Migration Guide (2026)

How to Migrate From Groups.io to Gaggle Mail

If you've decided to leave Groups.io, you're not alone. Many groups reach this point after the free tier drops them to 100 members, after they hit a paywall sooner than expected, or when the $20/month Premium minimum and feature bloat — calendars, wikis and databases they never use — start to feel like more than they signed up for. Others want custom branding without the steep jump to Enterprise.

The good news: switching to Gaggle Mail is straightforward, your members keep their existing email addresses, and the free plan covers up to 200 members — far more than Groups.io's 100. This guide walks through exactly how to export your data and make the move with no disruption.

Start free — 200 members included, no credit card required.

Why Groups Leave Groups.io

Groups.io is a genuinely capable platform, and it's worth being fair about that — its collaboration depth and privacy stance are real strengths. But for groups that mainly want reliable email, a few things tend to prompt the move. The figures below are taken from the Groups.io pricing page (verified June 2026 — worth checking the live page, as pricing changes).

The free tier caps at 100 members

Per founder Mark Fletcher's announcement, member-based pricing took effect for groups upgraded after January 18, 2021 — "It's still free for up to 100 members." That free tier is limited to 100 members and 1GB of storage, with most features (files, photos, calendars, wikis, chat) stripped out. For a club or association that's growing, hitting that cap can feel premature.

Premium has a $20/month minimum

Groups.io Premium is $0.04 per member with a $20/month minimum (or $0.44 per member at a $220/year minimum, billed annually with one month free). For a small group that simply crossed the 100-member line, that minimum can be more than the group needs to spend.

Branding and custom domains need Enterprise

White-label branding and custom domains require the Enterprise plan, which starts at $100/month for non-profits and $200/month for commercial organisations. By comparison, Gaggle Mail includes custom branding and a hosted domain on its $20/month Premium plan — a far gentler step up for groups that want their email to look professional.

More platform than some groups need

Calendars, wikis, databases, polls and subgroups are powerful if you use them — and a maze of menus if you don't. Groups that only want to send a message and have everyone receive it often find the interface more complex than the job requires. If that's you, our Gaggle Mail vs Groups.io comparison goes deeper on the trade-offs.

Before You Migrate — Checklist

A few minutes of preparation makes the switch smooth. Before you start exporting, run through this:

• Confirm owner access. You'll need owner or moderator permissions on your Groups.io group to export data.
• Decide what to export. Members are essential; you may also want messages, files, photos and databases.
• Note your plan tier. Some export options are limited to Premium, Enterprise or legacy free groups — check what your plan unlocks before you rely on it.
• Plan a member announcement. Decide how you'll tell members about the new posting address, and when.

Step 1 — Download Your Member List

Your member list is the one thing you really must bring across, and it's the quickest to export.

1. Sign in to Groups.io as an owner or moderator.
2. Open Admin → Members (member management also lives under Settings on some groups).
3. Use the download / export option to save your member list as a CSV file.

The fields available depend on your plan: free groups can typically export email addresses, while paid plans expose additional member data such as display names and join dates. A list of email addresses is all you need to import into Gaggle Mail — anything extra is a bonus.

Step 2 — Export Your Group Data & Archive

If you want to keep your message history, files or photos, export the full group archive next. Groups.io packages everything into a downloadable zip.

1. On desktop: go to Admin → Settings → Export Group Data.
2. On mobile: go to More → Admin → Preferences → Export Group.
3. On the Data To Export page, tick the content checkboxes you want — member list and messages are available to most groups; Premium, Enterprise and legacy free groups also unlock files, photos, databases and more.
4. Optionally include subgroups, then select Export Group Data.

Groups.io zips the data and emails you a download link, generally within about 10 minutes. That link is valid for 24 hours, so download and save the file somewhere safe before it expires.

Heads-up: some export options require Premium or Enterprise (or a legacy free group). If a checkbox is greyed out, that content isn't available to export on your current plan. If you only need members and messages, that's usually covered.

Step 3 — Create Your Gaggle Mail Group & Import Members

With your exports saved, setting up on Gaggle Mail takes only a few minutes.

1. Sign up. Create your account at gaggle.email — no card needed for the free plan.
2. Create the group and address. Choose a name and the email address members will post to.
3. Import your members. Paste the email addresses from your Groups.io export, or upload the CSV directly.
4. Configure your settings. Set moderation, daily digest, reply-to behaviour, and — on Premium — your branding and hosted domain.

Prefer not to do it yourself? Gaggle Mail's support team will handle the import for you, free of charge — just email help@gaggle.email with your member file.

Step 4 — Notify Members & Cut Over

The final step is a clean handover so nobody is left confused about where to send their email.

1. Send a welcome message. Post to the new Gaggle Mail address with a short note explaining the move and the address to use going forward.
2. Verify delivery. Confirm members are receiving messages and that replies land back on the group.
3. Wind down Groups.io. Once you're confident everyone has settled in, downgrade or close your Groups.io group.

There's no rush to delete your old group immediately — many administrators keep it read-only for a couple of weeks as a safety net while the new address beds in.

Addressing the #1 Fear — Data Loss & Disruption

The biggest worry about any migration is losing history or disrupting members mid-conversation. In practice, the move is far less disruptive than people expect:

• Members keep their existing email. There are no new accounts to create and no apps to install — everyone carries on emailing from the inbox they already use.
• Your archive comes with you. The group data and message archive you exported in Step 2 can be brought across, so your history isn't stranded on the old platform.
• Migration help is free. Gaggle Mail's support team handles the import and is on hand throughout — you don't have to figure it out alone.

The only thing that changes for members is the address they send to, and a single welcome message takes care of that.

Gaggle Mail vs Groups.io

Here's how the two compare across the things that matter most when you're choosing where to land.

Want the full breakdown, including other platforms? See our Groups.io alternative guide and our comparison of group email services, or see pricing.

Who Should NOT Switch

We'd rather be honest than win the wrong customer. If your group actively uses Groups.io's wiki, databases, calendars, polls, photo galleries or subgroups as part of its core workflow, you may well be better off staying — Gaggle Mail deliberately doesn't replicate those collaboration tools. Gaggle Mail is the right move for groups that mainly want simple, reliable email, a more generous free tier, and affordable branding. If that describes you, the steps above will get you there in under half an hour. New to the basics? Our guides on what group email is, and how it works for associations and nonprofits, are good starting points.