What is free and what is not
- The domain is not free: you pay the registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare...). If you do not have one yet, it is the only cost you cannot avoid.
- Gmail is free and stays your inbox: nothing changes there to receive.
- Receiving through mxproxy is free on the Free plan: one domain, all email going to one inbox (catch-all), 10 messages a month, no card and no time limit. It suits a personal site, a portfolio, a project that gets little email.
- Replying as the domain (the recipient seeing
hello@yourcompany.comas the sender) needs an SMTP server. At mxproxy it comes from Personal up ($4.00 a month), which also adds separate addresses and more volume.
Get more than 10 messages a month and do not want to pay? There are free options with more volume for receiving only: ImprovMX’s free plan and Cloudflare Email Routing, which requires the domain’s DNS at Cloudflare. See the comparisons with ImprovMX and Cloudflare.
Step by step
- Create the account and add the domain. Create a free account at mxproxy and, under Domains, add yours. The domain’s page shows the DNS records to create, with its DKIM key and verification code.
- Create the records in the domain’s DNS. In the panel where the domain’s DNS is edited (usually where you bought the domain), create the records in the table below and delete the old MX records. There is a guide for each provider in Guides.
- Check. In the mxproxy dashboard, click Verify now. The free checker also shows what is right.
- Point the catch-all to your Gmail. On the domain, put your Gmail address in the catch-all: everything sent to any address of the domain goes there. Send a test email to
hello@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 |
— |
Is there already a v=spf1 TXT on the domain? Do not create another: add include:spf.mxproxy.dev to the existing one.
Gmail filters to sort what arrives
Since everything lands in the same inbox, a filter helps: in Gmail, search to:hello@yourcompany.com, click Create filter and apply a label. That keeps the domain’s email apart from your personal mail.
When you want to reply as the domain
On Personal you create an SMTP credential and add the address under Send mail as in Gmail, with server smtp.mxproxy.dev, port 587. The step by step is in Reply from your domain.