A transactional email is an automated, one-to-one message triggered by a specific action a visitor takes on your site, such as a password reset request, a new order receipt, or a comment notification.
Unlike a marketing newsletter sent to a large list, each transactional email is sent in direct response to something a single user did. Pressable includes a built-in service to handle these automatically.
How Pressable Sends Your Site’s Email
Every Pressable site comes pre-configured with a built-in mail delivery service. You do not need to install any plugins or configure any SMTP settings to get started; it works right away, without any setup.
To protect the reputation of our servers and ensure reliable delivery rates for everyone, we include a standard limit of 200 transactional emails per hour per site. This is more than enough for the vast majority of WordPress sites, blogs, and small online stores.
This service is intended to support your site’s standard functional email needs, such as account management and order notifications. It is not designed for use as an email sending platform. Sites that require high-volume or broadcast email should use a dedicated provider (see below).
Why Authentication (DNS) Matters
Even though sending is automatic, delivery depends on whether the recipient’s inbox provider (like Gmail or Outlook) trusts your domain. If your site sends an email as info@yourdomain.com but your domain has not authorized Pressable to send on its behalf, the message may end up in the spam folder.
Pressable handles this through DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), a standard that attaches a digital signature to outgoing emails so receiving servers can verify they were legitimately sent from your domain.
If your domain uses Pressable’s nameservers, the required DNS records are added for you automatically and no action is needed. If your DNS is managed elsewhere, you will need to add these records manually at your DNS provider. For up-to-date instructions, see our DNS Records for Email Authentication & Deliverability guide.
When To Use An External Email Service
While the built-in service covers standard site notifications, there are several scenarios where you should route email through a third-party provider instead. This can mean using your domain’s own email service via an SMTP plugin, or a specialized service built for transactional or marketing email delivery.
- High volume: If your site sends more than 200 emails per hour (for example, during a flash sale or on a high-traffic forum), you will need a third-party provider to handle that volume.
- Multiple sender addresses: If your site sends from more than four unique email addresses within a 24-hour period, a dedicated provider is required.
- Delivery tracking: If you need detailed logs showing when messages were delivered, opened, or bounced, a third-party service like SendGrid, Mailgun, or Postmark provides that visibility.
- Marketing and newsletters: Bulk or broadcast email (such as a monthly newsletter) should always go through a dedicated marketing platform like Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
For a list of compatible SMTP plugins and guidance on setting them up, see our Email Delivery Troubleshooting and SMTP Plugins guide.
Summary Table: Which Service Do I Need?
| Scenario | Recommended approach |
|---|---|
| Standard site notifications (password resets, order receipts) | Pressable built-in |
| More than 200 emails per hour | SMTP plugin configured to use your domain’s email service |
| More than 4 unique sender addresses in 24 hours | SMTP plugin configured to use your domain’s email service |
| Delivery tracking or advanced logging | SMTP plugin configured to use your domain’s email service |
| Marketing email or newsletters | Dedicated marketing platform (e.g., Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Klaviyo) |