Free SMTP Server for Testing: Top 3 Options + Which Tests to Run
Mass email marketing requires email infrastructure you can depend on. This means using the right protocol, hardware, and software. And the most dependable option available today is an SMTP server. This type of email server is far superior to its alternatives in terms of consistency and performance.
If you plan to use a free SMTP server for testing emails, there are things you should know (and consider) before you opt for one.
What is an SMTP Server?
An SMTP server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol server) is a server used for sending and receiving email. “SMTP” refers to the protocol used to transfer emails between servers, and from email clients to servers.
SMTP servers take on the following tasks:
- Sending emails: SMTP servers are used for sending emails from an email client to a server or from one server to another.
- Receiving emails for delivery: While SMTP servers do receive emails from other SMTP servers, this part refers to the process of transferring email to the recipient’s server. They do not store the emails for end-user access.
Key functions of an SMTP server include:
| SMTP server duties | What does this entail? |
|---|---|
| Authentication | Verifying the sender has permission to send email through the server. |
| Queue management | Managing and storing emails in a queue if the recipient server is temporarily unavailable. |
| Error handling | Returning error messages if emails cannot be delivered. |
SMTP servers are crucial components of email systems, ensuring messages are properly routed and delivered.
Why Email Marketers Seek SMTP Servers
Many companies use WordPress websites to build an online presence. It’s one of the most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) because it’s easy to use and has a wide range of features and plugins available.
WordPress typically uses the native “wp_mail” function to send emails to customers. Unfortunately, this function isn’t very effective; it has significant delivery issues.
PHP mail, the default method for WordPress to send emails, has problems related to:
The biggest challenge is email deliverability — the ability of an email to land in the inbox as opposed to spam folders. Emails sent via PHP mail often end up getting blocked by spam filters. Mail providers like Gmail and Yahoo use sophisticated algorithms to filter out potential spam; PHP mail lacks the necessary authentication measures to make it past them.
Additionally, PHP mail is not reliable for handling large volumes of emails. PHP mail doesn’t exactly offer robust error-handling capabilities, either; this makes it difficult to troubleshoot and resolve issues when they arise.
Finally, PHP mail lacks proper logging and tracking features. Without detailed logs, businesses can find it challenging to monitor their email performance, diagnose problems, and ensure emails are being sent as expected.
With such a wide range of issues, it’s no wonder individual email marketers and small businesses seek a better solution for their marketing emails.
SMTP Servers Are the Solution
To overcome these challenges, businesses can switch to using an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server for their WordPress email needs.
Unlike PHP mail, SMTP servers offer:
- Enhanced authentication, which significantly improves email deliverability.
- Better error handling, ensuring emails are sent reliably, even at higher volumes.
- Comprehensive logging and feature tracking.
Implementing an SMTP server involves configuring the WordPress site to send emails through an external SMTP service. Many plugins, such as SMTP Mailer, assist with this process, making it straightforward for businesses to set up and manage their SMTP configurations.
By switching to an SMTP server, businesses can achieve more reliable, secure, and efficient email delivery from their WordPress sites.
In the next section, we share the best free SMTP servers you can use for testing purposes.
Top 3 Free SMTP Servers for Testing
Most “free” SMTP servers impose hard limits, which means you end up paying more for a paid plan. But the three options below offer a bit more flexibility and are far more reliable.
Google SMTP Server
If you’re a Gmail user, you can use Google’s free SMTP server, which allows users to send emails using their Gmail account. It is a convenient and cost-effective solution for individuals and small businesses to send emails from custom apps or websites.
The SMTP server settings include “smtp.gmail.com” as the server address, with SSL or TLS encryption for security. The server can be accessed with the user’s Gmail credentials; it has a limit of 500 emails a day for trial accounts and 2,000 emails per day for Google Workspace users.
You can even use this feature if you have an email address with a custom email domain and a Gmail address.
SMTP2GO
SMTP2GO is a cloud-based SMTP relay service that is suitable if you want to test under 1,000 emails per month. It uses a global network of servers for its SMTP features, maintaining strong relationships with major mailbox providers.
With SMTP2GO, users also get access to campaign metrics such as:
- Open rates,
- Delivery rates,
- Bounce rates,
- Spam reports.
Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)
Amazon SES offers a free SMTP server that allows users to send emails through their Amazon Web Services (AWS) account. Users can access a range of SMTP addresses (depending on the region); SES also supports TLS encryption for secure email transmission.
Users must authenticate using their AWS credentials and are subject to specific sending limits in the free tier, which includes 62,000 emails per month when sent from an Amazon EC2 instance (a virtual server provided by AWS).
Free SMTP Servers: What Tests Can You Can Run?
The tests listed below can help your email campaigns reach the intended audience and achieve the desired results.
Deliverability Testing
A deliverability test is crucial to assess the likelihood of your emails landing in recipients’ inboxes instead of spam folders.
You can use the SMTP server’s testing tools or third-party services to simulate email sending and analyze how different email providers (like Gmail or Outlook) react to the emails.
Spam Filtering Tests
You can send test emails with content that might trigger spam filters (such as excessive exclamation points or irrelevant attachments) to see how the SMTP server handles them. This helps identify potential issues and adjust email content or design to improve deliverability rates.
Authentication Testing
Proper email authentication protocols are crucial for building trust with recipient servers and avoiding spam filters.
These include:
You can use the SMTP server’s testing tools to verify these protocols are configured correctly and that sent emails are recognized as legitimate.
Rendering Tests
Emails can appear differently across various email clients and devices. You can use an SMTP server’s testing tools or third-party services to send test emails to different platforms and check for any email formatting or display issues.
Bounce Rate Testing
You can send test emails to invalid or inactive email addresses to identify potential bounce issues.
A high bounce rate can negatively impact sender reputation and deliverability. By testing with an SMTP server, you can clean their email lists and improve campaign effectiveness.
IP Reputation Testing
The IP address used by the SMTP server can impact deliverability. Use tools to check the reputation of the server’s IP and identify any negative associations that might affect email deliverability.
Using an SMTP server can be useful in many scenarios, as the next section covers.
Advantages of Using a Free SMTP Server for Testing
These aspects of free SMTP servers make them attractive for testing:
- Cost efficiency: Free SMTP servers provide a cost-effective way to test email campaigns without incurring additional expenses, which is especially important for small businesses with limited budgets.
- Ease of access: Free SMTP servers are readily accessible and easy to set up, allowing you to quickly start testing email campaigns without needing to invest in infrastructure.
- Feature testing: You can test features such as email templates, personalization, and automation workflows on free SMTP servers to ensure they function correctly before deploying them on a primary server.
- A/B testing: Free SMTP servers allow you to conduct A/B testing on email content, subject lines, and layouts to determine what resonates best with your audience.
- Learning opportunity: Free SMTP servers allow you to experiment and learn about email marketing strategies, tools, and technologies without financial risk.
- Resource management: For larger organizations, using free SMTP servers for initial testing helps conserve resources and reduces the load on their primary SMTP servers. This ensures email systems remain optimized for live campaigns.
Free SMTP servers provide you with a valuable resource to test theories and ensure campaigns are effective before deploying to a live audience.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows when using these SMTP servers.
Free SMTP Servers Also Have These Problems
While free SMTP servers can seem like an attractive option for testing emails, several drawbacks can hinder your testing process and lead to inaccurate results. There are also reasons for you to avoid free SMTP servers as a permanent part of your email marketing setup.
Below, we’ve listed common problems you could run into when using free SMTP servers.
Limited Features
Free SMTP servers often lack the advanced features needed for thorough email testing. They might not offer deliverability testing tools, spam filtering checks, or comprehensive rendering tests across different email clients. This makes it difficult to identify potential issues that could impact your actual campaigns.
Additionally, there are send limits too, which could be an issue if you wish to send thousands of emails at once.
Unreliable Deliverability
Free SMTP servers often have lower reputations compared to those used by reputable email platforms. This can lead to your test emails being flagged as spam or even blocked entirely. As a result, your test results might not reflect what happens with your actual campaigns sent through a more reliable server.
Inaccurate Bounce Rate Testing
Free SMTP servers might not handle bounce messages (undeliverable emails) accurately. This can give you a false sense of security if invalid email addresses in your test list aren’t properly identified. This could lead to observing higher bounce rates on a live campaign.
Security Concerns
Free SMTP servers might have weaker security measures, making them more vulnerable to data breaches or unauthorized access. This could put your test data, including email addresses and content, at risk.
Inconsistent Performance
They’re free, so there’s no pressure on them for high performance. Free SMTP servers may experience downtime or overload, leading to delays or disruptions in your email testing process. This can be frustrating and make it difficult to rely on the test results.
There’s a much simpler solution you should consider!
Use a Reputed Email Platform Instead of Free SMTP Servers
Sometimes, opting for a free service is a bad idea — this is one of those times.
Choosing a reputed email service provider (ESP) over a free SMTP server or SMTP relay service has a host of advantages.
Let’s tally the two options side-by-side:
| Aspect | Reputed ESP | Free SMTP server |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverability | High deliverability due to established relationships with ISPs and high sender reputation. | Lower deliverability, higher likelihood of being flagged as spam. |
| Scalability | Designed to handle large volumes of emails, scalable with subscriber list growth. | Limited in the number of emails that can be sent, restrictive. |
| Analytics | Provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools to track and optimize campaigns. | Limited or no analytics, hard to assess campaign performance. |
| Support | Offers customer support and access to resources like templates, guides, and automation tools. | Lacks dedicated support and resources, self-troubleshooting required. |
| Functionality | Advanced features like segmentation, A/B testing, automation, personalization, and integrations. | Basic email sending capabilities, lacks advanced features. |
| Compliance | Ensures compliance with regulations plus offers robust security features. | May lack compliance and security features, posing legal and data risks. |
| Email templates and customization | Extensive customization and branding options for professional email appearance. | Limited customization options. |
| Automation | Powerful automation for workflows. | No advanced automation features. |
| Third-party integration | Integrates with various platforms (e-commerce, CRM, click funnels). | Lacks integration capabilities. |
In short, your testing results would be a lot more consistent with email platforms than using free SMTP servers.
Campaign Refinery: Skip the Shortcuts, Achieve Max Deliverability
Plenty of email marketing platforms will draw you in with the “free” pitch, but if you’re serious about your emails landing in inboxes, you need a more robust solution.
That’s why you should consider Campaign Refinery — we hold the #1 spot for email deliverability in the business.
And how did we achieve this? Attention to detail, of course:
- SMTP servers: Our sending infrastructure is solid; top-notch security measures are in place and our servers enjoy a sterling reputation with major mailbox providers.
- Mandatory authentication: All our clients are expected to implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication on their domains.
- Email monitoring: We closely monitor activities to avoid spammy tactics that could damage our reputation. This ensures a clean reputation for our shared IP pool.
- Automated list-cleaner: Invalid emails could lead to bounces, trashing your sender reputation. Let our list-cleaning tool take care of it under the hood.
- Screening for new signups: All new customers have to clear our vetting process before they can use our platform. This prevents spammers from joining Campaign Refinery.
Join an elite group of email marketers today — apply to become a Campaign Refinery client!
