SMTP Configuration

Email notifications can be sent out to your customers using either Chargebee's SMTP server or your own SMTP server.

When using Chargebee's SMTP server, email notifications are limited to

50 per day for Test site
2000 per day for all the plans in Live site except Launch plan which is restricted to 50 per day.

The notifications limit is reset every day at midnight UTC time. But if you are using your own SMTP server, these limits do not apply. You will have full control over the mails and can also check reports and deliverability. To configure the SMTP settings,

Navigate to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Email Notifications > Change Settings

Configuring Your Own SMTP Settings

When you choose to use your own SMTP server,you can use your SMTP service provider's host name, username and password, encryption type and the port number. The email notification limit for your custom SMTP server is decided by your service provider.

Note:

If you are configuring SendGrid as your custom SMTP, use "apikey" as the User name and your SendGrid API key as the Password.
For secure email communication, it is recommended to use the following ports to connect with your custom SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers.
- Recommended ports: 465, 587, 25, 2525, 80, and 8080.
To use some other port, please contact our solution team.

SMTP Information per Email provider:

Chargebee will verify the credentials by sending a test email
‘From Address' will be taken from the email notification settings
‘To Address' will be email address of the user who has logged in
If you are using an SMTP provider's Sandbox account, then make sure you are a verified Sender/Receiver. SMTP providers check whether the email address is verified or not to avoid misuse
If your account has Multiple factor authentication (MFA) enabled, such as in Gmail or Zoho Mail, then you will have to create a Custom App credential
Mail clients' SMTP account may override ‘From Address' you set in Chargebee to its own ‘From Address'
However, some email clients, such as Office 365, the username of the ‘SMTP Settings' and the ‘From Address' given in Chargebee should be the same, for you to use the credentials in Chargebee.

Email attachment settings

By configuring your own SMTP server, you gain the flexibility to include a customized attachment with every email you send. These attachments can be uniquely tailored to match the preferences or requirements of each locale and further customized for specific billing countries within those locales.

Follow these steps to enable this in your Chargebee site:

Go to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Email Notifications.
Click Change SMTP settings.
Enable Enable attachments specific to billing countries to allow adding attachments based on the selected locale and country.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why would I use my own SMTP Server when I can use Chargebee's? There are 3 primary reasons why one would use their own SMTP server:

You can manage your SPF records and also handle email bounces yourself.
Notification limits used by Chargebee do not apply when using your own SMTP server.
DMARC policies will not affect your email delivery. More on DMARC policies here.

2. Does Chargebee support OAuth support for Office365 SMTP connection? Chargebee currently does not provide OAuth support for Office365 SMTP connection. The available authentication method is limited to the traditional username-password combination.

3. How can I replace my legacy Gmail SMTP password with an app password? Following are the steps to replace your legacy Gmail SMTP password with an app password: