---
title: "Getting Started: Connect Your Email Provider"
url: "https://plugpress.co/docs/mailyard-getting-started.md"
canonical: "https://plugpress.co/docs/mailyard-getting-started/"
published: "2026-07-28"
modified: "2026-07-28"
author: "Fahim"
tags:
  - "Mailyard"
---

# Getting Started: Connect Your Email Provider

Mailyard's setup is deliberately short: pick a provider, paste your API key, set the address you send from. That's the whole thing — no code, no config files.

## Install and connect

1. Search for **"Mailyard"** in Plugins → Add New, or [download it free from WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailyard/) and upload the zip — then activate.
2. Open the **Mailyard** menu in your admin sidebar.
3. Pick a provider, enter your API key, and set your sender address.
4. Hit **Send test** on the Dashboard to confirm mail is flowing.

If the test lands in your inbox, your password resets and order emails will too.

## Which provider should I pick?

- **Resend** — easiest to start with: one key and you're sending in five minutes.
- **Postmark** — best inbox placement, made for stores; it only carries transactional mail, so its sending reputation stays clean.
- **Brevo** (was Sendinblue) — all-in-one platform with 300 free emails a day, plenty for a small site.
- **Amazon SES** — about $0.10 per 1,000 emails; nothing beats it at volume.
- **Custom SMTP** — any SMTP server or relay, Gmail app passwords included.
- **Default PHP mail** — your host's server. No setup, but don't count on it.

Already have an account somewhere? Just use that — Mailyard doesn't care which one you choose.

**Gmail or Microsoft 365:** personal Gmail works through Custom SMTP with an app password. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have switched off basic SMTP auth, so use Resend or Postmark for those.

## Add a backup provider

In the **Connections** tab, click Add, set up a second provider, enable it, and drag it below your main one. If the main provider fails, the backup takes over automatically — on the same send. See [Email Failover and Smart Sender Routing](/docs/email-failover-sender-routing/) for how this works.

## Coming from another SMTP plugin?

Deactivate your current mail plugin (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, Post SMTP, whichever) before activating Mailyard. Two mailers running at once cause conflicts — Mailyard will warn you if it spots one.

## Where are my API keys stored?

In your WordPress database, like any SMTP plugin's settings. They're only ever sent to the provider they belong to — never to us, never anywhere else. Mailyard doesn't phone home and doesn't track you.

## Next steps

Once mail is flowing, run the [deliverability checker](/docs/email-logs-deliverability/) on your sending domain — a missing SPF or DKIM record is usually the reason email lands in spam, and Mailyard tells you the exact DNS line to add.