When setting up your e-mail, have you ever come across terms such as Alias, Forwarding, Plus addresses or P.O. Box stumbled over?
In this short article, we explain simply and clearly what these terms mean, how they differ and when which variant makes sense.
What alias, forwarding and mailbox have to do with each other
In short: A P.O. Box receives and stores e-mails, a Alias is an additional address for the same mailbox, and a Forwarding automatically forwards messages to another account.
To help you better understand which variant is intended for what, we explain them in detail.
What is an e-mail inbox?
A P.O. Box is the physical storage area on a server where your emails are actually stored.
You can think of it as a giant Mailbox introduce: It has a fixed address (e.g. max@meinefirma.de) and contains all incoming messages.
When you log in to your e-mail provider, you can see the contents of this mailbox - i.e. all the e-mails that end up there.
A P.O. box is always unique: a (main) address belongs to exactly one P.O. box.
What is an email alias?
A Alias is like a second name for the same mailbox.
Example:
You have the address max@meinefirma.de and additionally set up info@meinefirma.de as an alias.
Both addresses end up in the same inbox. If someone writes to „info@“, the message still arrives at „max@“.
Advantages of an alias
- You do not need a new mailbox . This means cost savings, as many mail providers such as GSuite, Microsoft, Mailbox, Proton, etc. now charge per “user”, i.e. per mailbox.
- You can use several addresses for different purposes (e.g. info@, rechnung@, kontakt@)
- Depending on the provider, you can choose whether you appear as „info@“ or „max@“ when replying
When an alias is the right choice
If you only want to use one mailbox but need several official addresses - for example for different tasks within the company. It is important to keep this in mind: Everyone involved naturally has access to all emails in this mailbox.
What is email forwarding?
Forwarding works like a digital letter carrier:
E-mails sent to a specific address are automatically forwarded to another mailbox.
Example:
You have support@meinefirma.de, but would like all messages there to be sent automatically to max@meinefirma.de go to. Then set up forwarding. The mail is not saved in the „support@“ mailbox, but sent directly to „max@“.
Advantages of forwarding
- Ideal for teamwork: one shared address can be forwarded to several people
- You only need to log in to one mailbox
When you should use forwarding
If you want to distribute mails to other people or mailboxes - e.g. to colleagues, employees or an external address.
What is a Plus address?
A plus address is No own e-mail address, but a Variant your existing address.
You can do this by adding a „+word“ after your name - for example max+shop@meinefirma.de or max+newsletter@meinefirma.de.
All messages to these addresses end up in the same mailbox like „max@meinefirma.de“. The „+shop“ or „+newsletter“ is for identification purposes only.
Example of plus addresses in everyday life
You log in to an online store and use the address max+shop@meinefirma.de.
If spam comes to this address later, you will know immediately where it comes from.
Plus addresses are a good way to set up e-mail filters: For example, you can define a rule in your e-mail program that automatically moves your incoming e-mails with a “+shop” in the address field to a specific folder or assigns a specific keyword “shopping” to them. This creates order for many emails.
Advantages of plus addresses
- No setup required (if supported by your provider)
- You can Any number of variants Create
- Ideal for automatically sorting emails or recognizing the origin of spam
When Plus addresses are practical
If you want to get to the bottom of SPAM origins, group your e-mail address with different providers and structure incoming e-mails more clearly.
Differences at a glance
| Function | Where does the mail go? | Typical application |
|---|---|---|
| Alias | in the same mailbox | Multiple addresses for the same user |
| Forwarding | to another mailbox | z. e.g. forwarding to team or private address |
| Plus address | in the same mailbox | Filtering, organization, spam analysis |
Conclusion: Which solution is right for you?
- Do you want several addresses, but only one P.O. box? → An alias is right for you
- Do you want to forward mails to another account? → Of course: forwarding
- Do you want to remain flexible and simply keep things tidy? → The plus address
Epilogue: Why do hosting providers now limit the number of aliases?
It used to be possible to set up unlimited aliases or redirects with many hosting providers. This is now hardly possible with larger hosting providers.
The “big players” such as IONOS, Strato and HostEurope now only allow a certain number of alias addresses per mailbox. This has less to do with arbitrariness than with economic reasons:
Each alias has to be managed on the servers - with hundreds of thousands of customers, this results in a considerable amount of administration and resources. In addition, many aliases increase the risk of spam and misuse, for example through automatically generated disposable addresses. Customer support also benefits from clearer structures if the number of aliases is limited. Last but not least, the business model also plays a role: for many providers, more aliases are part of higher tariffs.
With our MaiNetCare Business Hosting we rely on a different concept: our customers can use an unlimited number of aliases and redirects (within the framework of fair use). Because we work specifically with a smaller, managed customer group, we can offer more flexibility and service without the typical mass hosting restrictions. Feel free to contact us if you are looking for a Hosting + e-mail solution are.
