> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.hosting.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to integrate SendGrid with your hosting.com Managed WordPress site

> This article describes how to integrate the SendGrid email plugin with your hosting.com Managed WordPress site.

This article describes how to integrate a SendGrid account to work with your Managed WordPress site so you can send email.

Although the PHP **mail()** function is supported for sending notifications (such as password resets) from WordPress, we highly recommend using a service like SendGrid to ensure maximum delivery rates of other email sent from your Managed WordPress site.

There are also very good services like Zoho and Google Workspace, but if you are looking for something more basic that supports custom domains for sending mail, the free package on SendGrid is a solid choice.

## Creating and configuring a SendGrid account

The first step is to create and configure a SendGrid account. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Create a SendGrid account. For detailed steps about how to do this, go to [How to Create a SendGrid Account](https://support.sendgrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/35394877582235-How-to-Create-a-SendGrid-Account).

2. Log in to your SendGrid account.

3. Verify your domain:
   1. Click **Settings**, and then click **Sender Authentication**.
   2. In the **Domain Authentication** section, click **Authenticate your Domain**.
   3. Select your domain registrar, or click **other** and type the name manually.
   4. Type the domain or subdomain that you want to use to send emails.
   5. Add the CNAME records to your domain's DNS zone.
   6. Wait about one minute, and then click **Verify**.

4. Generate an API key:
   1. Click **Settings**, and then click **API Keys**.
   2. Click **Create API Key**.
   3. In the **API Key Name** text box, type a name for the API key. The name can be whatever you want.
   4. In the **API Key Permissions** section, click **Full Access**.
   5. Click **Create & View**.
   6. Copy the key and save it somewhere safe.

## Integrating SendGrid with WordPress

To send email using WordPress, you need an SMTP plugin. The following procedure demonstrates how to configure the [WP Mail SMTP](http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp) plugin to send email using your SendGrid account:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.

2. In the left-hand pane, click **Plugins**.

3. Click **Add New**.

4. In the **Search Plugins** text box, type `mail smtp`, and then press Enter.

5. Locate **WP Mail SMTP by WPForms**, and then click **Install Now**.

6. After WordPress finishes installing the plugin, click **Activate**.

7. In the left-hand pane, click **WP Mail SMTP**, and then click **Settings**. The **WP Mail SMTP** general settings page appears.

8. Under **Mail**, in the **From Email** text box, type the e-mail address you want to use as the sender. A very common choice is [no-reply@example.com](mailto:no-reply@example.com) (where *example.com* represents your own domain name).

9. In the **From Name** text box, type the name you want to associate with the e-mail address you specified in the previous step.

10. Under **Return Path**, select the **Set the return-path to match the From Email** check box.

11. Under **Mailer**, select **Other SMTP**.

12. Under **Other SMTP**, in the **SMTP Host** text box, type `smtp.sendgrid.net`.

13. In the **SMTP Port** text box type `465`, and then under **Encryption**, select **SSL**.

14. Under **Authentication**, select **On**.

15. In the **SMTP Username** text box, type `apikey`.

16. In the **SMTP Password** text box, paste the API key from your SendGrid account.

17. Click **Save Settings**.

<Tip>
  You should test the new configuration to make sure that it works. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Click the **Email Test** tab, and then in the **Send To** text box, type a valid external e-mail address where you can receive a test message.

  2. Click **Send Email**. You should receive a test message at the e-mail address you specified in the previous step. If you do not receive a message, check the settings you provided, and then try again.
</Tip>