Implement Custom Domain Email with QQ Mail

I use Gmail more often, but it doesn’t support custom domain emails. QQ Mail does support custom domain emails, so this article introduces how to implement a custom domain email with QQ Mail.

Why Not Use Cloudflare

I considered using Cloudflare, which can solve email sending/receiving with custom domains. However, the free version of Cloudflare doesn’t support SMTP protocol - it only supports POP3/IMAP for email retrieval, not SMTP for sending emails.

So I gave up on that. Self-hosting also requires costs, so I still chose to use QQ Mail’s custom domain email feature.

QQ Mail Custom Domain Now Requires Payment

QQ Mail’s custom domain email feature is no longer free. You need to purchase an enterprise email package to use the custom domain email feature. For specific prices, please refer to Tencent Enterprise Email official website. It’s approximately 300 CNY per year. I personally bound my custom domain many years ago, so it’s still available, but I can’t bind new custom domains. If I cancel it, I can’t bind it again.

Steps to Bind Custom Domain Email

1. Add an MX record mxdomain.qq.com in your DNS records, pointing to QQ Mail’s server address.

   

2. If you haven’t logged in to QQ Mail on your local client yet, you need to log in first. Note that the password is not your QQ account password but an authorization password. The login account should be your QQ number, not the custom domain email account.
3. Add your custom domain in QQ Mail, then add domain email accounts. Each account requires binding to a QQ number.
4. After logging in, you can add the custom domain account as a sender in email clients like Mac Mail.
5. Sending emails directly with the custom domain email may fail. Normally, you will receive an email notifying you that the MX record has been added successfully.

Notes

1. If QQ Mail detects that the MX record is invalid, it will send an email. If not fixed within 30 days, the custom domain email will become unavailable. This is especially important for free users like me. If it becomes invalid and you try to fix it, you might have to pay. So I recommend that if you use a custom domain email as a free user, pay attention to such emails and fix the MX record promptly.

Final Thoughts

For me, being able to use a custom domain email without additional costs is a great choice. Especially since it’s now a paid feature, it feels like I’m saving 300 CNY every year.