Reliable domains: Can you have 2 email hosts with the same domain?

It’s important to understand email hosting first before exploring whether multiple hosts can handle a single domain.

What does Email Hosting mean?

Email hosting is where someone else runs the email servers for your domain and looks after sending, receiving, and saving your emails. When you get a domain (example.com), it is easy to set up email addresses like info@example.com or sales@example.com. All the technical infrastructure, including servers, security, spam filtering, available storage, and projection using SMTP, IMAP, and POP3, is managed by the email hosting provider.

How DNS works for Email Hosting

Internet traffic is routed by your DNS records to the correct websites. Email hosting relies mostly on two main kinds of DNS records.

They tell email servers which machines can receive mail for your domain.

Using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records allows you to verify your emails and stop spam or imitation messages.

If user@example.com receives an email, the mail server searches for the MX records of example.com to find the mail’s destination.

Can You Have More Than One Email Server for a Domain?

Not quite, that’s the short answer. There can only be one email host at any given time, controlling the same domain’s incoming emails using DNS MX records.

How did it become that way?

MX records determine the mail server to deliver email to, and therefore only one set can be selected at any one time. Each MX record ranks a mail server based on importance, and emails are sent to the first available mail server with the highest (lowest number) ranking.

Set­ting up MX records to use two different email providers will cause emails to be sent to the server with higher priority. If the server is already down, the email will route to the following priority server. Nonetheless, just one device will get and deal with every message sent.

As a result, inbound email from the same domain must come from only one linked email host, rather than sending it to several unconnected hosts.

It’s not possible to have two mail accounts with the same address as inboxes.

Did you know that sending an email is not the same as receiving it? With your email clients or services, it’s possible to send items from the same domain using different providers or SMTP servers.

A user can read their mail on Google Workspace but send out marketing emails using alternate services like SendGrid or Mailchimp. Having two email hosts is acceptable and usual, but it still means only one host is in charge of saving emails for a domain.

Suggested ways to respond to different challenges

Having two email hosts at once for the same domain isn’t possible, but there are some possible ways to get results that are almost the same.

1. Divide the routing of domains between people

For large businesses, using split domain routing means email servers are assigned to different portions of email addresses for the same domain.

For example:

example.com’s sales mailbox is managed within Google Workspace.

The messages in the support@example.com mailbox are handled by Microsoft 365.

Split delivery is possible only if your mail system is set up to support it. How does it all function?

MX records direct email delivery to one main email server, like Google Workspace.

All your emails travel to that particular server.

Any emails that are sent to its managed users, such as sales@example.com, are stored on that server.

Messages meant for other users (in our example, support@example.com) are redirected to another provider (Microsoft 365).

For this to work, you must create routing or security rules in your primary email system, sending some emails to your secondary host.

2. Subdomains

It is possible to host the email for your main domain on one host and host email for a subdomain on another.

For example:

All email addresses ending in .example.com use Google Workspace for hosting.

The email providers for support.example.com are hosted by Microsoft 365.

To reach this:

Make sure to add MX records for example.com that point to Google Workspace.

Direction for support.example.com should be controlled by MX records that lead to Microsoft 365.

This means emails sent to user@example.com will be in Google Workspace, and emails addressed to user@support.example.com will be in Microsoft 365.

Managing this approach is clear-cut since there are clear boundaries for mailboxes.

3. Migration Periods

Some companies take time between email services to keep both operating, so they are sure the transition goes well.

During migration:

The new host is mainly where the MX records send messages.

My email address still receives temporary mailouts that are sent to the old host.

Users can have mailboxes on each system while the migration takes place.

In time, the old host is closed down.

This solution is only meant to last for a short time, after which I will stop using two hosts.

Problems That Come with Choosing Two Hosts for Email on One Domain

It’s not simple to handle two different email hosts with the same domain name.

1. Problems from Deliveries and Sent Emails

As MX records send most emails to one host, users may not receive them in the second email account if they mistakenly look in the wrong place.

2. Advanced Tasks Requirement

Handling both sets of users, mailboxes, and settings at two different providers is not easy and can be confusing for users.

3. Authentication Issues

It is necessary to set up SPF, DKI, M, and DMARC records to allow both your servers to represent your domain when sending email. Problems with email settings can result in your messages being discarded or marked as spam.

4. User Confusion

People could find it difficult to access their emails when mailboxes are spread over two providers, causing problems and broken communications.

Recommended guidelines for hosting your email on one domain

If optimizing email hosting is your aim, follow these tips instead of dividing email hosting between two different services:

1. You should choose just one primary Email Host

Find an email hosting provider that aligns with what your organization needs and only use that provider for your email. This helps to manage things more easily and prevents conflicts with routes.

2. Set up separate email addresses with your web address as a subdomain

When you want one email account set up for some teams or departments, create subdomains and set the MX records accordingly.

3. Try Forwarding and Aliases to test where your emails go

Many email hosts give you the option to send messages under a different email address, so you do not need two accounts to host email.

4. Depending on how large your list is, use an external email list provider

For large-scale email campaigns, sign up for a third-party SMTP, yet keep using your main host for day-to-day uses.

5. Think Through the Process for Migration

If you switch providers, arrange your MX record changes and migration in a way that prevents a lot of disruption.

Conclusion

 Only one email host can be set up to control incoming mail for a domain using the DNS MX records at any one time.

Email traffic destined for your business is sent to the top mail server or selected servers provided by MX records. Using split domain routing and subdomains can handle email hosting differently, but setting them up needs advanced work.

For the sake of organization and strong performance, we recommend using only one email host per domain. It’s possible to set up multiple email services, but you should still host all incoming emails in one place.

If you use two types of email addresses, think about whether subdomains or split routing is better, and make sure to contact the email provider’s team to configure your DNS and email routing properly.