Your business starts with hello@. Then you need sales@, support@, billing@, and an address for each teammate. A few useful names can quickly turn into a spreadsheet of mailbox decisions.
With Mailat's app limits disabled, there is no Mailat-imposed limit to the number of email addresses you can create on your verified domain. The supplied self-hosting configuration enables this mode. You can create separate mailbox accounts or use aliases and plus addresses when another login is unnecessary.
That gives you room to organize your business naturally. The address count is separate from server capacity, AWS usage, sending quotas and any limits an installation's operator chooses to configure.
What “unlimited email addresses” means in Mailat#
Mailat is open-source software you can run on your own infrastructure. Its mailbox users do not consume organization member seats. In the supplied configuration, DISABLE_APP_LIMITS=true removes the application's configured limits, including the identity count used when creating a new mailbox.
If an operator enables app limits and sets an organization identity cap, that cap applies. So “unlimited” describes the software's uncapped configuration, not every possible deployment someone might run.
You still need enough compute and storage for the mailboxes you use. A hundred mostly quiet addresses and a hundred heavily used inboxes are very different workloads.
The practical benefit is simple: you can decide how many addresses your organization needs without buying a Mailat software license for every mailbox.
Mailboxes, aliases and catch-all: choose the right address type#
Not every new email address needs its own inbox. Here is a useful way to choose:
| What you want | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A person signs in and reads their own mail | Mailbox account | [email protected] |
| Another address belongs to the same person | Admin-granted send-as alias | [email protected] belongs to Maya |
| A variation of an existing address | Plus address | [email protected] |
| Several people receive mail for one team address | Shared mailbox | [email protected] |
| One inbox receives unmatched addresses on a domain | Catch-all | Unassigned names reach [email protected] |
A shared mailbox delivers a copy to its members. It is not a help-desk ticket queue with assignment and collision management.
These options can coexist. You might give Maya a private mailbox, make sales@ her alias, and add her to a shared support@ address.
Create email addresses on your own domain#
1. Verify the domain with Amazon SES#
Add your domain in Mailat and complete its verification steps. SES supports domain-level verification, which normally allows straightforward sending from addresses on that domain without individually verifying every address. Mailat still checks who is allowed to use each sender. AWS identity verification
You must own or control the domain. This does not allow you to create addresses on someone else's domain or send as another user's mailbox.
2. Decide where incoming email should arrive#
To receive mail in Mailat, enable receiving and publish the root MX shown on the domain card. The receiving section tells you whether the record is missing, published or pointing elsewhere.
If another service already handles your domain's inboxes, keep that arrangement until you deliberately migrate it. Mailat does not automatically replace your root MX when you add a sending domain.
See email receiving with Amazon SES for the complete incoming-mail setup.
3. Open Mailboxes and create the account#
As an owner or admin, open Mailboxes, select your domain and choose New mailbox. Enter the local part, such as maya, and the person's name.
Choose how the person gets access:
- Invite them: send a setup link to an outside address they already use. The link is single-use and expires after 72 hours.
- Set an initial password: create access directly, then share the credentials through a secure channel.
Do not send an invitation to the new mailbox itself. The person needs somewhere they can already receive the setup message.
4. Give each user the access they need#
A mailbox user signs in to a mail-only interface: their inbox, compose, signature, filters, forwarding, auto-replies and security settings. Domain management and other organization administration are not part of that role.
Admins can manage whether a mailbox may send or receive, grant aliases, reset access or suspend the account. Mailbox users cannot create API keys; use an appropriately authorized organization account for integrations.
Add aliases instead of extra logins#
Suppose Maya handles both sales and partnerships. Creating [email protected] and [email protected] as her granted aliases can keep those messages with the same person.
Mailat routes an alias to its owner. The owner can send using that granted address, subject to sender permissions. An alias does not create a second person, password or storage account.
Mailbox users may send from their own address and its plus-address variations. Sending from arbitrary unused addresses requires the optional Wildcard sender permission, which is off by default. Addresses belonging to other people remain protected.
That makes aliases useful for organizing roles while keeping accountability clear.
Use plus addresses for small variations#
An address such as [email protected] routes to the base [email protected] mailbox when it does not match a more specific exact address.
You can use different tags for suppliers, projects or form submissions. They give you recognizable address variations without creating separate mailbox accounts.
Plus addressing is a convenience, not a privacy guarantee. The base address is visible, and not every outside website accepts a plus sign in its signup form.
Choose a catch-all mailbox for unmatched addresses#
Catch-all is useful when you want one inbox to collect mail sent to names you have not explicitly created.
You might choose [email protected] as the catch-all and let an otherwise unused [email protected] address reach it. Mail sent to a real [email protected] mailbox still goes to Maya.
Mailat permits one catch-all target per domain, and an owner or admin can select a receiving mailbox as that target. The routing order is:
- Exact mailbox or identity.
- The base address of a plus-address variation.
- The owner of a granted send-as alias.
- The domain catch-all.
Catch-all does not create a separate login for every possible address. It collects unmatched recipients into the target inbox. It can also increase unwanted mail, so monitor it and use filters where helpful.
Bringing a team over? Use mailbox CSV import#
For several accounts, Mailat includes a mailbox CSV import with a dry run. Each row uses a local part or address, a name, and either an outside invitation address or an initial password.
The current import accepts up to 200 rows and a 1 MiB file per request. That is an import batch limit, not a total mailbox limit. Review the dry-run results before creating accounts, and treat any CSV containing passwords as sensitive.
This creates mailbox accounts. It is not an import tool for historical Gmail, Outlook or IMAP messages.
What still costs money?#
| Item | How to think about it |
|---|---|
| Mailat open-source software | Free under its MIT license |
| Domain registration | Paid to your domain registrar |
| Application hosting and database | Depends on your server or managed hosting plan |
| Mail storage and AWS services | Depends on usage and configuration |
| Outgoing email capacity | Subject to your SES account's quotas |
Creating more addresses does not multiply your SES sending allowance. AWS applies sending quotas and rate limits at the account and Region level. AWS sending limits
Estimate the workload, not just the address count. Keep backups, watch storage growth, and give new senders time to establish a healthy reputation.
Frequently asked questions#
Is there a limit to how many email addresses I can create with my domain name?#
Mailat imposes no address-count cap when DISABLE_APP_LIMITS=true. Operators can configure limits, and practical capacity still depends on the installation. Every address must belong to a domain you are authorized to use.
Does every alias need a paid mailbox?#
No. An alias belongs to an existing identity and does not need its own login. Mailat's open-source software does not charge a per-alias license fee.
Can an owner read everyone's inbox?#
The normal Mailat interface does not give owners or admins access to other users' private mail. Shared mailbox membership is explicit. This is application access control, not end-to-end encryption against the person administering the server.
Can users connect through IMAP or SMTP?#
Mailat currently provides browser access, and authorized integrations use its API. It does not expose IMAP, POP3 or SMTP submission.
Give every useful address a purpose#
Start with the names your team needs today. Add private mailbox accounts for people, aliases for roles, and a shared address where several teammates should receive the same incoming mail.
Get the free open-source Mailat app, or choose Mailat Cloud hosting from $15/month if you prefer managed deployment. Hosting and AWS usage remain separate from the free software license.
