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Custom domain email in Gmail, with DNS at Namecheap

Email to hello@yourdomain.com arriving in your Gmail (or another inbox), without paying for email hosting: you create a few records in Namecheap’s DNS zone and mxproxy forwards. It takes about 15 minutes.

· about 15 minutes · the free plan covers one domain

Before you start

  • Access to the panel where the domain’s DNS is edited. Usually it is at Namecheap, but if the domain uses another company’s DNS servers (nameservers), the zone is there and that is where you work.
  • If the domain already receives email somewhere else (a hosting mailbox, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), changing the MX makes new email come through mxproxy. Old messages stay where they are.
  • An mxproxy account. Create yours for free, no card.

1. Add the domain to mxproxy

  1. Create the account (or sign in) and, under Domains, add your domain, for example yourdomain.com.
  2. Open the domain: the page shows the DNS records to create. Keep that tab open; you will copy the values from it.

The DKIM key and the code of the _mxproxy TXT are unique to each domain: copy them from the dashboard, not from this guide.

2. Open Namecheap’s DNS zone

  1. At Namecheap, open the Domain List and click Manage on the domain.
  2. Go to the Advanced DNS tab.
  3. In the Mail Settings section, choose Custom MX and create the MX there.
  4. The TXT records (and the optional CNAME) go in Host Records › Add New Record. Save each line with the check mark.

How to fill in the name (host) at Namecheap

Use @ for the root and only the beginning for the others (_mxproxy, _dmarc, the selector with ._domainkey), never the whole domain. Custom MX has a priority field.

3. Create the MX, SPF, DKIM and verification records

Create these records in the domain’s zone. The first two are the same for everyone; the last two have values of their own, which you copy from the mxproxy dashboard.

DNS records for mxproxy to receive and send for your domain
Type Name (host) Value Priority
MX @ mx.mxproxy.dev 10
TXT @ v=spf1 include:spf.mxproxy.dev ~all —
TXT mx202610._domainkey
the selector the dashboard shows 		v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=…
copy from the mxproxy dashboard 		—
TXT _mxproxy mxproxy-verify=…
copy from the mxproxy dashboard 		—
  • One SPF only. If the domain already has a TXT starting with v=spf1 (from a host, Google, an online store), do not create another: add include:spf.mxproxy.dev to the existing one, before the ~all or -all. Two SPF records make both fail.
  • Delete the old MX records. Email goes to the answering MX with the lowest priority number: a leftover MX can receive part of the messages.
  • The whole DKIM. The value is long (it starts with v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=). Copy it with the dashboard’s button and paste it without line breaks or extra spaces.
  • Domain in the name. If the panel adds the domain to the name by itself, type only _mxproxy; if you type _mxproxy.yourdomain.com, the record becomes _mxproxy.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com.

Optional, but recommended

  • MTA-STS: CNAME mta-sts → mta-sts.mxproxy.dev and the two TXT records (_mta-sts and _smtp._tls) the dashboard shows. It makes the servers that send to you require TLS. We host the policy.
  • DMARC: TXT _dmarc with v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com to start by just watching. The reports arrive by email; the DMARC reader opens the files.

What is different at Namecheap

  • Custom MX. The MX can only be created with Custom MX in Mail Settings. If it is set to Email Forwarding or Private Email (Namecheap’s own email services), the MX is theirs: switch to Custom MX.
  • Advanced DNS only with Namecheap’s DNS. The tab shows with the BasicDNS, PremiumDNS or FreeDNS nameservers. If the domain points to a hosting company’s nameservers, create the records there (in the host’s cPanel, for example).
  • Timing. Namecheap says records take up to 30 minutes to take effect.

Namecheap’s official help

4. Check

Back in the mxproxy dashboard, click Verify now. Each record shows as ok or pending.

Want to check from the outside? Use the free checker, no sign-up:

Still pending? A DNS change usually takes minutes, but can take a few hours (until the old record’s TTL runs out). Wait and check again.

5. Choose where each address goes

  • Catch-all: all email to any address of the domain goes to the inbox you choose (your Gmail, for example). That is what the free plan offers: one domain, one destination, 10 messages a month.
  • Forwarders: one address per line (hello@ to you, billing@ to your accountant), with up to 10 destinations each, depending on the plan. From Personal up.

Send an email from another address to hello@yourdomain.com: it should arrive within seconds. The dashboard’s log shows each message.

6. Reply as the domain in Gmail

To reply as hello@yourdomain.com, and not as your personal address, Gmail needs an SMTP server: create a credential in the dashboard (paid plans, from Personal up) and add the address under Send mail as, with server smtp.mxproxy.dev, port 587. The step by step, for Gmail and Outlook, is in Reply from your domain.

If it does not work

  • MX pending: check that no old MX is left and that the name is the root (@ or blank, depending on the panel), not mx or www.
  • SPF pending: is there only one v=spf1 TXT, and does it contain include:spf.mxproxy.dev?
  • DKIM pending: the name is exactly the dashboard’s (with ._domainkey) and the value was pasted whole.
  • Nothing changes: where the domain is registered, look at its DNS servers (nameservers). If they are not Namecheap’s, the changes have to be made at the company of those servers.

Still stuck? Write to contato@mxproxy.dev.

Get your domain’s email in Gmail

Create the free account, add the domain and copy the records from the dashboard. The free plan covers one domain with a catch-all; replying as the domain comes with the paid plans.

Create a free account See plans