What you need before starting
A domain name you own. If you already have a website at yourdomain.com, you have a domain. If not, you can buy one from any registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, Porkbun, and similar) for around $10 to $15 per year.
Access to your domain's DNS settings. This is in whatever dashboard you used to buy the domain. If you are not sure where that is, search your email for "domain registration" or "DNS" to find the account.
An email hosting provider. This is the service that actually stores and sends your email. It is separate from where you bought the domain.
That is it. You do not need to move your domain anywhere or change your website.
Picking an email host
Your email host is where your mailboxes live. This is the decision that determines your monthly cost, what features you get, and how easy the setup is.
Zoho Mail starts at $1/user/month. Cheapest option. Works fine if you need exactly one mailbox and do not mind a basic web interface. The free tier exists but is limited to 5 users with 5 GB each and no IMAP access, which means you cannot use it with Apple Mail or Outlook.
SHIPMAIL is $4/mo for 3 mailboxes (Solo) or $9/mo for 10 mailboxes (Pro). Built for freelancers and small teams who want email, calendar, and contacts on their domain without paying for a full office suite. Guided setup wizard. Automatic email authentication. Works with any email client.
Fastmail is $5/user/month. Solid, privacy-focused. Good web interface. Gets expensive with multiple mailboxes since you pay per user.
Google Workspace is $7/user/month. The full Google suite (Docs, Sheets, Drive, Meet) attached to your domain. Worth it if you actually use those tools. Expensive if you just want email.
Proton Mail Business is $4/user/month. End-to-end encrypted. Good choice if privacy is your top priority. Encryption can cause compatibility issues with some email clients.
If you are a freelancer or small business that needs a few professional email addresses with calendar and contacts, and you do not need Google Docs or spreadsheets, an email-only host saves you money.
The setup, in 15 minutes
Create an account with your email host and add your domain. Sign up, then tell the host which domain you want to use for email. In SHIPMAIL, you go to Dashboard, then Domains, then Add Domain and type in your domain name. The host shows you a list of DNS records to add. This is the only slightly technical part, and most hosts walk you through it.
Add the DNS records your host gives you. Log into whatever service manages your domain's DNS (your registrar, or Cloudflare if you use it). You need to add the records your email host provided. There are typically four records. You do not need to understand what they do. You just need to copy the values from your email host and paste them into your DNS settings.
SHIPMAIL handles email authentication automatically. The setup wizard shows you exactly what to paste and where. You copy each record, add it in your DNS dashboard, and check it off. With other hosts, the process is the same: they give you values, you paste them into DNS.
DNS changes usually take effect within a few minutes to an hour. In rare cases, up to 24 hours. You can keep going with the next steps while you wait.
Create your mailboxes. Once your domain is verified, create the email addresses you want. For most people this is enough to start: you@yourdomain.com for your personal inbox and hello@yourdomain.com for a general contact address. You can always add more later. On SHIPMAIL Solo ($4/mo) you get 3 mailboxes. On Pro ($9/mo) you get 10.
Connect your phone and computer. You can use any email app: Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird, Spark, or your host's web interface. Most modern email apps auto-detect the correct settings if you just enter your new email address and password. If you need to enter settings manually, your email host provides them: incoming mail (IMAP) on port 993 with SSL, outgoing mail (SMTP) on port 587 with STARTTLS, username is your full email address, password is the one you set when creating the mailbox.
On SHIPMAIL, calendar (CalDAV) and contacts (CardDAV) are also included, so you can sync those to your phone and computer the same way.
Will my emails actually arrive?
This is the number one concern, and it is valid. Emails from new domains can land in spam if authentication is not set up correctly.
The good news: if you added all the DNS records your host gave you, authentication is handled. SHIPMAIL sets up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC automatically during the guided setup. You do not need to know what those acronyms mean. They are the standard proof that your email is legitimate and not spoofed.
If you do run into deliverability problems, check that all DNS records are in place. Missing even one record can cause filtering. Your email host's dashboard usually has a verification tool that checks this for you.
Send a few normal emails first. Do not blast a newsletter from a brand new domain. Start by emailing people you actually correspond with. This builds your domain's reputation.
Avoid spammy content. All caps, excessive links, and words like "FREE" or "ACT NOW" trigger spam filters regardless of your authentication.
Common mistakes to avoid
Using email forwarding instead of real hosting. Forwarding sends incoming mail to your Gmail, but replies still go out from your Gmail address. It is not the same as having a real mailbox on your domain. If someone replies to hello@yourdomain.com and sees a response from yourname@gmail.com, it defeats the purpose.
Creating a dozen mailboxes on day one. Start with what you will actually use. You can always add more. Most freelancers and small businesses use two or three addresses for months before needing more.
Not testing from a different email account. After setup, send a test email from a Gmail or Outlook account to your new address. Then reply from your new address. Check that everything arrives and the From address looks correct.
Skipping calendar and contacts setup. If your host offers CalDAV and CardDAV (like SHIPMAIL does), set them up alongside email. Having your calendar and contacts on the same domain keeps everything in one place and means one fewer subscription.
What if I mess something up?
You will not break anything permanently. DNS records can be edited or deleted at any time. If you paste the wrong value, just fix it. The worst case is that email does not work until the correct records propagate, which usually takes under an hour.
If you get stuck during setup, check your email host's support docs or contact their support team. On SHIPMAIL, the setup wizard validates each record in real time and tells you exactly what is wrong if something does not match.