How We Manage Email Service Requests

Chapa Link’s primary focus is websites. We build and manage everything to do with your website. But sometimes we also help our clients set up email services.

We understand that email is an essential part of starting and growing a business.

Up to January 2023, we used to offer cPanel Webmail, but we do not anymore.

Today our email management services are offered in two options:

  • Google Workspace
  • Microsoft 365

This post explains why we manage our email services this way.

What is cPanel?

cPanel is a web hosting management software. cPanel allows hosters to add, remove, and edit website files, databases, domain records, among other things.

As part of your Chapa Link website service subscription, we administer all hosting operations for you. We do not provide access to cPanel because we take full responsibility of hosting maintenance.

What is cPanel Webmail?

cPanel Webmail is one of the tools offered within cPanel. It allows hosters to add, remove and manage email accounts within their hosting account.

The email service from cPanel Webmail has all the typical email tools you would expect: Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Trash, Folders, etc. There is also a settings utility where you can manage signatures, away messages, themes, and more.

Like other email services, cPanel Webmail can also be integrated with other email clients, like Gmail, Outlook, or Bluemail. There are some additional configuration steps owners would need to take in order to do this – we don’t explain these steps in this post, but reach out to us if you need guidance on this.

What are Google Workspace and Microsoft 365?

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are productivity software suites by Google and Microsoft respectively.

They both provide email services in addition to other productivity software like word processing, spreadsheets and conference calls.

Unlike cPanel Webmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have their own email clients, which are desktop or mobile apps that can use to manage emails. These email clients are Gmail and Outlook respectively.

Summary of Features

Here is a summary of key features for all three types of email services – cPanel Webmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365:

FeaturecPanel WebmailGoogle Workspace (Business Starter)Microsoft 365 (Business Basic)
Email HostingHosted on your own server via cPanelCloud-hosted by GoogleCloud-hosted by Microsoft
StorageLimited by server space30GB per user50GB email + 1TB OneDrive per user
Collaboration ToolsBasic (Webmail, Calendar)Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet, ChatOutlook, OneDrive, Teams, Word, Excel (Web)
SecurityBasic spam filters, relies on server securityAdvanced security, phishing & malware protectionAdvanced security, threat detection
Uptime & ReliabilityDepends on hosting provider99.9% uptime SLA99.9% uptime SLA
Custom DomainsYes, via cPanel setupYes, with domain verificationYes, with domain verification
Ease of SetupRequires manual setup and maintenanceSimple setup, automatic updatesSimple setup, automatic updates
Typical CostCharged as per hosting storage$6/user/month$6/user/month
Our Feesn/aContact usContact us
Best ForSmall businesses & developers managing their own serversBusinesses needing seamless collaboration & cloud storageBusinesses using Microsoft Office tools & enterprise security

Why We Prefer Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 Instead of cPanel Webmail

When people ask us about email services, we offer Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. We do not recommend cPanel Webmail. We do this for 4 reasons:

Server Redundancy

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are hosted on Google and Microsoft servers respectively. When servers go down, email services are shifted to live servers. Service does not stop. This is not the case with cPanel Webmail, which is dependant on the client’s hosting plan.

Easy Setup

The cloud hosted options with Google and Microsoft are easy for our clients to manage once they are set up. Routine tasks like setting up folders, integration on devices and password resets are easy to do. This is not as straightforward with cPanel Webmail.

Storage Space

cPanel Webmail storage is dependant on how much space was part of the hosting plan. For example, if you set up 2GB, and your website takes up 500MB, you can allocate the remaining 1.5GB to email. However, if this email fills up, you need to contact your hosting provider to expand your space, or you need to delete correspondence. With Google and Microsoft, you have sufficient space until you need to upgrade your plan.

Security Issues

Clients who we used to sell cPanel Webmail to in the past experienced issues with receiving spam. There are mechanisms to reduce this, but they require manual configuration and some back and forth with the client. When we switched to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, all spam issues stopped as there are automatic filters to take care of this.

Productivity

Afterall, cPanel Webmail is for email only, whereas Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer a suite of apps to help businesses collaborate. For us this not only helps our clients use email in an easier way, but also enables them to transact their business more professionally.

Putting Small Businesses on the Web

At Chapa Link our goal has always been to put small businesses on the web. We will continue to focus on websites and use third parties for email. Our experience has shown us that using cloud-hosted email services like those offered by Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 enable our clients to do more than cPanel Webmail. As an evolving business ourselves, we are open to change and adaptation – we look forward to updating you here in case anything changes.

For now, for any further questions or support with email, contact us.

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