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Internet provider Plusnet recently began notifying customers that they “will no longer be offering an email service to new or existing” users of their broadband service, and have instead begun the process of migrating users of their legacy services (inc. webspace and domains) to a new platform. But the new service won’t remain free.
The change, which appears to have begun around mid-April 2025, largely slipped under our radar – until now. This is possibly because only a smaller portion of Plusnet’s customers actually still use their legacy webspace / email services, and they’ve since been gradually informing them about it in phases (usually just before each group is due to be migrated). Credits to Paul for notifying us.
The migration, which will also impact a variety of Plusnet’s older brands/domains (e.g. Madasafish, Callnetuk, Care4free, Dialstart, Freenetname, Globalnet, IC24, ICScotland, Totalserve and Totalise, and Metronet), will see customers having their related accounts, addresses, folders and settings migrated to a new platform delivered by Greenby – part of the Enix Group.
Greenby will provide the migrated users with a double their current mailbox storage (2GB), a dedicated support team and a “modern Email platform with excellent reliability” (as above, domains, webspace and DNS services are also being included/migrated). According to Plusnet, this move “will allow us to continue to focus on doing what we do best, delivering straight forward broadband” (translation: cost-cutting). But the catch is that the new service won’t remain free.
Greenby Statement
If you’re an active Plusnet Broadband customer, the email service with Greenby is provided for the next 2 years free of charge. After which you’ll have the option to pay to continue using your mailbox and webspace. For everyone else, the service will remain active for 30 days after your migration, and after this will cost £15 per year. This covers all your existing mailboxes, plus any new ones you choose to create.
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Providing a reliable and secure email service requires significant resources. For customers without an active Plusnet broadband package, we’ve kept the price as low as possible to ensure we can continue delivering a high-quality service and keep your email running smoothly. We understand that many people rely on email addresses they’ve used for years, and it’s important that those who want to keep using the service can do so with confidence in its reliability.
In terms of customers who have a domain attached to their website, Greenby states that Plusnet will honour any free domains where applicable and renew them for the next 2 years. All other domains will be charged at Greenby’s standard renewal rates: £7 per year for .co.uk, .org.uk, or .uk domains, and £12 per year for .com, .net, or .org domains. More details on this migration can be found here and here.
Customers can of course elect not to be migrated to the new platform provider, but that will mean losing access to their legacy email and webspace accounts. In fairness, Plusnet is one of the last ISPs to go through this sort of process, with many others having long since jettisoned the baggage of their bundled email and webspace services or converted to more of a paid solution.
As we’ve said many times before, it’s always wise to use a separate email service from the one provided by your ISP, not least because it can make it harder for you to switch broadband providers (i.e. you run the risk of losing access to your address) and Ofcom doesn’t regulate email services (i.e. there isn’t much support for those who experience difficulties). In general, it’s often far better to sign-up with one of the many free email providers.
The issue of webspace is somewhat more complex, although you can still find some “free” webspace providers dotted around the internet (e.g. InfinityFree), but they’ll often be from unfamiliar organisations and may attach other caveats (e.g. a few others will attach a requirement to show their adverts on your site).