What is the maximum number of emails I can send from a dedicated IP address?

Summary

The responses consistently indicate that there is no fixed maximum number of emails that can be sent from a dedicated IP address. Instead, the sending limit is a dynamic value determined primarily by sender reputation, engagement rates, and adherence to best practices. Experts and documentation emphasize the importance of warming up the IP address by gradually increasing sending volume based on engagement and ISP feedback. Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is crucial for building and maintaining a positive sender reputation, which in turn enables higher sending volumes. Other factors, such as the email content and recipient domain, also play a role in determining deliverability.

Key findings

  • No Fixed Maximum: There's no specific, universally applicable limit to the number of emails you can send from a dedicated IP.
  • Sender Reputation is Paramount: A strong sender reputation is the primary factor determining sending capacity.
  • IP Warm-up is Critical: Gradually increasing sending volume during the IP warm-up process is essential for establishing a positive sending history.
  • Engagement Drives Volume: Higher engagement rates (opens, clicks) allow for greater sending volumes, while low engagement can negatively impact deliverability.
  • Clean List is Essential: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is vital for avoiding spam complaints and maintaining a good reputation.

Key considerations

  • Gradual Volume Increase: Implement a carefully planned IP warm-up schedule to avoid damaging your reputation.
  • Monitor Key Metrics: Continuously monitor engagement metrics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) and ISP feedback to assess email campaign health and make necessary adjustments.
  • Adapt to Recipient Domains: Be aware of potential differences in acceptance rates among various recipient domains.
  • Ensure Content Quality: Focus on sending relevant, engaging content that recipients want to receive to maximize engagement and minimize complaints.
  • Consider Redundancy: For very high-volume sending, consider using multiple IPs for redundancy and operational benefits.

What email marketers say
12Marketer opinions

The maximum number of emails you can send from a dedicated IP address is not a fixed number. It heavily depends on your sender reputation, engagement rates, and adherence to best practices. Experts recommend gradually increasing sending volume during IP warm-up, starting with a small batch and scaling up based on engagement and ISP feedback. Major mailboxes can handle large volumes, but monitoring delivery times is essential. Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is crucial to avoid being marked as spam.

Key opinions

  • Sender Reputation: Your sender reputation is the most critical factor influencing how many emails you can send. A good reputation allows for higher volumes.
  • IP Warm-up: Gradually increase sending volume during the IP warm-up process. This involves starting with a small batch and increasing it based on engagement and ISP feedback.
  • Engagement Rates: High engagement rates (opens, clicks) support higher sending volumes. Low engagement can negatively impact your reputation and deliverability.
  • List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is crucial. Removing inactive subscribers reduces the risk of being marked as spam.
  • No Hard Limit: There is no fixed maximum number of emails you can send as long as you follow best practices and maintain a good sender reputation.

Key considerations

  • Monitor Delivery Times: Ensure timely delivery by monitoring delivery times and addressing any issues with your sending infrastructure or potential throttling by email providers.
  • Domain Acceptance Rates: Be mindful of different domain acceptance rates. Some domains may accept mail slower, potentially causing issues if sending large volumes.
  • Engagement Tracking: Track engagement metrics (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) to assess the health of your email campaigns and make necessary adjustments.
  • Feedback Loops: Monitor feedback loops to identify and address any complaints or spam reports promptly.
  • Redundancy: Consider using multiple IPs for operational redundancy and deliverability headroom, especially with very high sending volumes.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that depending on your reputation, you can send as much as your customers want and your infrastructure supports. Issues arise with recipients who complain/flag your emails.

August 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Vendor Blog highlights that your sender reputation is the most significant factor. Maintain a clean and engaged email list. Then you can send significant volumes of emails. No fixed number is provided.

March 2025 - Email Vendor Blog
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that sending a lot of mail to domains like orange.fr can cause issues due to slow acceptance rates. However, it generally depends on the specific circumstances.

November 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that the amount of email you send depends on the quality of your list and IP reputation. If you have a good reputation, you can send millions. If you have low reputation start with 500 and go up from there.

July 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks agrees with Luke, stating that major mailboxes can handle a large volume of traffic. Monitoring delivery times is important to ensure timely delivery, considering potential infrastructure or Gmail throttling.

December 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailgun.com explains that during IP warmup, it's crucial to gradually increase sending volume. They recommend starting with a few thousand emails per day and slowly increasing it based on engagement and ISP feedback, rather than immediately sending a large volume.

February 2025 - Mailgun.com
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that the sending volume is tied to the quality of the emails being sent. If emails have high engagement start with 5000 emails and then double the volume every day until you reach your usual volume. This is the ramp up process you follow.

November 2022 - Mailjet.com
Marketer view

Email marketer from Quora emphasizes the importance of list hygiene. Make sure you have a clean email list with active subscribers to avoid being marked as spam. This makes the volume not really a factor as such if your reputation is in a good spot.

February 2024 - Quora
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that one IP address can handle millions of messages per day for major domains like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL. Recommends a minimum of 2 IPs, but the necessity of the extra IP is debatable.

June 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from SendGrid.com advises that the maximum number of emails you can send from a dedicated IP address depends on your sender reputation and engagement rates. They recommend starting with a small volume and gradually increasing it as your reputation improves. There is no hard limit if you follow best practices.

September 2021 - SendGrid.com
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Community Forum mentions gradually increasing sending volume over time as your IP address warms up. Start with a small batch and increase it weekly, depending on your bounce rate and engagement. Keep an eye on the feedback loops.

April 2022 - Email Marketing Community Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus.com suggests there is no fixed maximum. It depends on your sender reputation and how well you manage your email lists. Sending high volumes without proper engagement can negatively impact your reputation.

July 2022 - Litmus.com

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

The responses emphasize that there isn't a definitive 'maximum' number of emails one can send from a dedicated IP. Instead, they highlight the importance of factors like sender reputation, IP warm-up, and gradual volume scaling. Maintaining a good reputation and scaling volume based on engagement and ISP feedback are crucial for maximizing deliverability. Spreading out the volume, even with high capacity, is recommended for redundancy and operational benefits.

Key opinions

  • No Hard Maximum: There's no specific number dictating the maximum emails you can send; it's about responsible sending practices.
  • Sender Reputation is Key: Maintaining a good sender reputation is paramount. This is achieved by sending quality content to engaged subscribers.
  • IP Warm-up is Essential: Gradually increasing volume during IP warm-up is crucial for establishing a positive sending history.
  • Engagement Matters: Volume should be scaled based on engagement (opens, clicks) and complaints, not just arbitrary numbers.

Key considerations

  • Gradual Volume Increase: Implement a well-defined IP warm-up schedule to avoid damaging your reputation.
  • Operational Redundancy: Even if you can send millions from one address, consider spreading the load for redundancy and operational benefits.
  • Monitor ISP Feedback: Pay close attention to feedback from ISPs and adjust sending practices accordingly.
  • Prioritize Deliverability: Focus on deliverability over simply sending as many emails as possible. A lower volume with higher deliverability is more effective.
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource.com explains that there isn't a hard maximum but outlines a detailed IP warm-up schedule. It recommends starting with a smaller volume (e.g., a few thousand) and gradually increasing the sending volume daily, based on engagement and ISP feedback. The specific number of emails to send depends on factors such as list size and the desired warm-up period.

April 2021 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that good practice can't be defined by a number. Even with the capability to send millions daily from a single address, spreading the volume out is beneficial for operations, redundancy, and deliverability headroom.

November 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that it's not about the absolute maximum, but about maintaining a good sender reputation. Sending too much mail before you've established a good reputation can damage your deliverability. Volume should be scaled based on engagement and complaints.

September 2022 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
5Technical articles

Official documentation from various providers consistently states that there isn't a fixed maximum number of emails one can send from a dedicated IP address. Instead, sending limits are dynamic and influenced by factors like sender reputation, engagement rates, and adherence to best practices for bulk email sending. IP warm-up is emphasized as crucial for establishing a positive reputation. Sending limits start at an initial number and can be increased.

Key findings

  • No Fixed Limits: Service providers generally don't specify hard sending limits for dedicated IPs.
  • Reputation Matters: A positive sender reputation is a key determinant of how many emails you can send.
  • Dynamic Limits: Sending limits are dynamic and vary based on reputation, engagement, and content.
  • IP Warm-up: IP warm-up is essential for building a solid sending reputation.

Key considerations

  • Follow Best Practices: Adhere to best practices for bulk email sending to optimize deliverability.
  • Monitor Reputation: Regularly monitor your sender reputation to identify and address any issues.
  • Adjust Volume: Adjust sending volume based on engagement rates and ISP feedback.
  • Ramp-up Volume Gradually: Follow a ramp-up schedule to not harm IP reputation.
Technical article

Documentation from AWS states that your account starts with certain sending limits, but these can be increased by requesting an increase in sending limits. It is important to build up a good reputation first by warming up your IP address.

April 2023 - aws.amazon.com
Technical article

Documentation from Google states that they do not specify exact sending limits for dedicated IP addresses, but they emphasize the importance of building a positive sender reputation and following their best practices for sending bulk email. This will determine the amount of email you can send over time.

February 2023 - support.google.com
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft.com indicates that sending limits vary based on factors like sender reputation, engagement rates, and the type of content being sent. They advise monitoring sender reputation and adjusting sending volume accordingly. No specific number is given.

June 2024 - Microsoft.com
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost.com explains that the number of emails to send is not a fixed number and provides a comprehensive schedule for the volume ramp up during the IP warmup process, which varies based on the size of your email list and your target engagement levels.

April 2023 - SparkPost.com
Technical article

Documentation from RFC mentions no limit but states the importance of reputation, maintaining a good connection with servers and proper email format will help ensure the maximum emails can be sent.

January 2022 - RFC-Editor.org