- Forwarders, aliases and extra mailboxes get confused constantly, and the wrong choice wastes money or leaks replies from personal addresses.
- Here is the difference with practical Nepali business examples.
Should sales@ be a real mailbox, a forwarder, or an alias? The three get mixed up constantly, and choosing wrong either wastes money on unused mailboxes or embarrasses you when replies go out from a personal address. Here is the difference in plain terms.
What a Forwarder Does
A forwarder is a rule: mail arriving at one address is passed on to another. Nothing is stored at the forwarding address. Example: a Pokhara travel agency sets bookings@agency.com.np to forward to the personal mailboxes of both partners. Each partner sees every booking enquiry instantly, but there is no separate bookings mailbox to log into.
What an Alias Does
An alias is an extra name for an existing mailbox. Mail to the alias lands in the same inbox, and — the key difference — most platforms let you send replies as the alias. Example: the founder mailbox ram@company.com.np carries aliases ceo@, info@ and support@. One login, one password, three public identities, and replies can go out as support@ so customers never see a personal address.
What a Separate Mailbox Does
A full mailbox has its own storage, password and history. It is the right choice when a different person or team answers the address, when history must survive staff changes, or when access needs to be revocable independently — accounts@ in any company handling money should always be a real mailbox.
Side by Side
| Feature | Forwarder | Alias | Mailbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stores mail itself | No | No | Yes |
| Reply from the address | Usually no | Yes | Yes |
| Extra cost per user | Free | Free | Often paid |
| Deliver to many people | Yes | No | Via sharing |
A Sensible Setup for a Small Nepali Company
- Real mailboxes: one per staff member, plus accounts@.
- Aliases: info@, support@ and inquiry@ pointing at whoever answers them, with send-as enabled.
- Forwarders: role addresses that several people must see, such as tenders@ copied to two directors.
On per-user platforms like Zoho or Google Workspace this structure keeps licence costs down: five staff might present fifteen public addresses while paying for five users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do forwarders work across providers?
Yes — a forwarder can target Gmail or any external address, though aggressive spam filtering at the destination occasionally eats forwarded mail. Authenticated domains forward more reliably.
Can an alias have its own password?
No. An alias is only a name; if you need separate credentials, you need a mailbox.
We help every customer design this structure free during onboarding — see business email plans or ask us to map your addresses.
