Premium Inboxes Alternative: Transparent Pricing with Native Microsoft 365

Contents
Quick Comparison Pricing at Every Scale Infrastructure Differences Where MailDeck Falls Short Where MailDeck Wins MailDeck Pricing

Premium Inboxes offers official Google and Microsoft inboxes for cold email campaigns. MailDeck offers dedicated Microsoft 365 tenants at a lower per-inbox cost. Both serve the cold email market, but they make different tradeoffs.

This comparison breaks down pricing at every scale, the infrastructure differences, and when each provider makes more sense for your operation.

Premium Inboxes pricing verified on https://premiuminboxes.com/pricing-page as of March 2026.

Quick Comparison

MailDeckPremium Inboxes
Pricing modelPer inbox/tenant (varies by product)Per mailbox
Cost per inbox (at 100)$0.50 (SMTP)~$3.50
Cost per inbox (at 500)$0.50 (SMTP)~$3.00
InfrastructureMicrosoft 365 (primary) + Google WorkspaceGoogle + Microsoft
Setup time48 hoursVaries
Minimum purchase1 inbox (SMTP) or 1 tenant (Outlook)Low minimum
Built-in sequencerNo (use Instantly, Smartlead, etc.)No

Pricing at Every Scale

Premium Inboxes pricing (from their website):

MailDeck pricing:

Google Workspace:

Outlook Normal Licence:

Outlook Premium Licence:

SMTP:

ScalePremium InboxesMailDeckDifference
100 inboxes~$350/mo$50/mo (SMTP)MailDeck saves $300/mo
500 inboxes~$1,500/mo$250/mo (SMTP)MailDeck saves $1,250/mo
1,000 inboxes~$3,000/mo$450/mo (SMTP)MailDeck saves $2,550/mo

MailDeck prices shown for SMTP product. Google Workspace and Outlook tenant pricing also available — see full pricing below.

Annual savings at 1,000 inboxes: Approximately $30,600/year with MailDeck.

Important context: Premium Inboxes may have a lower entry point for small purchases. MailDeck's pricing starts from $0.40/inbox for SMTP. The cost advantage shifts strongly to MailDeck at every scale. For a comparison across all providers, see our pricing analysis of 11 cold email providers.

Infrastructure Differences

MailDeck: Dedicated Microsoft 365 Tenants

MailDeck provisions a dedicated Microsoft 365 tenant for each domain. Each tenant includes 100 Outlook inboxes with automated DNS configuration (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Your emails send through Microsoft's servers with Microsoft's sender reputation.

This matters most when your recipients are enterprise companies using Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft-to-Microsoft email receives higher trust from corporate spam filters. For DNS details, see our SPF, DKIM, DMARC setup guide.

Premium Inboxes: Google and Microsoft Mailboxes

Premium Inboxes offers official business accounts across both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. They provide real mailboxes from established providers.

This matters if you need balanced focus across both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, or if you prefer their specific approach to account provisioning.

Where MailDeck Falls Short

To give you an honest comparison, here's where Premium Inboxes has advantages:

Lower entry point. Premium Inboxes may allow smaller purchases. For very small operations, Premium Inboxes may be more flexible.

Google Workspace focus. Premium Inboxes offers balanced support for both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. MailDeck also supports both, but our primary focus and strongest infrastructure is Microsoft 365. If Google Workspace is equally important, Premium Inboxes may offer better balance.

Setup speed. MailDeck takes 48 hours to provision Microsoft 365 tenants. Premium Inboxes may offer faster provisioning.

Infrastructure only. MailDeck does not include a sequencer. You'll need Instantly, Smartlead, or similar separately.

Where MailDeck Wins

Cost at scale. MailDeck's pricing is significantly cheaper at every scale. At 500 SMTP inboxes, you're paying $250/month vs approximately $1,500/month with Premium Inboxes.

Dedicated infrastructure. Each MailDeck domain gets its own Microsoft 365 tenant. Your domains are fully isolated from other customers.

Transparent pricing. MailDeck pricing is published and transparent — from $0.40/inbox (SMTP) to $3.50/inbox (Google Workspace). No calculator needed. To plan capacity, see our inbox calculator.

Enterprise deliverability. Microsoft 365 infrastructure has the highest trust with corporate mail servers. We maintain 98% inbox placement across 650K+ managed Outlook inboxes.

MailDeck Pricing

Google Workspace Inboxes:

PlanInboxesPrice
Start Up1-249$3.50/inbox
Growth250-1,249$3.00/inbox
Enterprise1,250+$2.80/inbox

Outlook Normal Licence Tenants:

TenantsPrice
1-20$30/tenant
20-100$28/tenant
100+$25/tenant

Outlook Premium Licence Tenants:

TenantsPrice
1-20$40/tenant
20-100$38/tenant
100+$35/tenant

SMTP Inboxes:

InboxesPrice
1-1,000$0.50/inbox
1,000-5,000$0.45/inbox
5,000+$0.40/inbox

All plans include automated DNS configuration (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

FAQ

How much does Premium Inboxes cost?

Premium Inboxes charges approximately $2.80-3.50 per mailbox per month depending on volume. At 500 inboxes, approximately $1,500/month. Current pricing on https://premiuminboxes.com/pricing-page.

How does MailDeck compare to Premium Inboxes on price?

MailDeck charges from $0.40/inbox (SMTP) to $3.50/inbox (Google Workspace), plus Outlook tenants from $25/tenant. At 500 SMTP inboxes, MailDeck costs $250/month vs Premium Inboxes' approximately $1,500/month. The tradeoff: MailDeck requires 48-hour setup for Outlook tenants.

Does Premium Inboxes offer Google Workspace?

Yes. Premium Inboxes offers both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 mailboxes. MailDeck also supports both, but our primary focus and strongest infrastructure is Microsoft 365.

Can I use MailDeck with Instantly or Smartlead?

Yes. MailDeck is infrastructure only. It provides SMTP credentials that work with any sequencer: Instantly, Smartlead, Salesforge, Apollo, and any other SMTP-compatible tool.

Which is better for enterprise recipients?

MailDeck's dedicated Microsoft 365 tenants typically have better inbox placement with enterprise recipients because Microsoft-to-Microsoft email has the highest trust level.

What's the minimum purchase?

MailDeck's minimum is 1 inbox (SMTP) or 1 tenant (Outlook). Premium Inboxes may have lower minimums for per-mailbox purchases.

How long does MailDeck setup take?

48 hours. MailDeck provisions dedicated Microsoft 365 tenants with full DNS configuration.

Sabo Nagy
Written by Sabo Nagy

Founder & CEO

Has built email infrastructure serving 650K+ inboxes across 1,500 clients. Specializes in email infrastructure strictly for high-volume cold outreach.

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