The term Smarthost is becoming more and more familiar due to its ever-growing necessity. If you have heard of a Smarthost but you are not too sure what they do or how they differentiate from your usual SMTP relay, as always, you have come to the right place! Read on to find out the difference between the two and which one you should be using.
Smarthost
The end result of both SMTP relay and a Smarthost is: an email is transferred from one server to another. However, its journey to that server is slightly different. Deserving its name, a Smarthost is intelligent enough to relay an email onto the right place. The way this is done is by having a “middleman”, a Smarthost such as SMTP2GO is a server that sits between the sender’s outgoing server and the recipient’s incoming server. It does not have an open connection and authorization is needed before an email is relayed, which overall prevents server abuse and keeps those IPs clean. Overmore, a Smarthost will remove any annoying ISP sending limits, allow you to send using port 25 (blocked by most ISPs) and provide support along the way. If you are sending a high volume of emails on a regular basis, it is absolutely necessary to use a Smarthost so that they are delivered smartly and avoid blacklists along the way.
SMTP Relay
SMTP relay is when an email is sent and relayed directly onto the recipient’s incoming server. They will accept most incoming SMTP emails and forward most of them on. For this reason, standard SMTP relay is often used for sending Spam and in turn, destroys IP reputation. Therefore, if your business relies on inbox delivery, you’ll want to consider using a Smarthost such as SMTP2GO.
If you are not convinced, please see our Competitor Comparison blog to discover more about our service and the features available. Alternatively, you can try SMTP2GO for free and for as long as you like.
