Which mailbox to use
Last updated October 26, 2026
ScoutKite sends from your own mailbox and watches it for replies, so follow-ups stop the moment someone answers. Here is what works, what it costs, and the settings to paste in. Prices were checked in October 2026 and can change: the provider's own page has the final word.
1. The short answer
- Want it to just work: Google Workspace, from about $7 per mailbox a month. Sending and reply spotting both work with an app password.
- Want it cheap: Zoho Mail Lite, about $1 per mailbox a month. Use the paid plan: the free one can't connect.
- Already pay for web hosting: the email that comes with it (cPanel, Hostinger, Namecheap) usually works with the normal password.
- On Microsoft 365 or Outlook: sending may work, reply spotting won't. See below.
Whichever you pick, put it on a separate domain for outreach (see good practices), and add one mailbox per 30 to 50 emails a day.
2. Side by side
| Provider | Cost per mailbox | Sends | Spots replies | Password to use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace | about $7/month (annual), $8.40 monthly | Yes | Yes | App password |
| Zoho Mail Lite | about $1/month (annual) | Yes | Yes | App password if 2FA is on |
| Fastmail | about $5/month (annual), $6 monthly | Yes | Yes | App password |
| iCloud+ with your domain | from $0.99/month | Yes | Yes | App-specific password |
| Web hosting email (cPanel, Hostinger, Namecheap Private Email) | from about $1/month, often included with hosting | Yes | Yes | Mailbox password |
| Gmail, Yahoo, AOL (free addresses) | Free | Yes | Yes | App password |
| Microsoft 365 | about $7/month (annual) | Until Dec 2026, if your admin allows it | No | Password (being turned off) |
| Outlook.com, Hotmail | Free | No | No | - |
| Zoho Mail free plan | Free | No | No | - |
| Proton Mail, Tuta | - | No | No | - |
| Resend, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES, Brevo | - | Not for outreach | No | - |
"Spots replies" means ScoutKite can read the inbox with the same login, mark people who answered, and stop their follow-ups. Without it, follow-ups still go out to people who already replied.
3. Settings to paste in
Pick the provider in Mailbox in ScoutKite, or type these. The username is your full email address unless it says otherwise. ScoutKite works out the reading server by itself.
| Provider | SMTP server | Port and security | Reading server |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace, Gmail | smtp.gmail.com | 587, STARTTLS | imap.gmail.com |
| Zoho (your own domain) | smtppro.zoho.com | 465, SSL | imappro.zoho.com |
| Zoho (@zoho.com address) | smtp.zoho.com | 465, SSL | imap.zoho.com |
| Fastmail | smtp.fastmail.com | 465, SSL | imap.fastmail.com |
| iCloud+ | smtp.mail.me.com | 587, STARTTLS | imap.mail.me.com |
| Hostinger | smtp.hostinger.com | 465, SSL | imap.hostinger.com |
| Namecheap Private Email | mail.privateemail.com | 465, SSL | mail.privateemail.com |
| cPanel hosting | mail.yourdomain.com | 465, SSL | mail.yourdomain.com |
| Yahoo | smtp.mail.yahoo.com | 465, SSL | imap.mail.yahoo.com |
Zoho accounts in the EU or India use .eu or .in in place of .com. iCloud signs in with your Apple ID email as the username, even when you send from your own domain.
4. Getting an app password
An app password only works for email, and you can revoke it without changing your real password.
- Google: turn on 2-Step Verification, then create one at
myaccount.google.com/apppasswords. On Workspace, your admin can turn app passwords off: if the page says it isn't available, ask them. - Zoho: turn on IMAP in Settings, Mail Accounts. With 2FA on, create one under My Account, Security, App Passwords.
- Fastmail: Settings, Privacy & Security, Connected apps & API tokens, New app password.
- iCloud:
account.apple.com, Sign-In and Security, App-Specific Passwords. - Yahoo and AOL: Account Security, Generate app password.
5. Microsoft 365 and Outlook
Microsoft is moving every mail app to "Sign in with Microsoft" and away from passwords:
- Reading mail with a password was turned off in Microsoft 365 in 2022, so ScoutKite can't spot replies there.
- Sending with a password (SMTP AUTH) still works if your admin has allowed it for the mailbox. Microsoft turns it off by default at the end of December 2026; admins can turn it back on for now, and it goes away for good after that.
- Outlook.com and Hotmail addresses no longer accept passwords from mail apps at all.
If your company runs on Microsoft 365, the easy path is a separate outreach domain on Google Workspace or Zoho. Mail from GoDaddy is Microsoft 365 too.
6. Why not Resend, SendGrid or Mailgun
These services only send: there is no inbox behind them, so replies can't be spotted. They are built for email people asked for, like receipts and newsletters, and their rules don't allow cold outreach, so accounts get closed for it. Mail from a real mailbox also looks like a person wrote it, which is what gets replies.
7. Stuck?
Send a test email from Mailbox: if it fails, ScoutKite shows what your mail server said. Still stuck, write to us with that message and your provider, never your password.