SMTP quickstart

Private beta

Mailway is in private beta, and we onboard teams one at a time. Join the waitlist and we'll email your invite — everything below works the moment you're in.

If your application already sends mail over SMTP, switching to Mailway is a configuration change — no code. Your app authenticates against smtp.mailway.net, and Mailway relays each message through the providers you attached to the project, byte-for-byte.

SMTP or HTTP API?

If your app already sends mail, use SMTP: this page, and no code changes. If you’d rather send JSON over HTTPS, use the HTTP API with an API key instead. Both feed the same routing, archive, and timeline. API keys come in two kinds: a live key (mw_live_…) sends for real through api.mailway.net, and a test key (mw_test_…) sends to the sandbox at api.mailway.dev, where nothing is delivered.

1. Add your provider and create a project.

   The fastest route is the console’s guided setup at /get-started. It walks you through the provider, the project, the credentials, and the first send.

   To do it by hand: open Providers → New provider and add your provider account (the provider guides cover each one, including verifying your sender domain at the provider). Then open Projects → New project and attach the provider in the project’s Routing section. A project with no attached provider can’t send.

2. Create an SMTP credential.

   On the project’s page, open the Access section (it reads Connect while the project is still being set up) and choose New SMTP credential. You get a username (mw_user_…, the credential’s own ID) and a password (mw_pass_…, the secret of the pair). Store the password in your secret manager; if you lose it, you can reveal it again from the same Access section.

3. Point your app at Mailway.

   Environment

   SMTP_HOST=smtp.mailway.net
   SMTP_PORT=587
   SMTP_USERNAME=mw_user_…
   SMTP_PASSWORD=mw_pass_…
   SMTP_ENCRYPTION=tls   # STARTTLS

   Laravel

   MAIL_MAILER=smtp
   MAIL_HOST=smtp.mailway.net
   MAIL_PORT=587
   MAIL_USERNAME=mw_user_…
   MAIL_PASSWORD=mw_pass_…
   MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls   # Laravel ≤ 10; on 11+ STARTTLS is automatic on 587

   Nodemailer

   import nodemailer from 'nodemailer';
   
   const transport = nodemailer.createTransport({
     host: 'smtp.mailway.net',
     port: 587,
     secure: false, // STARTTLS is negotiated automatically
     auth: {
       user: process.env.SMTP_USERNAME,
       pass: process.env.SMTP_PASSWORD,
     },
   });

4. Send something.

   Trigger any mail your app already sends. No app at hand? Send one from the command line with swaks, using a From address on your sender domain:

   swaks --server smtp.mailway.net --port 587 --tls \
     --auth-user "$SMTP_USERNAME" --auth-password "$SMTP_PASSWORD" \
     --from billing@yourapp.com --to customer@gmail.com \
     --header "Subject: Invoice #2041" --body "Your invoice #2041 is ready."

5. Find it in the console.

   Open Mails: the mail is at the top within seconds. Click it to see its timeline: received by Mailway, accepted by the provider, and delivered once the provider’s delivery events are set up. If it doesn’t appear or shows an error, troubleshooting maps the symptom to a fix.

Next: set up delivery events for your provider so mail can reach delivered, add a second provider for failover, or wire webhooks into your app.

Ports

Mailway listens on seven SMTP ports, so there is always one your host can reach:

Port	Protocol	Notes
587	SMTP + STARTTLS	Submission, upgraded to TLS before login. The most widely supported.
465	SMTPS (implicit TLS)	Submission over TLS from the first byte, the current standard (RFC 8314). Use it if your library supports it.
25	SMTP + STARTTLS	Standard relay port.
2525, 2587, 588	SMTP + STARTTLS	Alternates for clouds that block the standard ports.
2465	SMTPS (implicit TLS)	Alternate for 465.

The alternates matter more than they look: GCP blocks outbound port 25 to external destinations, DigitalOcean blocks outbound 25, 465 and 587, and AWS blocks 25 by default. If your platform can’t reach a standard port, use 2587 (STARTTLS) or 2465 (implicit TLS) with the same credentials.

Authentication

• Mechanisms: PLAIN and LOGIN.
• TLS is required before AUTH — the server refuses authentication on a plaintext connection. Use STARTTLS on the submission ports or implicit TLS on 465/2465.
• Credentials are per-project. A credential can only send through the project it belongs to, so a leaked credential is contained.

Deliverability is still yours

Mailway relays through your provider account, so inbox placement lives where it always did: verify your sender domain at your provider and keep SPF/DKIM/DMARC green on your DNS — see Deliverability for what each record does. If you’re on SES, the setup guide covers the exact records — including wiring real delivery/bounce events back into Mailway.

Testing without delivering

For staging and CI, use the sandbox: the same SMTP config against smtp.mailway.dev, or the HTTP API against api.mailway.dev with a mw_test_… key. Mail there is captured: stored and visible in the console, but never forwarded automatically. Nothing reaches a provider or a recipient unless you release a capture from the console.