Ask HN: What do you use for custom domain emails?

I'm currently exploring options to create an email with a custom domain for a project I'm working on, but not sure what direction to go with.

I'm aware of google workspace, but it seems a bit of an overkill and I would ideally prefer a free option since all I'm looking for is a single email to send and receive from.

My domain is on Cloudflare, so I'm thinking of using their email routing service, which is free, and just route emails to a gmail account. But then there's the sending problem, which I don't think Cloudflare handles.

Should I just bite the bullet and go with Google workspace? I've also heard some good things about using iCloud for custom email domains.

Any insights would be great!