Quick answer
How do I set up email forwarding for my domain?
To set up email forwarding for your domain at DotAlmanac, open the domain's Forwarding tab, add an alias such as contact@ and the mailbox that should receive it, then confirm the link sent to that mailbox. As of 29 October 2026, forwarding is free, with up to 20 aliases per domain, one of which can be a catch-all.
Email forwarding at a glance
| Price | Free with every domain |
|---|---|
| Aliases | Up to 20 per domain, including at most one catch-all (*) |
| Alias characters | Letters, digits, dots, hyphens, underscores and + |
| Destination | One mailbox per alias, on another domain; it confirms once by email |
| Requirements | DotAlmanac nameservers, and no MX record on the domain itself |
| DNS records to add by hand | None |
| Sending from the alias | Not included: forwarding receives mail only |
| Full mailbox instead | Templates for Proton Mail, Fastmail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Zoho Mail |
What is email forwarding, and when is it enough?
DotAlmanac is a domain extension guide and registrar: compare every extension, then register it with no KYC and pay in crypto. Email forwarding is one of the free tools that come with each domain. Mail sent to an address on your domain is passed on to a mailbox you already have.
Forwarding is enough when you only need to receive. Typical uses: a contact address on a website, sign-ups for services, or a separate address for each shop you buy from. It is not enough when you must reply from the domain address; that needs a mail provider.
An alias also keeps your personal address off forms and public pages. WHOIS privacy is not available everywhere: according to DotAlmanac's table of 225 extensions, 135 allow it, 31 have the data hidden by the registry and 23 forbid it.
How to set up email forwarding in 5 steps
Check the nameservers
Open the domain's Nameservers tab. It must read "Our nameservers". Forwarding settings work only with DotAlmanac's nameservers.
Remove MX records from the domain
Open the DNS tab and filter on MX. If the domain itself (@) has MX records, forwarding is refused until you delete them, because the domain already receives mail elsewhere.
Add an alias
Open Forwarding › Email forwarding › Add an alias. Enter the address, such as
contact, and the mailbox to forward to, such as [email protected]. Add a catch-all with*if you want every address.Save, then confirm the destination
Save email forwarding. The destination mailbox receives a confirmation link, and the alias shows "Waiting for confirmation". Mail is forwarded once you open the link.
Send a test message
From another account, write to the alias. Check the inbox and the spam folder of the destination, and mark the message as not spam if needed.
Do I need forwarding or a real mailbox?
Forwarding covers receiving. A mail provider covers receiving and sending from the domain address.
| Need | Free forwarding at DotAlmanac | Mail provider (template in the DNS tab) |
|---|---|---|
| Receive mail at you@yourdomain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reply from you@yourdomain | ✗ | ✓ |
| Where mail is stored | Your existing mailbox | The provider's mailbox |
| DNS records to add | None by hand | MX, SPF, DKIM and often DMARC, filled by the template |
| Cost | Free | The provider's plan; Proton Mail allows custom domains on paid plans only |
| Works with Cloudflare nameservers | ✗ | ✓ |
What DNS records does a real mailbox need?
A mail provider needs MX records to receive, an SPF record to send, DKIM to sign and DMARC to set a policy. Proton Mail is a common choice; DotAlmanac's Proton Mail template adds the records below. It asks for the verification value and the 3 DKIM targets shown in Proton Mail › Settings › Domain names.
Proton Mail records
| Type | Name | Value | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXT | @ | protonmail-verification=… (value from Proton) | — |
| MX | @ | mail.protonmail.ch | 10 |
| MX | @ | mailsec.protonmail.ch | 20 |
| TXT | @ | v=spf1 include:_spf.protonmail.ch ~all | — |
| CNAME | protonmail._domainkey | DKIM target 1 (from Proton) | — |
| CNAME | protonmail2._domainkey | DKIM target 2 (from Proton) | — |
| CNAME | protonmail3._domainkey | DKIM target 3 (from Proton) | — |
| TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine | — |
The values shown in your Proton Mail settings win over this table. Keep only one SPF record on @: the template replaces the old one.
MX records of the other mail templates
| Provider | MX records (priority, host) | SPF include |
|---|---|---|
| Fastmail | 10 in1-smtp.messagingengine.com · 20 in2-smtp.messagingengine.com | include:spf.messagingengine.com |
| Google Workspace | 1 smtp.google.com | include:_spf.google.com |
| Microsoft 365 | 0 your-domain-with-dashes.mail.protection.outlook.com (shown in the admin center) | include:spf.protection.outlook.com |
| Zoho Mail (.com region) | 10 mx.zoho.com · 20 mx2.zoho.com · 50 mx3.zoho.com | include:zohomail.com |
Each mail template replaces every MX record of @ and the SPF record of @. Forwarding and a mailbox do not share a domain: once MX records point to a provider, use that provider's own aliases.
Why do forwarded emails sometimes land in spam?
Because SPF checks the server that hands over the message, and after forwarding that server is the forwarder, not the original sender. The receiving mailbox then sees an SPF result that does not match the sender's domain.
DKIM signatures survive forwarding when the message is not changed, so most forwarded mail still passes DMARC. Messages from senders without DKIM are the ones most likely to be filtered. Mark them as not spam once, or add a filter on the alias address in your mailbox.
What should I publish on a domain that sends no email?
Publish a "no email" policy, so nobody can send convincing fake mail from the domain. DotAlmanac's No email template adds three records in one step. Do not apply it to a domain that uses forwarding or a mailbox.
@ 3600 IN MX 0 .
@ 3600 IN TXT "v=spf1 -all"
_dmarc 3600 IN TXT "v=DMARC1; p=reject"Can I use Cloudflare Email Routing instead?
Yes, if the domain uses Cloudflare's nameservers. In that case DotAlmanac's forwarding stops working, because the zone no longer runs on our DNS. Cloudflare Email Routing requires Cloudflare DNS; it adds its own MX, SPF and DKIM records and asks each destination address to confirm by email.
The move itself is described in how to use Cloudflare with your domain. For a domain that stays on DotAlmanac's DNS, the built-in forwarding needs no extra account.
Email forwarding: FAQ
Is email forwarding free at DotAlmanac?
Yes. Email forwarding and web forwarding are included with every domain, at no extra cost. You pay only for the domain, for example $11.99/year for a .com, as listed on the pricing page.
Can I send email from my forwarded address?
Not with forwarding alone: it receives mail only. To send as you@yourdomain, use a mail provider and apply its template in the DNS tab. Proton Mail, Fastmail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Zoho Mail have one-click templates.
Can one alias forward to two mailboxes?
No. Each alias forwards to one mailbox, and the same alias cannot be listed twice. Use two aliases, such as sales@ and orders@, or set up a forwarding rule in the destination mailbox.
Why can't I forward to an address on the same domain?
Because the message would come back to the forwarder. The destination must be on another domain, such as a Proton Mail, Gmail or Fastmail address.
What is a catch-all address?
A catch-all forwards mail sent to any address of the domain that has no alias of its own. Write * as the alias. It is handy for one-off addresses, but it also receives spam sent to random names.
Does email forwarding work with every extension?
Yes, with every extension DotAlmanac sells, as long as the domain uses our nameservers. The extension changes nothing in the setup.
Sources (4)
- How to use a custom domain with Proton Mail — Proton (checked 2026-10-29)
- Enable Email Routing — Cloudflare Docs (checked 2026-10-29)
- RFC 7505: A "Null MX" No Service Resource Record for Domains That Accept No Mail — IETF (June 2015)
- RFC 7489: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) — IETF (March 2015)
Get a domain with free email forwarding
Register it with no KYC, pay in crypto, and add your first alias from the Forwarding tab.