Email at FiniteHost: how it works

FiniteHost email gives you professional addresses on your own domain, such as info@acme.in or priya@acme.in. You can read and send mail in the browser with FiniteHost Mail (our webmail) and in any standard mail app: Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird or the Gmail app. This page explains the pieces and the order to set them up in. Each step links to a detailed guide.

What you get#

Email is included in every web hosting plan and in two mail-only plans. Each mailbox has its own storage quota.

• Web hosting plans: a mailbox can use any domain that is a website on the same plan. Add the website first.
• Mail-only plans: a mailbox can use any domain you own. Mail Basic covers 1 domain, Mail Team covers 3.
• Every mailbox includes webmail, IMAP and SMTP access, spam filtering, DKIM signing and nightly backups.

The Python compute plans do not include email.

The names to remember#

mail.finitehost.com and mx1.finitehost.com are the same server. Mail apps use mail.finitehost.com; the MX record uses mx1.finitehost.com.

How mail reaches you#

1. Someone writes to priya@acme.in. Their mail server asks DNS: "which server takes mail for acme.in?"
2. Your domain's MX record answers mx1.finitehost.com, and the message is delivered there.
3. The message is checked for spam and stored in your mailbox.
4. You read it in webmail or in a mail app over IMAP. Because IMAP keeps mail on the server, your phone, laptop and webmail all show the same folders.

How your mail is sent#

1. You press Send in webmail or in a mail app. The app signs in to mail.finitehost.com with your address and password.
2. The server checks that you are sending as yourself: a mailbox can only send with its own address in the From line.
3. The server adds a DKIM signature for your domain and delivers the message.
4. The receiving server checks your SPF, DKIM and DMARC DNS records. When they match, your mail lands in the inbox instead of spam.

Set it up in this order#

1. Have a plan with email. See Choose a plan if you have not bought one yet.
2. Web plans only: add your domain as a website. See Add a website.
3. Create your first mailbox and copy its password. See Email accounts.
4. Add the four email DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC) at your domain's DNS provider. See Email DNS records.
5. Sign in to webmail at webmail.finitehost.com. See Sign in to webmail.
6. Add the mailbox to your phone and computer. Start with Mail app settings, then follow the guide for your app.
7. Send a test to a Gmail or Outlook.com address and check it arrives in the inbox. See Keep your mail out of spam.

What is not included yet#

So you can plan around them, these are not available today:

• Aliases, forwarding addresses and catch-all addresses. Every address is a full mailbox.
• POP3. Use IMAP, which every modern mail app supports.
• Automatic settings detection in mail apps. Enter the settings by hand; it takes two minutes.
• Sending vacation auto-replies. You can save one in webmail, but it is not sent yet (see Webmail settings).

Troubleshooting#

• No "Email accounts" page or it says your plan has no mailboxes: you are on a Python compute plan. Choose a web or mail plan.
• "Add the domain as a website on this plan first": on web plans, the part after @ must be one of your websites. Add the site, then the mailbox.
• Mail is not arriving at all: the MX record is missing or still points to your old provider. See Email DNS records.

For anything else, see Email troubleshooting.

What's next#

• Email accounts: create a mailbox
• Email DNS records
• Limits and policies for email
• Send email from your website or app