In short
Only sending is affected, only for non-Google addresses, and only from January 2027. Receiving, forwarding into Gmail, and the mail already in your account all continue unchanged. Nothing needs to happen today - you have until January to decide where your domain's mail should live.
What's changing
Gmail's "Send mail as" setting (Settings → Accounts and Import) lets you add an outside address - typically one on your own domain - along with SMTP credentials, so you can pick it in the From dropdown and send as that address from inside Gmail. Google has announced it is removing this for addresses that aren't hosted by Google, on the web and in the Gmail mobile apps.
Two related features go at the same time: Gmailify, which links an outside Yahoo or Outlook account into Gmail, and POP fetching on the web - the "Check mail from other accounts" setting that pulls messages from an outside mailbox into Gmail.
It is worth separating that last one from a setting with a similar name. Gmail's own IMAP and POP access is not affected. Connecting Apple Mail or Outlook to your Gmail account works exactly as before. What is going away is Gmail reaching out to fetch mail from someone else's server, not other clients reaching in to Gmail.
If you have been troubleshooting the feature recently, the existing Send mail as troubleshooting guide still applies until the change lands.
The dates
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | In-product notices begin. Google starts surfacing notices inside Gmail to accounts that use the feature. Nothing changes functionally at this point. |
| Q3-Q4 2026 | New configurations may be restricted. Adding a new non-Google address to "Send mail as" may stop being possible before the feature is fully removed. Existing addresses keep sending. |
| January 2027 | Removal. "Send mail as" stops working for addresses that are not hosted by Google, on the web and in the Gmail mobile apps. |
The practical read: the only date that changes how your email behaves is January 2027. The earlier milestones are notice and enrolment, not breakage.
What still works
This is the part that determines how much you actually have to do, and it is a longer list than the change itself. Sending is the only thing being removed.
Receiving, in full. Mail sent to you@yourdomain.com still lands in your Gmail inbox. Nothing about the inbound path is part of this change.
Auto-forwarding into Gmail. Google's FAQ says explicitly that auto-forwarding is unaffected. If your domain forwards mail into Gmail, it keeps forwarding into Gmail.
Everything already in your mailbox. Mail you have already received is not deleted. Your Gmail account remains a complete, searchable archive after January 2027.
Gmail's own IMAP and POP. Connecting Gmail to Apple Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird over IMAP or POP is unaffected. That is a different setting from the one being removed.
"Send as" for Google addresses. Sending as another Gmail address you own, or as an alias on a Google Workspace domain, continues to work normally.
Third-party accounts in the Gmail app. Adding a non-Google mailbox as its own account over IMAP is a different feature from "Send mail as" and isn't part of this announcement - which means the app can still be your client for a mailbox hosted anywhere.
Who this affects
Anyone who uses "Send mail as" with an address that isn't hosted by Google. The clearest way to check: open Gmail's Accounts settings and look at the addresses listed under "Send mail as". If one of them is on your own domain and that domain's mail isn't hosted by Google Workspace, it is affected.
In practice, that is:
- People running a custom domain through a personal Gmail account - forwarding in, SMTP relay out. This is the largest group, and it includes anyone using SendMailAs today.
- People with a mailbox at their registrar or web host who send through Gmail rather than the host's webmail.
- Anyone using Gmailify, or Gmail's "Check mail from other accounts" POP fetching.
Not affected:
- Google Workspace users whose domain is hosted by Google, including their aliases.
- Anyone sending as a second Gmail address they own.
- Anyone who only receives mail for their domain in Gmail via forwarding, and doesn't send from it.
Your options
If you want to keep sending from your own domain, the address has to live somewhere that provides its own sending. Here are the realistic choices, with the trade-off that actually matters for each. We build one of these, and we have tried to describe the others the way we would want ours described.
One thing that applies to all of them: because forwarding into Gmail is unaffected, you can point a copy of your mail at Gmail no matter which provider you pick - so your Gmail stays a live archive while you settle in. And because the Gmail app still supports third-party IMAP accounts, any provider with IMAP can be read in the app you already use on your phone.
Google Workspace
Google hosts your domain's mail directly, so your custom address becomes a Google address.
- Good if
- You want the Gmail interface you already know, with nothing to relearn, and you already lean on Docs, Drive, or Meet. Because your domain becomes Google-hosted, this change does not apply to you at all.
- Trade-off
- It is priced per user per month, so the cost grows with headcount and it is the most expensive per-mailbox option here. Your domain also lives in a separate Google account from your personal Gmail, so you are switching accounts rather than adding an address to the one you have.
- Price
- From roughly $7 per user per month.
Fastmail
An independent paid mail host with its own web app, custom domain support, IMAP and JMAP.
- Good if
- You are willing to leave Gmail's interface for a fast, ad-free web client. It has proper import tooling to bring a Gmail archive across, generous alias handling, and masked-email addresses.
- Trade-off
- There is no free tier and pricing is per user. You are also learning a new interface - the search and filtering are genuinely good, but they are not Gmail's, and muscle memory takes a few weeks. It is an Australian company, which matters if you have jurisdiction requirements.
- Price
- Roughly $5-6 per user per month.
Zoho Mail
Mail hosting with a real free tier for a single domain and a small number of users.
- Good if
- Cost is the deciding factor, or you want to try custom-domain hosting without paying for it first.
- Trade-off
- The free plan is web and mobile-app only - no IMAP or POP - so you cannot use it with Apple Mail, Outlook, or the Gmail app until you are on a paid plan. Setup is heavier than the others, with an admin console built for larger organisations, and the interface steadily suggests the rest of the Zoho suite.
- Price
- Free tier available; paid mailboxes start around $1 per user per month.
Migadu
Mail hosting priced on volume rather than per mailbox - every plan includes unlimited domains, mailboxes, and aliases.
- Good if
- You run several domains, or you want a lot of addresses without paying per address. It is the cheapest way to hold many domains in one place.
- Trade-off
- It assumes you are comfortable with DNS and email concepts, and it will not hold your hand. The included webmail is functional rather than polished, support is email-only, and if your sending or receiving volume grows you move up a tier.
- Price
- From around $19 per year at the smallest tier.
Your provider's own webmail
Many registrars and web hosts already include mailboxes with a domain or hosting plan you are paying for.
- Good if
- Check this before you buy anything else. If your host already gives you a mailbox on your domain, you may need nothing more than to start using it.
- Trade-off
- Quality varies enormously. Spam filtering is frequently much weaker than Gmail's, webmail clients are often dated, and deliverability rides on a shared reputation you do not control. Some registrars offer only forwarding rather than real mailboxes, which does not solve sending at all.
- Price
- Often already included in what you pay.
SendMailAs
Today, we configure the DNS, authentication, and SMTP that make Gmail's "Send mail as" work properly. We are building real mailboxes, our own webmail, and IMAP so that your domain's email stops depending on that feature.
- Good if
- You are already set up with us, or you want the change to be as small as possible: keep forwarding into Gmail, and move only the sending. The Gmail path keeps working until January either way.
- Trade-off
- The mailbox and webmail aren't finished yet. If you need a working inbox on your domain this week, one of the options above is the honest answer, and we would rather you had working email than waited on us. We also don't import your existing mail - it stays in Gmail as an archive.
- Price
- First domain free, $49/year for unlimited domains today - see pricing.
There is also a fair answer that isn't on the list: if the custom address was mostly a nicety, you can let it go and keep forwarding mail into Gmail, replying from your Gmail address. Receiving is unaffected by any of this, and that costs nothing.
What we're building
SendMailAs was built on the feature that is going away, so we are moving the product off it. Three pieces:
- Real mailboxes on your domain. Mail is stored for you rather than only forwarded onwards.
- Our own webmail. A place to read and send from your address in a browser, without needing Gmail to do the sending.
- IMAP. So Apple Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird, and the Gmail mobile app can all use the mailbox.
The part we think matters most is that you don't have to commit to find out. Your Gmail keeps receiving everything while you try the new inbox, because forwarding is unaffected - so there is nothing to undo and nothing to migrate if you decide against it.
On timing: this ships before Google's January change. We are deliberately not publishing a date, because a date is a promise we can't yet be sure of keeping and the commitment that matters is that it is ready before you need it.
Get told when it's ready
We'll email you once you can send from your domain without Gmail's Send-as. No other email, ever.
Frequently asked questions
No. Receiving is unaffected. Mail sent to your address keeps arriving in your Gmail exactly as it does today, because auto-forwarding into Gmail is not part of this change. The only thing that stops is sending from a non-Google address inside Gmail.
No. This change is about sending, not storage - Google hasn't announced anything about deleting or archiving mail you've already received. It stays exactly where it is, and your Gmail account keeps working as a full archive of everything you have ever received - including after January 2027.
No. Nothing breaks today, and nothing breaks in October. If you use "Send mail as" with your own domain, the useful thing to do now is decide where you want that address to live by January 2027. There is no emergency and no deadline before then.
No. If your domain is hosted by Google Workspace, your addresses are Google addresses, so sending, aliases, and send-as between your own Workspace addresses all continue to work. This change only affects addresses that are not hosted by Google.
Nothing. Google's own FAQ states that auto-forwarding is unaffected. If mail for you@yourdomain.com is forwarded into your Gmail inbox, it keeps being forwarded into your Gmail inbox after January 2027.
Yes, but as a different mechanism from the one being removed. What's going away is "Send mail as" - composing from a non-Google address while staying inside your Gmail account, on the web and in the Gmail apps. Adding a mailbox as its own account in the Gmail app over IMAP is unrelated and isn't part of this announcement, so if you move your domain's mailbox to another provider, you can still add it to the Gmail app on Android or iOS as a separate account and read and send from there.
No. Gmail's IMAP and POP access - the setting that lets Apple Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird connect to your Gmail - is unaffected. What is being removed is the opposite direction: Gmail fetching mail from an outside account over POP on the web, along with Gmailify.