fastmail's Business tiers (Basic/Standard/Professional, billed per user) are purpose-built for teams with shared calendars and app integrations. Migadu doesn't publish a team-specific plan — its flat per-account pricing works for a team only if you're comfortable managing shared mailboxes yourself.
Sources & further reading
Where the claims come from.
Adjacent comparisons
Other head-to-heads.
Open the first letter
Pricing pages change. Verify before you buy.
Every figure above links back to the vendor's own pricing page as of the checked-on date. Prices, storage tiers, and included features can change without notice — confirm on migadu.com and fastmail.com before you commit.
Updated July 2, 2026 (2026-07-02)