How Many Emails Can You Send Before Considered Spam

Have you ever considered how many emails you can send before they end up in the spam folder? This is a common question for people and businesses that use email. It's difficult to say because it depends on your email provider, sending habits, and other factors. Many email providers set a daily limit of around 500 emails for personal accounts and up to 2,000 for business accounts, though this varies.

Even if you stay within these limits, your emails might still be marked as spam. How often you send, how good your content is, and how many people connect with it are all very important. This blog post will discuss the sending limits of some popular email services and explain why your emails might still end up in the spam folder even if you follow these limits.

10 Tips for Managing Email Sending Limits of Popular Providers

Before you start email marketing or sending mass emails, it's important to know what limits each email service provider puts in place. These limits aim to stop spam and keep users safe from unwanted messages. There are different rules for each email service provider about how many emails you can send daily, how many people you can include, and sometimes even how fast you can send them.

Going over these limits could result in blocked emails and a temporary or permanent account suspension. Let's look at the specific sending limits for the major email providers you need to know about to keep your sending image in good shape and ensure your messages get to the right people.

1. Google Workspace

• Messages - 2,000 per day
• Total recipients - 10,000 per day
• External recipients - 3,000 per day
• Maximum recipients per email - 2,000 (500 for external recipients)

Google Workspace has a lot of space for files, which is good for work communications. These limits help Google maintain service quality while supporting business email communication. If you often exceed these limits, you should use email marketing services instead.

2. Gmail

• Messages - 500 per day
• Total recipients - 500 per day
• Recommended hourly limit - Less than 20 per hour

Business accounts can do more than standard Gmail accounts can. The limits may be even smaller for new accounts at first, but they may rise over time. These limits help stop scams while letting normal users talk to each other daily.

3. Microsoft O365

• Messages - 30 per minute
• Total recipients - 10,000 per day
• Maximum recipients per message - 500

Microsoft 365 balances email-sending capabilities with spam prevention.  The minute-based limit stops email spikes that set off spam alerts.  Businesses with more complex needs can look into enterprise options or email marketing services that work exclusively with Microsoft 365.

4. Exchange Server

• Messages - No specific limit
• Total recipients - No specific limit

Exchange Server is different because it doesn't set strict limits. This gives businesses freedom. System administrators typically set their own limits based on the server's capacity and policies. To keep their emails delivered, users should still follow best practices.

5. Exchange Online

• Messages - 30 per minute
• Total recipients - 10,000 per day

Exchange Online has the same limits as Microsoft 365. These limits are a good balance between the need for business contact and stopping spam. Along with Exchange Online, businesses that send many emails should consider using specialized marketing tools.

6. Outlook

• Messages - 30 per minute
• Total recipients - 5,000 per day

These limits only apply to people who pay for Microsoft 365. The limits depend on how old the account is, how often it is used, and whether it is subscribed. As a safety measure against spam, smaller thresholds may be set for accounts that are new or not used very often.

7. Yahoo Mail

• Messages - 500 per day
• Maximum recipients per email - 100

Yahoo Mail has stricter rules than some other providers. Because of the receiver limit, emails with longer lists of people must be split into multiple emails. Yahoo sets these limits to keep users safe from spam and ensure the system runs smoothly.

8. Rackspace

• Messages - No specific limit
• Total recipients - 10,000 per day
• Automated emails - Much lower limits

Rackspace lets you send many emails, but they are stricter about automatic emails. Organizations should carefully plan their automation methods to ensure they don't exceed these lower limits for automated messages.

9. GoDaddy

• Messages - 200 per minute and 300 per hour
• Total recipients - 500 per day

GoDaddy uses a multi-tiered method with some strict rules. The minute-based limit allows fast email sending, while the hourly cap prevents excessive volume at once. These amounts will be enough for small businesses with average needs.

10. Bluehost

• Messages - 150 per hour
• Total recipients - No specific limit

There are hourly sending limits set by Bluehost, but there are no daily receiver limits. This method stops email floods and allows you to spread out larger amounts of mail throughout the day. The lack of recipient boundaries gives you more freedom than other providers.

Reason Why Should You Pay Attention to Email Sending Limits

Following email-sending limits is crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation and ensuring email deliverability. If you exceed these limits, your email service may automatically limit your account. In the worst cases, they may stop letting you send messages briefly or permanently.

Many providers set these limits to prevent their systems from being used for spam campaigns and to maintain their IP image with other email services. Regularly hitting or exceeding these limits tells email providers that you might be doing something suspicious. Even well-intended actions, like trying to send bulk emails without spamming, such as newsletters to all customers, can hurt your deliverability and make future emails harder to reach inboxes.

5 Reasons Why Are Your Emails Being Marked Spam

When email providers read messages, several things that they look at can cause your emails to end up in spam folders even if you don't go over the sending limits. Here are some reasons your emails might be marked as spam:

1. Poor Sender Reputation: Poor responses from past campaigns can lead to a negative reputation that persists over time.  
2. Spam Trigger Words: Using excessive capitalization, spam-like words, or too many exclamation points can trigger spam filters.  
3. Technical Problems: Lack of authentication methods (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) can cause emails to be flagged as suspicious.  
4. Low Engagement Metrics: Low open rates, few clicks, or high unsubscribe rates indicate that recipients don't value your content.  
5. Purchased Email Lists: Using bought lists instead of permission-based ones can lead to spam complaints since recipients have not agreed to receive your emails.  

Conclusion

Knowing how to get around email-sending limits is important for anyone who uses email for work or pleasure. As we've seen, each email service has different limits on the number of daily messages and users that are allowed. These limits are meant to keep the system safe and stop spam. However, following these rules is only the beginning. To keep your emails out of spam folders, ensure you have a good sender reputation, write interesting content, use best practices for technology, and only send to people who want to hear from you. Contact LISTGIANT today to learn how we can improve your email deliverability and help you connect with your audience effectively.