Custom Domain Emails for free

Can’t pay for a full Google Workspace account just to send and receive professional emails from your custom domain? You don't have to. We can use Cloudflare for inbound routing and Gmail's SMTP for outbound sending. This guide provides the complete, two-step stack to get your custom address, [e-mail], working flawlessly within your personal Gmail inbox.

Part 1: Setting Up the Receiving Funnel (Cloudflare Email Routing)

Before you can send mail from your custom address, you must configure your domain to correctly receive the verification email Google will send.

Goal: Forward all mail sent to [e-mail] to your personal [e-mail] inbox.

1. Access Email Routing: Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard, select your domain, and navigate to Email > Email Routing.
2. Enable Email Routing: If this is your first time, select Enable Email Routing. Confirm to automatically add the necessary MX and TXT DNS records to your zone. These records tell the internet that Cloudflare handles your domain's incoming mail.
3. Create Custom Address: Go to the Routes tab and click Create address.
4. Define the Rule:
   • In the Custom address field, enter the prefix of your professional address (e.g., info or ez).
   • For the Action, ensure Send to an email is selected.
   • In the Destination field, enter your full personal email address (e.g., [e-mail]).
5. Save and Verify: Select Save. Cloudflare will immediately send a verification email to the destination address you provided. You must open this email and click the verification link to activate the forwarding rule.

Part 2: Configuring the Sending Mask (Gmail SMTP via App Password)

With receiving mail handled, we now configure the sending side using a security measure required by Google: a dedicated App Password.

Prerequisites: The Security KeyYou must have 2-Step Verification (2FA) enabled for your Google Account to create the unique App Password.

Generate an App Password

• Go to your Google Account's Security settings.
• In the Search Google Account field type "App passwords"
• Create a new one, name it something clear, like "Cloudflare SMTP."
• Click Create.
• Crucially, copy the 16-character password immediately. You will only see it once.

The Gmail Configuration

Add the Address to Gmail's "Send mail as" settings:

• Open Gmail. Click the Settings gear icon (⚙️) and select See all settings.
• Go to the Accounts and Import tab.
• In the "Send mail as" section, click Add another email address. Popup window will appear.
• Enter your desired sending name and your custom address (e.g., [e-mail]).
• Configure SMTP Settings: Point the connection back to Google's server using the App Password for authorization.
  • SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
  • Port: 587
  • Username: Your full Gmail address ([e-mail])
  • Password: The 16-character App Password from Step 1.
• Ensure Secured connection using TLS is selected. Click Add Account.
• Google will send a confirmation email to your custom address ([e-mail]). This email will arrive in your Gmail inbox because of the Cloudflare setup in Part 1.
• Open the email and click the confirmation link.

Finalizing Your Setup

• Reply Default: In Gmail's Settings > Accounts and Import, select "Reply from the same address the message was sent to." You can pick a new one as default in the same section.
• Update SPF Record: To ensure your emails don't end up in spam, update your domain's SPF record in Cloudflare DNS to include Google's mail servers.
• The TXT record content should be:
• v=spf1 include:_spf.mx.cloudflare.net include:_spf.google.com ~all

Once set up, you will be able to select your custom address from the "From" dropdown menu when composing any new email.

Congratulations, now you have a professional-looking email with the cost of only a domain name!