Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) offers basic user and administrative features, making it an ideal choice for early-stage teams with limited budgets. It allows you to quickly set up a stable and reliable email service to meet your day-to-day business communication needs.
Requirements
Before you apply, ensure you meet the following requirements:
Domain ownership: You must own a domain name and have permission to manage its DNS records.
Real-name verification: Your Alibaba Cloud account must have completed real-name verification.
Account limits: A single
Alibaba Cloud accountcan be used to apply forAlibaba Mail (Free Edition)only once. A user identity that has completedreal-name verificationcan be used to apply for Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) a maximum of two times.
Quotas and limitations
Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) is designed for basic use cases. The following table describes its quotas and feature limitations.
Category | Feature | Description |
Quotas | Number of users | 50 accounts |
Mailbox storage | 5 GB | |
Large attachment storage | 10 GB | |
Enterprise Drive storage | 2 GB | |
Personal drive | 2 GB | |
Domestic infrastructure | Option for domestic infrastructure | Not supported |
Domestic base environment | Not supported | |
Support | Online support | 5×8 hours |
Phone support | Not supported | |
Mail delivery service | Internal sending limit | Unlimited |
External sending limit | 2,000 emails/day per organization | |
Recipient limit | 2,000 recipients/day per organization | |
International mail delivery channel | Direct connection from China-based servers | |
Admin features | Basic account management | Supported |
Independent contact lists and permission management for subsidiaries | Not supported | |
Public contacts | Not supported | |
Mail groups | Only static mail groups are supported. | |
Account alias | Not supported | |
Batch settings | Not supported | |
Account recycle bin | Not supported | |
Security center | Not supported | |
Two-factor authentication for proprietary clients | Supported | |
Access restrictions for proprietary clients | Supported | |
Third-party client login management | Supported | |
Secure login IP | Supported | |
Forced periodic password changes | Supported | |
Weak password blacklist | Not supported | |
Blacklist/whitelist | Supported | |
Email monitoring, forwarding, moderation, or filtering | Not supported | |
Anti-spam settings | Not supported | |
IP login restrictions/IP blacklist | Not supported | |
External account warnings | Not supported | |
Risky link warnings | Not supported | |
Behavior query | Supported | |
Data statistics | Not supported | |
Security statistics | Not supported | |
Multi-level administrator | Supported | |
Edit company information | Supported | |
Domain management | Single domain name Single domain alias | |
Interface customization | Not supported | |
Email migration | Supported | |
Sending settings | Supported | |
Message recall | Not supported | |
Mailbox delegation | Not supported | |
Mailbox recycle bin | Not supported | |
Meeting room management | Supported | |
Email archiving | Not supported | |
Quarantine | Not supported | |
Open API platform | Not supported | |
AD synchronization/authentication | Not supported | |
DingTalk integration | Supported | |
Identity source management | Not supported | |
User features | Supported | |
Folders | Supported (up to 800) | |
Contacts | Supported (Contacts: 12,000; Groups: 200) | |
Calendar | Supported | |
Drive | Supported | |
Groups | Supported | |
Set default sender address | Supported | |
Set sender name | Supported | |
Set profile picture | Supported | |
Authenticator app | Supported | |
App-specific passwords for third-party clients | Supported | |
Log query | Supported | |
Login device management | Supported | |
POP and IMAP settings | Supported | |
Read receipt | Supported | |
Set reply-to address | Supported | |
Customize display settings | Supported | |
Receiving rules | Supported | |
Out of office reply settings | Supported | |
Blacklist/whitelist | Supported | |
Auto-forwarding | Not supported | |
Fetch mail from other accounts | Supported | |
Signature | Supported | |
New mail notification settings | Supported | |
Language settings | Supported | |
Time zone settings | Supported | |
Theme settings | Supported | |
MCP service | Not supported | |
AI-powered email writing/replying | Not supported | |
AI-powered polishing | Not supported | |
AI-powered translation | Not supported |
Billing
Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) is currently free of charge. Any changes to this policy will be announced in advance on the official Alibaba Cloud website. For Alibaba Cloud accounts that have completed real-name verification, the service automatically renews for one year upon expiration.
Application and configuration
Step 1: Apply for Alibaba Mail (Free Edition)
Go to the Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) purchase page.
Enter your domain name and select a subscription duration.
For Mailbox Domain, select Existing Domain and enter your domain name, such as
example.com.Existing Domain: If you already own a domain that is not associated with an email service, you can enter its address. Both root domains and subdomains are supported.
Don't have a domain? Register a new one.: You must bind your Alibaba Mail service to a custom domain name to use addresses like
user@example.com. We recommend registering a domain name in advance.
For Subscription Duration, select 1 year.
Read and agree to the service agreement, and then complete the
purchaseat no cost.
Step 2: Add DNS records
Point your domain name to the Alibaba Mail servers to ensure you can send and receive emails correctly. When you set up DNS records for the first time, it typically takes about 10 minutes for the changes to take effect.
You must complete the domain name resolution and ensure it takes effect within 7 days of a successful application. If you fail to do so, the system automatically revokes this email service, and you will need to apply again.
Go to the Alibaba Mail console and find your Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) instance on the All Mailboxes tab.
Find the instance with the product name Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) and click Manage to open the email management interface.
Click Set up DNS.
If your domain was purchased from Alibaba Cloud, you can click One-click DNS setup.
If your domain is managed by another provider, you must configure the DNS records with your authoritative DNS provider. For an example of how to configure records by using Alibaba Cloud DNS, see Add email DNS records.
Step 3: Create mailbox accounts
Log on to the Alibaba Mail admin console to start creating mailbox accounts for your team members, such as user@example.com.
Go to Alibaba Mail and log on with your postmaster account (
postmaster@your-domain.com) and password. If you have not set a password for the postmaster account, see Reset the password for the postmaster administrator account.After you enter the admin console, you can create mailbox accounts. For more information, see Manage organizations and users.
Upgrade
If the quotas or features of Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) no longer meet your business needs, you can upgrade to the Standard or Group Edition at any time. This gives you more storage, more accounts, and advanced features like email archiving and email monitoring. Your data will be seamlessly migrated during the upgrade process.
You can upgrade Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) only to the Standard Edition. To upgrade to the Premium Edition, you must first upgrade from the Free Edition to the Standard Edition.
Log on to the Alibaba Cloud console and click the Upgrade button next to your Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) instance to begin the upgrade process.
Enter the Number of Accounts and Subscription Duration, select the checkbox to agree to the service agreement, and then click Proceed to Payment to complete the upgrade.
Delete Alibaba Mail (Free Edition)
If you no longer need to use Alibaba Mail (Free Edition), you can delete the service in the console. Important: After the service is deleted, all its data is permanently erased and cannot be recovered.
Go to the Alibaba Mail console, find the Free Edition instance you want to delete, and click Delete.
On the Delete Mailbox page, click Delete. In the confirmation dialog box that appears, click OK to finalize the deletion.
FAQ
Does Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) expire?
Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) expires after the initial subscription period you select. However:
If your Alibaba Cloud account has completed real-name verification, the auto-renewal feature is enabled for your Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) instance. The service automatically renews for one year upon expiration.
If your Alibaba Cloud account has not completed real-name verification, your Alibaba Mail (Free Edition) service will be deleted 30 days after expiration if it is not renewed. After the service is deleted, all data is permanently erased and cannot be recovered.
How to get started with Alibaba Mail (Free Edition)?
After you purchase Alibaba Mail (Free Edition), see the Getting Started guide to set the postmaster administrator password, assign employee accounts, and add DNS records.
Alibaba Mail (Free Edition): Does it offer online support?
For help with Alibaba Mail (Free Edition), Alibaba Mail provides an online support portal within the admin console. This service is delivered by professional service providers certified by Alibaba Mail. You can use the online service window to get help with any issues you encounter. Your existing support channels also remain available.