What is Email Hosting?

Updated on April 1, 2026

4 min read

Doc Summary

Introduction #

Email Hosting is the service that allows you to send and receive email using your own domain name, such as info@yourdomain.com. Instead of using a generic email provider, Email Hosting gives you professional mailbox functionality connected directly to your domain. We’ll explain more in this doc so you can make the right decision.

What Is Email Hosting? #

Email Hosting is the email environment used to send and receive email through your own domain name, such as info@yourdomain.com. At ProRedLine, this applies both to customers with a standalone Email Hosting service and to customers whose email functionality is included as part of Web Hosting.

In practice, this means the email features work through the same general cPanel-based environment, regardless of whether email is used as a standalone service or as part of a broader hosting package. The difference is mainly in the scope of the product, not in the core email functionality itself.

Email Hosting is intended for customers who only need professional email on their domain without website hosting. Web Hosting includes the same email-related functionality, but also adds website, database, PHP, and other web hosting features.

Email management is handled through cPanel, while mailbox access is typically done through webmail or an external mail application.

Email Hosting vs Web Hosting #

Although both services can include email functionality, they are designed for different use cases.

Email Hosting is focused on email only. It is intended for customers who want professional email on their domain without needing website hosting.

Web Hosting is the broader service. It includes website hosting and can also include the same email functionality alongside website, database, and related hosting features.

In short, if you only need domain-based email, Email Hosting is the focused option. If you want email and website hosting together, Web Hosting is the more complete package.

Email Features and Management #

At ProRedLine, the email environment includes the main features needed for normal day-to-day email use on your own domain. This includes custom email addresses, mailbox access through webmail, support for modern mail protocols, spam filtering, and email authentication support.

Customers can create separate mailbox addresses on their domain, each with its own login details. Depending on the service and account setup, email can be managed through cPanel, where actions such as creating or removing email accounts, changing passwords, setting mailbox storage limits, and reviewing disk usage are handled.

Email security and deliverability are also supported through features such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These help improve trust and authentication for outgoing mail, although correct DNS configuration remains important for them to work properly.

Where supported, calendars and contacts can also be accessed through webmail, including support for standards such as CalDAV and CardDAV.

Because email is tied to the domain configuration, DNS also plays an important role. Mail routing and authentication usually depend on records such as:

MX for mail delivery
TXT records for SPF and related settings
other DNS changes that affect authentication or routing

This means email functionality depends not only on the mailbox itself, but also on the domain being configured correctly.

Supported Email Protocols #

Email protocols define how your email client communicates with the mail server. At ProRedLine, only modern and supported protocols are used.

IMAP is the supported protocol for receiving email. It keeps messages stored on the server and synchronised across devices, which makes it the recommended option for normal use. If you read, delete, move, or organise a message on one device, those changes are reflected on other connected devices as well.

SMTP is the supported protocol for sending email. It is used for outgoing mail and requires authentication. Secure connections are required, and SMTP should always be configured with the full email address and password of the mailbox.

POP3 is not supported. POP3 is based on downloading email to a device instead of keeping it synchronised on the server in the same way as IMAP. This can cause inconsistency between devices, make troubleshooting more difficult, and increase the risk of missing or misplaced email data. For that reason, ProRedLine supports IMAP and SMTP only.

All supported email access requires: