Email settings
Send invoices and reminders from your own domain with SMTP, Amazon SES, or Resend — plus domain verification and a delivery log.
By default, Hoursmith sends your invoice emails from its own platform sender. On
Studio and Agency, you can send them from your own
domain instead — a strong trust signal for clients. Configure this on Settings → Email
(/settings/email).
- Plan
- Studio
- Role
- OwnerAdmin
Custom email senders require bring-your-own-email, available on Studio and Agency. On Free this page shows an upgrade-locked state. Email settings are managed by Owner and Admin.
Choose a provider
A Provider toggle picks how outgoing mail is sent:
- Hoursmith default — no setup. There are no fields to fill in, and your Reply-To is set to your workspace email.
- SMTP — your own SMTP server.
- Amazon SES — Amazon Simple Email Service.
- Resend — Resend's email API.
The three custom providers are available on Studio and Agency.
Custom provider fields
All custom providers share these fields:
- From name
- From email
- Reply-To (optional)
Each provider then adds its own credentials:
- Host
- Port — default 2525.
- Username
- Password
- Use implicit TLS (SMTPS) toggle
Ports 25, 465, and 587 are blocked. Use a submission port like 2525.
- Region — default
us-east-1. - Access Key ID
- Secret Access Key
- API key
Credentials are encrypted at rest and never shown back to you. Re-enter them if you need to change them.
Send a test email
After saving a custom provider, click Send a test email to confirm your settings deliver before you rely on them for real invoices.
What sends from your address — and what doesn't
Email routing depends on the message type:
- Password-reset, verification, invite, and system emails always use the platform default sender — even when you've configured a custom provider.
- Invoice and reminder emails use your custom sender if configured, otherwise the platform default.
If your custom sender fails, the send is recorded as "failed" — it does not silently fall back to the platform default. Check the delivery log and your provider's status, then resend.
Domain verification
The page includes a Domain verification card with an SPF / DKIM / DMARC checklist and a View DNS records button that gives you copy-pasteable TXT records to add at your DNS host.
This card is currently a guidance stub. The checks always read "Pending" and there's no automatic verifier — you publish the DNS records yourself at your domain registrar. Adding the records is still the right thing to do for deliverability, even though Hoursmith won't tick the boxes for you.
Recent sends (delivery log)
A Recent sends log shows the last 50 emails, with each message's type, subject, provider, status (queued, sent, or failed), recipients, and timestamps. It's the first place to look when a client says they didn't get an email.
Troubleshooting
- This page is locked. Custom senders need Studio or Agency. See Billing & plans.
- My test email failed. Re-check host/port (use 2525, not 25/465/587), credentials, and your provider's sending status. Credentials are never shown back, so re-enter them if unsure.
- An invoice email failed to send. A failing custom sender records "failed" rather than falling back. See Invoice email failed to send.
- A client didn't receive an email. Check the Recent sends log and see I didn't receive an email.