Email provider for a WordPress website?

[ctrlbrk]

This is doing my head in.

Background
So far I have been using personal email accounts such as yahoo.com / gmail.com / outlook.com, etc. which are fine for personal correspondence.

Of course, when you have a business, getting an email from [email protected] looks completely unprofessional, so you get your own domain to send emails from, say, [email protected], sales@myowndomain.com, and so on.

Now, most hosting providers probably give you "email access", including a web client as part of their hosting plan, but not all of them.

For example, I have signed up for a VPS with one of the various self-hosting providers around. As part of that you build your own server, etc. etc. which I'm happy to do.


When it comes to email, however, I am confused. My understanding was that I could use services such as SendGrid, or Sendinblue/Brevo to send and receive emails but, apparently, they only provide "mail deliverability" but don't provide you with the mailbox itself!

If you use a WordPress self-hosting solution and your email accounts look like <[email protected]>, what email provider do you use?

Thanks

 

[SocialChameleo]

It's easier to just get something like G-Suite (Google Workspace) set up and add in the MX records into your DNS. That way you're not troubleshooting or trying to manage your own email systems.

 

[Shopclicks]

As above you can use Google Workspace or you could go with a hosting company which offers cPanel and create your email addresses there. I use Krystal Hosting. I've created hundreds of email addresses and it's rare that they need any sort management unless someone needs a new password.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

1 - set up your domain email to use on a daily basis - if using a VPS this will depend on which package (if any) you are using to manage the server and can be anything from easy to a right PITA.
2 - set up a bulk mail/newsletter system - there are many to choose from, on WP and off. You will have to set up your server host records to reflect that this service is approved by your domain (lots of guides out there).
3 - When you set up your outbound mail broadcasts, use your normal email (or another one...) as a return address and responses should end up back in your normal mailbox.

 

[ctrlbrk]

It's easier to just get something like G-Suite (Google Workspace) set up and add in the MX records into your DNS. That way you're not troubleshooting or trying to manage your own email systems.

Thanks, agreed. I would not dream to build my own email server!

 

[ctrlbrk]

if using a VPS this will depend on which package (if any) you are using to manage the server and can be anything from easy to a right PITA.

Thanks Paul but, unless we're talking about different things, a VPS - Virtual Private Server - means you don't have your own email server. You do need a different mail provider.

I get that - I'm just puzzled as to why SendGrid (say) offers deliverability but doesn't offer your own fricking mailbox! ?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Sorry, I over complicated things!

If you just want a standard email account, whilst Gmail & MS365 is great, for basic use, get a free Zoho Mail account - they will handle your domain email and you can have an app on your phone, like gmail. Used this a lot since Google pulled their free business email offer.

All you do is set up the account and then point your MX records (probably in your domain registers CP) to Zogo - you would have to do this for Gmail & MS as well.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

VPS - Virtual Private Server - means you don't have your own email server

No, but as you have a barebone system, you can add your own server (e.g. postfix), If you had some server management software e.g. Cpanel/webmin etc, it makes installation easier.

why SendGrid (say) offers deliverability but doesn't offer your own fricking mailbox!

Think of Sendgrid (mailchmp etc) as a courier - you give the email to them and they deliver it for you. Whilst they might be able to handle return mail, they do not have a letter/PO box and have to put it in your existing letter box. They are primarily a one way (outbound) service!

I hope that makes sense.

 

[fisicx]

As Paul suggested, if you have cPanel access you can create email accounts - the email server is part of the installation.

Not ever seem a VPS without email and all the other functions normally associated with a hosting account.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

A VPS is just a blank canvas that you add the OS and other software on, arent that?

 

[Shopclicks]

@ctrlbrk Can I ask why VPS?

 

[ctrlbrk]

As Paul suggested, if you have cPanel access you can create email accounts - the email server is part of the installation.

Not ever seem a VPS without email and all the other functions normally associated with a hosting account.

As Paul pointed out, VPS means you build your own server. cPanel is an interface for managed hosting - but you wouldn't get one on servers you build yourself (nor would you want to).

VPS means all you get is a box with "login:" and that's it. You build it in any why you want.

You could add 'postfix' as Paul mentioned, which is software to make your own email server but, unless you are proficient at that - it becomes a project in itself and, most of all, you'll have spam issues because you'll get flagged as spammer.

 

[ctrlbrk]

@ctrlbrk Can I ask why VPS?

Two main reasons: Flexibility - you get to shape your server and site exactly how you want it without being constrained by the host. This is the most important reason.
Cost - these boxes are much cheaper than a self-managed solution - of course the drawbacks are that you maintain them yourself, with all the implications that come with them.

 

[Shopclicks]

Two main reasons: Flexibility - you get to shape your server and site exactly how you want it without being constrained by the host. This is the most important reason.
Cost - these boxes are much cheaper than a self-managed solution - of course the drawbacks are that you maintain them yourself, with all the implications that come with them.

Do you need extra fast hosting? If not, there are probably easier and cheaper solutions.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Do you need extra fast hosting? If not, there are probably easier and cheaper solutions.

That is part of the flexibility - and I am positively surprised that the box - so far - is quite fast.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Sorry, I over complicated things!

If you just want a standard email account, whilst Gmail & MS365 is great, for basic use, get a free Zoho Mail account - they will handle your domain email and you can have an app on your phone, like gmail. Used this a lot since Google pulled their free business email offer.

All you do is set up the account and then point your MX records (probably in your domain registers CP) to Zogo - you would have to do this for Gmail & MS as well.

Paul thanks for that. I am setting up with Zoho now.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Thanks all for your help - Looks like Zoho provides what I needed.

As far as I'm concerned this topic can be closed - thanks again

 

[fisicx]

As Paul pointed out, VPS means you build your own server. cPanel is an interface for managed hosting - but you wouldn't get one on servers you build yourself (nor would you want to).

VPS means all you get is a box with "login:" and that's it. You build it in any why you want.

Aha. Makes sense. It’s just that my host sells managed vps which is why I got confused.

 

[antropy]

Do you need extra fast hosting? If not, there are probably easier and cheaper solutions.

Is that even a question? Who doesn't want extra fast hosting? ?‍

Paul.

 

[antropy]

Thanks, agreed. I would not dream to build my own email server!

As @fisicx has said, it all comes with cPanel and you can setup as many email accounts as you want there. It's a good option as Google Suite gets more expensive and more restrictive.

You can still use MailChimp or other services to send out mass emails.

Paul.

 

[Shopclicks]

Is that even a question? Who doesn't want extra fast hosting?

Here we go again .... I said "extra fast hosting". I said that because most Wordpress sites don't need more than 6GB RAM to pass Core Web Vitals and give a good user experience. Some sites will need more and that's why I asked the question. No point paying extra for something you don't need.

How's that Vape store page load speed going?

 

[fisicx]

Is that even a question? Who doesn't want extra fast hosting? ?‍

It's usually bloated and junk filled sites that slow things down not the hosting.

That being said, you can have a superfast server and still be slow because the switches and routers are overloaded.

 

[Kerwin]

It's usually bloated and junk filled sites that slow things down not the hosting.

That being said, you can have a superfast server and still be slow because the switches and routers are overloaded.

It depends on how much your web hosting provider loads the server. You can have a server with the exact same specifications on two different hosts and could end up with completely different performance characteristics due to how many other customers they put on the same server.

I generally avoid shared hosting as that tends to encourage web hosts to put as many customers as possible on the same server. That said, if you really care about performance, get a dedicated server.

 

[fisicx]

I recall the days when 1&1 had 120,000 sites on one server. Other cheap hosts had equally loaded servers. That being said, sites were a lot simpler then.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

That being said, sites were a lot simpler then.

Oh, the day when website were not graphical, just words!

 

[fisicx]

Bring back <marquee>!

 

[Kerwin]

Bring back <marquee>!

Gotta have an "under construction" GIF .

 

[fisicx]

And then suddenly: dancing hamsters!

 

[Ethan39]

Bring back <marquee>!

I'll put it on our next sprint. A rolling news feed at the bottom of every page. ?

I think 20% of the screen ought to be a reasonable size.

---

This is probably going to bring my age to light, but when I started my computer science A levels in 2013, one of the first projects we tackled was building a marquee in SmallBasic.
The computer science curriculum really wasn't up to modern standards.

 

[sabian1982]

You don't need to use the web email client that hosting providers give you - these are generally really basic, rather clunky and not great when your trying to check your emails across multiple devices.

Instead setup your email address with whomever you have your hosting with, then go and create or use a free email account - I tend to use Gmail.

Then use the SMTP settings provided by your hosting provider inside your Gmail account. You can setup the ability to send and receive emails using whichever email address you want.

Gmail will then routinely check for new emails, whilst you can use Gmail on your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer (as its all synced together). Gmail also provides labels, filters, signatures, autoresponders etc.

This approach also means that if you ever decide to move hosting providers, you don't have to mess about backing up all your emails as everything is already within Gmail.

Simples.

 

[fisicx]

You don't need to use the web email client that hosting providers give you - these are generally really basic, rather clunky and not great when your trying to check your emails across multiple devices.

Not sure that's true. I set email accounts on my hosting and it syncs perfectly across all devices using a variety of email clients.

 

[OhSimon]

You don't need to use the web email client that hosting providers give you - these are generally really basic, rather clunky and not great when your trying to check your emails across multiple devices.

Instead setup your email address with whomever you have your hosting with, then go and create or use a free email account - I tend to use Gmail.

Then use the SMTP settings provided by your hosting provider inside your Gmail account. You can setup the ability to send and receive emails using whichever email address you want.

Gmail will then routinely check for new emails, whilst you can use Gmail on your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer (as its all synced together). Gmail also provides labels, filters, signatures, autoresponders etc.

This approach also means that if you ever decide to move hosting providers, you don't have to mess about backing up all your emails as everything is already within Gmail.

Simples.

I did exactly this. I have the free email client that came with my web host, Siteground. I then synced it with a free Gmail account so I can send/receive emails from my domain.
I recommend this to anyone starting out to save cost in the beginning

 

[goivvy]

+1 for G-Suite. It used to be free but now they charge a monthly fee which is around $20/mo for 1 domain with 6 email addresses.

 

[fisicx]

+1 for G-Suite. It used to be free but now they charge a monthly fee which is around $20/mo for 1 domain with 6 email addresses.

Or just use the email server that comes with your domain and pay nothing.

 

[goivvy]

Or just use the email server that comes with your domain and pay nothing.

Do they give it for free? I believe you still need to pay for it

Of course, you can run your own postfix server but fighting spam and keeping people from relying their spam through your server is on you.

 

[fisicx]

Do they give it for free? I believe you still need to pay for it

Pretty much all decent hosts offer email as part of the package.

Get spam assassin set up correctly and enjoy a spam free email service. For free

 

[goivvy]

Pretty much all decent hosts offer email as part of the package.

Get spam assassin set up correctly and enjoy a spam free email service. For free

Any piece of software you have to maintain. Nothing is free.

 

[fisicx]

Any piece of software you have to maintain. Nothing is free.

Yes it is. I pay for hosting and everything is included. Server maintenance (including upgrades) is part of the package. I login to cpanel and there are a whole load of freebies.

Maybe you need to get a different host. Godaddy isn't the best.