Outbound email relay for personal / low vol. use

busbr

Hi all,

So I run my own email server for custom server configs, self-reliance, and all those reasons. I'm happy so far, but running a low-volume email server means that I have to constantly worry about getting into the spam folder of the big-names email service providers (mainly Gmail). I am aware of Mailcheap and MailChannels, but their plans are apparently designed for large-volume hosts with minimum prices starting from ~$60.

Are there any alternatives for low volume folks like us?

GCat

Just not just stop hosting yourself and let @jarland mxroute host you? Save time, money, effort, energy

busbr

I also know ESPs like SendGrid and Postmark, but since my emails are personal correspondences instead of automated transactional or marketing, it doesn't feel right sending my emails through them.

gestiondbi

If you do not trust a third party, then host yourself on a VPS.

alown

I've only just started using mxroute, but it seems great so far. Amazing price. For self-hosted, I haven't had any issues with gmail so long as the IP isn't dirty and rDNS, spf, and DKIM are all set up correctly.

WhizzWr

I'd say if Gmail connectivity is a concern Google Apps is pretty effective solution, hosted my personal e-mail for years, have not experienced and I do not foresee any problem.

mailcheap

If you're signing up as a FOSS project, I can provide 10% recurring discount on the XSmall plan

Pavin.

ddoonie

I'll have to echo the mxroute suggestion. I signed up a few weeks back and migrated all of my email accounts there. I had an issue that support helped me resolve quite promptly. No complaints, and I definitely you recommend you take a look. Thanks @jarland

busbr

Thanks everyone. I'm well aware of MXRoute and personally have subscriptions with jarland, but I'm specifically looking for what is described in OP at this point.

Razza

busbr said: I also know ESPs like SendGrid and Postmark, but since my emails are personal correspondences instead of automated transactional or marketing, it doesn't feel right sending my emails through them.

What not just use a ESPs like Amazon SES, SendGird or MailGun, I send personal email from my mail server via Amazon SES, i know they market them for transactional mail.

I don't think they care too much what you send via it as long as it's not getting reported as spam.

josephb

I've been using a mailgun free account for this purpose without too many hassles.

Recently they have been listed on spamcop and other blacklists randomly, hopefully they clean up a bit.

gleert

busbr said: Are there any alternatives for low volume folks like us?

What kind of monthly email volume do you expect?

impossiblystupid

@gleert said:

busbr said: Are there any alternatives for low volume folks like us?

What kind of monthly email volume do you expect?

Over the last year, I've used MXroute 40 times total. Do any providers offer a strictly per-message pricing plan?

jar

It's kind of a market blind spot, and I don't think it's worth it for anyone to corner it. Charging per message for low volume doesn't sound profitable for the work put in, where high delivery quality is concerned.

I mean you've got plenty of transactional providers it's just that they don't do much beyond let you roll the dice with their IP rep instead of your own. The ones doing something deeper and more significant to ensure delivery really don't stand to benefit much from insignificant volume at low price.

So I think you've definitely identified a sweet spot where I don't think anything exists, but I don't think anyone is going to jump to fill that void.

gleert

impossiblystupid said: Over the last year, I've used MXroute 40 times total. Do any providers offer a strictly per-message pricing plan?

We're a Mailchannels resller and can offer smaller packages, that's why I asked for you're monthly outgoing email volume...

impossiblystupid

@jarland said:
It's kind of a market blind spot, and I don't think it's worth it for anyone to corner it. Charging per message for low volume doesn't sound profitable for the work put in, where high delivery quality is concerned.

I wouldn't expect it to be anyone's primary business, but once the infrastructure is already in place, it seems like it would make plenty of sense to offer something like $0.10/message for low volume customers that only need a back-up server. It's almost guaranteed to all be legit traffic at that price! :-)

I mean you've got plenty of transactional providers it's just that they don't do much beyond let you roll the dice with their IP rep instead of your own. The ones doing something deeper and more significant to ensure delivery really don't stand to benefit much from insignificant volume at low price.

Oh, are you making more than $0.10/message on your high volume customers? Besides, attracting a lot of low volume customers is a better long term strategy, since it gives everyone a chance to establish a reputation before they turn into high volume customers.

jar

impossiblystupid said: Oh, are you making more than $0.10/message on your high volume customers?

Definitely not, but I went with the insurance model. Get enough people to pay in to subsidize the cost of the higher usage customers