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Email Tutorial

Self-hosted email in 2026: DKIM, SPF, and DMARC made simple

Running your own mail server used to be terrifying. Here's how Simplewala makes it approachable — and why it's worth it.

Simplewala Team •

The conventional wisdom is: don't run your own mail server. It's complicated, it breaks, and your email ends up in spam. That wisdom made sense in 2010 when configuring Postfix required reading a 500-page book.

In 2026, with the right tools, self-hosted email is a legitimate choice — especially if you want control over your data, no per-user pricing, and full inbox access.

Why run your own email?

  • No per-mailbox fees — Google Workspace charges per user. Your own server costs the same whether you have 2 or 200 mailboxes.
  • Data ownership — Email stays on your server, not in a provider's data centre.
  • Custom domains — mail@yourdomain.com, not gmail.com.
  • Full control — IMAP, aliases, forwarding rules, and quotas configured exactly how you need them.

The three things that matter for deliverability

SPF — Sender Policy Framework

SPF is a DNS TXT record that says "only these IP addresses are allowed to send email for my domain." Receiving servers check it before accepting your email. 

; SPF DNS record
yourdomain.com.  TXT  "v=spf1 ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP ~all"

DKIM — DomainKeys Identified Mail

DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to every outbound message. The receiving server looks up your public key in DNS and verifies the signature. If it matches, the message is authenticated.

Simplewala generates a DKIM key pair during the email installer and shows you the exact DNS record to add:

; DKIM DNS record (Simplewala generates this for you)
mail._domainkey.yourdomain.com.  TXT  "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjANBg..."

DMARC — Domain-based Message Authentication

DMARC tells receiving servers what to do when SPF or DKIM fails — reject it, quarantine it, or do nothing (for monitoring). It also sends aggregate reports back to you. 

; DMARC DNS record
_dmarc.yourdomain.com.  TXT  "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com"

Setting up with Simplewala

The email installer handles all of this:

  1. Go to Email → Install email server on your server.
  2. Enter your mail domain (e.g. yourdomain.com).
  3. Click Install. Postfix, Dovecot, and Roundcube are installed and configured.
  4. The installer shows you the exact MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to add to your DNS.
  5. Add those records, wait 15 minutes for propagation, and send a test email.

Testing your email setup

Use mail-tester.com to verify your setup. Send an email to their temporary address and you'll get a deliverability score with specific issues to fix.

A properly configured Simplewala email server should score 9–10/10.

What about spam filtering?

The email installer includes SpamAssassin for inbound filtering. For outbound, your clean IP and correct DNS records are the most important factors. New IP addresses may take 1–2 weeks to build a good reputation — this is normal.

Is it worth it?

For teams of 5+ people paying $6/user/month for Google Workspace, a self-hosted mail server on a $18/month Simplewala server pays for itself in the first month.

For solo developers and small agencies, the data ownership and unlimited mailboxes are worth the 30 minutes of initial setup.

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