Description
Password resets that never arrive. WooCommerce receipts in the spam folder. Contact form messages you never see.
WordPress sends email with PHP’s mail() function, straight from your web server. That server isn’t authorized to send for your domain, so Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo often mark the message as spam or reject it.
SendGrail SMTP fixes this by sending every WordPress email through a real email provider such as Gmail, Microsoft 365, Amazon SES, SendGrid or Brevo. Your emails are properly authenticated, and they reach the inbox.
SendGrail is 100% free. There is no Pro version, no locked features and no upgrade banners. Email logs, failover, routing rules, open and click tracking, and every mailer are included.
Why site owners choose SendGrail
- 18 mailers, all free. Gmail, Microsoft 365, Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Brevo and more, plus any SMTP server.
- Never lose an important email. If your main provider fails, SendGrail sends through your backup connection automatically.
- Send each email the right way. Routing rules send WooCommerce orders through one provider and newsletters through another.
- See everything your site sends. Full email logs with status, an HTML preview, and one-click resend.
- Know about failures first. Get an alert by email, Slack, Discord or Telegram when an email fails.
- Set up in minutes. A guided setup wizard connects your provider and sends a test email.
Features
- Mail SMTP for any provider: connect an API mailer, Google or Microsoft with OAuth sign-in (no app passwords), or any SMTP server such as your host’s cPanel mail.
- Automatic failover: choose a backup connection, and failed emails are retried through it.
- Rule-based email routing: route by subject, recipient, sender, CC, BCC, Reply-To, message content or a custom header, using conditions like contains, is, starts with and ends with. Rules run in priority order.
- Email log: every email with recipients, subject, status, provider response and timestamps. Preview the exact HTML, copy it, or resend a failed email.
- Open and click tracking: see opens and clicks for each email. Tracked links keep all URL parameters, so UTM tags and CRM tracking (such as FluentCRM) keep working. You can turn tracking off.
- Reports and dashboard: sent, failed and success-rate charts, delivery by provider, and an activity heatmap.
- Failure alerts: email, Slack, Discord and Telegram notifications when sending fails.
- Weekly summary email: a short report of what your site sent.
- Secure credentials: API keys and passwords are encrypted in the database, or you can define them in
wp-config.phpso they never touch the database. - Test email: send a test through any connection and see the provider’s exact response.
- Debug mode: detailed connection logs for troubleshooting.
- Log retention: automatically delete old logs after a number of days you choose.
- Works with every plugin that sends email: WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Fluent Forms, Elementor forms, membership and LMS plugins, and anything else that uses
wp_mail(). - Multisite ready: network-activate it, and each site keeps its own connections and logs.
- Light and dark theme in a clean, modern dashboard.
Supported mailers
- Google Workspace / Gmail – OAuth sign-in, no app password. Setup guide
- Microsoft 365 / Outlook – OAuth sign-in for Outlook.com and Office 365. Setup guide
- Amazon SES – low-cost, high-volume sending in every SES region. Setup guide
- SendGrid – trusted transactional and bulk email API. Setup guide
- Mailgun – developer-friendly API with US and EU regions. Setup guide
- Postmark – fast transactional delivery with message streams. Setup guide
- Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) – transactional email with a free tier. Setup guide
- SparkPost – enterprise sending with US and EU regions. Setup guide
- Resend – modern email API for developers. Setup guide
- Mailjet – simple sending with strong EU coverage. Setup guide
- Elastic Email – budget-friendly API for high volume. Setup guide
- SMTP2GO – reliable SMTP with a generous free plan. Setup guide
- SendLayer – email delivery built for WordPress. Setup guide
- Netcore – high-scale email delivery platform. Setup guide
- Mandrill (Mailchimp Transactional) – transactional email for Mailchimp users. Setup guide
- Zoho Mail – send from your Zoho business mailbox. Setup guide
- Other SMTP – any SMTP server, including your hosting provider’s mail. Setup guide
- PHP mail() – your server’s built-in mailer. Add it as a connection and choose it as your backup if you want a last resort.
Fix deliverability for good
An SMTP plugin is half the fix. For the best inbox placement, also add your provider’s SPF and DKIM records to your domain, publish a DMARC record, and send from an address on your own domain. Every setup guide in the SendGrail documentation walks you through it.
External services
SendGrail sends your site’s emails through the provider you choose, so it connects to that provider’s servers. It connects only to services you configure, and only when sending an email, testing a connection, or signing in with OAuth.
- Email providers. The email (recipients, sender, subject, body, attachments and headers) and your credentials go to the provider you connect: Amazon SES (aws.amazon.com), SendGrid (sendgrid.com), Mailgun (mailgun.com), Postmark (postmarkapp.com), Brevo (brevo.com), SparkPost (sparkpost.com), Resend (resend.com), Mailjet (mailjet.com), Elastic Email (elasticemail.com), SMTP2GO (smtp2go.com), SendLayer (sendlayer.com), Netcore (netcorecloud.com), Mandrill (mailchimp.com), Zoho Mail (zoho.com), or the SMTP server you enter. Each provider’s terms of service and privacy policy apply.
- Google and Microsoft sign-in. When you connect Gmail or Microsoft 365, your browser signs in at Google (accounts.google.com) or Microsoft (login.microsoftonline.com). SendGrail then exchanges tokens with Google or Microsoft and reads your account’s email address to show which mailbox is connected. Google: Terms, Privacy. Microsoft: Terms, Privacy.
- SendGrail OAuth relay (Gmail only). Google only accepts sign-in return addresses on public domains, so Gmail sign-in returns through
oauth.sendgrail.com, which immediately redirects your browser back to your site with Google’s one-time authorization code. Nothing is stored. Terms, Privacy. - Failure alerts (optional). If you turn them on, the subject, recipient and error of a failed email are sent to Slack (hooks.slack.com), Discord (discord.com) or Telegram (api.telegram.org). Slack: Terms, Privacy. Discord: Terms, Privacy. Telegram: Terms, Privacy.
Open and click tracking runs on your own site. Tracking pixels and links point to your site’s address, not to SendGrail.
Screenshots
Installation
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins Add New and search for SendGrail SMTP.
- Click Install Now, then Activate.
- Open SendGrail in the admin menu. The setup wizard helps you choose a mailer and enter its details.
- Send a test email to confirm everything works.
Manual installation: download the ZIP, upload the sendgrail folder to /wp-content/plugins/, then activate SendGrail SMTP under Plugins Installed Plugins.
FAQ
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Is SendGrail really free?
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Yes. Every feature is free, including email logs, failover, routing rules, tracking, alerts and all 18 mailers. There is no Pro version.
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Will it fix WooCommerce emails going to spam?
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Yes. WooCommerce sends order, shipping and account emails through WordPress’s mailer, so SendGrail sends them through your provider too. For the best results, also set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain.
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Does it work with my contact form plugin?
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Yes. SendGrail handles every email sent with
wp_mail(), which includes Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Fluent Forms, Elementor forms and almost every other plugin. -
Can I send with Gmail or Google Workspace without an app password?
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Yes. The Google Workspace / Gmail mailer uses Google’s OAuth sign-in, so you never store your Google password or an app password in WordPress. Microsoft 365 / Outlook works the same way.
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What happens if my email provider goes down?
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Choose a backup connection in Settings. If an email fails on your main connection, SendGrail retries it through the backup, and the email log shows which connection sent it.
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Can I use different providers for different emails?
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Yes. Routing rules let you send, for example, WooCommerce order emails through Postmark and everything else through Amazon SES, based on the subject, recipient, sender, headers or content.
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Do I need a paid email provider?
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No. You can use your own Gmail, Outlook or Zoho account, your hosting provider’s SMTP server, or the free tier of Brevo, SMTP2GO, SendGrid or Amazon SES.
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Can I store my API keys in wp-config.php?
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Yes. Define the provider’s constants in
wp-config.php, for exampleSENDGRAIL_SES_ACCESS_KEYandSENDGRAIL_SES_SECRET_KEYfor Amazon SES, and SendGrail uses them instead of the values saved in the database. -
Where are my email logs stored?
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In your own WordPress database. SendGrail doesn’t send your logs anywhere. You can set log retention to delete old logs automatically, or turn logging off.
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Does it work on multisite?
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Yes. Network-activate SendGrail, and each site in the network keeps its own connections, settings and email logs.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“SendGrail SMTP – Easy & Free Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Failover & Routing for Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES & Any SMTP” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.7 (2026-11-02)
– Updated the plugin framework to the latest version.
– Fixed click tracking breaking links that already carry tracking, such as UTM tags and CRM or provider click tracking.
– Fixed links with merge tags such as unsubscribe links being rewritten.
– Fixed tracked links expiring after 30 days.
– Improved click tracking to work without open tracking.
– Improved security: admin data no longer loads on front-end pages.
– Improved weekly summary email design.
– Fixed admin header logo alignment.
– Updated readme and plugin description.
1.0.6 (2026-09-17)
– Added Copy HTML in email preview.
– Added custom provider support for add-ons.
– Fixed emails failing for named recipients.
– Fixed test email ignoring the selected connection.
– Fixed preview views counting as opens and clicks.
– Improved credential masking in email logs.
– Removed WordPress Default Mail fallback (add a PHP connection as your backup instead).
1.0.5 (2026-08-02)
– Added Resend action with a resend counter to email logs.
– Fixed unreadable SMTP responses and headers in email logs.
1.0.4 (2026-06-30)
– Fixed image loading issue.
1.0.3 (2026-05-27)
– Added compatibility with WordPress 7.0 admin reskin.
– Fixed inputs, selects and textareas inheriting WordPress core form styles.
– Fixed checkboxes, number inputs and date pickers rendering at the wrong size.
1.0.1 (2026-05-14)
– Fixed setup wizard leaking values between providers.
– Fixed OAuth-only providers missing Client ID / Secret fields.
– Added Authenticate step after saving an OAuth connection.
– Fixed Disconnect hiding the Authentication section on OAuth-only providers.
– Added per-provider “Setup guide” link on connection forms.
1.0.0 (2026-05-08)
– Initial release on the WordPress Plugin Repository.
– Introduced core SMTP routing capabilities.
– Added support for standard SMTP, Gmail, Outlook, SendGrid, and Mailgun.
– Implemented Email Logging and Debug Mode features.
– Added Fallback Routing logic for automated failovers.