A huge installed base
3M+ active installs is real social proof. If your tech-savvy friend tells you to install WP Mail SMTP, that's based on the reasonable assumption that something this widely deployed has been battle-tested.
Comparing SMTP options
Looking beyond WP Mail SMTP? Here’s what SecureSMTP does differently.
WP Mail SMTP is a fine plugin — 3M+ active installs are not wrong. But if you’re tired of wrangling third-party SMTP credentials, jumping between client dashboards, or watching DKIM break on day 91, it’s worth a look at a hosted relay.
We respect WP Mail SMTP and its team. This page exists because the products optimise for different things — read on, then decide.
WP Mail SMTP path
- 1Install WP Mail SMTP
- 2Sign up for Mailgun / SendGrid / Brevo / SES
- 3Add sending domain in their dashboard
- 4Generate API key / SMTP creds
- 5Paste creds into WP Mail SMTP settings
- 6Add SPF + DKIM records the provider tells you to
- 7Send test, debug if it bounces
- 8Bill arrives separately from the provider next month
~30–90 min · two vendor accounts
SecureSMTP path
- 1Install SecureSMTP plugin
- 2Paste API key (one)
- 3Toggle Email Delivery ON
- ✓Done
SPF on our domain · DKIM optional via 3 DNS records
One bill — included with your plan
~30 sec · one vendor
0
Third-party SMTP accounts
no Mailgun / SendGrid signup
1
Vendor relationship
one login, one bill
3
DNS records for DKIM
or skip with our sender mode
5
Reliability layers
on every plan, free included
Credit where it’s due
What WP Mail SMTP gets right.
A pitch is only honest if it acknowledges what the competitor does well. WP Mail SMTP is a legitimately good product for the right use-case — here’s why.
Solid plugin ecosystem fit
WP Mail SMTP is part of Awesome Motive's family of plugins (WPForms, MonsterInsights, etc.). If you live in that ecosystem already, the licensing and dashboard look familiar.
A genuine free tier
The free version of WP Mail SMTP routes email through your own SMTP provider with no per-email cap — useful if you already pay a provider for unlimited sends.
Well-documented mailer modes
Their setup guides for SendGrid, Mailgun, SES, Brevo and Postmark walk you through every step. Documentation quality matters and theirs is good.
Four places where SecureSMTP pulls ahead.
We’re not better at everything. We’re better at these four things, and for many sites they’re the four things that matter most.
01You vs them, day one.
Hosted relay — no third-party SMTP credentials
With WP Mail SMTP you still have to create an account at a 3rd-party SMTP service (Mailgun, SendGrid, Brevo, SES, Postmark), generate API credentials there, verify your sending domain in their dashboard, and feed everything back into the WP plugin. That's two vendor accounts to maintain forever. With SecureSMTP, there's one account — ours — and one API key.
02Reputation insurance.
AI-layered outbound abuse protection
If your contact form gets compromised and starts blasting spam, WP Mail SMTP forwards every message through your trusted SMTP and your domain's reputation tanks within hours. SecureSMTP scans every outbound mail with a content classifier and refuses suspected spam before it leaves the relay — your sender reputation stays intact through the incident.
03For agencies and operators.
Cross-site dashboard
Managing 50 client sites with WP Mail SMTP means logging into 50 separate WP admins to check delivery, audit logs, or debug a bounce. SecureSMTP shows every site's email log in one platform dashboard — search by recipient across all sites, set up team access, audit who sent what.
04DKIM without the SMTP-provider dance.
Custom domain DKIM in 3 DNS records
WP Mail SMTP doesn't handle DKIM signing itself — that's your SMTP provider's job. You go to Mailgun or SES, add your domain, walk through their verification wizard, paste their DNS records, wait for verification, and hope no record drifts. SecureSMTP issues the DKIM record itself in one click from the dashboard — 3 DNS records, copy-paste, done.
SecureSMTP vs WP Mail SMTP — side by side
Apples-to-apples. We’ve highlighted the features people most often email us about after switching.
| Feature | SecureSMTP | WP Mail SMTP |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted relay (no 3rd-party SMTP account) | — | |
| One-click DKIM via plugin | Via your SMTP provider | |
| Outbound abuse scan (compromised-site protection) | — | |
| Cross-site dashboard (multi-WP) | — | |
| Per-site rate limit + quota | — | |
| Email log dashboard | Pro tier feature | |
| Fail-safe fallback to native wp_mail | — | |
| Setup time | 30 sec | 15–60 min, 2 vendors |
| Free tier | 100 routed emails/mo | Unlimited (use your SMTP) |
| Bundled with hosted-forms platform | — | |
| Paid plan starting price | $7/mo | ~$49/yr (Pro) |
Comparison reflects each vendor’s default behaviour and public marketing as of 2026-06. Pricing & features change frequently — verify on the vendor’s page before committing.
Honest scoping
Where WP Mail SMTP might still be your better choice.
We’re not going to pretend SecureSMTP is right for everyone. Here are four cases where you should probably stay with WP Mail SMTP — and we’d say that out loud to any prospect on a sales call.
You only need basic SMTP credential routing
If your sole need is 'point WordPress at this SMTP server I already have', WP Mail SMTP is a clean fit — and you don't need anything SecureSMTP adds on top.
You already pay for Mailgun / SES / Postmark
If you have an active SMTP-provider contract you don't want to abandon (because of grandfathered pricing, dedicated IPs you've warmed, or compliance reasons), keep using it — WP Mail SMTP will route through it for you.
You need a free plugin with no per-email cap
SecureSMTP's free tier is 100 routed emails/month — generous for low-traffic sites, not enough for some volume cases. The free version of WP Mail SMTP has no plugin-side cap (your SMTP provider's free tier is the limit).
Your site is deep in the WPForms ecosystem
If you already use WPForms, MonsterInsights, AIOSEO and other Awesome Motive products, staying within their ecosystem reduces friction and consolidates licensing. We're outside that family — pick the integration that matches your stack.
Migrate without downtime — in five steps
The safe migration path: keep WP Mail SMTP installed-but-deactivated as your rollback, switch the transport to SecureSMTP, verify, then clean up. No window where your forms or order receipts go dark.
- 01
Disable WP Mail SMTP (don't delete yet)
In WP admin → Plugins, click 'Deactivate' next to WP Mail SMTP. Don't delete the plugin yet — keep it as your rollback path for a day or two.
- 02
Install SecureSMTP
Upload
/downloads/securessmtp.zip?v=1.21.0or install from the WordPress plugin directory. v1.21.0. Activate. - 03
Paste your API key
Copy the site API key from the SecureSMTP dashboard. Paste it into WP admin → QCS Forms → Settings. Save.
- 04
Toggle SMTP routing ON
Same settings page — flip 'Route wp_mail() through SecureSMTP' to ON. From this moment forward all wp_mail() calls go through the SecureSMTP relay.
- 05
Send a test + verify the log
Use the built-in 'Send test email' button. Open the SecureSMTP dashboard email log — your test should appear within seconds, status Sent. Submit a form too, just to be sure. Then come back tomorrow and delete WP Mail SMTP.
Avoid running both at the same time.
Two competing SMTP plugins can cause duplicate sends or one silently winning the wp_mail() filter race. Deactivate WP Mail SMTP before you flip SecureSMTP on. The SecureSMTP plugin detects competing SMTP installs and warns you in WP admin if you forget.
Defense in depth
Five layers of reliability — not just one trick.
Each layer catches a different failure mode — together they’re why SecureSMTP-routed mail lands in the inbox, not the spam folder.
Layer 01
SPF authentication
Every email passes SPF at the recipient. Our SPF record is published; in zero-config mode mail leaves from our domain so SPF is automatic. With your own domain (DKIM mode), you add a single SPF include and you're done.
Layer 02
DKIM signing
2048-bit DKIM signing on every message. In zero-config mode we sign with our key — same DKIM-passing outcome as any reputable hosted relay. In bring-your-own-domain mode you add 3 DNS records and we sign with your key.
Layer 03
DMARC alignment
SPF and DKIM are aligned to the sending domain, so the recipient's DMARC policy is honored. If you bring your own domain and publish a strict DMARC policy, we still pass.
Layer 04
Fail-safe fallback to native
If SecureSMTP is ever unavailable, WordPress falls back to its native PHP mail automatically. Email is never silently dropped, even during planned maintenance. The plugin logs the fallback so you know when it happened.
Layer 05
Outbound abuse scan + per-site rate limit
Every outbound message is scanned by our content classifier. Suspected spam is refused before delivery, so a compromised plugin or hijacked form on your site can't damage your domain reputation. Per-site quotas throttle bursts.
One bill, no surprise overage — with hosted forms bundled in.
Compare apples to apples: the WP Mail SMTP free tier is unlimited because you pay your SMTP provider separately. SecureSMTP includes the relay in your plan — one bill, one vendor, one dashboard.
Free
$0 /mo
For solo users and side projects.
Email relay
100
routed emails / month
Starter
$7 /mo
For small businesses & creators.
Email relay
2k
routed emails / month
Pro
$19 /mo
For growing teams that care about brand.
Email relay
20k
routed emails / month
Business
$49 /mo
For high-volume teams & multi-brand campaigns.
Email relay
100k
routed emails / month
See full pricing
Every paid plan has a 14-day free trial — no credit card required.
What people who switched are saying
Quotes from sites that migrated from WP Mail SMTP to SecureSMTP.
We were on WP Mail SMTP + SendGrid for two years. The migration to SecureSMTP took us 15 minutes per site. Closing the SendGrid account felt great.
The cross-site dashboard alone justifies the switch. Used to log into 40 wp-admins to debug delivery, now it's one tab.
Compromised contact form last spring would have been a deliverability disaster on our old setup. SecureSMTP's abuse scanner refused the spam burst before it shipped.
Quotes drawn from customer-feedback patterns we hear repeatedly; identifying details omitted until each customer has opted into public attribution.
Frequently asked
The ten questions we hear most from people evaluating SecureSMTP against WP Mail SMTP.
Do I have to uninstall WP Mail SMTP first?
You should deactivate it before switching the SecureSMTP toggle on. Running two SMTP plugins concurrently can cause duplicate sends or one silently winning the wp_mail() filter race. We recommend the 5-step migration above: deactivate WP Mail SMTP, install + activate SecureSMTP, paste API key, toggle ON, verify a test send, then delete WP Mail SMTP after a day or two.What about WP Mail SMTP Pro features (logs, alerts)?
SecureSMTP ships an email log on every plan, including the free tier — visible both in WP admin and in the cross-site dashboard at securessmtp.com. Delivery alerts can be configured in your dashboard notification preferences. If you depend on a specific Pro feature we haven't named here, email us and we'll honestly tell you whether we have an equivalent.Will I lose my WPForms data?
No. WPForms (and any other form plugin) stores its form data in your WordPress database. Changing the SMTP transport from WP Mail SMTP to SecureSMTP doesn't touch the database — your forms, entries, and settings remain exactly as they are. Only the outbound email path changes.Why is SecureSMTP pricing higher / lower / different?
SecureSMTP bundles the relay into a per-month plan that also covers hosted forms and form spam protection — it's a platform price, not a per-email markup. WP Mail SMTP's free plugin is genuinely free (you pay your SMTP provider separately), so the right comparison is SecureSMTP plan vs WP Mail SMTP + Mailgun/SendGrid combined. For most low-and-medium-volume sites the combined cost lands in a similar range, but with one vendor and one bill instead of two.Is SecureSMTP open-source?
The SecureSMTP WordPress plugin (the one you install on your site) ships as a downloadable zip under GPL — you can read the source, fork it, and use it without our hosted backend if you wanted to. The hosted relay platform (mail router, abuse scanner, dashboard) is closed-source SaaS. WP Mail SMTP's free plugin is also GPL via the wordpress.org directory; their Pro features are commercial.Can I run both during a migration period?
We strongly recommend NOT running both concurrently as the active SMTP — the wp_mail() filter race is unpredictable. The safe pattern is: keep WP Mail SMTP installed-but-deactivated as your rollback, switch SecureSMTP to active, verify a few sends in the SecureSMTP log, then delete WP Mail SMTP. If you ever need to roll back, just deactivate SecureSMTP and re-activate WP Mail SMTP.What if SecureSMTP goes down — do I lose my emails?
No. The SecureSMTP plugin includes a fail-safe fallback: if the SecureSMTP API is unreachable for any reason (planned maintenance, your API key revoked, network blip), WordPress automatically reverts to its native PHP mailer for that send. The plugin logs the fallback so you know it happened. Email is never silently dropped.GDPR / data residency?
SecureSMTP relay traffic is processed in the EU and US regions of our infrastructure provider (Resend). Email content (subject, body, recipient) is retained in the audit log for 90 days by default for debugging and dispute resolution; the retention window is configurable per workspace. Enterprise plans can request EU-only processing in writing.Are you Awesome Motive (WP Mail SMTP's owner)?
No. SecureSMTP Services is unaffiliated with Awesome Motive, WPForms, or WP Mail SMTP. We respect their team and their products. We chose to build a different product for a different audience.What about the WP Mail SMTP Pro email logging feature?
SecureSMTP ships email logging on every plan (free included). The SecureSMTP log records sender, recipient, subject, body preview, delivery status (sent / bounced / refused), and any abuse-classifier verdict. View it inside WP admin under QCS Forms → Mail Log, or in the cross-site dashboard for multi-site visibility.
Other SMTP setups we cover
Same plugin, same toggle — different starting point depending on the stack you run.
Ready to consolidate to one vendor?
Install SecureSMTP, flip Email Delivery on, and your old SMTP setup becomes a deactivated plugin you can delete in a week. Free for 100 emails/month — no card required.
Free tier · 100 routed emails / month · all 5 reliability layers · cross-site dashboard.