Gmail SMTP vs SMTP2GO for WordPress –

Gmail SMTP plugin allows you to authenticate with your Gmail account to send email via Gmail SMTP server. Most shared hosting servers have restrictions when it comes to email. Usually email will get blocked or missing for no reason. Sometimes it will get blocked when your website reaches the daily limit of outgoing email. This plugin can bypass this issue by routing the email through Gmail’s SMTP server. Gmail SMTP Add-ons Reply-To Cc Email Logger Gmail SMTP Benefits Gmail SMTP plugin is not like most SMTP plugins. It uses the OAuth 2.0 protocol to authorize access to the Gmail API – which means a more secure login system and users won’t have to enter any username or password. Gmail SMTP plugin uses PHPMailer – a very popular library used for sending email through PHP’s mail function. This libary is also used in the core WordPress to send email. Gmail SMTP plugin utilizes “wp_mail” (A function used by WordPress to send email) instead of completely overriding it. This way you still get all the benefits of the default mail function. You no longer need to enable Allow less secure apps on your gmail account to fix SMTP connection issue. This issue became prominent from December 2014, when Google started imposing XOAUTH2 authentication (based on OAuth2) to access their apps. This issue still affects almost all the SMTP plugins because they authenticate via username and password. How OAuth 2.0 Authorization Works You register an application in the Google Developers Console. The application is launched and it requests that you give it access to data in your Google account. If you consent, the application receives credentials to access the Gmail API. Gmail SMTP Features Configure your website to send email using Gmail SMTP server Authenticate using OAuth 2.0 protocol Authenticate with encryption when sending an email (TLS/SSL) Gmail SMTP Basic Setup Create a new project in Google Developers Console. Enable Gmail API in it. Create credentials (OAuth client ID) to access this API. Configure the consent screen for the web application. Enter a Product Name and a Privacy policy URL. Once the consent screen is configured, create a web application. Go to the plugin settings (Settings->Gmail SMTP). Set the Authorized Redirect URL of the application as the one shown in the settings. Finish creating the web app. Copy the newly created Client ID and Client secret and paste into the settings area. Enter your OAuth Email, From Email and From name. Select an encryption. Enter a port number. Save the settings. Now you can authorize your application to access the Gmail API by clicking on the Grant Permission button. Once the application has been authorized Gmail SMTP plugin will be able to take control of all outgoing email. Gmail SMTP Settings Authorized Redirect URI: Authorized redirect URL for your website. You need to copy this URL into your web application. Client ID: The client ID of your web application. Client secret: The client secret of your web application. OAuth Email Address: The email address that you will use for SMTP authentication. This should be the same email used in the Google Developers Console. From Email Address: The email address which will be used as the From Address when sending an email. From Name: The name which will be used as the From Name when sending an email. Type of Encryption: The encryption which will be used when sending an email (TLS/SSL. TLS is recommended). SMTP Port: The port which will be used when sending an email. If you choose TLS it should be set to 587. For SSL use port 465 instead. Disable SSL Certificate Verification: As of PHP 5.6 a warning/error will be displayed if the SSL certificate on the server is not properly configured. You can check this option to disable that default behaviour. Gmail SMTP Test Email Once you have configured the settings you can send a test email to check the functionality of the plugin. To: Email address of the recipient. Subject: Subject of the email. Message: Email body. For detailed setup instructions please visit the Gmail SMTP plugin page.

SMTP2GO’s WordPress plugin replaces the default built in wp_mail() functionality (phpmailer) and sends your email via SMTP2GO’s API and industry leading email delivery platform. SMTP2GO provides valuable insights into every aspect of your email’s life cycle, enabling you to track delivery rates, opens, clicks, and bounce rates. Whether your email is transactional, marketing, newsletter, contact form, or notification – we have got you covered. The main benefits of using the official SMTP2GO plugin: We have made our plugin as easy and low maintenance as possible – you can set it up in under ten minutes. Take over from the default WordPress email system for more reliable delivery – you can be confident your emails have arrived at their destination inbox successfully. Get access to our intuitive real-time reporting tools. You can uncover what is going on behind the scenes with delivery, open rates, click rates, bounce, and unsubscription reports. We offer secure worldwide servers with intelligent routing for network redundancy and speedy delivery. We handle SPF and DKIM on your behalf. SMTP2GO can even turn your “http” links into “https”. Diagnose and resolve delivery issues with our insightful reporting page, or reach out to our award-winning support team who are available almost 24/7 to help address problems in a timely, friendly fashion. We have a dedicated Review team who constantly monitor the reputations of our IP’s and we proactively alert members to any suspicious changes in their email regimen. Avoid poor reputation and throttling or limitations from over-used shared web hosts and other providers. Sign up here. Support If you have questions or need assistance then feel free to contact the support team by logging into your SMTP2GO dashboard and clicking the support icon on the top right navigation bar. More information on this plugin is available in our knowledgebase. About SMTP2GO Founded in 2006, SMTP2GO is a fast and scalable world class email service provider for sending transactional and marketing emails. It is developed and supported by a team of delivery experts at the forefront of the email industry, providing a reliable SMTP solution for over 35,000 businesses. Complexities such as reputation monitoring, SPF and DKIM are professionally managed for each customer. Native-English speaking support is available worldwide (agents in the USA, EU, UK, Australia, and New Zealand). Our data centers are located around the world, meaning lightning-fast connection speeds, network redundancy, and GDPR compliance.