Comparison
Feb 4, 2026
CEO and co-founder
Cold Email Infrastructure Cost Breakdown: TCO Calculator & Pricing Comparison
The hidden economics of cold email infrastructure
Cold email infrastructure includes four core components: SMTP servers for sending, IMAP access for receiving and syncing, DNS authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and IP addresses that carry your sending reputation. Each component carries direct or indirect costs that most pricing pages do not reveal.
The per-inbox pricing trap
Per-inbox pricing creates a margin trap. Every new client requires 10-15 domains and inboxes to maintain proper sending volumes. If you sign a $3,000/month client requiring 12 new inboxes, Google Workspace adds $84-100/month to your infrastructure bill. That is 2.8-3.3% of client revenue consumed by email infrastructure alone. Scale to 10 clients and infrastructure hits $840-1,000/month across your entire $30,000 MRR. The percentage stays constant, but the problem compounds when client revenue varies.
"So affordable that it will make your unit economics work, even for lower ticket b2b businesses like ours" - Verified user review of Inframail
What TCO actually includes
Total Cost of Ownership extends beyond monthly subscription fees. For cold email infrastructure, TCO encompasses:
Platform fees: The monthly subscription to your email provider
Domain costs: Annual registration and renewal fees for sending domains
Warmup tools: Third-party services to build sender reputation
Sending platform: Sequencing tools like Instantly or Smartlead
Labor costs: Hours spent on DNS configuration and troubleshooting
Domain registrars charge $10-20 in the first year for .com domains, with renewals typically running $10-20 annually. For agencies running 50+ domains, this adds $500-1,000 per year in domain costs alone.
Total cost of ownership calculator for agencies
We built this calculator to help agencies see the real numbers. The goal is not to hide costs until checkout but to show every line item upfront so you can make informed decisions.
You can copy and customize the comparison table below to estimate your costs, or use the inputs to build your own spreadsheet model.
Calculator inputs and defaults
Input | Default Value | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of inboxes | 50 | Adjust based on your client portfolio | ||
Platform type | Google Workspace | Compare against flat-rate options | ||
Per-inbox cost | $7.00/month | Annual commitment pricing | ||
Domain cost | $16.44/year | Average for .com domains | ||
Warmup cost | $20/inbox/month | Mid-range among $15-30/inbox tools | ||
Labor hours/domain | 0.5 hours | Experienced users, 15-30 minutes per domain | ||
Hourly rate | $50/hour | Operations manager average rate |
Quick cost estimator
Use these inputs to calculate your monthly TCO:
Cost Component | Google Workspace (50 inboxes) | Inframail (50 inboxes) |
|---|---|---|
Platform fee | $350 | $129 |
Domain costs ($16.44/year × 50 ÷ 12) | $68.50 | $68.50 |
Warmup tools ($20/inbox) | $1,000 | $1,000 |
Setup labor (one-time, hours × $50) | $1,250 one-time | $0 |
Monthly recurring | $1,392 | $1,197.50 |
Annual recurring | $16,704 | $14,370 |
Annual savings | - | $2,334 |
To calculate your exact TCO: Take your inbox count, multiply by $7 for Google Workspace monthly platform cost, add domain costs at $16.44/year per domain divided by 12 months, add warmup at $20/inbox if applicable, and add one-time setup labor for new domains at 0.5 hours per domain times your hourly rate.
Formula and assumptions
Monthly TCO formula:
(Number of Inboxes × Per-Inbox Cost) + (Domains × Monthly Domain Amortization) + (Inboxes × Warmup Cost)
Warmup tools cost the same regardless of email provider, so the real platform difference is $221/month ($2,334/year) at 50 inboxes. At 200 inboxes where warmup would cost $4,000/month for both options, the platform savings jumps to approximately $1,300/month ($15,600/year). The larger your operation, the more flat-rate pricing protects margin.
As detailed in our guide on calculating email sending capacity, the number of inboxes you need depends on daily send volume targets and per-inbox sending limits.
How to interpret your results
Look for three signals in your TCO calculation:
Infrastructure as percentage of billings: Track total infrastructure costs against client revenue monthly
Cost-per-meeting trajectory: Divide infrastructure costs by meetings booked to find your true cost-per-acquisition
Marginal cost of growth: What does adding 10 clients cost in infrastructure versus revenue gained?
Cost comparison: Google Workspace vs. specialized infrastructure
The numbers tell a clear story when you compare pricing models at scale. This comparison uses current published pricing as of January 2026.
Factor | Google Workspace | Inframail | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing model | Per-inbox ($7-8.40) | Flat-rate ($129) | Variable vs fixed |
50 inboxes/month | $350-420 | $129 + ~$68.50 domains = $197.50 | $152.50 - $222.50 savings |
100 inboxes/month | $700-840 | $129 + ~$137 domains = $266 | $434 - $574 savings |
200 inboxes/month | $1,400-1,680 | $129 + ~$274 domains = $403 | $1,104-1,384 savings |
IP infrastructure | Shared | Dedicated (1-3 IPs) | Reputation control |
DNS setup | Manual | Automated | Hours saved |
Note: Domain costs assume 1 domain per inbox at $16.44/year average, amortized monthly. Actual domain needs vary based on rotation strategy.
Scenario A: 50 inboxes
At 50 inboxes, Google Workspace Business Starter costs $350-420/month depending on annual versus flexible billing. Our infrastructure costs $129/month flat plus approximately $68.50/month in amortized domain costs ($16.44/year × 50 domains ÷ 12 months).
Annual platform savings: $1,830 - $2,670
"I've been using Inframail for a couple of months and the experience has been really good. I can set-up inboxes in 5mins while saving money on Google Workspace subscriptions and benefit from great deliverability." - Verified user review of Inframail
Scenario B: 200 inboxes
The divergence becomes dramatic at scale. Google Workspace for 200 inboxes runs $1,400-1,680/month. Our flat-rate model stays at $129/month regardless of inbox count.
Annual platform savings: $11,964 - $15,324
For agencies managing 8-15 clients with proper domain rotation (10-15 domains per client), 200 inboxes is not unusual. The cost difference funds a junior hire or significant marketing spend.
The breakeven point
Using Google's annual commitment pricing of $7/month per user, the breakeven calculation is straightforward:
$129 ÷ $7 = 18.4 inboxes
At 19 inboxes or more, flat-rate pricing costs less than per-seat. With flexible monthly billing at $8.40/inbox, breakeven occurs at approximately 16 inboxes ($129 ÷ $8.40 = 15.4).
Watch our video breakdown of dedicated vs shared IP differences to understand why IP infrastructure matters beyond raw pricing.
The hidden costs that destroy agency margins
Platform fees represent only part of the total cost picture. Three hidden expenses consistently erode agency margins.
Warmup tools add $15-30 per inbox
Neither Google Workspace nor most specialized infrastructure providers include warmup. Third-party warmup tools cost $15-30 per inbox per month:
Warmup Inbox: $15-19/inbox/month
Lemwarm: $24-40/inbox/month
TrulyInbox: Approximately $6.60/inbox/month (budget option)
At 50 inboxes, warmup alone costs $750-1,500/month depending on provider. This often exceeds the platform cost itself. Our guide on warming up inboxes after migration covers integration with third-party warmup services.
Domain renewals compound annually
Domain costs seem small individually but compound across a portfolio. Domain renewals run $10-20/year for .com extensions, with alternative TLDs like .io or .ai costing $40-100+ annually.
For 50 domains at $16.44/year average, you pay $500 annually in domain renewals alone. At 200 domains, that grows to $2,000/year.
Dedicated IPs vs shared pools: The reputation cost
The difference between dedicated and shared IP infrastructure creates real deliverability risk. When users share IP pools, if other senders engage in spammy practices such as sending emails to unverified lists, the reputation of the IP can take a hit. This negatively affects your email deliverability even if you have done everything right.
Shared IP pools work like carpool lanes where you are affected by other drivers. One bad actor spamming gets the entire IP range flagged. Dedicated IPs isolate your reputation so your sending behavior alone determines ESP trust.
Our Unlimited Plan includes 1 dedicated US-based IP. The Agency Pack includes 3 dedicated IPs. Compare this to shared pools where inbox placement can drop suddenly through no fault of your own. Our guide on identifying spam issues and healthy metrics explains how to monitor deliverability performance.
Setup time and labor costs: The invisible expense
The hours spent configuring DNS records represent real money. For agency founders billing $100-200/hour in client work, DNS administration carries significant opportunity cost.
Quantifying the labor burden
Manual DNS setup burns hours. You log into registrar panels, create SPF records (v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all), add DKIM keys, configure DMARC policies, wait 24-48 hours for propagation, and test with tools like Mail-Tester. Manual DNS configuration takes 15-30 minutes per domain for experienced users, up to 1-2 hours for those less familiar with the process.
For 50 domains at 30 minutes each:
25 hours × $50/hour = $1,250 in labor costs
25 hours × $100/hour = $2,500 in opportunity cost
This time investment recurs partially with each new client onboarding and domain rotation cycle.
Automated setup eliminates the bottleneck
Automated DNS configuration provisions SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records without manual panel work. Users consistently report dramatic time savings in reviews.
"I personally have over 1,000 email accounts with Inframail for one flat price. Adding all those records would have probably taken dozens of hours. Instead all records were added within 10 minutes." - Verified user review of Inframail
Watch the step-by-step setup tutorial to see the complete workflow from domain purchase to inbox provisioning.
Real setup benchmarks
The video demonstration of sending 1000+ cold emails per day shows 5 domains and 10 inboxes configured in minutes. Our SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup video demonstrates the 2-minute configuration process for 10+ inboxes.
"One of the best mailbox infra vendors I have ever used super easy and quick setup and support is practically 24/7 with at max a 2min wait to get a question answered." - Verified user review of Inframail
Why flat-rate infrastructure protects your bottom line
The margin defense argument comes down to predictability. When infrastructure costs stay fixed regardless of inbox count, you can add clients without recalculating your cost basis for each one.
The scaling advantage
This pricing model changes campaign strategy. You can spin up 100 inboxes instead of 50 for the same flat rate, cutting volume-per-inbox in half. Lower daily send volume per inbox (20-30 emails instead of 40-50) improves sender reputation and inbox placement rates without increasing costs.
At $129/month for unlimited inboxes versus $7/inbox on Google Workspace:
50 inboxes: Save $221/month ($2,334/year)
100 inboxes: Save $571/month ($6,852/year)
200 inboxes: Save approximately $1,271/month ($15,252/year)
"Inframail has been absolute gold in terms of delivering a great customer experience, and allowing me to spin up cold email infrastructure at scale for my clients as easily and fast as possible" - Verified user review of Inframail
Margin protection in practice
Consider an agency billing $3,000/month per client across 10 clients ($30,000 MRR). With 100 inboxes on Google Workspace at $700-840/month, infrastructure consumes 2.3-2.8% of revenue. On flat-rate at $129/month, that drops to 0.4%.
The difference represents hundreds per month in margin recovery. Scale to 20 clients and the numbers double.
"We spent months hunting for a reliable cold-emailing stack. After repeated failures with another provider, we trialled two options—Inframail and a competitor. We chose the competitor. A month later, we switched back to Inframail. Zero issues since. Rock-solid infrastructure, sharp support, genuinely dependable." - Verified user review of Inframail
Microsoft partnership provides stability
Our infrastructure runs on Microsoft's cloud platform with a publicly announced enterprise partnership (January 2024). This provides the stability agencies need when committing their client campaigns to a platform.
The Ultimate Cold Email Infrastructure Guide for 2025 covers how dedicated Microsoft infrastructure differs from providers using alternative backend systems.
Start protecting your margins today
The math is clear. At 50 inboxes, you save $2,334 annually on platform costs alone. At 200 inboxes, savings exceed $11,900. Every month on per-inbox pricing erodes margin that flat-rate infrastructure protects.
Sign up to Inframail and get started today.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cost per inbox for cold email?
Google Workspace charges $7-8.40/inbox/month. Specialized providers range from approximately $2-3/inbox (shared IP) to flat-rate models at $129/month for unlimited inboxes. The true cost includes warmup ($15-30/inbox/month) and domains ($10-20/year each).
Do I need a dedicated IP for cold email?
Yes, for serious volume. Shared IPs expose you to reputation damage from other users' sending behavior. Dedicated IPs isolate your reputation so only your practices affect deliverability. Our plans include 1-3 dedicated US-based IPs depending on tier.
How much does email warmup cost?
Third-party warmup tools cost $15-30/inbox/month. For 50 inboxes, expect $750-1,500/month in warmup costs alone. Some agencies reduce this by using warmup networks built into sending platforms.
What is the breakeven point for flat-rate versus per-inbox pricing?
At $129/month flat versus $7/inbox monthly (Google annual commitment), breakeven occurs at 19 inboxes. Beyond 19 inboxes, flat-rate pricing costs less every month.
How do I calculate infrastructure as percentage of billings?
Add platform fees + domain costs + warmup costs, then divide by total monthly client revenue. At 50 inboxes with warmup, keep total infrastructure under $1,500/month for healthy margins on a $30,000 MRR portfolio.
What happens to my domains if I cancel?
You retain full ownership of domains purchased through our platform. Transfer them to any registrar using standard domain transfer protocols with unlock codes provided in your dashboard.
Key terms glossary
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): The protocol used for sending emails between servers and from email clients to servers. Your outbound cold emails use SMTP to reach recipient mail servers.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): The protocol allowing email clients to access messages stored on a mail server, enabling synchronization across multiple devices. Required for managing replies to cold email campaigns.
DNS propagation: The process where DNS record updates spread across the global network of DNS servers. SPF and DMARC records typically take 24-48 hours to propagate after changes, delaying campaign launch for manual setups.
Dedicated IP: An IP address used exclusively for your email sending. Your reputation depends solely on your sending behavior, not shared with other users.
Shared IP: An IP address used by multiple senders simultaneously. Reputation is pooled, meaning other users' spam complaints can affect your deliverability.
TCO (Total Cost of Ownership): The comprehensive cost of operating email infrastructure over time, including platform fees, domains, warmup tools, sending platforms, and labor for setup and maintenance.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework): A DNS record that specifies which mail servers can send email on behalf of your domain. Receiving servers check SPF to verify sender legitimacy.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): A DNS record containing a cryptographic key that verifies email content has not been altered between sender and recipient.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance): A DNS record that tells receiving servers what action to take when messages fail SPF or DKIM checks. Options include reject, quarantine, or deliver.
