WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin
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About
Make email delivery easy for WordPress. Connect with SMTP, Gmail, Outlook, SendGrid, Mailgun, SES, Zoho, + more. Rated #1 WordPress SMTP Email plugin.
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What It Does
WP Mail SMTP reconfigures WordPress to send outgoing email through a proper transactional mail service such as SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Gmail, or Office 365, instead of the unreliable default PHP mail function. It includes an email logging feature so site owners can confirm delivery, resend failed messages, and troubleshoot contacts forms, order notifications, and password resets. The setup wizard and per-mailer guides make it usable by non-technical administrators.
Who It's For
This plugin is built for any WordPress site that relies on transactional email and cannot afford missed contact form submissions, WooCommerce order notifications, or password reset emails. It is particularly useful for site owners on shared or managed hosting where the host's mail server is routinely blocked by Gmail and Outlook. Small businesses, ecommerce stores, and membership sites will get the most out of the logging and alerting features.
Who Should Skip It
If your site sends fewer than a handful of emails per week and your current delivery is working fine, you do not need this plugin. Developers building fully headless setups or sites that already route mail through a server-level relay should also skip it to avoid a redundant layer.
The Bottom Line
WP Mail SMTP is the safest default choice for WordPress email deliverability, with a quality score of 97.01 backed by four million installs and near-perfect ratings. The main trade-off is that advanced features such as detailed logging, attachments, and seat-based controls are gated behind the paid WP Mail SMTP Pro plan. For most site owners it is worth installing before any mail problems appear, not after.
Related Plugins
Pick FluentSMTP if you want a free, lightweight alternative without the WPForms upsell and only need core mailer support.
Choose this only if your actual need is Mailchimp list management and signup forms, not SMTP delivery, since it solves a different problem.
Pick Post SMTP if you specifically want backup SMTP failover and a mobile app for monitoring email health on the go.
Choose Easy WP SMTP if you want a simpler, lighter plugin and do not need the email log resend and tracking features.
Pick GoSMTP if you prefer a newer, minimal alternative and are comfortable trading established track record for a cleaner interface.