Concepts

What is a sending limit in email?

A sending limit is the maximum number of emails you're allowed to send within a given period. A sending limit in email exists to prevent abuse and spam sent via hijacked accounts.

By the Mailflux team Published on

Sending limit in email: the meaning

Nearly every mail provider applies such a threshold, for example per hour or per day. Stay under the limit and you won't notice anything; go well over it and sending is temporarily blocked. It protects you and the reputation of the mail server.

Explanation

For ordinary business correspondence you'll rarely run into a sending limit. If you start sending larger volumes, such as a newsletter to many recipients at once, it does come into play. Such bulk mail also calls for a different approach to avoid ending up in spam. Read more about that in newsletter or bulk mail ending up in spam.

Example

You want to send an announcement to 500 customers from you@yourbusiness.be, all at once. A sending limit may slow that down. If you send in smaller groups or use a service meant for bulk mail, it goes more smoothly and you're less likely to end up in spam.

Good to know

A sending limit isn't there to get in your way, but to prevent a hacked account from firing thousands of spam messages out into the world in a short time, which would damage the reputation of everyone on that server. If you notice you're hitting a threshold, that's usually a sign that your task belongs to bulk mail rather than ordinary correspondence. Split large sends up or use a service built for it, and you'll stay out of trouble.

Related concepts

Sending larger mailings? Newsletter or bulk mail ending up in spam helps you get it right at your own pace.

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