All I wanted was a custom domain email
An engineer evaluates various inexpensive options for a custom domain email setup and settles on an emerging service called Foundermail.
summary is enough The review covers common custom email alternatives, but reader discussions point out better native options like iCloud+ or Fastmail.
summary
Finding a cheap custom domain email service that reliably sends and receives mail while integrating with Apple Mail proves difficult. Testing spans Cloudflare forwarding, self-hosted Mailflare, and Purelymail before selecting Foundermail. Although Foundermail works well, it gates outbound mail to unknown recipients to prevent abuse. Readers quickly note that alternatives like iCloud+ or MXRoute offer simpler choices.
key points
- Receiving custom domain email is straightforward via forwarding, but reliable outbound delivery requires managing spam reputation and authentication.
- Foundermail provides SMTP and IMAP access at low cost, but requires manual approval for outbound messages sent to unfamiliar addresses.
- Readers emphasize that native Apple iCloud+ integration or established providers like Fastmail and MXRoute provide better alternatives for this use case.
who should read it
Engineers and individuals looking for cheap, lightweight custom domain email solutions.
discussion mixed
consensus
Readers are largely puzzled why obvious native alternatives like iCloud+ custom domains or established providers like Fastmail were ignored.
pushback
A minority argue that self-hosting email or using independent providers avoids hyperscaler surveillance and arbitrary message filtering.
Hi Jacob, Ado here, from FounderMail. I'm really glad you ended up on-boarding with us, and I wanted to reach out to thank you for the review and feedback.
The manual approve to outbound sending helped a lot to keep spammers out of the platform.
We ensure that domain exists and you're the owner, the website is legit, etc, making impossible for a bot to operate throughout our channel.
And is working, almost 4 weeks in, no complaints, less than 0.1 bounce rate.
You know, having an high reputation is vital to ensure the emails we send on behalf of our customers are reaching the inbox not the …
The founder of Foundermail steps into the thread to explain their strict anti-spam gating logic firsthand.
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