Upgrade team collaboration for free: Google Workspace + ImprovMX
By Antoine Minoux
Google Workspace is a powerful collaboration suite, but it comes with a per-user cost that adds up quickly. By combining Google Workspace with ImprovMX, you can give your entire team professional email addresses without paying for individual Workspace seats.
The strategy
Use ImprovMX to forward emails from your domain to each team member's personal Gmail account. Then use ImprovMX SMTP to let them send from their professional address.
Step 1
Add your domain to ImprovMX and create aliases for each team member (e.g., john@company.com → john.personal@gmail.com).
Step 2
Each team member configures Gmail's "Send mail as" with ImprovMX SMTP credentials.
Step 3
Use Google Workspace's free tier (or individual Google accounts) for Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Meet.
The result
- Professional email addresses for everyone
- Full Gmail integration
- Google collaboration tools
- No per-user email hosting costs
When to upgrade
If you need advanced admin controls, data retention policies, or enterprise compliance features, Google Workspace paid plans are still the way to go. But for small teams and startups, this free combination covers 90% of use cases.