I Won't Read This

Forwarding aliases

A different address for every sign-up.

An alias forwards mail to your real inbox, so the shop never learns your address. If one starts getting spam, you switch that alias off and everything else keeps working.

Seven alias services

  • Hide My Email (iCloud+)

    Creates unique, random addresses that forward to your personal email, so you don't have to share your real address.

    Cost
    Paid. It's part of iCloud+, which starts at $0.99/month (50 GB plan) in the US.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes
    Use your own domain
    Not for Hide My Email. iCloud+ has a separate custom email domain feature.
    Open source
    Not stated

    Go to Hide My Email (iCloud+)

    Checked on support.apple.com

  • Firefox Relay

    Mozilla's email masks are private addresses that forward messages to your real email address.

    Cost
    Free for 50 masks. Relay Premium (unlimited masks, replies, promo blocking, a custom subdomain) is $0.99/month billed yearly ($11.88) in the US.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes (Premium only, within 3 months of getting the email)
    Use your own domain
    No. Premium gives you a subdomain like shop@yourname.mozmail.com.
    Open source
    Not stated (its site links to code on GitHub)

    Go to Firefox Relay

    Checked on relay.firefox.com

  • SimpleLogin

    Email aliases that forward to your inbox. When you hit Reply, the reply goes out from the alias and your real address stays hidden.

    Cost
    Free plan with 10 aliases. Premium is $36/year or $4 billed monthly.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes (included on the free plan)
    Use your own domain
    Yes (Premium: unlimited custom domains)
    Open source
    Yes

    Go to SimpleLogin

    Checked on simplelogin.io

  • addy.io (formerly AnonAddy)

    Anonymous email forwarding: aliases pass mail along to your real address.

    Cost
    Free plan. Lite is $1/month billed yearly. Pro is $3/month billed yearly or $4 billed monthly.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes on paid plans (Lite: 50 replies or sends a day; Pro: 200). Not included in Free.
    Use your own domain
    Yes (Lite: 1 custom domain; Pro: 20)
    Open source
    Yes

    Go to addy.io (formerly AnonAddy)

    Checked on addy.io

  • DuckDuckGo Email Protection

    A forwarding service that strips hidden email trackers and lets you make unlimited private @duck.com addresses that forward to your existing inbox.

    Cost
    Free
    Reply from the alias
    Yes (not supported if your forwarding address is on a unique domain without an SPF record)
    Use your own domain
    Not stated
    Open source
    Not stated

    Go to DuckDuckGo Email Protection

    Checked on duckduckgo.com

  • Forward Email

    Forwards mail sent to addresses on your own domain to an inbox you already use. Paid plans add sending and mailbox storage.

    Cost
    Free plan is forwarding only. Enhanced Protection is $3/month (send and receive, 10 GB pooled storage). Team is $9/month. Enterprise is $250/month.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes on paid plans. The Free plan says it can't send mail.
    Use your own domain
    Yes (all plans, including Free)
    Open source
    Yes

    Go to Forward Email

    Checked on forwardemail.net

  • Fastmail Masked Email

    Unique, automatically generated addresses you use instead of your real one. Mail lands in your Fastmail inbox.

    Cost
    Paid. It comes with Fastmail's plans; the one-person plan is $6/month, or $60 for 12 months, with a trial of up to 30 days.
    Reply from the alias
    Yes
    Use your own domain
    Yes (a custom domain you've set up in your Fastmail account)
    Open source
    Not stated

    Go to Fastmail Masked Email

    Checked on fastmail.help

Want addresses on your own domain?

You can host mail for a domain you own, with as many addresses as you like. Here are hosted and run-it-yourself options, and what their own docs say you're signing up for.

  • Hosted for you

    Forward Email

    Hosted forwarding and email for your own domain.

    Many addresses
    Yes, it advertises unlimited email accounts and aliases. But its Terms bar using it to run a service that lets third parties (other than your employees and contractors) benefit, unless you get an enterprise agreement.
    Cost
    Free (forwarding only); $3/month Enhanced Protection; $9/month Team; $250/month Enterprise

    Go to Forward Email

  • Hosted for you

    Migadu

    Hosted email priced per account, not per mailbox.

    Many addresses
    Yes. Unlimited mailboxes and addresses per account, and its FAQ says many users are agencies hosting clients' domains.
    Cost
    Micro $19/year; Mini $9/month or $90/year; Standard $29/month or $290/year; Maxi $99/month or $990/year. Outbound limits run from 20 a day (Micro) to 2,000 a day (Maxi).

    Go to Migadu

  • Hosted for you

    Purelymail

    Low-cost hosted email: you bring your domain and users.

    Many addresses
    Yes. No per-user charge and no hard limit on users or custom domains. It also supports aliases and catch-all routing.
    Cost
    $10 a year on simple pricing, with soft limits. Per-resource advanced pricing is also offered.

    Go to Purelymail

  • You run it on your own server

    mailcow: dockerized

    An open source email and groupware suite that runs in Docker on your own server, with a web interface for managing domains and addresses.

    Many addresses
    Yes. Its web UI creates new domains and email addresses. The docs suggest 8 GiB RAM for about 5 to 10 users.
    Cost
    No software price is stated on the pages checked (the code is GPL-3.0 on GitHub). You pay for your own server. Paid support contracts are offered through Servercow, price not listed there.

    Go to mailcow: dockerized

  • You run it on your own server

    Stalwart Mail Server

    An open source all-in-one mail and collaboration server (IMAP, JMAP, SMTP, calendars, contacts) that you run yourself.

    Many addresses
    Yes. The Community edition has no mailbox limit, and Enterprise licenses include unlimited domains and aliases.
    Cost
    Community edition is free. Enterprise starts at USD 2.40 per mailbox per year, with a 25-mailbox minimum.

    Go to Stalwart Mail Server

  • You run it on your own server

    Mail-in-a-Box

    Turns a fresh cloud server into a working mail server with webmail, spam filtering, and automatic DNS setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

    Many addresses
    Yes, multiple users and multiple domain names, managed from a web control panel.
    Cost
    The software is released under a CC0 public domain dedication. Its guide estimates about $12/month for the server plus about $17/year for a domain.

    Go to Mail-in-a-Box

  • You can't run a mail server from home

    Mail-in-a-Box says you can't run it on most home internet connections. Residential networks are often blocked from sending mail, by the internet provider and by blocklists, because home computers get hijacked to send spam.

    Source: Mail-in-a-Box, Setup Guide

  • Your server's IP might already be blocklisted

    A cloud server can come with an IP address that's already on a spam blocklist, so you should check it and ask for a clean one if needed.

    Source: Mail-in-a-Box, Setup Guide

  • Reverse DNS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

    mailcow's setup docs say your server's reverse DNS (PTR) record has to match its hostname, and they recommend SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to build a good sending reputation.

    Source: mailcow docs, DNS setup

  • Gmail's rules for anyone sending to Gmail

    0.3%

    Anyone sending to personal Gmail accounts needs SPF or DKIM, valid forward and reverse DNS, and a TLS connection, and has to keep reported spam rates below 0.3%.

    Source: Google Workspace Admin Help, Email sender guidelines