Both forward custom domain email. The gap is in
pricing, DNS automation, and what's included on the free plan.
ImprovMX's free plan only forwards incoming email. To send from your custom domain, you need Premium ($9/mo). SendMailAs includes both send and receive on the free plan - you get a working custom domain email in Gmail without paying anything.
ImprovMX Premium costs $108/yr and caps you at 30 domains with 100 aliases each. SendMailAs Pro is $29/yr with no domain or alias limits. For the Gmail forwarding use case, the pricing gap is significant - and it grows if you need more than 30 domains.
ImprovMX requires you to manually add MX records, SPF TXT records, and DKIM CNAME records at your registrar for every domain. Misconfigure DKIM and you get a “via improvmx.com” banner. SendMailAs manages DNS through Cloudflare - point your nameservers once and all records are created automatically.
ImprovMX offers a REST API for managing domains and aliases programmatically, webhook notifications on email events, and detailed logs with up to 180-day retention. SendMailAs doesn't have these. If you're building automation around email management, ImprovMX is the better fit.
| Feature | SendMailAs$29/yr | ImprovMX |
|---|---|---|
| Receive in Gmail | Yes - Receive in Gmail | Yes - Receive in Gmail |
| Send from Gmail (free) | Yes - Send from Gmail (free) | - |
| Send from Gmail (paid) | Yes - Send from Gmail (paid) | Yes - Send from Gmail (paid) |
| DKIM signing | Auto (your domain) | Manual (your domain) |
| DNS setup | Automatic | Manual (MX, TXT, CNAME) |
| SPF configuration | Automatic | Manual TXT record |
| Domains (free) | 1 | 1 |
| Domains (paid) | Unlimited | 30 (Premium) |
| Aliases (free) | 2 | 25 |
| Aliases (paid) | Unlimited | 100 per domain |
| API access | - | Premium+ |
| Webhook support | - | Premium+ |
| Email logs | Basic | 7-180 day retention |
| Setup time | 5 minutes | 15-30 minutes |
ImprovMX charges per tier. SendMailAs charges once.
| Scenario | SendMailAs | ImprovMX |
|---|---|---|
| Forwarding only, 1 domainBoth free. ImprovMX allows 25 aliases vs 2 | Free | Free |
| Send + receive, 1 domainImprovMX requires Premium for SMTP | Free | $108/yr |
| Send + receive, 5 domains3.7x price difference | $29/yr | $108/yr |
| Send + receive, 30 domainsImprovMX Premium caps at 30 domains | $29/yr | $108/yr |
| Send + receive, 50+ domainsImprovMX requires Business plan ($24/mo) | $29/yr | $288/yr |
ImprovMX pricing: Premium $9/mo, Business $24/mo. SendMailAs Pro: $29/yr flat. Prices as of April 2026.
ImprovMX is a mature, well-built email forwarding service with real developer features - API, webhooks, detailed logging. If you're building systems that need to programmatically manage email routing, it's a solid choice.
But if you just want you@yourdomain.com working in Gmail - sending and receiving, with proper DKIM, without touching DNS records - SendMailAs does that for $29/yr with unlimited domains. ImprovMX charges $108/yr for the same thing, capped at 30 domains, with manual DNS setup for each one.
For the Gmail-only use case, SendMailAs is simpler and cheaper. For developer tooling around email, ImprovMX has features we don't.
ImprovMX offers a free plan with 1 domain, 25 aliases, and email forwarding only (receive, no send). To send email from your custom domain via SMTP, you need the Premium plan at $9/month ($108/yr). SendMailAs includes both send and receive on the free plan for 1 domain with 2 addresses.
Yes, ImprovMX signs outgoing email with your domain's DKIM key - but you have to set it up yourself. You manually add DKIM CNAME records to your DNS. If the records are misconfigured, recipients may see a 'via improvmx.com' banner and emails can land in spam. SendMailAs creates and configures DKIM records automatically.
ImprovMX Premium is $9/month ($108/yr) for 30 domains with SMTP sending. SendMailAs Pro is $29/yr for unlimited domains. The price difference comes from different business models - ImprovMX offers API access, webhook support, and tiered domain limits. SendMailAs focuses purely on the Gmail integration use case.
Yes. You manually add MX records, SPF TXT records, and DKIM CNAME records at your domain registrar. Each new domain requires the same manual process. SendMailAs manages all DNS through Cloudflare automatically - you point nameservers once.
Yes. Both services can forward incoming email to your Gmail inbox and let you send from Gmail using 'Send mail as' with SMTP credentials. The setup process is similar once DNS is configured - the difference is how you get to that point.
ImprovMX free allows 25 aliases per domain. ImprovMX Premium allows 100 aliases per domain across 30 domains. SendMailAs free allows 2 addresses on 1 domain. SendMailAs Pro allows unlimited addresses on unlimited domains. For heavy alias usage, SendMailAs Pro is cheaper and has no caps.
Yes. ImprovMX Premium and above include API access for managing domains, aliases, and logs programmatically. SendMailAs does not currently offer an API. If you need programmatic email management, ImprovMX has the advantage.
ImprovMX provides email logs with retention from 7 to 180 days depending on your plan. This is useful for debugging delivery issues. SendMailAs shows delivery status in the dashboard but doesn't offer long-term log retention or webhook notifications.
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