Forward Email review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Open-source email forwarding and hosting for custom domains
Black Friday: is there a Forward Email sale?
Forward Email report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for email on your own domain without per-mailbox fees
Forward Email is open-source email forwarding and hosting for your own domain, with sending and an API added from $3 a month for unlimited domains. The free plan only forwards incoming mail, so it is not a sending service until you pay, and sending limits on the $3 plan depend on your reputation rather than a published number.
Who Forward Email is for
- Fits if you want email on your own domain and don't want to pay per mailbox
- Works for developers who want open-source software they can also self-host
Who Forward Email is not for
- Skip it if you need to send mail on the free plan, because it only forwards
- Watch out: outbound limits on the $3 plan depend on your sending reputation, not a stated number
- Watch out: forget your mailbox password and the mailbox is gone unless you kept offline backups
- Tight if you need over 10 GB of storage, as extra is $3 a month per 10 GB
- Pricey if you want team controls and priority support, which start at $9 a month
Why Forward Email gets a 2.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for money$3 a month for unlimited domains and aliases, under the $6 that is 60% of the $10 where the cheaper quarter of sending services starts. It is mostly a mailbox and forwarding service, so the comparison is rough.
- CFree plan and trialThe free plan forwards unlimited inbound mail with catch-all addresses, but it cannot send or store mail, so for the sending job nothing free works.
- CFeaturesForwarding, IMAP mailboxes, outbound SMTP and an API on paid plans, but sending is an add-on to a mailbox service and the listing names no tracking, templates or dedicated IPs.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You point your domain's DNS at the service and create aliases, and the site warns that a forgotten mailbox password loses the mailbox.
- APlatforms and integrationsApps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android plus the web, and a developer API with webhooks.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Forward Email's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Forward Email? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/forward-email#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/forward-email.svg" alt="Forward Email: 2.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Forward Email stands among email sending services
Forward Email's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 23 of the 26 other email sending services we grade, and level with 3.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (A, above 26 of 26) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $3 a month, against a middle price of $13.73 for the category: 0 of the 25 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4, and no tool on the category's chart scores higher without costing more.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 27 email sending services we grade, cut by the letter each got. Forward Email’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 24 of 26, level with 2
- CFree plan and trialAbove 4 of 26, level with 17
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 26, level with 9
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 26, level with 25
- APlatforms and integrationsAbove 26 of 26
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 26 email sending services. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Forward Email, or make your own?
Keep it
Nothing Forward Email does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 2 things listed below take a company.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 23 of the 26 other email sending services we grade. It costs $36 a year. Forward Email is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- It plugs into other products, Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo among them, and has an API.
What this rests on. Forward Email’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Forward Email?
Forward Email is an open-source service for email on your own domain. The free plan forwards incoming mail, and paid plans add mailboxes, outbound SMTP, a developer API and team controls, all with unlimited domains and aliases. It is mainly a mailbox and forwarding service, with sending included from the Enhanced Protection plan.
Worth knowing
- The free plan cannot send mail, so it does not work as a sending service.
- Sending limits on Enhanced Protection are reputation-based rather than a fixed monthly count.
- The site says that if you forget your mailbox password you lose the mailbox unless you have offline backups.
- Prices are listed per month for unlimited domains; no yearly billing is shown on the page.
Key features
- Forwarding on custom domains
- Receive mail at your own domain and forward it to an existing address, with catch-all aliases, multiple recipients per alias and regex filtering.
- Outbound SMTP
- Enhanced Protection and above send through SMTP, with unlimited outbound on a reputation basis and 900 a day at the start of Team.
- Mailboxes with IMAP storage
- Paid plans include 10 GB of pooled storage; extra storage is $3 a month per 10 GB. The site says mailboxes are encrypted with your password.
- Developer API and webhooks
- A developer API comes with paid plans, and mail on any plan can be sent to webhooks.
- Open source and self-hosting
- The software is open source and a self-hosted Docker version is listed among the features.
Forward Email pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Forward Email has a free plan, and paid plans start at $3 per month for unlimited domains.
- Starts at
- $3 per month for unlimited domains
- Free plan
- Unlimited inbound forwarding, catch-all addresses and webhooks for unlimited domains. It cannot send mail or store mail.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Email forwarding only: unlimited inbound mail, spam protection, 50 MB attachments, catch-all addresses and regex filtering. No sending. |
| Enhanced Protection | $3per month for unlimited domains | Adds unlimited aliases, 10 GB pooled storage, outbound SMTP with reputation-based limits, DMARC reporting and API access. |
| Team | $9per month for unlimited domains | Everything in Enhanced, plus unlimited team members, permission management and priority support. Outbound starts at 900 a day. |
| Enterprise | $250per month for unlimited domains | Adds unlimited API requests, a dedicated support chatroom, a contract by DocuSign and onboarding help. |
Read from forwardemail.net on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Forward Email before you buy.
Works with
Forward Email alternatives
- Forward Email vs MailPace
Free trial · from $10/mo
- Forward Email vs SMTP2GO
Free plan · from $15/mo
- Forward Email vs Mailgun
Free plan · from $15/mo
- Forward Email vs turboSMTP
Free plan · from $12.46/mo
- Forward Email vs Postmark
Free plan · from $15/mo
Common questions
Is Forward Email open source?
Yes. Forward Email is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does Forward Email have an API?
Yes. Forward Email offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.