smtp servers are complicated, and if you’re just diving into the world of how emails are sent, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. To help you navigate sending email, specifically an SMTP server to send email, we’ve put together a list of the most common questions we get about SMTP server, so you’ll be an SMTP expert in no time.
what is an smtp server?
what does smtp mean? We’re glad you asked. smtp stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, and is an application used by mail servers to send, receive, and/or relay outgoing mail between email senders and recipients.
an smtp email server will have an address(es) that can be configured by the mail client or application you are using and is usually in the format smtp.serveraddress.com. for example, the smtp server used by gmail is smtp.gmail.com, and the one used by twilio sendgrid is smtp.sendgrid.com. You can usually find your smtp email server address in the account or settings section of your mail client.
When you send an email, with gmail host smtp or aol, the smtp server processes your email, decides which server to send the message to, and relays the message to that server. the recipient’s inbox service provider, such as gmail or aol, then downloads the message and places it in the recipient’s inbox.
you can find more details about smtp servers on our docs page.
is an smtp server the same as a normal server?
technically, yes. Like most servers, the SMTP server processes data to send to another server, but it has the very specific purpose of processing data related to sending, receiving, and relaying email. an smtp server is also not necessarily on a machine. it is an application that is constantly running in anticipation of sending new mail.
why are smtp servers important?
Without an smtp server, your email would not reach its destination. once you hit “send” your email is transformed into a string of code which is then sent to the smtp server. the smtp server can process that code and transmit the message. if the smtp server wasn’t there to process the message, it would get lost in translation.
In addition, the smtp server verifies that outgoing email is from an active account, acting as the first safeguard to protect your inbox from illegitimate email. it will also send the email to the smtp sender if it cannot be delivered. this informs the sender that they have the wrong email address or that the receiving server is blocking their email.
If you’re looking for more information on smtp, check out our post, Smtp Service Crash Course.
common smtp server providers & configuration
how twilio sendgrid smtp server works
what does the smtp server do when I send an email with twilio sendgrid?
- your mail client connects to the twilio sendgrid smtp server, smtp.sendgrid.net, using port 25 (by default).
- your mail client has a conversation with our server, first verifying that the username and password used for authentication correspond to an active account, then transmitting message information, such as the sender’s address, the recipient’s address, and the content of the message.
- our server takes the message information we collected from your request and then repeats the conversation process in step 2 with the recipient’s mail server.
- the recipient’s mail server verifies the sending address, the address of the recipient (to ensure that it is a valid recipient) and the content of the message. checks the sending domain for possible dns issues such as invalid dkim and spf signatures. As long as there are no problems, the recipient’s mail server will use the pop3 or imap protocols to retrieve the email and deliver the message to the intended recipient.
Take a look at the diagram below to see the smtp email delivery process.
does twilio sendgrid have a test smtp server?
twilio sendgrid offers free accounts that don’t even require a credit card to be enabled. With a free twilio sendgrid account, we give you access to the twilio sendgrid smtp server and allow you to send up to 100 emails per day; this effectively gives you an smtp server for testing.
Customers with active free accounts can use their account to send test messages and check the deliverability of their emails before upgrading and sending large amounts of emails.
do I need to configure the twilio sendgrid smtp server before sending an email?
not! you just need to have an active twilio sendgrid account and the ability to use basic username and password authentication within your application or email client.
what smtp server port do I need to connect to?
we support tls and unencrypted encryption on ports 25, 587 and 2525. if you want to implement ssl encryption, use port 465.
send an smtp email with twilio sendgrid
ready to start shipping? see our documentation to learn how to send smtp email with twilio sendgrid. We’ll walk you through step-by-step to get started, as well as link to other resources you may want to check out.
sign up for a free account to get started. If you already have an account but would like help, contact twilio sendgrid support today.
