Add Email

On WordPress.com we provide e-mail forwarding, but if you’d rather have full email hosting, you can connect another provider to your custom domain.

If you choose to register a domain through WordPress.com, you will be able to purchase a Google Apps account during sign up. If you would like to learn how to add a custom domain to your site, please see this article.

We’ve added instructions for several popular providers below. First, make sure you have set up an email hosting account with one of these providers:

• Zoho Mail (free for up to 10 mailboxes; includes support)
  • Get a Zoho email hosting account here
  • Connect your Zoho email account to your custom domain
• Google Apps ($50 per mailbox per year; includes support)
  • Get a Google Apps for Business account here
  • Connect your Google Apps account to your custom domain
• Microsoft Office 365 (price varies, includes support)
  • Get an Office 365 account here
  • You need to sign up for the Small Business plan or higher
  • Connect your Office 365 account to your custom domain
• GoDaddy (price varies)
  • You must already have a GoDaddy email account – new signups for domains registered at WordPress.com won’t work
  • Connect your GoDaddy account to your custom domain
• Other
  • Create an email hosting account at another provider
  • Connect your email hosting account to your custom domain

After you’ve set up an email hosting account, you’ll need to add custom DNS records through the Domains page in order to send and receive emails. The records you need to enter depend on which email provider you choose.

Choosing a Provider

We don’t endorse a specific provider. If you’re moving from another hosting provider to WordPress.com, the easiest solution is to keep using the email provider you already have. You’ll want to contact support at your current email provider to ask for custom DNS records for email, and then enter those records by following the link above for “Other”.

If you want email for a new domain you’ve just registered, you’ll want to choose based on your budget and your needs. Support at WordPress.com is not able to troubleshoot issues beyond entering the DNS records in a valid format.

Based on feedback from our users, the easiest free solution at this time is Zoho Mail (up to 3 free accounts under their “Lite” plan). Email hosting through Outlook.com is also free, but more difficult to set up or access support; however, you can have up to 100 accounts. Email through Google Apps is $50 per user per year, and includes support. Email through Network Solutions costs about $2/month for a single account and includes support, but is limited to 1 GB of storage.

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Troubleshooting

I followed the steps for my email provider, why isn’t my email working?
Keep in mind that it can take up to 72 hours for the DNS records to fully propagate and your email to begin working. If it has been over 72 hours and your email is still not working please contact support.

How can I access my Google Apps webmail using a subdomain (e.g. mail.exampleblog.net)?
If you want to customize the URL for accessing your webmail, please follow the instructions on this Google Apps support page.

For more information on adding CNAME records using the DNS Editor, please visit our Custom DNS support page.

Note: WordPress.com does not provide support for email hosting other than its initial setup with our custom domain upgrade.