Best Free SMTP Relay Options for Hobby Projects?
Asked by
TechieNinja42
I'm working on a few personal hobby projects, and I need a way to send emails for things like email verification and password resets. I'm not looking to do any marketing, just some simple, secure email sending for fewer than 100 emails a month.
I'm searching for an SMTP relay service that meets these criteria:
* Free, as these projects are non-commercial and self-hosted,
* No branding or footers in the emails,
* Support for custom email addresses like [email protected] and [email protected], and accessible through regular email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird,
* Strong security features, especially end-to-end encryption.
Can anyone suggest reliable services that fit these needs? I want to be cautious, as I've seen plenty of options out there, but trust is a big concern for me.
Answers
You might want to check out SMTP2GO! It's got a free tier that allows up to 1000 emails a month, which sounds perfect for your needs. It's pretty reliable too. Just make sure it fits all your criteria like no branding or footers!
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Have you considered setting up your own SMTP server? It’s fairly straightforward if you’re familiar with Linux and Postfix! It could give you a lot more control and features for your emails.
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While it’s not free, I found that creating an MS365 tenant with a Business Basic license could give you what you need. You can set up shared mailboxes for your other addresses as well! Just a bit of a workaround.
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It seems you're primarily focused on sending emails, but your mention of custom email addresses hints you might also want to receive them. If it's just outbound, SMTP2GO is solid. But if you need the ability to receive, look into a full email server setup like Xeams or MailEnable. You'll be able to run it either on your own machine with a static IP or on a VPS if you don't. Just a thought!
EmailSeeker77: Yes, I am looking to both send and receive. It seems like Xeams could work for me since I can't host at home.
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CuriousCat12: Yeah, I've heard good things about it being user-friendly and secure!