OquMail vs Yandex 360 for Business: Custom Domain Email Compared

Yandex 360 for Business puts mail, disk, calendar and video calls on your domain and was for years the free custom-domain email that many small businesses outside the US relied on. Its free tier has narrowed over time and its data location raises questions for some customers. OquMail is a free, email-focused alternative. Here is a fair comparison.

Quick summary

• Mailboxes: Yandex paid per user with a limited entry tier that has changed over time; OquMail up to 15 free
• Free plan: Yandex a restricted entry tier; OquMail free with 3 domains and 5 GB per mailbox
• API: Yandex admin and mail APIs; OquMail transactional send API with Bearer keys
• DNS guidance: Yandex shows MX, SPF and DKIM values with verification; OquMail guides MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live checks
• IMAP/SMTP: both support standard clients

Who each is for

Yandex 360 for Business is for teams that want a suite with mail, storage, calendar and messaging on their domain, are comfortable with a Russian provider, and are willing to pay per user beyond the limited entry tier. OquMail is for small businesses anywhere that need professional mailboxes, guided DNS and a send API for free, and use other tools for documents.

Feature comparison

• Mailboxes: Yandex paid per user with a limited entry tier that has changed over time; OquMail up to 15 free
• Free plan: Yandex a restricted entry tier; OquMail free with 3 domains and 5 GB per mailbox
• API: Yandex admin and mail APIs; OquMail transactional send API with Bearer keys
• DNS guidance: Yandex shows MX, SPF and DKIM values with verification; OquMail guides MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live checks
• IMAP/SMTP: both support standard clients
• Storage: Yandex per-user storage by plan shared with Disk; OquMail 5 GB per mailbox

Where Yandex 360 wins

• Disk, calendar, contacts, Telemost video calls and messenger in one suite
• Mature mobile apps and a large user base
• Admin console with groups, departments and per-user policies
• Familiar to teams in Russia, Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe

Where OquMail wins

• Free for 15 mailboxes and 3 domains with no per-user fee
• DNS setup with live verification and clear error messages
• Send API and per-message delivery logs for business mail
• Simpler service with no suite features you do not need

Total cost at 5 and 15 users

Yandex 360 for Business is paid per user per month beyond its restricted entry tier, so 5 users is a modest monthly bill and 15 users is three times that, with the suite included. OquMail is free at both sizes for email alone. If your team uses Yandex Disk and Telemost every day, the price buys real value; if you only need mailboxes, it is avoidable.

The free third option: OquMail

OquMail is also a straightforward landing spot for teams leaving Yandex: copy mail over IMAP, add the four DNS records, verify, and switch MX. Sanctions-related payment and access problems that some Yandex business customers have faced do not apply to a free plan with no card required.

• Free plan: up to 15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no credit card
• Webmail included; IMAP/SMTP for Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and phones
• IMAP mail.oqumail.com port 993 (SSL/TLS); SMTP mail.oqumail.com port 587 (STARTTLS)
• Guided SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live DNS verification; MX is mail.oqumail.com priority 10
• Transactional send API at https://api.oqumail.com/api/v1/emails with Bearer API keys (from, to, subject, html)
• Per-message delivery logs so you can see the exact response a receiving server gave

Verdict by scenario

• Team in a Yandex-centric market that uses Disk and Telemost daily: Yandex 360 for Business
• Small business that only needs mailboxes on its domain: OquMail
• Company with customers or regulators wary of data held in Russia: OquMail or another non-Russian host
• Startup that wants a send API for its product alongside inboxes: OquMail

Common questions

Is Yandex 360 for Business still free?

Its free entry tier has been reduced over the years and current limits should be checked on Yandex's site. Most teams end up on a paid per-user plan.

How do I move from Yandex to OquMail?

Enable IMAP in Yandex, copy mail with a migration tool into the new mailbox, add OquMail's MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, verify, and remove Yandex's records.

Where is OquMail data stored?

OquMail is a hosted service with TLS-encrypted transport on IMAP 993 and SMTP 587. Check the current terms on oqumail.com for storage details before making compliance decisions.

Will my old Yandex addresses keep working during the move?

Until you change the MX records (the settings that tell the internet where to deliver email for your domain), all inbound mail still arrives at Yandex. Create the same addresses on OquMail first, copy history over IMAP, then switch MX. Mail in transit follows whichever MX a sender resolved, so keep the Yandex mailboxes readable for about a week before deleting them.