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You bought your domain through Shopify and want hello@yourstore.com. Shopify's admin has a Domains page, an Email forwarding section and something called Shopify Messaging, so it looks like email is covered. Part of it is. This post sorts out what Shopify does, when that's all you need, and how to add a real mailbox without breaking order emails. Shopify's behaviour comes from its help center, and prices are US dollars, both checked on October 25, 2026.
Founder of Shipmail. Building business email hosting for solo founders and small teams.
Short answer
Shopify doesn't host email. On a Shopify-managed domain it forwards hello@yourstore.com to an inbox you already have, for free, but you can't reply from that address. Shopify Messaging (formerly Shopify Email) sends marketing campaigns; it isn't an inbox. To send and receive as hello@, add a mailbox host: Zoho Mail from $1 a user a month, Google Workspace from $7.00, or Shipmail at $4 a month for 2 mailboxes.
Shopify's help center says it plainly: "Email hosting isn't provided on Shopify." There are three email-shaped things in the admin, and none of them is a mailbox.[1]
Forwarding only works on a Shopify-managed domain. If your domain lives at another registrar, Shopify can't forward it, and you'd set up forwarding or hosting there instead.[2]
Forwarding is fine if you mostly read. Customers write to hello@yourstore.com, it lands in your Gmail, and that's the end of it. Plenty of one-person stores run like this for years.
The catch shows up the moment you reply. Shopify says you can't reply from your custom domain address without a third-party email host, so your answer goes out from yourname@gmail.com. Some customers won't notice. Others will wonder if they're talking to the store at all, and wholesale buyers and suppliers tend to notice first.Sources[2]Shopify Help Center: Email forwarding[4]Shopify Help Center: Setting up your store email and sender email
The usual workaround, forwarding into Gmail and adding the address under Send mail as, needs an SMTP server for the address. Shopify's forwarding doesn't come with one, and Gmail stops supporting Send as for third-party addresses in January 2027 anyway.Sources[1]Shopify Help Center: Email hosting[9]Google Gmail Send as help page
| Option | Price | Reply as hello@yourstore.com | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify email forwarding[2] | Free with a Shopify-managed domain | No. Replies come from the inbox you forward to | Receiving mail when nobody needs to reply as the store |
| Zoho Mail[6] | Mail Lite $1/user/month with 5 GB, billed yearly; free plan for up to 5 users | Yes. Free plan has no IMAP, so phone mail apps are out | The lowest price for one or two mailboxes |
| Google Workspace[7] | $7.00/user/month yearly, $8.40 flexible (Business Starter) | Yes, in Gmail | Stores that also want Drive, Docs and Meet |
| Microsoft 365[8] | Business Basic $7/user/month on a yearly subscription | Yes, in Outlook | Teams already living in Outlook and Teams |
| ShipmailSources[10]Shipmail pricing[12]Shipmail mailbox docs: adding aliases | $4/month for 2 mailboxes; $9 for 4 mailboxes and 5 people | Yes, plus 2 aliases per mailbox | Several people answering support@ without paying per person |
Cheapest paid option here. Without IMAP on the free plan, you're limited to Zoho's own apps, which is fine for many store owners.Sources[6]Zoho Mail pricing[1]Shopify Help Center: Email hosting
Familiar and reliable. Every person who needs their own login is another license, so a support team of four pays four times.Sources[7]Google Workspace payment plans[1]Shopify Help Center: Email hosting
Same per-person pricing as Google. Pick it for the Microsoft tools, not for a cheaper inbox.[8]
Shipmail charges for mailboxes, not people, so five people can answer support@ as one mailbox. Each mailbox also gets 2 aliases, so returns@ can land in support@. There's no Shopify app; Shopify's mail just arrives in your mailboxes like any other email.Sources[10]Shipmail pricing[11]Shipmail shared inbox documentation[12]Shipmail mailbox docs: adding aliases
Rough rule: one person who just wants to reply as the store should take Zoho Mail Lite or Shipmail Solo. If you want Google Docs anyway, Workspace. Once two or more people share the store inbox, per-person pricing starts to cost more than it should.Sources[6]Zoho Mail pricing[7]Google Workspace payment plans[10]Shipmail pricing
Whichever host you pick, it gives you a handful of DNS records. On a Shopify-managed domain you add them in Shopify, not at a registrar. Shopify's own sending keeps working, because it authenticates order emails with its own CNAME records, not with your SPF record.Sources[3]Shopify Help Center: Editing DNS settings[4]Shopify Help Center: Setting up your store email and sender email
In the Shopify admin, go to Settings > Domains, click your domain, then click Manage in the DNS settings section.
Click Add custom record, choose MX, and enter the mail server your host gives you. Leave the name field as Shopify fills it. If Shopify already lists MX records for forwarding, edit them with Actions > Edit so only your new host's remain.
A domain can have only one SPF TXT record. If you added Shopify's forwarding SPF (include:_spf.hostedemail.com), edit that record to your new host's value instead of adding a second one.
Add the DKIM TXT record with the name your host shows. For Shipmail it's shipmail._domainkey. This one does need a name, unlike the root-domain MX and SPF records.
A domain bought through Shopify may already have a DMARC record at _dmarc, often v=DMARC1; p=none. Shopify says a domain must have only one, so edit the existing record rather than adding another.
Shopify says DNS changes can take up to 24 hours. Your host will show each record as verified once it sees it.
With Shipmail, add the domain first and it shows the four records to copy. If Configure automatically isn't offered for your domain, enter them in Shopify by hand. Once the domain verifies, create the mailboxes and add the other addresses as aliases.Sources[13]Shipmail domain setup documentation[12]Shipmail mailbox docs: adding aliases
Order confirmations, shipping updates and contact form messages all use the sender email under Settings > Notifications. Set it to the address that now has a real mailbox, usually hello@ or support@. When a customer replies to an order confirmation, the reply lands in that mailbox and you answer from the same address.[4]
Shopify only sends as your domain once the domain is authenticated. On a domain bought through Shopify that's done for you. If authentication is missing or broken, Shopify rewrites the From address to a store+number@shopifyemail.com address, so customers stop seeing your domain.[4]
Shopify keeps sending the order emails itself. Your mail host only handles the replies and the mail people write. If you later want a team inbox, order email from a custom backend and customer updates on one plan, that's what the ecommerce page covers.
"Email hosting isn't provided on Shopify." Names Zoho Mail and Google Workspace as third-party hosts, connected by adding the provider's DNS records under Settings > Domains. Warns that email forwarding configured on a Shopify domain is impacted once MX records are added.
help.shopify.com · 2026-10-25
Shopify-managed domains can forward an unlimited number of custom domain addresses, each to only one third-party address; third-party domains can't set up forwarding in the Shopify admin. A reply shows the forwarding address as the sender, not the custom domain address; replying from the custom address needs a third-party email host. Hosts that enforce DKIM, such as AOL and Yahoo, can't be used as a forwarding address. Suggests an SPF record v=spf1 include:_spf.hostedemail.com ~all.
help.shopify.com · 2026-10-25
Settings > Domains, select the domain, DNS settings > Manage, Add custom record (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV), Confirm; Actions > Edit or Remove for existing records. When adding an MX or TXT record, don't edit the name field. Changes can take up to 24 hours.
help.shopify.com · 2026-10-25
Sender email (Settings > Notifications) is the From address on notification and order confirmation emails and receives contact form submissions; store email (Settings > General) is for Shopify contacting you. Without domain authentication the sender is rewritten to store+123@shopifyemail.com. Domains bought through Shopify are authenticated automatically (DKIM, SPF, DMARC); others add Shopify's CNAME records, which handle SPF, plus one DMARC record (default v=DMARC1; p=none). A domain must have only one DMARC record. Removing the CNAME records can cause bounces and resets the sender to shopifyemail.com. With a forwarding address as sender, customer replies go to the forwarding destination.
help.shopify.com · 2026-10-25
Shopify Messaging (formerly Shopify Email), a marketing campaign tool, is available on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus with 10,000 free emails at the start of each month, then $1 USD per 1,000 up to 300,000, $0.65 after 300,000 and $0.55 after 750,000.
help.shopify.com · 2026-10-25
US prices from the page's price list: Mail Lite $1 per user per month with 5 GB ($1.25 with 10 GB) and Mail Premium $4 with 50 GB, both billed annually with no monthly plan; Workplace Standard $3 annually or $4 monthly. Mail Free covers up to 5 users on one domain with 5 GB each and no IMAP, POP or ActiveSync, in select data centers only. Zia is listed on Mail Lite and Premium; Mail plans list no newsletter or booking product.
zoho.com · 2026-10-15
Flexible and annual payment plans, with a per-currency price table. USD per user per month: Starter 8.40 flexible / 7.00 annual, Standard 16.80 / 14.00, Plus 26.40 / 22.00. MXN: Starter 168 / 140, Standard 336 / 280, Plus 528 / 440. Licences on an annual plan can only be reduced at renewal.
knowledge.workspace.google.com · 2026-10-15
Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $7.00 per user per month paid yearly on an annual subscription, with Outlook, Teams, OneDrive and the web and mobile Office apps. Desktop Office apps start on Business Standard.
microsoft.com · 2026-10-15
Google's notice that Gmail stops supporting Send as for third-party email addresses starting January 2027, and its stated exceptions for Google Workspace aliases and other Gmail addresses you own.
support.google.com · 2026-10-17
Shipmail plan prices, mailbox limits, team access, and send limits.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
Shared mailboxes in Shipmail: conversation assignment, internal notes that are never included in replies to the customer, and @mentions in notes that alert a teammate by email and in the app.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-15
Open a mailbox and choose Aliases to add any available local part on any verified domain in the organization. An alias shares the parent mailbox's inbox, storage, access, display name and signature, has no separate password and does not use another mailbox allowance. In compose, the From menu lists the mailbox and its aliases.
shipmail.to · 2026-10-11
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
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
Common questions about shopify email hosting.
More on Shipmail pricing, comparisons, and team workflows.
Team inboxes, order email and customer updates for online stores.
What you give up with forwarding, in more detail.
The four records Shipmail needs and where to enter them.
How several people answer support@ together.
Plans, mailbox limits and monthly cost.
Email, newsletters and booking pages on your own domain, in one plan.
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