Email Migration Services

What email migration services include and cost

Email migration services are priced per mailbox, combining a migration tool license with the labor to plan, copy, cut over and support users afterward. A full job covers user mailboxes, shared mailboxes, calendars, contacts, rules, old archive files (PSTs) and sometimes public folders, plus the DNS changes and setting up Outlook or Gmail on every computer and phone.

Published figures:

• Tool licenses: about $2 to $15 per mailbox in a 2026 migration vendor's guide ¹. BitTitan lists MigrationWiz at $14 per user for a mailbox (up to 50 GB) and $17.50 per user for its User Migration Bundle, which adds archives and OneDrive or Google Drive documents with unlimited data ². One provider says most projects need no paid tool, and paid tools typically cost $10 to $15 per user when needed ³.
• Labor: one provider's guide puts migration labor from US-based consultancies at $25 to $50 per mailbox ³. Another says moving 10 mailboxes might start around $50 to $100 each, falling as mailbox count rises ⁴.
• Project totals: the same guide lists typical market quotes of $1,500 to $3,000 for 10 users and $5,000 to $12,000 for 50 users ³.

No independent survey of email migration prices exists, so hold the quotes you receive up against these figures. Other published IT prices are collected in our managed IT price index.

Moving to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace: license costs

The migration is a one-time cost; the new licenses are the cost that continues every month, and the two platforms now list nearly identical prices.

Microsoft 365. Since July 1, 2026 ⁶, US list prices with Teams on an annual commitment are $7 for Business Basic ¹⁸, $14 for Business Standard ¹⁹ and $22 for Business Premium ⁵ per user per month. Email-only plans exist: Exchange Online Plan 1 is $4.00 and Plan 2 is $8.00 per user per month paid yearly, with 50 GB and 1.5 TB of archive storage per user respectively ¹⁵. Our Microsoft 365 support page covers which plan fits which business.

Google Workspace. A June 2026 pricing review lists Business Starter at $7, Business Standard at $14 and Business Plus at $22 per user per month on a one-year commitment, or $8.40, $16.80 and $26.40 on the flexible monthly plan ⁷. Google moved Business Standard to $14 in 2025 when it folded its Gemini AI features into the plan ⁸.

Microsoft's FastTrack migration help requires at least 150 licenses of eligible plans ¹⁷, so most smaller firms use a partner or do it themselves. Both platforms include built-in import tools: Microsoft's Exchange admin center can migrate from Google Workspace and on-premises Exchange ⁹¹⁰, and Google's data import tool brings in email from Exchange Online, IMAP accounts and other Workspace accounts ¹¹. Paid tools buy scheduling, reporting and broader data coverage. If servers and files are moving too, see cloud migration services.

DNS and MX cutover: how mail switches over

The cutover is the moment you point your domain's MX record at the new system, and it goes smoothly when the data is copied first and the DNS change is prepared days ahead. The usual order:

1. Verify the domain in the new tenant and create the user accounts.
2. Lower the MX record's TTL. Microsoft recommends setting it to 3,600 seconds (one hour) or less before the migration starts, on every MX record you have ⁹.
3. Copy the bulk of the data while users keep working in the old system.
4. Switch the MX record on the agreed date, then run a final sync to catch mail that arrived during the change.
5. Keep the old system running. Microsoft notes that it can take up to 72 hours for other companies' mail systems to recognize a changed MX record, and says to wait at least 72 hours before deleting the migration batch ⁹.
6. Set up sender authentication. Since February 1, 2024, Gmail requires SPF or DKIM from all senders, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC from anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts ¹². Rebuild these records for the new provider or your mail may land in spam.
7. Raise the TTL again once everything is stable ⁹.

Whoever controls your domain registrar login has to be available on cutover day. Find that login before the project starts.

How much downtime to expect

A well-run migration leaves users without email for minutes, not days, because the copy happens in the background and only the final switch and the reconnection of Outlook and phones interrupt work. Most of the disruption comes from what does not carry over.

Microsoft's own Google Workspace migration moves mail, rules, calendars and contacts, but it lists these limits ¹⁰:

• Vacation and automatic reply settings do not move.
• Room bookings and shared calendars do not move.
• Event colors are lost.
• Only three email addresses per contact come across.
• The largest message that migrates by default is 35 MB.

Migrated rules also arrive turned off ¹⁰. Paid tools cover some of these gaps; ask each bidder which ones.

Microsoft's cutover method supports up to 2,000 mailboxes, but Microsoft recommends migrating only 150 this way ⁹. Larger or riskier moves go in staged batches.

Two things to have ready before go-live:

• MFA on every new account. Business email compromise caused about $3.05 billion in reported losses in 2025 ¹⁶, and a new mailbox with a temporary password is an easy target. Managed security services and email filtering should be live on day one.
• A backup of the old system kept until you are sure nothing is missing. Our backup and disaster recovery page covers backup for the new tenant too.

Compliance and retention during an email migration

Email retention obligations do not pause during a migration, so plan how old mail stays preserved and searchable before you shut anything down. Retention policies, legal holds and archive settings belong in the scope as their own line item; confirm with the provider which of them its tool moves and which must be rebuilt in the new system.

Examples of rules that reach email:

• Broker-dealers. SEC Rule 17a-4 requires preserving originals of communications received and copies of communications sent relating to the business for not less than three years, the first two in an easily accessible place ¹³.
• HIPAA. Covered entities and business associates must keep the documentation the Security Rule requires for six years from creation or last effective date ¹⁴. That means written policies and procedures, and records of required actions, activities and assessments ¹⁴. That can include email, but it is not a blanket email retention period. See HIPAA compliance services.
• Legal holds. If a mailbox is under a litigation hold, preserve the source mailbox until counsel confirms the copy meets the hold.
• Defense contractors. Firms handling controlled unclassified information may need Microsoft's government cloud. Microsoft's Google Workspace migration tool is not available for GCC High or DoD tenants ¹⁰. Read our GCC High page first.

Document what you moved, when and how in your written information security plan. These summaries are not legal advice; confirm your obligations with counsel or your compliance officer.

How to choose an email migration service

Choose an email migration service on its cutover plan and what it leaves behind, not only on the per-mailbox price. Ask every bidder:

• Which tool it uses, its list price, and whether the license is included in the quote.
• What exactly moves: shared mailboxes, archives, PST files, public folders, calendars, rules, signatures.
• Whether it runs a pilot batch with a few users first.
• The cutover date, the downtime window and the rollback plan.
• Who changes the DNS records and sets up SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
• How many days of user support follow the cutover, and whether it includes phones.
• Which security settings are on before the first user logs in.

A move with dozens of users, several domains or a merger behind it is a project worth running with a named lead; see IT project management services. If you are also choosing who supports the new system long term, our MSP selection guide lists what to ask.