plainmailSet up email on a Cloudflare domain
Checked November 8, 2026
Cloudflare has free forwarding but no mailbox, so you can't reply from your domain. Plainmail adds a real mailbox and writes its records into Cloudflare DNS in one click: you sign in to Cloudflare, approve, and mail works in about a minute.
Steps
- Sign up at app.plainmail.dev and add your domain.
- Choose Connect with Cloudflare. Cloudflare opens and lists the records Plainmail will add. Approve them.
- Back in Plainmail, the domain shows DNS records in place. Create a mailbox under Add a mailbox.
- Add the mailbox to your mail app, or read it in Plainmail's web inbox.
Using Email Routing on this domain?
Disable Email Routing for the domain in the Cloudflare dashboard first. Cloudflare locks the MX records while it's on, and a domain's mail can only go to one place.
Prefer an API token?
Plainmail can also connect with a Cloudflare API token limited to DNS edit and zone read. The link pre-fills those permissions; you click Create Token and paste it.
What gets added
| Type | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| MX | @ | mx1.plainmailhost.com, priority 10 |
| TXT | @ | v=spf1 include:spf.plainmailhost.com ~all (merge into your SPF record if you already have one) |
| CNAME ×3 | <token>._domainkey | <token>.dkim.amazonses.com (DKIM for sending; your three tokens are on the domain's page) |
| MX | bounce | feedback-smtp.us-east-2.amazonses.com, priority 10 |
| TXT | bounce | v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all |
| TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@plainmailhost.com |
| CNAME | autoconfig and autodiscover | autoconfig.plainmailhost.com and autodiscover.plainmailhost.com (mail apps find the settings on their own) |
| TXT | _plainmail-verify | plainmail-verify=<token> (proves the domain is yours; token on the domain's page) |
Leave the DKIM and autoconfig CNAMEs as DNS only (grey cloud). Plainmail creates them that way.
Or let Claude do it
With the Plainmail MCP server connected, ask: Set up hello@yourdomain.com on Plainmail. Claude adds the domain, gives you the approval link for your DNS host (or the records to paste), checks them, and creates the mailbox.
Questions
Does Cloudflare have email hosting?
No. Cloudflare Email Routing forwards incoming mail to another inbox. It has no mailboxes and can't send as your domain.
Do I need to give Plainmail a Cloudflare API token?
No. One-click setup uses Domain Connect: you approve the records on Cloudflare's own page and no token is shared. A token is optional.
Will this change my website records?
No. Only mail records are added. Your site's A, AAAA and CNAME records are left alone.
Get started$5 a month for up to 50 domains and 100 mailboxes