What are the limitations to sending emails via gmail and what alternatives are there for time sensitive emails?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests looking at methods other than SMTP to deliver the data.
Email marketer from SuperOffice explains that when you're wanting to mass email, a dedicated email marketing platform is required to handle large email campaigns efficiently and effectively, with features like segmentation, automation, and analytics.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/SMTPGuru suggests that using an SMTP service provides better control over email delivery and avoids the limitations of Gmail, especially for bulk or time-critical emails.
Email marketer from Mailtrap Blog shares that Gmail imposes limits on the number of emails you can send per day to prevent spam and maintain server performance. They suggest using a dedicated email sending service for higher volumes.
Email marketer from Quora user EmailEnthusiast suggests that using a professional email service with its own domain improves email deliverability and brand reputation compared to using a free Gmail account.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailPro responds that for time-sensitive emails, transactional email services like SendGrid or Mailgun are better options than Gmail due to their reliability and speed.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Gmail has a receiving limit of 3,600 emails per hour and that Google defers emails until the limit resets. A self-hosted server might be a solution, but MTA settings need tuning.
Email marketer from Google Support explains that Gmail has daily sending limits, which vary based on account type. Exceeding these limits can result in temporary account restrictions.
Email marketer from Gmass explains that while Gmail is convenient for personal emails, it is not designed for mass email marketing due to sending limits and potential deliverability issues. For marketing campaigns, it recommends using a dedicated email marketing platform.
Email marketer from StackOverflow user EmailDev explains that for mission critical and time sensitive email you can't guarantee delivery with personal email addresses, and using a dedicated SMTP server or transactional email service helps ensure timely delivery of emails, which Gmail cannot provide at high volumes.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource, John Levine, explains that Gmail isn't really suitable for anything other than small volume sending due to its limitations on sending volume and the risk of being flagged as spam if you try to send too many emails at once. Recommends using a proper email sending service for anything beyond personal correspondence.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests not hosting time-sensitive applications on someone else's server and recommends spinning up your own server.
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, responds that Gmail isn't designed for fast or reliable email sending, and it's a poor choice for time-sensitive emails. For anything time sensitive using transaction email is better or self hosting.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that the RFC for email specifies retries for 5 days but does not limit how long email can take in flight. Shares experience of a message delayed over a year.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that there have been cases where email delivery has taken several decades end-to-end.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help states that Google limits the number of messages you can receive to keep Gmail efficient and accounts safe. The documentation refers to automated messages in their limit.
Documentation from Amazon SES states that it is a scalable and cost-effective email service that provides an SMTP interface, making it suitable for sending large volumes of emails reliably. This is useful when gmail sending limits are hit.
Documentation from Mailgun states that their robust infrastructure and deliverability tools are specifically designed for sending high volumes of transactional and marketing emails, ensuring better deliverability than standard Gmail accounts.
Documentation from Sendgrid states that they have infrastructure to ensure email is delivered quickly, but time taken varies depending on many factors outside of their control such as internet speeds. They suggest to use thier SMTP server for mass sending of email.