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Custom domain email with Porkbun: hosting, forwarding and DNS setup
Your domain is at Porkbun and you want mail at it. Porkbun has three answers: free forwarding, its own hosted inbox, and Proton Mail sold through Porkbun. Any other provider works too, through Porkbun's DNS editor. Prices are in US dollars, from Porkbun's own pages, checked on November 1, 2026.
Founder of Shipmail, the email platform for businesses and their AI agents. Every guide here draws on mail servers running in production.
- Porkbun
- Custom domain email
- DNS records
- Email hosting
Short answer
Porkbun gives every domain 20 free email forwards and sells Porkbun Email at $36 a year per inbox, with 10 GB and a 15-day trial on a new domain. It also resells Proton Mail. To use another provider, open Domain Management, click DNS under the domain, delete Porkbun's MX records and add the provider's MX and TXT records. Shipmail is $4 a month for 2 mailboxes.
Email options for a Porkbun domain
| Option | Price | What you get | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porkbun Email ForwardingSources[4]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to set up email forwarding[3]Porkbun Knowledge Base: hosted email vs email forwarding | Free, 20 forwards per domain | Forwarding to an inbox you already have, no mailbox | You only receive mail at the domain |
| Porkbun EmailSources[2]Porkbun Email hosting[3]Porkbun Knowledge Base: hosted email vs email forwarding | $36 a year per inbox ($3 a month, billed yearly) | 1 inbox, 10 GB, webmail, IMAP and POP3, 20 forwards | One or two addresses on the cheapest hosted inbox |
| Proton Mail Essentials through Porkbun[7] | $71.88 the first year per user, then $83.88 a year | 15 GB per user, 3 custom domains, managed on Proton | Encrypted mail matters more than price |
| Shipmail[8] | $4 a month for 2 mailboxes; $12 for 5 | Email, calendar, team inbox, newsletters, booking pages | You want a flat plan and tools around the inbox |
What Porkbun sells for email
Email forwarding is free, with up to 20 forwarding addresses on each domain. A forward only receives: when you reply, the message comes from the inbox it was forwarded to, not from your domain.Sources[4]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to set up email forwarding[3]Porkbun Knowledge Base: hosted email vs email forwarding
Porkbun Email is a hosted inbox at $36 a year, which Porkbun also writes as $3 a month per address, billed yearly. Each one has 10 GB, webmail, POP3 and IMAP, auto-responders and spam filtering, plus 20 free forwards. A new domain comes with a free 15-day trial.Sources[2]Porkbun Email hosting[3]Porkbun Knowledge Base: hosted email vs email forwarding[1]Porkbun email products
Proton Mail is sold through a Porkbun partnership and managed on Proton's own site. Mail Essentials is $5.99 a user a month billed annually: $71.88 for the first year, renewing at $83.88. Workspace Standard and Premium cost more and add storage.Sources[7]Porkbun: Proton Mail plans[1]Porkbun email products
Forwarding and Porkbun Email can share a domain because both use Porkbun's mail servers. Any outside provider can't: Porkbun says a domain has one set of MX records, and once they point elsewhere, its forwarding stops for that domain.[4]
How to edit DNS records in Porkbun
Porkbun's DNS editor is one screen: a form at the top to add a record and a Current Records list below it. For records on the root domain, the Host field stays blank, not @.Sources[5]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to add DNS records[6]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to manage DNS records
- Step 1
Open the DNS editor
Log in and open Domain Management from the ACCOUNT menu. Click the DNS button under the domain name, or open Details and click the edit icon under DNS Records.
- Step 2
Delete the old MX records
In Current Records, delete the MX records that point to Porkbun forwarding or another provider with the trash can icon. Write down any forwards first: they stop working once the MX records change.
- Step 3
Add the MX record
Click Add Record, choose MX as the Type, leave Host blank, put the mail server in Answer and set Priority to the value your provider gives. Click Add.
- Step 4
Add the TXT records
Add each TXT record the same way. Leave Host blank for SPF and type the subdomain part, such as
_dmarc, for the others. The default TTL is fine. - Step 5
Check the result
Click Back to see the updated list. Porkbun says changes usually take a few minutes.
Point a Porkbun domain at Shipmail
Add the domain in Shipmail first. Shipmail recognises Porkbun DNS and shows Porkbun's steps next to the records. Use Configure automatically if Shipmail offers it; otherwise add these four records in the Porkbun editor. Keep one SPF record for the domain and merge any other sender's include into it.Sources[9]Shipmail domain setup documentation[10]Shipmail DNS setup docs: DMARC record
- MX, host
@, valuemx1.shipmail.to, priority 10. It routes incoming mail to Shipmail. - TXT, host
@, valuev=spf1 include:spf.shipmail.to -all. This is SPF, the list of servers allowed to send for the domain. - TXT, host
shipmail._domainkey, value: the DKIM key shown for your domain in Shipmail. It signs every message you send. - TXT, host
_dmarc, valuev=DMARC1; p=reject. DMARC tells receivers to refuse mail that fails SPF and DKIM.
In Porkbun, enter the @ records with a blank Host. Shipmail rechecks the records every 30 seconds and verifies the domain once they resolve. Plans start at $4 a month for 2 mailboxes; five mailboxes cost $12 a month on Pro plus one extra mailbox.Sources[9]Shipmail domain setup documentation[8]Shipmail pricing[5]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to add DNS records
Leaving Porkbun Email? Import the old mailbox over IMAP before the hosting lapses, and recreate each Porkbun forward as an alias.Sources[11]Shipmail mailbox import documentation[4]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to set up email forwarding
Sources11 sourcesVerified 2026-11-01
- [1]Porkbun email products
Porkbun sells Email Forwarding (as low as free, 20 forwarding addresses), Porkbun Email (as low as $3.00 a month, 15-day free trial with a domain, 10 GB per user, webmail, POP3 and IMAP) and Proton Mail through a partnership (as low as $5.99 a month, managed on Proton).
porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [2]Porkbun Email hosting
Porkbun Email is $36.00 a year after a free 15-day trial with a new domain. Each plan has one inbox/address plus 20 free forwards and 10 GB of storage, with webmail, POP3 and IMAP, signatures, auto-responders and spam filtering.
porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [3]Porkbun Knowledge Base: hosted email vs email forwarding
Hosted email costs $3 a month per address, billed yearly, with 10 GB per address. Email forwards are free, twenty per domain. A forward only receives mail; replies come from the forwarded-to address.
kb.porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [4]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to set up email forwarding
Email forwarding is free, up to 20 per domain, and requires the MX records to point to Porkbun. A domain has one set of MX records for one mail provider; moving MX records to a third-party host stops Porkbun forwarding for that domain, and the forwards must be recreated as aliases at the new provider.
kb.porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [5]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to add DNS records
From Domain Management, open the DNS button under the domain (or Details, then the edit icon under DNS Records), click Add Record and fill in Type, Host (blank for the root domain), Answer, TTL and, for MX, the Priority the provider gives. Click Add to save.
kb.porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [6]Porkbun Knowledge Base: how to manage DNS records
In Manage DNS Records, existing records are listed under Current Records with a trash can icon to delete each one; new records are added at the top of the screen. Changes take a few minutes.
kb.porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [7]Porkbun: Proton Mail plans
Prices in USD, per user, billed annually. Mail Essentials $5.99 a month, $71.88 for the first year, renews at $83.88 a year, 15 GB, 3 custom domains. Workspace Standard $131.88 first year, renews at $179.88. Workspace Premium $203.88 first year, renews at $299.88.
porkbun.com · 2026-11-01
- [8]Shipmail pricing
Shipmail plan prices, mailbox limits, team access, and send limits.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [9]Shipmail domain setup documentation
Adding a domain to Shipmail: four DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC), published automatically or by hand, suggested merging of an existing SPF record, and verification that rechecks the records every 30 seconds.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-11
- [10]Shipmail DNS setup docs: DMARC record
Shipmail's DNS setup steps for each registrar end with a TXT record named _dmarc with the value v=DMARC1; p=reject. The GoDaddy steps start from My Products, then DNS, and note that most records appear within 30 minutes.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
- [11]Shipmail mailbox import documentation
Shipmail documentation for connected and file imports, selection options, storage checks, progress, skipped items, and repeat imports.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
Questions worth answering
Common questions about porkbun custom domain email.
Does Porkbun include free email with a domain?
Can I use Porkbun forwarding with another email provider?
What do I enter as the Host in Porkbun for the root domain?
_dmarc.[5]Is Proton Mail through Porkbun cheaper than buying from Proton?
How long do Porkbun DNS changes take?
Related guides
More on Shipmail pricing, comparisons, and team workflows.
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