GreenGeeks is an independently owned shared hosting provider, founded in 2006 by Trey Gardner and differentiated in the shared-hosting market by a 300% renewable energy commitment (the company purchases renewable energy credits — certificates that represent ownership of one megawatt-hour of renewable electricity — to more than offset what its data centers consume). Shared plans bundle domain email through cPanel; the entry-tier Ecosite Lite 25 includes 50 mailboxes, while Ecosite Pro 50 and Ecosite Premium 100 both ship with unlimited mailboxes. Sending limits step up by plan: 100 emails per hour on Lite 25, 300 per hour on Pro 50, and 500 per hour on Premium 100. SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 ports are open on standard cPanel ports, and GreenGeeks does not publish an external-SMTP block policy, so third-party relay plugins connect without workaround. The Ecosite Lite 25 renews at $13.95/month (introductory from $2.95/month); Pro 50 renews at $18.95 and Premium 100 at $30.95.
Email on GreenGeeks
How wp_mail works by default
A fresh WordPress install on a GreenGeeks shared plan sends mail through PHP’s mail() function, which hands off to the server’s local exim (the mail transfer agent bundled with cPanel) configuration. Unlike FastComet, which routes outbound through SpamExperts, or Hosting.com, which forces all outbound traffic through MailChannels, GreenGeeks does not publish documentation describing a named third-party outbound filtering layer on shared accounts. Mail goes out through local exim on a shared IP pool.
The practical consequence for a fresh WordPress install: password resets and order confirmations leave the server unsigned unless the site owner enables authentication explicitly. GreenGeeks’ cPanel Email Deliverability panel provides a one-click "Repair" flow that publishes SPF (the DNS record that lists which mail servers are permitted to send on the domain’s behalf) and DKIM (a per-message cryptographic signature that receiving servers use to verify the sender) together, when GreenGeeks manages the domain’s DNS. That flow configures the cPanel mailbox, not a WordPress-specific From address. A WordPress install whose default From address (wordpress@<domain>) does not correspond to a real cPanel mailbox with DKIM enabled sends unsigned mail, which raises the probability that automated messages are treated as spam by the receiving server.
The first-move fix for most operators: create the wordpress@<domain> mailbox, enable DKIM for it via Email Deliverability, then install an SMTP plugin (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, or Post SMTP) configured to authenticate through that mailbox. For small volumes, that path keeps delivery local and authenticated without a paid relay.
Outbound SMTP port status
GreenGeeks does not publish a port-blocking policy. Standard cPanel SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 ports are open for both bundled mailbox access and outbound SMTP relay connections from WordPress plugins.
| Port | Status | Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| 465 | Open | SMTPS (implicit TLS) |
| 587 | Open | SMTP with STARTTLS |
| 993 | Open | IMAPS (incoming) |
| 995 | Open | POP3S (incoming) |
The absence of an external-SMTP block means WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, and Post SMTP all connect to third-party services on 465 or 587 without workaround. Postmark, SMTP2GO, and Mailgun work from any GreenGeeks shared plan via standard SMTP credentials.
Sending limits
Sending limits are tiered by plan:
| Plan | Sending limit |
|---|---|
| Ecosite Lite 25 | 100/hour |
| Ecosite Pro 50 | 300/hour |
| Ecosite Premium 100 | 500/hour |
The Lite 25 limit of 100/hour is tight: a WooCommerce store processing 60 orders in a busy hour will approach it when password resets, order confirmations, and shipping notifications stack up. SiteGround publishes 400/hour on its entry plan; Hosting.com publishes 100/hour flat. The GreenGeeks entry cap is comparable to Hosting.com, and the Pro 50 and Premium 100 tiers move well above it.
The per-hour limit is specific to shared hosting. VPS plans do not carry this restriction; the environment is private and configurable.
Mailboxes, forwarding, DNS
Mailbox counts are tiered by plan. Ecosite Lite 25 includes 50 mailboxes; Ecosite Pro 50 and Premium 100 both ship unlimited. Each mailbox has a default 250 MB storage quota, adjustable in cPanel against the plan’s total disk allocation (25 GB on Lite 25, 50 GB on Pro 50, 100 GB on Premium 100). Mailboxes are accessible via IMAP, POP3, and cPanel webmail (Roundcube).
Email forwarders, catch-all addresses, and autoresponders are standard cPanel features included on every plan. Catch-all is useful for operators who have set up billing@, support@, and info@ variants and want to receive to all of them without creating each mailbox explicitly.
GreenGeeks manages DNS for domains registered or pointed through the account, which is the condition under which cPanel’s Email Deliverability one-click repair flow publishes SPF and DKIM automatically. If DNS has been moved to Cloudflare or another external provider, the panel falls back to displaying the record values as text for manual addition at the DNS host.
Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
The cPanel Email Deliverability panel handles SPF and DKIM in a single one-click "Repair" step when GreenGeeks manages the domain’s DNS. Unlike FastComet, which documents a specific default SPF record listing SpamExperts infrastructure hosts, GreenGeeks does not publish a canonical SPF include string; the generated record references GreenGeeks’ own mail server infrastructure.
DKIM signing is per-mailbox once enabled, not automatic for all outbound mail. A From address that does not correspond to a cPanel mailbox with DKIM enabled will send unsigned.
DMARC is manual. GreenGeeks’ documentation directs operators to add a TXT record in cPanel’s Zone Editor and notes that DMARC is "not really a one-size-fits-all kind of configuration." The practical starting point for most sites is a monitoring-only policy (v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:reports@<domain>) to collect reports before deciding whether to advance to p=quarantine or p=reject.
The detail to watch when adding a third-party mailer later: the default SPF record authorises GreenGeeks’ own servers only. If WordPress is routed through Postmark, Mailgun, SMTP2GO, or another service, that provider’s SPF include must be added alongside GreenGeeks’ existing record.
What GreenGeeks does not provide
- A named outbound filtering layer. FastComet runs SpamExperts; Hosting.com routes through MailChannels. GreenGeeks does not publish equivalent documentation on shared accounts, which means outbound traffic goes through local exim without a publicly-documented spam-filter stage between the server and the recipient.
- A dedicated sending IP address. Outbound goes through shared infrastructure. Sites where deliverability depends on IP reputation insulation need a sending service with a dedicated IP option.
- Bounce tracking, suppression lists, and delivery events. No per-message event log is exposed to the operator. Postmark and Mailgun publish those events as webhooks and dashboard entries.
- Marketing or bulk email allowance. The shared-hosting sending limits are built for transactional flows; newsletters and campaigns belong on a dedicated platform.
When a third-party relay is needed
The GreenGeeks default path covers personal blogs and small commerce sites whose transactional volume stays within the plan’s hourly cap, where the WordPress From address matches a real cPanel mailbox with DKIM enabled, and where shared-IP delivery is acceptable. Other shapes need a relay. The triggers:
- You are on Lite 25 and sending consistently. A busy WooCommerce store, a membership site with frequent password resets, or any site sending more than 60-70 messages during a peak hour will approach the 100/hour ceiling. Upgrading to Pro 50 (300/hour) removes the constraint without adding an external service; a third-party relay achieves the same without a plan change.
- A missed A transactional email is the automated message a WordPress site sends in response to a single user action – a password reset, an order confirmation, a form receipt – addressed to the user who triggered it. Read full reference → costs revenue. Sites where a failed order confirmation or password reset means a churned customer cannot depend on shared-IP delivery and the absence of a documented outbound filter. Postmark is the cleanest option for transactional sites under 100,000 messages per month; SMTP2GO is the cheapest credible entry point; Mailgun becomes economical at higher volumes.
- You need delivery visibility. GreenGeeks exposes no per-message events through cPanel. Any third-party service with a dashboard or per-event webhook does.
- You are sending newsletters or campaigns. The hourly caps and local exim path are not designed for bulk traffic.
Because GreenGeeks does not block external SMTP, both SMTP-based plugins (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, Post SMTP) and API-based integrations (Postmark’s WordPress plugin, Mailgun’s native integration) work from any plan without modification. SMTP on 465 or 587 is simpler to configure; API integrations tend to hold up better when network or DNS conditions change.
Verdict
GreenGeeks is a reasonable choice for operators who want independent, eco-positioned shared hosting with bundled cPanel email. The sending limit to know before choosing a plan: 100/hour on Lite 25 is tight enough to push moderate-volume sites toward a relay or a plan upgrade; 300/hour on Pro 50 and 500/hour on Premium 100 cover most small-to-medium WordPress sites without an additional service. The open SMTP ports and no-external-block policy keep relay options frictionless when the bundled path isn’t enough.
For the WordPress email setup that supplements GreenGeeks’ default path, see how to configure WordPress email.
Corrections
- 2026-06-18: an earlier version stated a flat 100 emails/hour sending limit across plans and called it the lowest cap among major shared hosts; GreenGeeks publishes tiered limits of 100/300/500 per plan.