Frequently asked questions

No. Unbox.im is a full standalone mail host for your own domain. Point MX to us, add the DNS records we provide, and you're sending and receiving as you@myproject.com.

Your Gmail works as it is, and is unrelated to Unbox.im. Although we have plans to support external Gmail integration, it is not a priority at the moment.

Hosted domain mail is encrypted at rest in our Postgres database. External account bodies are cached briefly for display only — we don't persist Gmail content long-term.

Most teams verify MX and DKIM within 15 minutes. Propagation can take up to 48 hours depending on your registrar; our dashboard checks live until everything is green.

Yes, we do support IMAP import from your own email providers like Zoho Mail and others, but as IMAP is a very slow protocol, please contact support for migration.

Classification and summaries run on efficient local models where possible; complex drafting uses cloud models via OpenRouter. You control what leaves your workspace in settings.

Yes on Business. Connect Twake Mail (iOS/Android) to jmap.unbox.im with your mailbox email and app password. Unbox web remains the recommended daily inbox.

No. Reading sync uses JMAP (optional, Business). IMAP is only used for one-time import from other providers — contact support to migrate.

Yes — Free is $0 forever with 1 domain, 1 mailbox, and full AI on hosted mail. Upgrade to a paid plan when you need more send volume, storage, or team features.

A personal mailbox (e.g. peter@) has its own login and private inbox. A shared queue (e.g. support@) is a team address with its own mail store — teammates get access in Team and claim threads in Inbox; it is not a forward alias. An alias forwards to a mailbox (hello@ → peter@) and does not count toward your mailbox quota. Every plan includes up to 5 aliases per domain.

Startups need credible domain mail without nickel-and-diming addresses. Outbound volume and storage are where cost and abuse risk live — so those scale with paid tiers while domain and mailbox counts stay generous.

Cloud tokens measure OpenRouter usage for conversational drafts and agent workflows. Local summaries and triage don't count. Free includes 100k/mo; paid tiers include 1M–25M with overage at $2/100k (Business: $1.50/100k).

Outbound mail queues until the next monthly reset or you upgrade. Inbound mail keeps arriving. We'll notify admins before you hit the cap.

Use the HTTP API (POST api.unbox.im/v1/email) — domain keys in Domains → API. Optional SMTP is for legacy tools. Both paths are transactional mail only (receipts, alerts, password resets) — not newsletters or marketing bulk. Free and Starter are web-inbox only for send. See unbox.im/docs and our Terms for rate limits.

Prefer Unbox web for AI triage, shared queues, and team notes. Optional JMAP on Business works with clients like Twake Mail for phone sync — not Apple Mail/Outlook IMAP.

Team and Business include HTTP API + SMTP for transactional send only. Per-message caps (50 recipients), daily unique-recipient caps (1,000/workspace), and request rate limits (10/min/domain) apply in addition to your plan's monthly outbound quota. Marketing and bulk promotional mail are not permitted.

Yes — upgrade anytime from Settings. Your domains, mailboxes, and DNS stay in place; higher tiers raise admin seats, storage, and monthly send volume.

Yes — pay annually and save 20%. Contact us at hello@unbox.im to switch an existing account.

No. Unbox API and SMTP are for transactional mail tied to a user action or system event — not newsletters, promotional campaigns, or cold outreach. Use a dedicated email marketing provider for bulk marketing.

Twake Mail is the recommended JMAP client on iOS and Android. Ltt.rs also speaks JMAP. Use your mailbox address + app password at jmap.unbox.im (Business plan).