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Google Groups alternatives: 7 picks for support@ and mailing lists

By Julien CoulaudPublished October 25, 20266 min read

People search for Google Groups alternatives for two reasons. Most are businesses that turned support@ or sales@ into a Google Group and now fight it every day. The rest run a community or mailing list. This page covers both, business first. US prices were checked on each vendor's own page in October 2026, and a team of 3 is the example. Shipmail is our product, and each section says when something else fits better.

Julien Coulaud

Founder of Shipmail. Building business email hosting for solo founders and small teams.

Google Groups
Shared inbox
Collaborative inbox
Mailing lists

Short answer

If support@ is a Google Group and you want to stay on Google, try Google's new Gmail shared inbox first, then Hiver ($25 per user a month, billed annually) for assignment inside Gmail. If you want internal notes and a collision warning without a second tool, Shipmail hosts the mail and includes the team inbox: $12 a month in total for 3 people. If you run a community mailing list, Groups.io is the closest replacement, and Discourse fits when you want a forum.

Google Groups alternatives compared

Tool	Price	Hosts your mailboxes	Pick it when
Shipmail^{Sources[1]Shipmail pricing[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation}	$12 a month in total for 3 people (Pro plus one extra mailbox), mail included	Yes	support@ is email, and you want notes and assignment on one bill
Gmail shared inbox^{Sources[10]Google Workspace Admin Help: create a shared inbox[11]Google Workspace payment plans}	Workspace licenses only, $21 for 3 people on Business Starter	Yes, through Google	You only need several people in one mailbox, inside Gmail
Hiver^{Sources[12]Hiver pricing[11]Google Workspace payment plans}	$96 for 3 people with Workspace (Growth)	No, runs inside Gmail	The team wants assignment without leaving Gmail
Missive^{Sources[13]Missive pricing[11]Google Workspace payment plans}	$63 for 3 people with Workspace (Starter)	No	You want a team email app and keep Google as the host
Help Scout^[15]	Free plan for 1 inbox, $75 for 3 on Standard, plus your mail host	No	support@ is a support desk with a help center
Groups.io^[17]	Free up to 100 members, then from $20 a month	No, it hosts the list	You run a community mailing list
Discourse^{Sources[18]Discourse pricing[19]Discourse Meta: using Discourse over email}	Free hosted plan, Pro $100 a month, or self-host	No, it is a forum	The community has outgrown email threads

Why support@ outgrows a Google Group

A plain Google Group is a distribution list: every member gets a copy of every email, and nobody knows who answered. Turning it into a Collaborative Inbox fixes part of that. Members can take a conversation, assign it to someone, mark it complete, duplicate or no action needed, and search by status or assignee.^[7]

It needs conversation history on, and your admin has to have Groups for Business turned on. With Groups for Business off, Collaborative Inboxes are not available at all.
The work happens in the Google Groups interface, not in Gmail, so the team has two places to check.
Google's help page documents no internal notes and no warning when two people are replying to the same customer.

^{Sources[7]Google Groups Collaborative Inbox documentation[8]Google Workspace: what you get with Groups for Business}

If all you need is to know who owns each email, the Collaborative Inbox is free with Workspace and worth a try. Most teams leave once they want to talk about a customer without the customer seeing it.^[7]

Gmail shared inbox: Google's own replacement, still rolling out

Google now lets a Workspace admin create a shared inbox: a real mailbox that selected users open as delegates, so they can read, send and delete messages from support@ in Gmail. It is listed for Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus, and Google says it is being released in phases. If the option is missing from your Admin console, Google tells you to use delegated Gmail accounts for now.^[10]

Google's page mentions no assignment and no internal notes, so it solves "everyone can see support@" and not "who is answering this one". Each person still needs a Workspace license, $7 a month on Business Starter with an annual plan. Check for it first if you are staying on Google.^{Sources[10]Google Workspace Admin Help: create a shared inbox[11]Google Workspace payment plans}

Shipmail: the mail host with the team inbox built in, from $9 a month

Shipmail replaces Google as the mail host, so support@ becomes a mailbox on your domain that teammates open with their own login. It counts as one mailbox however many people answer it. Pro is $9 a month for 4 mailboxes and 5 teammates, priced per plan, not per person.^{Sources[1]Shipmail pricing[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation}

Assignment, with a notification to the person who gets the conversation.
Delivery routing: new conversations on support@ go to one mailbox or rotate among several, skipping anyone out of office. An untouched conversation raises an alert after 24 hours.
Internal notes that never go out to the customer, and @mentions that send the teammate an email and an in-app alert.
Who is viewing or replying, and a confirmation before you send over a colleague's reply.
Saved replies shared with the whole team, or only with the people who write from support@.
Owners choose which mailboxes each teammate can open.

^{Sources[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation[3]Shipmail team roles and mailbox access documentation}

The catch: moving to Shipmail means moving your mail host, which takes a DNS change and an import of your history. If the team lives in Docs and Drive, that is a bigger decision than swapping an inbox tool. Shipmail also has no chat, SMS, ticket numbers or SLA timers, and replies from support@ all go out from the same address.^{Sources[4]Shipmail provider-switch guide[5]Shipmail mailbox import documentation[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation}

Hiver: assignment inside Gmail

Hiver is a Chrome extension that turns Gmail into a helpdesk, with team inboxes such as support@ and an owner for each request. Growth is $25 per user a month billed annually, or $35 monthly, and Pro is $55. There is a 7-day trial and no free plan.^[12]

Pick Hiver if the team will not leave the Gmail tab. You keep paying Google for every mailbox, so 3 people pay $96 a month for both.^{Sources[12]Hiver pricing[11]Google Workspace payment plans}

Missive: a team email app on top of Google

Missive connects your Google Workspace accounts to its own app and adds shared inboxes, assignment, internal comments with @mentions and collaborative drafts. Starter is $14 per user a month billed yearly, for up to 5 users. Productive, at $24, adds rules and the API. There is a 30-day trial.^{Sources[13]Missive pricing[14]Missive collaboration features}

Pick Missive if you like the idea of a proper team inbox but want Google to keep hosting the mail. Three people pay $63 a month with Workspace Business Starter.^{Sources[13]Missive pricing[11]Google Workspace payment plans}

Help Scout: when support@ is really a help desk

Help Scout is a support tool built around a shared inbox, with internal notes and mentions. The free plan covers up to 5 users, 1 inbox and 100 contacts a month. Standard is $25 per user a month billed annually, with 2 inboxes.^{Sources[15]Help Scout pricing[16]Help Scout shared inbox}

Pick it if support@ is customer support and you want a help center next to it. It is not where the team keeps its own day-to-day email, so you still need a mail host.^[15]

If you run a community or mailing list

None of the tools above is a mailing list. Shipmail included: its newsletters are one-way sends to subscribers, not a discussion where members reply to each other. If your Google Group is a club, an open-source project or a neighborhood list, look at the next two.^[6]

Google Groups itself still works for this. The one big change was Usenet: since February 22, 2024, Google Groups no longer posts to or shows new Usenet content. Groups that people created themselves were not affected.^[9]

Groups.io: the closest thing to Google Groups

Groups.io is an email group with a web archive, like Google Groups. The free plan covers up to 100 members and 1 GB of attachments, with the core email group only. Premium is $0.04 per member a month with a $20 minimum, and adds files, photos, a wiki, a calendar and chat. There is a 30-day trial.^[17]

Pick it if members want to keep living in their email. A list of 400 members on Premium pays $20 a month, the minimum.^[17]

Discourse: a forum that still speaks email

Discourse is a forum, but members who turn on mailing list mode get an email for every new post and can reply by email. Hosted plans start with a free plan for 2 staff seats; Pro is $100 a month and Business $500, with unlimited members on all of them. The software is open source, so you can also host it yourself for free.^{Sources[18]Discourse pricing[19]Discourse Meta: using Discourse over email}

Pick Discourse if threads get lost in inboxes and you want categories, search and moderation on the web.^[18]

How to choose

support@ on Google, and you only need everyone in one mailbox: Gmail shared inbox, once it reaches your account.
Same, but you need to know who owns each email: Hiver inside Gmail, or Missive in its own app.
You want notes, assignment and collision warnings, and you are happy to move off Google for email: Shipmail.
Customer support with a help center: Help Scout.
A community list: Groups.io. A community that wants a forum: Discourse.

^{Sources[10]Google Workspace Admin Help: create a shared inbox[12]Hiver pricing[14]Missive collaboration features[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation[15]Help Scout pricing[17]Groups.io pricing[18]Discourse pricing}

Sources19 sourcesVerified 2026-10-25

[1]
Shipmail pricing
Shipmail plan prices, mailbox limits, team access, and send limits.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
[2]
Shipmail shared inbox documentation
Shared mailboxes in Shipmail: conversation assignment, internal notes that are never included in replies to the customer, and @mentions in notes that alert a teammate by email and in the app.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
[3]
Shipmail team roles and mailbox access documentation
Owner, Admin and Member roles. Members read and send only in the mailboxes they have access to, either All mailboxes or Selected mailboxes.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
[4]
Shipmail provider-switch guide
Shipmail guide to inventorying addresses, migrating mail, updating MX and authentication records, testing, and keeping a rollback path.
shipmail.to · 2026-07-27
[5]
Shipmail mailbox import documentation
Shipmail documentation for connected and file imports, selection options, storage checks, progress, skipped items, and repeat imports.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
[6]
Shipmail newsletter editor documentation
Newsletters written in Shipmail with a rich text editor, design blocks, custom HTML or plain text, preview, test sends and pre-send review checks.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
[7]
Google Groups Collaborative Inbox documentation
Google's documentation for a Collaborative Inbox group: members take a conversation, assign it to another member, mark it complete, duplicate or no action needed, and search by status or assignee. Conversation history must be on. The page mentions no internal notes.
support.google.com · 2026-10-15
[8]
Google Workspace: what you get with Groups for Business
When Groups for Business is turned off, users cannot use Collaborative Inboxes.
knowledge.workspace.google.com · 2026-10-15
[9]
Google Groups Help: ending support for Usenet
Since February 22, 2024, Google Groups no longer posts to, subscribes to or shows new content from Usenet groups, and Google's NNTP server and peering are gone. Non-Usenet content, including user- and organization-created groups, is not affected; older Usenet posts stay searchable.
support.google.com · 2026-10-25
[10]
Google Workspace Admin Help: create a shared inbox
An administrator creates a mailbox and grants access to users in the organization. Supported editions: Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus. Delegates can read, send and delete messages and view and add contacts. The feature is being released in phases; if the option is missing, Google points to delegated Gmail accounts. The page mentions no assignment and no internal notes. Last updated 2026-10-22.
knowledge.workspace.google.com · 2026-10-25
[11]
Google Workspace payment plans
Flexible and annual payment plans, with a per-currency price table. USD per user per month: Starter 8.40 flexible / 7.00 annual, Standard 16.80 / 14.00, Plus 26.40 / 22.00. MXN: Starter 168 / 140, Standard 336 / 280, Plus 528 / 440. Licences on an annual plan can only be reduced at renewal.
knowledge.workspace.google.com · 2026-10-15
[12]
Hiver pricing
Hiver per user a month: Growth $25 billed annually or $35 monthly, with team inboxes such as support@ and clear ownership of each request; Pro $55 annually or $65 monthly. No free plan listed. The home page describes Hiver in Gmail as a Chrome extension that turns Gmail into a helpdesk, with a 7-day free trial and no card.
hiverhq.com · 2026-10-22
[13]
Missive pricing
Missive, per user a month billed yearly: Starter $14 (up to 5 users; email, SMS and social accounts, team spaces and inboxes), Productive $24 (up to 50 users; integrations, rules and automations up to 1,000 rules, basic analytics, API and MCP access), Business $36 (unlimited users, SAML SSO, IP restriction, advanced analytics). Assignment, internal comments, internal read statuses, collaborative drafting, canned responses, auto-assignment, tasks with due dates and multiple assignees in the feature list. AI on Missive AI credits or your own Anthropic, OpenAI or Gemini key. Integrations: Gmail and Google Workspace, Outlook, IMAP, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS via Twilio. 30-day trial of Productive, no card, no free plan. Monthly prices were not shown in the page text.
missiveapp.com · 2026-10-15
[14]
Missive collaboration features
Missive's collaboration page: shared inboxes and aliases, internal comments with @mentions, collaborative drafts, templated replies and emails turned into tasks. Its FAQ says Missive connects to existing email accounts (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, IMAP). The old /features/team-inbox URL returned 404 on 2026-10-15.
missiveapp.com · 2026-10-15
[15]
Help Scout pricing
Priced per user. Free: up to 5 users, 1 inbox, 100 contacts a month. Standard $25 per user a month billed annually, $30 monthly, up to 25 users, 2 inboxes. Plus $45 / $54, up to 50 users, 5 inboxes, round-robin routing. Pro $75 / $90, minimum 10 users. Extra inboxes $10 a month annually. 15-day trial.
helpscout.com · 2026-10-15
[16]
Help Scout shared inbox
Help Scout's shared inbox includes internal notes and mentions.
helpscout.com · 2026-10-15
[17]
Groups.io pricing
Free: up to 100 members, 1 GB attachment storage, the core email group only (no files, photos, calendar, chat or wiki). Premium: $0.04 per member a month, minimum $20 a month, 30 GB, with files, photos, wiki, calendar and chat; 30-day free trial. Enterprise: from $100 a month for non-profits or $200 commercial plus $0.10 to $0.20 per member, 1 TB, white-label web and email and single sign-on.
groups.io · 2026-10-25
[18]
Discourse pricing
Hosted plans, USD a month: Free (2 staff seats, 500k page views, 20k emails a month), Pro $100 (5 staff seats, 100k emails), Business $500 (15 staff seats, 300k emails), Enterprise custom. Unlimited members on every plan. The FAQ says Discourse is 100% free and open source software for anyone who prefers to self-host.
discourse.org · 2026-10-25
[19]
Discourse Meta: using Discourse over email
Discourse staff explain mailing list mode: once a member enables it in their email preferences, they get an email for every new post and can reply by email. Admins can make it the default for new users.
meta.discourse.org · 2026-10-25

Questions worth answering

Common questions about google groups alternatives.

Is Google Groups being shut down?

No. Google ended Usenet support in Google Groups on February 22, 2024, and said groups created by users and organizations were not affected.^[9]

Does Google Workspace have a shared inbox besides Google Groups?

Yes. Admins on Business Starter, Standard and Plus can create a shared inbox that users open as delegates in Gmail. Google is releasing it in phases, and its help page mentions no assignment or internal notes.^[10]

Can a Google Groups Collaborative Inbox add internal notes?

Google's help page lists taking, assigning and resolving conversations, and mentions no internal notes. Shipmail, Missive and Help Scout all have notes the customer never sees.^{Sources[7]Google Groups Collaborative Inbox documentation[2]Shipmail shared inbox documentation[14]Missive collaboration features[16]Help Scout shared inbox}

What is the best free Google Groups alternative for a mailing list?

Groups.io is free for up to 100 members. Discourse has a free hosted plan and is open source if you would rather host it yourself.^{Sources[17]Groups.io pricing[18]Discourse pricing}

Related guides

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