Free Custom Domain Email Addresses with Cloudflare Email Forwarding

If you’ve been doing client work for any length of time, you’ve probably encountered a client who balks at paying $3 to $6 a month for a custom email address. In their mind, email has always been free, and they can’t justify a monthly cost. Yet having an address like @hotmail.com on a professional business website isn’t a great look.

It’s not always about penny-pinching, though. Sometimes you just need a customer-facing email address for a side project, but you don’t need a whole new inbox to manage. That’s where email forwarding comes in handy. Fortunately, Cloudflare’s free plan allows for it. Below, you’ll learn how to set it up.

Setting Up Cloudflare for Email Forwarding

1. Add Your Domain to Cloudflare

First, make sure your domain is connected to Cloudflare. Once your website is added and your DNS is pointed to Cloudflare, you can access the Email feature. If you need help adding your domain, refer to any existing Cloudflare setup guide you may have.

1. Log in to Cloudflare.
2. Select your domain (e.g., MidlothianWebsites.com).
3. Go to Email in the left-hand menu.
4. Click on Email Routing.

2. Create a Forwarding Rule

If you haven’t set up email routing on this domain yet, you’ll see a Get Started button.

1. Decide what you want your email address to be: for example, hi@MidlothianWebsites.com.
2. Enter the destination email address where you want messages forwarded. For instance, cheers@theadminbar.com.
3. Click Create and Continue.

Cloudflare will send a verification email to the destination address you just specified. Open that inbox, find the verification message, and click Verify to confirm.

3. Enable Email Routing

Back in Cloudflare, under Email Routing, you might see a note that email routing is disabled. To enable:

1. Click Add Records and Enable.
2. Cloudflare will automatically create the necessary MX and TXT records in your DNS.

Important: If you already have a custom email setup (like Google Workspace) on this domain, enabling Cloudflare’s email forwarding will override those existing email services. Make sure you’re not using this domain for other email providers before proceeding.

Testing Your Forward

Once enabled, send a test email to hi@MidlothianWebsites.com from another inbox. You should see it arrive in your forwarding destination inbox (e.g., cheers@theadminbar.com). This confirms your Cloudflare email routing is set up correctly.

Additional Settings and Features

Creating More Addresses

If you need multiple forwards (e.g., hi@, support@, yourname@), simply repeat the process to create new addresses. Each forwarded address can go to only one destination email, but you can set up to 200 different forwarding rules.

Catch-All Forwarding

Cloudflare allows you to create a catch-all address. This will forward any email sent to anything@yourdomain.com to a single inbox. However, this can lead to excessive spam, so use it with caution.

Email Workers (Beta)

Cloudflare also provides an option for Email Workers, where you can:

• Allow or block specific senders.
• Send notifications to services like Slack.
• Create custom scripts to automate email rules.

Caveats

1. You Cannot Send From the Forwarded Address
   This is strictly an email forwarding service, so you can’t compose and send emails from the forwarded address unless you set up an additional solution for outgoing mail.
2. No Separate Inbox
   All messages simply forward to an existing inbox you own. There’s no dedicated inbox for the forwarded address.

Wrapping Up

Cloudflare’s email forwarding is perfect for those situations where you need a professional-looking email address without setting up or paying for a separate inbox. It’s free, straightforward to configure, and works reliably.

If you found this walkthrough helpful, be sure to explore Cloudflare’s other features like security, caching, and performance optimizations. With a simple configuration, you can maintain a professional front without the hassle of managing multiple inboxes or paying for additional email services.