Custom-domain email: a practical guide

We often experience email as one bundled service, but custom-domain email has two distinct jobs: receiving and sending.

To receive email, your domain's MX records tell the internet where incoming messages should be delivered. If those records point to MailLogic, MailLogic can receive mail for your domain and forward it to an inbox you already use.

To send from your domain, recipient mail providers need evidence that the message is authorized and authenticated. MailLogic can send through its dashboard, Batch Send, APIs, or authenticated SMTP, with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC supporting the sending identity.

MailLogic keeps the two paths separate. You can start with forwarding and add a sending method only when you need one.

You do not need to learn every part of email at once. Start with the outcome you want.

MailLogic acts as an automated SMTP routing layer. For incoming mail, your MX records direct messages to MailLogic, which applies automated routing and spam checks before forwarding them to the destination you configured.

For outgoing mail, MailLogic accepts messages from Send Email, Batch Send, the sending APIs, or an authenticated SMTP client and relays them using your custom-domain identity.

This does not require MailLogic to become your everyday mailbox. Forwarded mail can continue to arrive in an inbox you already use, while sending can happen through MailLogic only when needed.

If your domain's MX records point to MailLogic, MailLogic can receive a message sent to your custom-domain address and forward it to your existing Gmail inbox. You can keep reading incoming mail in Gmail without maintaining another mailbox.

Receiving at your custom-domain address does not automatically mean Gmail can send from that address. Receiving and sending use separate paths.

The custom-domain forwarding guide explains the Gmail route, testing considerations, and the available outbound alternatives in more detail.

MailLogic provides four sending paths that use the same authenticated domain identity but serve different jobs:

• Use Send Email to compose and send a message in the dashboard.
• Use Batch Send for separate, personalized messages created from a CSV.
• Use authenticated SMTP when an email client or application should compose the message.
• Use an API when software should initiate the send.

For programmatic sending details, see the Send API guide.