Provider Setup Guides

Step-by-step walkthroughs for connecting each supported email provider to SendGrail. Pick your provider below and follow the guide — most setups take 2 to 10 minutes depending on the provider.

What's a "connection"?

A connection is a saved set of credentials for one email provider. You can have multiple connections (e.g. SendGrid for marketing, Postmark for transactional) and switch between them per email using Email Routing.

OAuth-based (most secure)

Recommended for personal Gmail / Outlook accounts and Google Workspace / Microsoft 365 organizations. No SMTP password stored in WordPress — uses signed tokens that auto-rotate.

• Google Workspace / Gmail
  Workspace and personal Gmail accounts via Google Cloud OAuth client.OAuth · Medium
• Outlook / Microsoft 365
  Personal Outlook.com / Hotmail or business Microsoft 365 mailboxes via Azure app.OAuth · Medium
• Zoho Mail
  Zoho Mail / Workplace mailboxes via OAuth + Zoho Mail API. Multi-region.OAuth · Medium

API-based providers

API providers offer the highest deliverability and detailed engagement events. Setup is a 1-input step — paste an API key.

• SendGrid
  Twilio's transactional email service. Enterprise-grade delivery.API · Easy
• Mailgun
  Sinch's email API with detailed analytics and webhooks.API · Easy
• Postmark
  ActiveCampaign's transactional email — fast, reliable.API · Easy
• Amazon SES
  AWS Simple Email Service. Cheap at high volumes.API · Medium
• Brevo
  Formerly Sendinblue. Email + SMS marketing platform.API · Easy
• Mandrill
  Mailchimp's transactional add-on. Requires paid plan.API · Easy
• SparkPost
  MessageBird's email infrastructure. High-volume sending.API · Easy
• Elastic Email
  Affordable transactional + marketing platform.API · Easy
• SMTP2GO
  Reliable SMTP relay with global infrastructure.API · Easy
• Mailjet
  Sinch's email platform with API key/secret pair.API · Easy
• Netcore Email
  Customer engagement platform with email API.API · Easy
• SendLayer
  WordPress-focused SMTP service from the makers of WPForms.API · Easy
• Resend
  Developer-focused transactional email API.API · Easy

SMTP-based providers

Username + password authentication over standard SMTP ports.

• Gmail (App Password)
  Personal Gmail with a 2FA app password.SMTP · Easy
• Other SMTP
  Any SMTP server with host/port/credentials.SMTP · Easy

Server-based

For situations where SMTP / API providers aren't available.

• PHP Mail
  Server's built-in mail() function. No credentials. Low deliverability.PHP · Easy

What you'll need

For every connection, you'll need to be logged into WordPress as an administrator. Most providers also require:

• An account with the provider (free tiers work for testing)
• Access to a verified sending domain (or use the provider's shared domain for free tiers)
• About 5 minutes of uninterrupted setup time

Sandbox first

If you're trying a provider for the first time, send a test email before flipping it to Default. Test mode skips routing and fallback so you're verifying just the connection.