The short answer
Stay with Google Groups if your company already pays for Google Workspace, the address gets a few messages a day, and members are happy to reply from their own Gmail. Move to Nexmail when you need to know who owns each message, keep notes the customer cannot see, route addresses to Slack, or answer without every reply coming from a personal mailbox.
At a glance
| Nexmail | Google Groups | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for up to 9 seats; Team plan for more seats, the meeting notetaker and the AI calendar reader | Included with a Google account; a group at your own domain needs Google Workspace, paid per user |
| Addresses at your own domain | Yes, for every person plus shared mailboxes | Yes, with Google Workspace; otherwise a googlegroups.com address |
| How mail arrives and leaves | Arrives through Resend’s inbound, your own mail server or Gmail; leaves through your own Resend, Brevo, SES, SMTP2GO, SMTP or Gmail account | Through Google; replies go out from each member’s own Gmail |
| Assign, labels, internal notes | Yes | Collaborative inbox can assign and mark resolved; no private internal notes |
| Slack routing and replies from Slack | Yes | Not built in |
| Calendar sync and booking links | Yes: Google, Outlook and CalDAV both ways | Google Calendar, separately |
| AI first drafts | Yes, with the sales pipeline on; a person always sends | Depends on your Workspace plan |
| Desktop or phone apps | No: runs in the browser, with no IMAP or POP access | Yes, through the Gmail apps |
How a Google Group works as an inbox
A group has an address, and every message sent to it is copied to each member and kept in the group’s archive. With the collaborative inbox feature, members can also assign a conversation and mark it resolved in the Groups web interface. Replies usually go out from a member’s own Gmail, so the customer sees a person’s address, and the rest of the team only sees the reply if it was copied back to the group.
Where it falls short
- Duplicate copies. Each member gets their own copy, so it is easy for two people to answer, or for everyone to assume someone else did.
- No private notes. Discussion about a customer happens in separate emails or chat, away from the thread.
- Replies from personal mailboxes. The conversation’s history ends up split between people.
- No routing. One group, one list of members; there is no rule that sends a domain’s mail to a Slack channel.
What Nexmail adds
One copy of each conversation in a shared inbox, with an owner, labels, snooze, follow-ups and internal notes. Replies leave from the shared address, so the whole team sees them. Each address can be announced in its own Slack channel and answered from there. And you do not need Google Workspace: mail can arrive through Resend’s inbound and leave through Resend or Brevo. If you are on Google already, Nexmail can also read a Gmail or Workspace inbox with an app password.
When to stay with Google Groups
- You already pay for Google Workspace and the address is quiet.
- The group is really a distribution list, for example everyone@, where nobody needs to reply.
- You want everything inside Google’s admin console and nothing else to manage.
How to set it up
- Create a workspace. Sign up and name your organization. The Free plan covers up to 9 seats and needs no card.
- Connect your Google account or your domain. Connect a Gmail or Workspace account with an app password and nothing changes in DNS (how). Or add your domain under Get started to receive through Resend.
- Create the shared mailbox. On Teammates, create support@ as a general mailbox and choose who can see it.
- Route it to Slack (optional). Connect Slack and pick a channel for support@ under Settings → Routes.
- Retire the group. Once mail for the address arrives in Nexmail, remove the group address in Google so nobody answers from two places.
Questions
Is Google Groups collaborative inbox free?
Google Groups is included with a Google account. A group at your own domain needs Google Workspace, which is paid per user. Check Google’s site for current plans.
Can Nexmail work with Google Workspace?
Yes. Connect a Workspace account with an app password: Nexmail reads its inbox and sends as you through Google. You can also keep Workspace for personal mailboxes and use Nexmail for shared addresses on a subdomain or another domain.
Do customers see a person’s address when we reply?
In Nexmail, replies from a shared mailbox leave from the shared address, such as support@.
Does Nexmail replace Gmail?
Not as a personal mail app. Nexmail runs in the browser and does not provide IMAP for mail clients.
Read next
- Shared inbox for small teams — A free shared inbox for support@, sales@ and hello@: assign conversations, leave internal notes, route each address to Slack and draft replies with AI.
- Nexmail vs Zoho Mail — Nexmail and Zoho Mail compared: a shared team inbox versus hosted mailboxes, what each costs on your own domain, and when Zoho Mail is the better fit.
- Connect Gmail or Google Workspace — Send and receive through a Gmail or Google Workspace account with an app password: turn on 2-Step Verification and IMAP, create the app password, connect. No DNS changes.