WPX Hosting is an independent managed WordPress host, co-founded by Terry Kyle and Georgi Petrov in December 2013, with approximately 110 employees. The Business plan and above bundle unlimited email accounts at the domain; the entry-level Starter plan excludes email. The published sending limit is 50 emails within any 30-minute period per hosting plan, with a 49-recipient cap per message; bulk and marketing email are explicitly prohibited. SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 ports are open on WPX’s servers, and no external-SMTP block is documented, so third-party relay plugins connect straightforwardly when the default sending path isn’t sufficient. Business renews at $29.99/month ($24.99/month on an annual plan).
Email on WPX Hosting
How wp_mail works by default
A fresh WordPress install on a WPX Business plan sends mail through PHP’s mail() function, which routes through WPX’s own mail servers. The default path works out of the box for basic transactional sends — password resets, contact form notifications, WooCommerce order confirmations — without installing an SMTP plugin. WPX’s SMTP host for the bundled email service is documented in their blog guides; the setup follows standard cPanel-style SMTP credential authentication.
DKIM signing (the per-message cryptographic signature that receiving servers use to confirm the message wasn’t altered in transit) is not automatically applied to the default wp_mail() path from a WordPress admin email address. Operators who want authenticated outbound mail configure WP Mail SMTP — WPX documents this setup explicitly — pointed at WPX’s own SMTP server for the matching email account. That path adds authentication without requiring a paid third-party service for low-volume sites.
Operators on the Starter plan receive no bundled email accounts. A Starter-plan site that needs to send WordPress transactional mail must install an SMTP plugin and route mail through a third-party relay (Postmark, SMTP2GO, Mailgun) from day one.
Outbound SMTP port status
WPX does not publish an explicit port-blocking policy. Standard SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 ports are available for both bundled mailbox access and third-party SMTP relay connections.
| Port | Status | Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| 465 | Open (recommended) | SMTPS (implicit TLS) |
| 587 | Open | SMTP with STARTTLS |
| 993 | Open | IMAPS (incoming) |
| 995 | Open | POP3S (incoming) |
No external-SMTP block is documented. WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, and Post SMTP all connect to third-party services on 465 or 587 without workaround. This is the operational difference between WPX and managed hosts like Pagely and Presslabs, which route operators toward API-based relay integrations due to their managed infrastructure policies.
Sending limits
WPX publishes specific sending limits for the bundled email service:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Emails per 30-minute period | 50 (per hosting plan) |
| Recipients per email | 49 maximum |
| Message size | 32 MB |
| Attachment size | 20 MB |
The 50-per-30-minutes cap works out to approximately 100 emails per hour at sustained send rate, though the 30-minute window means a burst of 50 goes through instantly and then the account must wait. A WooCommerce store processing 40 orders in a 30-minute window will use up most of the per-period allowance with order confirmations alone, before counting password resets, shipping notifications, or other transactional mail.
For comparison: SiteGround publishes 400/hour on its entry plan; InMotion Hosting publishes 250/hour per domain; GreenGeeks publishes 100/hour on Lite 25 and 300/hour on Pro 50. WPX’s 50/30-minutes is one of the tighter documented limits for a managed WordPress host.
The limit applies to the bundled WPX email service. Third-party relay connections (WP Mail SMTP pointed at Postmark, SMTP2GO, or Mailgun) are not subject to this limit; the relay’s own quotas apply instead.
Mailboxes, forwarding, DNS
Email hosting is included on Business and above; the Starter plan excludes it. On plans with email, WPX provides:
- Unlimited mailboxes at the domain
- IMAP, POP3, and SMTP access
- Webmail (accessible from the WPX dashboard)
- Email forwarding
- AI-powered spam and malware protection on inbound mail
- Free email migrations for accounts switching to WPX
Per-mailbox storage draws from the plan’s SSD allocation (20 GB on Business, 40 GB on Professional, 80 GB on Elite, 300 GB on Agency). No separate per-mailbox storage quota is documented; the operator allocates against total disk.
WPX manages DNS for domains pointed through the account. SPF (the DNS record that lists which mail servers are authorised to send on the domain’s behalf) and DKIM records for the WPX mail servers are configured through the WPX dashboard. Operators who have moved DNS to Cloudflare add the records there.
Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
WPX provides SPF and DKIM configuration through the account dashboard. DKIM signing applies when a WordPress email is sent through an authenticated SMTP connection to a WPX mailbox; the default PHP mail() path does not automatically carry DKIM unless the WordPress admin email address corresponds to a real WPX mailbox with DKIM configured and routed through WP Mail SMTP.
DMARC is manual: the operator publishes a _dmarc TXT record through the DNS panel. The practical starting point is a monitoring policy (v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:reports@<domain>) before advancing to enforcement.
When adding a third-party mailer, the SPF record needs to include the relay’s own infrastructure alongside WPX’s mail servers. Operators should not replace WPX’s SPF record when adding a relay — both paths need to be authorised.
What WPX Hosting does not provide
- Email for the Starter plan. Operators on the entry plan who need domain email must bring a third-party provider or upgrade to Business.
- Bulk or marketing email. WPX’s knowledge base is explicit: the bundled email service is for small business communication, not campaigns. IP reputation on shared servers is the stated reason; bulk senders are directed to Mailchimp, SendGrid, or dedicated platforms.
- A generous transactional sending ceiling. The 50/30-minute cap is adequate for a small site with modest order volume. Sites with consistent transactional demand above 100/hour need a relay.
- Per-message delivery events. No bounce tracking, suppression lists, or delivery event log exposed to the operator. Postmark and Mailgun publish those as webhooks.
- A dedicated sending IP address. Outbound goes through WPX’s shared mail servers. Sites where deliverability needs IP-level insulation need a relay with a dedicated IP option.
When a third-party relay is needed
The WPX default path covers personal sites and small commerce shops whose WordPress transactional volume stays within 50 emails per 30 minutes, where the admin email corresponds to a WPX mailbox with DKIM configured, and where shared-IP delivery is acceptable. The triggers for adding a relay:
- You’re on Starter. No bundled email means no default transactional path. A relay is required from day one. SMTP2GO is the cheapest credible option; Postmark is the most reliable for transactional sends.
- You’re approaching 50 emails per 30 minutes. A WooCommerce store with consistent order volume, a membership site with frequent email verifications, or any site that sends in bursts will approach or exceed the cap. A third-party relay bypasses WPX’s per-period limit and applies the relay’s own documented quota instead.
- 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. Password reset failures or missed order confirmations on a commerce site mean churned customers. Third-party relays with delivery event logging identify failures before customers complain.
- You need delivery analytics. WPX exposes no per-message delivery events. Postmark‘s dashboard and webhook stream is the cleanest solution for transactional sites; Mailgun exposes a full log API.
- You’re sending newsletters. Bulk email is prohibited on WPX’s bundled service regardless of volume; campaigns belong on a dedicated marketing platform.
Because WPX does not block external SMTP, both SMTP-based plugins (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, Post SMTP) and API-based integrations (Postmark’s official plugin, Mailgun’s native integration) work without modification.
Verdict
WPX Hosting is the independent managed WordPress option with bundled email — the alternative to WHG- or GoDaddy-owned hosts at a similar price point. The sending limit (50/30 minutes) is the operational number to know; it’s adequate for low-traffic sites but pushes moderate-volume shops toward a relay quickly. The Starter plan’s exclusion of email means operators choosing WPX for domain email should budget for Business or above from the start. Open SMTP ports and no external-SMTP block keep relay options frictionless when the bundled service isn’t enough.
For the WordPress email setup that supplements WPX Hosting’s default path, see how to configure WordPress email.