CloudflareEmailRouting
title: Cloudflare Email Routing type: platform created: 2026-05-21 last_updated: 2026-05-21 related: ["radar/platforms/CloudflarePages"] sources: ["https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/get-started/enable-email-routing/"] radar_quadrant: Platforms radar_ring: Adopt radar_position: inner
A free email forwarding service from Cloudflare that receives mail at a custom domain and forwards it to any existing inbox, requiring no email server and no paid subscription.
Cloudflare Email Routing intercepts inbound email for a Cloudflare-managed domain and forwards it to one or more destination addresses. The destination can be any email address — Gmail, Fastmail, Proton Mail, or a corporate inbox.
Configuration is entirely through the Cloudflare dashboard or API: add forwarding rules, verify destination addresses, and Cloudflare handles the rest. No MX server to maintain.
Rules match on the recipient address:
-
Specific address —
hello@yourdomain.com → you@gmail.com -
Catch-all —
*@yourdomain.com → you@gmail.com(receives everything sent to any address at the domain) - Multiple destinations — one rule can forward to several addresses simultaneously
Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom; the first match wins.
Email Routing handles receiving and forwarding. It does not enable sending from a custom domain. For outbound email (sending as you@yourdomain.com), a separate solution is needed:
- Transactional sending — Resend, Postmark, or AWS SES with DKIM/SPF configured.
- Reply via Gmail — Gmail's "Send mail as" feature allows replying from a custom address using Gmail's SMTP, after verifying domain ownership.
Free. No usage limits, no paid tier required. The only prerequisite is a domain managed through Cloudflare DNS (or MX records pointed at Cloudflare).
radar/platforms/CloudflarePages handles static site hosting. Email Routing handles inbound mail for the same domain. Together they cover two of the three common requirements for a custom domain presence (hosting, email, and DNS) within a single free Cloudflare account.
Cloudflare Email Routing sits in the Adopt ring of the Platforms quadrant, at inner position. First studied via Cloudflare developer documentation (2023-12-26). The feature is free, zero-maintenance, and solves a universal problem — receiving email at a custom domain without running a mail server. Inner Adopt reflects that any project with a custom domain should use this by default rather than paying for email hosting or self-hosting a forwarder. No evaluation needed; adoption is immediate and cost-free.
