# SMTP vs Google vs Outlook for cold email

> EmailPal-hosted mailboxes send over SMTP/IMAP we give you. You can also connect Gmail or Outlook for warming only. Pre-warmed inventory is hosted SMTP, not a Google or Microsoft tenant. This is the page for which kind of account to use with Instantly or Smartlead.

Source: https://emailpal.io/help/smtp-vs-google-vs-outlook-for-cold-email

## Three different products people confuse

Cold-email threads mix three kinds of "account":

1. **Hosted SMTP/IMAP** — a mailbox on a domain you (or EmailPal) registered, with credentials you paste into a sequencer.
2. **Google Workspace / Gmail** — a Google tenant seat. Sending happens at Google, under Google's quotas and policies.
3. **Microsoft 365 / Outlook** — a Microsoft tenant seat. Same idea, Microsoft's rules.

EmailPal **hosts** (1). EmailPal can **warm** (2) and (3) for $0.60/mo if you connect them. EmailPal does **not** rent Google or Outlook seats. [Pre-warmed Mailboxes by EmailPal](/help/pre-warmed-inboxes-by-emailpal) are hosted SMTP on 90-day domains, not Zapmail / InboxKit / "pre-warmed Google" inventory.

If a help article at Instantly or Smartlead says "add a Google account" or "add SMTP," those are two different buttons. EmailPal fills the SMTP one.

## What EmailPal hosts

Hosted and pre-warmed mailboxes are **SMTP + IMAP** on our infrastructure.

- We write MX, SPF `-all`, dual DKIM and DMARC `p=reject`
- You get a host, port, username and password
- You paste those into Instantly, Smartlead, Plusvibe, a custom sender, or you send through our API
- Replies can land in the [unified inbox](/help/unified-inbox)

That is different from buying a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 seat. There is no Google admin console, no Microsoft tenant, no phone-verification loop. [Export mailbox credentials](/help/export-mailbox-credentials) and [SMTP and IMAP credentials](/help/smtp-imap-credentials).

Caps: **40 cold emails/day** on a plan mailbox once campaign-ready, **15/day** on a pre-warmed lease.

## Google and Outlook on EmailPal

You can [connect Gmail, Outlook or your own server](/help/warm-gmail-outlook-or-your-own-server) so we **warm** that mailbox for $0.60/mo. Same seeds (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL), same measured campaign-ready.

Sending campaigns from those accounts still happens **at Google or Microsoft**, under their quotas and policies. We do not become the SMTP host for a Gmail address. If Google disables the seat, EmailPal cannot unsuspend it.

Use this path when you already own Workspace or 365 and want warming measurement without moving the sending identity.

## Why people still use Google / Outlook

Sequencer UIs and some buyers prefer "real" Workspace accounts. The mail looks like it came from a company that already lives in Gmail.

The costs of that preference:

- Seats get disabled. Phone verification, "suspicious login," tenant-level cold-email bans.
- Shared Microsoft tenants reject cold mail and return [sender bounces](/help/sender-bounces).
- You do not control SPF/DKIM the way you do on a domain you registered. Google signs as Google.
- Volume limits are Google's and Microsoft's, not yours.

Hosted SMTP with correct DNS avoids that class of failure. It is also what you get when you claim pre-warmed inventory.

## Which should you pick

| You want | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Send this week, no name to pick | [Pre-warmed lease](/help/pre-warmed-inboxes-by-emailpal) (hosted SMTP, 15/day) |
| A domain you own, full DNS control | Register or BYO + create mailboxes + [warm](/help/email-warming-by-emailpal) |
| Keep sending from existing Gmail/Outlook | Connect it for warming only |
| A Google tenant you admin | Not an EmailPal SKU |

[Domains and mailboxes](/help/domains-and-mailboxes) is the hub for the hosted path.

## FAQs

### Can I get full admin access to a Google tenant?

Not from EmailPal. If that is a requirement, you are shopping a different vendor.

### Will Smartlead / Instantly accept EmailPal SMTP?

Yes. Any tool that takes a host, port, username and password will. Export from **Mailboxes** or the mailboxes export endpoint.

### Are pre-warmed inboxes Google accounts?

No. Hosted SMTP on domains we registered and parked 90+ days. They connect to sequencers as SMTP accounts.

### Can I send from EmailPal SMTP and Gmail on the same domain?

You can create a mess. SPF has a 10-lookup limit. Prefer one sending stack per domain.

### Does hosted SMTP hurt inbox placement vs Google?

Placement is reputation, list and copy — plus authentication. A new Google seat is also unknown. EmailPal's hosted path is the one we can authenticate, warm against real seeds, and measure. Google is not automatically "more inboxed."

## Need more help?

[SMTP and IMAP credentials](/help/smtp-imap-credentials) or [Getting started with EmailPal](/help/getting-started-with-emailpal).