The whole thing is three stages — add the domain, publish the records, wait for verification — and about 3 minutes of actual work. It costs nothing beyond the domain you already pay your registrar for.
- What you need
- A domainBought from any registrar. You keep it where it is.
- What you need
- Its DNS panelAccess to add records to the zone. Nameservers stay put.
- What you need
- An accountA free @omucloud.co address is enough to get going.
Three stages, about 3 minutes
Add the domain you own
Inside Omucloud. No DNS yet.
Create your Omucloud account
Sign up with a free @omucloud.co address. This is the account that will own your custom domain and hold your mail.
Add the domain you own
Open Settings, enter your domain (for example yourcompany.com) and add it. Omucloud registers it for sending and receiving and returns the DNS records it needs.
Publish the records at your registrar
The only stage that happens somewhere else.
Publish the DNS records at your registrar
In your registrar's DNS panel, add the MX record so mail routes to us, the TXT SPF record so receivers know we may send for you, and the DKIM record that cryptographically signs your outgoing mail. Copy each name and value exactly.
Verify, then start sending
Omucloud watches DNS for you.
Wait for verification
DNS changes usually propagate within minutes. Omucloud re-checks in the background and the status flips to verified once every record is visible.
Create your addresses and start sending
Once verified, create as many addresses on the domain as you need — hello@, sales@, one per person. Mail addressed to them arrives in your inbox and the composer sends from your own address.
The records
What each DNS record does
- MX
- Tells the internet which server accepts mail for your domain. Without it, inbound mail never reaches your inbox.
- TXT (SPF)
- Authorises Omucloud to send mail on behalf of your domain, so receiving providers don't treat it as spoofed.
- TXT (DKIM)
- Publishes the public key used to sign your outgoing mail, proving it wasn't altered in transit.
Omucloud gives you a fourth record as well, marked optional: a TXT entry at _dmarc with the value v=DMARC1; p=none;. It tells other providers what to do with mail that only pretends to come from your domain. It is the one row with no status dot, because nothing verifies it and your domain verifies whether or not you publish it — and p=none monitors only, so adding it cannot change how your own mail is delivered. Publish it whenever you like, including later.
Registrars
Where the DNS panel is at each registrar
The records are identical everywhere; only the menu path differs. These are the panels people ask about most.
- Cloudflare
- Dashboard → pick the domain → DNS → Records → Add record. Set the MX record's proxy status to DNS only; mail records are never proxied.
- Namecheap
- Domain List → Manage → Advanced DNS. Set Mail Settings to Custom MX first, otherwise Namecheap's own email records keep winning.
- GoDaddy
- My Products → Domains → DNS → Manage Zones. Delete the default GoDaddy MX records before adding ours, or both sets stay live.
- Squarespace (formerly Google Domains)
- Domains → your domain → DNS → DNS records. Google Domains customers were migrated here, so old Google Domains instructions no longer match the panel.
- Anywhere else
- Look for a DNS, Zone File, Name Server or Advanced DNS section. If your host offers only a nameserver field, the DNS records live wherever those nameservers point.
Troubleshooting
Why isn’t my domain verifying?
Verification failing is almost always one of seven things, and all seven are fixed at your registrar rather than here.
The host name has the domain in it twice
Most registrars append your domain for you, so typing mail.example.com ends up as mail.example.com.example.com. Enter only the part that comes before your domain.
An old MX record is still winning
A previous provider's record is present and has the lower priority number. Remove it — a domain can only have one mail destination.
There are two SPF records
A domain may publish only one. Merge both into a single TXT line.
The value was rewritten on the way in
Some panels wrap what you paste in quotes. Paste it raw, exactly as Omucloud shows it.
The record is proxied, not DNS-only
Cloudflare's orange cloud. Switch it to DNS only — mail records must never be proxied.
The old TTL has not expired
You are still inside the lifetime of the record you replaced, usually an hour at most. Wait it out; Omucloud re-checks on its own.
The DKIM value was truncated
A panel with a short input limit cut it off. Paste it whole, and split it into quoted strings only if your provider documents that.
What it costs
For each Omucloud account, you can link one custom domain to our service, including inbound receiving and outbound sending. There is no subscription, no ongoing fee and no credit card — you still pay your registrar for the domain itself, and that is the only cost. Attachments carry conservative limits (10 MB per file, 25 MB per message, 500 MB per account) and are kept until you delete them, so keep your own copy of anything important.
Common questions
- How do I use my own domain for email for free?
- Create a free Omucloud account, add the domain you own in Settings, publish the MX, SPF and DKIM records Omucloud generates at your registrar, and wait for verification. You can then create as many addresses on the domain as you want — mail to them arrives in your Omucloud inbox and you reply from your own address, at no cost.
- How long does custom domain email setup take?
- about 3 minutes of work across three steps. DNS usually propagates within a few minutes, though it can occasionally take a few hours; Omucloud re-checks automatically and shows each record's live status.
- Do I need to change my nameservers?
- No. You only add records to your existing DNS zone. Your nameservers, website and any other records stay exactly as they are.
- Why isn't my domain verifying?
- The four usual causes are the host name typed with the domain appended twice, an old MX record from a previous provider still winning on priority, a second SPF TXT record (a domain may only have one), or a DNS panel that rewrote the value by adding quotes. Fix any of those and verification passes on the next check.
- Can I keep my website where it is?
- Yes. Mail routing and web hosting are controlled by different DNS records, so adding MX, SPF and DKIM does not touch your site.
- Is a custom domain really free on Omucloud?
- Yes — unlimited addresses on your domain, including inbound receiving and outbound sending, with no subscription and no credit card. You still pay your registrar for the domain itself.
Your domain, your address, about three minutes.
Unlimited addresses on a domain you already own, receiving and sending, at no cost. Start with the free account — you can add the domain whenever you have the DNS panel open.