Email Sending Limits That Every Yahoo, Gmail, AOL and MSN User Should Know

Send email rate limit for webmail providers - Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, AOL, Lycos Mail

  Sending mass emails from webmail email accounts

Most webmail emai account providers, such as Yahoo! Mail or Google Gmail, allow users to send email by using the webmail browser interface or by using a SMTP connection with the email account SMTP server. No matter the way you send the emails (web interface or email client software), you must be aware of the "rate limit" (the limit for sending emails) established by your email account provider.

  Web Email Account Providers - email rate limits and SMTP limit

Important note: Please do NOT take this information for granted, as your email account provider can change its email policy without any prior notification. It is always a good idea to contact your email account provider and ask about the email send rate, before proceeding with a mass email campaign. 

• Google Gmail Email Send Rate Limit & Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Google Gmail account:

Gmail email send limit - no more than 500 recipients per message for the Gmail web interface, or max 100 recipients if you are using an email client software.

Gmail other SMTP limits - outgoing messages sent via Google Gmail can not exceed 10Mb per email (including attachments)

Google Mail Policy - http://www.google.com/mail/help/program_policies.html

Google Mail SMTP restriction expiry method - the restriction is automatically removed within 24 hours after the limit was reached.

• MSN Hotmail Email Send Rate Limit & Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Hotmail account:

Hotmail email send limit - no more than 100 recipients per day.

Hotmail other SMTP limits - outgoing messages sent via Hotmail can not exceed 10Mb per email (including attachments)

• Yahoo Mail - Email Send Rate Limits & Other Email Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Yahoo Mail account:

Yahoo Mail email send limit - no more than 100 emails or recipients per hour

Yahoo Mail other SMTP limits - max 10Mb per message for the free Yahoo Mail Service, or 20Mb per message for Yahoo! Mail Plus

Yahoo! Anti-Spam Policy - http://docs.yahoo.com/info/guidelines/spam.html

Yahoo Mail SMTP restriction expiry method - N/A

• Lycos Mail - Email Send Limits & Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Lycos Mail account:

Lycos Mail email send limit - max 25 recipients per message and max 250 emails per day

Lycos Mail other SMTP limits - Lycos Mail does not have a limit to the attachment file size at this time.

Lycos Email Policy - http://info.lycos.com/legal/mail_terms.html

• AOL Email Send (Rate) Limits
  AOL imposes a rate limit on an AOL member when a member exceeds the acceptable number of email messages sent in a given time period. The following restrictions apply when sending emails from an AOL connection:

AOL email send limit - no more than 100 recipients per message or 500 recipients per connection

AOL other SMTP limits - max 16mb per message

AOL email-outbound policy - http://postmaster-us.info.aol.com/ipt/

AOL SMTP restriction expiry method - N/A

Send Email Limit for SMTP Mail Servers - The Basics

The goal of this article is to show you the email send limits, reasons & workarounds for most popular Internet, email or web hosting providers, like Verizon, Comcast, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, GoDaddy, Earthlink or many others.

  How do you know when your provider is blocking your outgoing emails?

Usually, when you reached the email send limit of your provider, you will get one of the following errors:

• Your provider will not let you login to the outgoing SMTP server (your SMTP username & password are rejected);
• When trying to send an email, you will receive an error message saying that you reached your daily SMTP limit, for example: 
• When trying to send an email, the outgoing mail server will respond with an error saying that your IP address is blocked for outgoing emails, for example:

• "Requested action aborted; number of recipients or message quota reached";
• "Error with sending recipients - rejected due to spam";
• "SMTP relay limit reached";
• "Please try to increase the timeout setting for this account".

• "Too frequent connects from [YOUR IP ADDRESS], please try again later";
• "SMTP access is restricted for [YOUR IP ADDRESS]";
• "Message has not been sent server reply -- http:cbl.abuseat.org/lookup.cgi?IP=[YOUR IP ADDRESS]".

  Why would you care about your SMTP send email limit?

When you are about to send several emails at a time (for a business or personal event, as a newsletter or else), you MUST know your SMTP mail server restrictions, so your email account does not get temporarily or permanently blocked by your own email or Internet provider. Then, you can use an email marketing software, like Easy Mail Merge, to schedule your outgoing emails in order to match the send email limits of your provider.

  SMTP Servers - send email limit & rate limits

• Email SMTP rate limit for Internet access providers (Comcast, Verizon, EarthLink, etc);
• Mail server SMTP limit for web hosting providers (GoDaddy, RackSpace, HostWay, etc);
• Send email SMTP limit for email address providers (Google Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL, etc); 

  What solutions do I have to avoid SMTP limitations? 

The easiest and less expensive solution is to know your provider's SMTP limit for sending emails. This way, you can schedule your messages so you don't reach your send email limit. 

If you need to send out more emails than your provider's SMTP limit, then you can:

• Install a SMTP agent on your own computer and send the emails from "localhost" (your own computer). However, please note that many Internet providers block port 25 (the one used for SMTP communications), so you might not be able to use such a solution. Also, even if you are allowed to send emails using your own SMTP agent, you will find out that many emails will be rejected by the mail servers of your recipients, because your local SMTP agent does not match the server records of the domain name from where you send the emails;
• If you plan to send the emails from your own domain name/web site, then you can purchase a dedicated web server, where you can host your site. Some dedicated web server providers (like LunarPages) do not have any limitations on sending emails from hosted dedicated servers;
• You can use a mass-emailing service, provided by an email marketing company. Such services can be VERY expensive, as all email sending risks (for example, to be labelled as a spammer) are taken by the mass email service provider.

  Why ISPs or web hosting providers have email-send limits?

Email spamming can be very annoying to email users, but it is also expensive to Internet providers. Spam emails are consumming mail server resources and bandwidth - as a result, one solution for most Internet, email or web hosting providers is to fight spam by preventing their own customers for sending spam-like emails. 

A simple method to prevent customers from sending bulk emails is by enforcing limits to send emails (for example, you are not allowed to send more than 500 emails per day). However, this popular method has its downside, as it prevents trustworthy customers from sending many legitimate emails at a time (not spam).

 If I get passed my provider's SMTP limitations, does it automatically mean I am not spamming?

If your outgoing emails get passed the send-email SMTP limits of your provider, it means only one thing: your emails are going to be delivered to the mail server of each of your recipients. Those mail servers and the intended recipients will decide if you are spamming or not. Even if your emails are not marked as spam, it still does not mean they are legitimate emails. 

Bottom line, no matter if your emails pass your provider's "send email limit" and they are not marked as spam by the mail servers of the intended recipients, make sure ALL your emails are compliant with your country law against spam - like CAN-SPAM Act (for USA) or the EC Directives (for the European Union). Some countries do not have specific laws against spam.

SMTP Sending Limit and Email Rate Limits for ISPs - Verizon, Comcast, EarthLink, etc

Internet Service Providers have the most solutions at their disposal to prevent customers from sending out too many emails in a too short period of time. They can achieve it by:

• using email send limits: per day, per hour or per number of recipients;
• blocking the SMTP mail server port (25), so you can't use a 3rd party SMTP agent to send our your emails;
• using whitelists, so only certain customers can send out mass emails (usually by having customers to purchase an upgrade package).

 Major Internet Service Providers - SMTP limit and email rate limits

This article contains information about the email send limits (rate limit) of most important Internet Service Providers, as we collected it from our Easy Mail Merge customers, web resources or directly from the support desk of ISPs. Please do NOT take this information for granted, as each ISP can change its outbound email policy without any prior notification. 

This article was last updated in November 2007 and it displays the SMTP email send limit (or rate limit) for the following Internet providers: Verizon, Comcast, EarthLink, Cablevision/Optimum, Road Runner, Cox, AT&T Yahoo!, Charter, BellSouth. 

• Verizon Email Send & SMTP Limits
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a verizon.net email account:

Verizon email send limit - no more than 100 recipients per email message AND max 500 emails (recipients) per hour

Verizon other SMTP limits - max 2mb per message

Verizon email-outbound policy - http://www2.verizon.net/policies/email.asp

Verizon SMTP restriction expiry method - the restriction is automatically lifted 24 hours after the email send limit was reached.

• Comcast Email Send & SMTP Limits
  Below you can find the Comcast email send or rate limit for Comcast high speed internet customers. Please note that Comcast can also block port 25 for your connection (triggering the error message: "Error #1: Port25.Secure(SSL); no Socket Error: 10053. Error Number 0x800CC0F"), in order to prevent you (or viruses on your computer) from sending emails using your own SMTP agent:

Comcast email send limit - no more than 1000 recipients per day

Comcast other SMTP limits - max 10mb per message

Comcast email-outbound policy - http://www.comcast.net/help/faq/index.jsp?faq=SecuritySpam17867

Comcast SMTP restriction expiry method - the restriction is automatically lifted 24 hours after the email send limit was reached.

• EarthLink Email Send & SMTP Limits ("SMTP Rate Limiting")
  When you reached your EarthLink email send limit, you will receive the following error message from the EarthLink SMTP server: "error 554: www.earthlink.net/go/bulk - Outbound message limit exceeded". The following restrictions apply when sending emails from an EarthLink internet connection:

EarthLink email send limit - max 1000 recipients per day

EarthLink other SMTP limits - N/A

EarthLink email-outbound policy - http://kb.earthlink.net/case.asp?article=85283

EarthLink SMTP restriction expiry method - A member of EarthLink 's Abuse team will investigate the circumstances that led to your SMTP privileges being suspended. If it is deemed that your use was legitimate, then your SMTP privileges will be reactivated within 24 hours.

• Cablevision Email Send & SMTP Limits (Optimum - OOL)
  Cablevision / Optimum does NOT allow customers to send emails using an email client program or SMTP mail server, unless the customer subscribed to "Optimum Online Boost" or "Optimum Online for Business".

Cablevision/Optimum (OOL) email send limit - maximum 50 recipients at one time

Cablevision other SMTP limits - max 20mb per outgoing message

Cablevision/Optimum email-outbound policy - http://www.optimum.net/Article/Terms

Cablevision SMTP restriction expiry method - N/A.

• Road Runner Email Send & SMTP Limits
  If your account has reached the email send limit, you will receive the following error message: "ERROR:5.7.1:550 Outbound Mail Refused - YOUR_IP_ADDRESS". The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a Road Runner internet connection:

Road Runner email send limit - max 1,000 recipients per day per IP

Road Runner other SMTP limits - max 5mb per message

Road Runner email-outbound policy - http://help.rr.com/HMSFaqs/e_outbound_email_policy.aspx

Road Runner SMTP restriction expiry method - the suspension is automatically lifted after 24 hours

• Cox Email Send & SMTP Limits
  Cox did not publish the official email send limit for Cox High Speed Internet subscribers. According to the Cox web site: "Specific email sending limits are not published because they vary from time to time depending on a variety of factors". We strongly advise you to contact the Cox support department before sending out large amounts of emails.

Cox other SMTP limits - max 10mb per message

Cox email-outbound policy - http://www.cox.com/policy/limitations.asp

• AT&T Yahoo! Email Send & SMTP Limits
  Please note that, according to the AT&T Yahoo! Membership Agreement, AT&T Yahoo! can assess a charge of $50.00 per day for unintentional violations or $500.00 per day for deliberate violations of their unsolicited email policy. The following restrictions apply when sending emails from an AT&T Yahoo! Internet/email connection:

AT&T Yahoo! email send limit - no more than 100 recipients per email message

AT&T Yahoo! other SMTP limits - max 20mb per message, max 50 file attachments

AT&T Yaho0! email-outbound policy - http://edit.client.yahoo.com/cspcommon/static?page=tos

AT&T Yahoo! SMTP restriction expiry method - penalty charges may apply

• Charter Email Rate Limits
  If you are a Charter Internet access residential customer and you receive the following error message when trying to send emails: "421 Connection Refused - Customer has exceeded the maximum number of messages allowed per hour", it means your account SMTP access was temporarily blocked. The following restrictions apply when emailing from a Charter connection:

Charter email send limit - maximum 50 recipients / emails per hour

Charter other SMTP limits - max 10mb per message

Charter email-outbound policy - http://www.charter.com/Visitors/Policies.aspx?Policy=6

Charter SMTP restriction expiry method - wait an hour to send additional emails or brake up the recipients number into smaller groups.

• BellSouth Email Send & Rate Limits
  BellSouth does not publish a clear email send limit: "Sending mass, unsolicited e-mail by Service users is prohibited. BellSouth Internet Services reserves the right, in BellSouth’s sole discretion, to determine whether such email constitutes unsolicited messages or transmission. Sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail to a single user, or group of users, commercial or otherwise, by Service users is prohibited.".

BellSouth email send limit - BellSouth’s sole discretion

BellSouth other SMTP limits - max 10mb per message

BellSouth email-outbound policy - Acceptable Use Policies

BellSouth SMTP restriction expiry method - BellSouth Internet Services may immediately terminate any account which it determines, in its sole discretion, is transmitting or is otherwise connected with any 'spam' or other unsolicited bulk email. In addition, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then BellSouth Internet Services may seek liquidated damages of five dollars (US$5.00) for each piece of 'spam' or unsolicited bulk email transmitted from or otherwise connected with your account.

Although we planned to publish the email send (rate) limit for non-US ISPs/regions too (like Europe, Canada, etc), we find it very hard to find this information mainly because: many countries do not have clear anti-spam laws; such email rate limits are not disclosed by Internet Service Providers; there are simply no email-send limits for certain ISPs. Still, we strongly advise you to contact your Internet Service Provider and ask about their outbound email policy and email sending / rate limit, before proceeding with a mass email.

Mail server SMTP email send (rate) limit for popular web hosting providers

 Why do you need to know your web host's SMTP email rate limit

If you run a web site and you plan to send out mass emails (for example, a newsletter), it is advisable to send the emails using an authenticated SMTP mail server that matches the nameserver records for your own domain name. This way, your outgoing emails will not trigger anti-spam filters set to identify phishing emails or spammers. For example, if you run a web site at www.my-web-site.com, our advice is to send the emails from a SMTP server name that resolves to the same domain name (like smtp.my-web-site.com). 

However, to prevent spam, many web host providers enforce email send rate limits to their customers. The goal of this article is to show you the email send rate limit and options for most popular web host providers, such as GoDaddy, FastServers, HostWay, RackSpace, iPowerWeb and more.

 Web Hosting Providers - SMTP limit and email rate limits

Important note: Please do NOT take this information for granted, as your host provider can change its mail server policy without any prior notification. It is always a good idea to contact your host provider and ask about the email send rate, before proceeding with a mass email campaign. 

• GoDaddy Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by GoDaddy:

GoDaddy email send limit for shared web hosting - no more than 250 relays (recipients) per day. You can purchase additional relays, in packs of 50

GoDaddy email send limit for dedicated servers or dedicated virtual servers - no more than 1000 relays (recipients) per day.

GoDaddy other SMTP limits - outgoing messages sent via GoDaddy can not exceed 30Mb per email (including attachments)

GoDaddy email FAQ - http://help.godaddy.com/article_list.php?topic_id=168

GoDaddy SMTP restriction expiry method - the restriction is automatically lifted 24 hours after the email send limit was reached.

• APlus Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by APlus.net:

APlus email send limit for shared web hosting - no more than 1000 recipients per mailing list AND no more than 500 emails per 30 minutes.

APlus other SMTP limits - max 7Mb for web email or max 20Mb for local email client messages

APlus email FAQ - http://www.apluskb.com/scripts/category_1pp100020.html

APlus SMTP restriction expiry method - N/A

• RackSpace Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  RackSpace.com apparently has no email rate limit, however all outgoing messages must be compliant with theRackSpace Acceptable Use Policy. Rackspace may test and otherwise monitor your compliance with its requirements, and may block the transmission of e-mail that violates these provisions. 
• HostWay Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  HostWay allows customers to send emails to mailing lists, using the MailMan service. The number of mailing list subscribers depend on your hosting plan. Using a MailMan mailing list for spamming can lead to the termination of your web hosting account. 
• Homestead Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by Homestead:

Homestead email send limit for web hosting - no more than 10 messages per second. All mass emails must be compliant with the Homestead Mass Mailing Policy.

• IPowerWeb Email Send Rate Limit
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by IPowerWeb:

IPowerWeb email send limit - no more than 200 emails per hour and 600 emails per day (for newly created account) OR no more than 500 emails per hour and 5000 emails per day.

IPowerWeb other SMTP limits - outgoing messages sent via IPowerWeb can not exceed 25Mb per email, including attachments. Mailing lists should not exceed 200 recipients.

IPowerWeb Email Policy - http://www.ipowerweb.com/company/legal/legal_spamming.html

• Bluehost Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by Bluehost:

Bluehost email send rate limit - the default limit is set to 50 emails per hour. The limit may be raised by contacting the Bluehost support team and explaining why you need the send email limit to be lifted

Bluehost other SMTP limits - outgoing messages sent via Bluehost can not exceed 10Mb per email (including attachments)

Bluehost email FAQ - http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/kb/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&root=27

* The HostMonster email policy is identical with the one of Bluehost. 

• LunarPages Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by LunarPages:

LunarPages email send rate limit for shared hosting plans - max 20 emails per minute, 600 emails per hour and 14400 emails per day

LunarPages email send rate limit for dedicated server plans - no limit (according to the LunarPages support forum)

LunarPages Email Policy - http://www.lunarpages.com/aup.php

• 1and1 (1&1) Email Send Rate Limit & SMTP Restrictions
  The following restrictions apply when sending emails from a web site / domain hosted by 1and1:

1and1 email send rate limit - max 99 emails at once

1and1 Other SMTP restrictions - each outgoing message must have less than 50Mb (including attachments)