TL;DR
You can send up to 100 emails per hour with HostBible’s included email service.
If more than 25% of your sends in an hour are deferred (temporary “try again later” responses from recipient servers), sending may slow or be delayed to protect deliverability.
The included service is for day‑to‑day business or personal correspondence only. Mass mailing/newsletters/cold outreach are not supported. Please use a dedicated bulk‑email/marketing tool for that.
What the limits mean in plain terms
1) 100 emails per hour (sending cap)
You can send up to 100 emails in an hour.
If you try to send more, additional messages will be delayed/queued until you’re back under the hourly cap.
Practical tip: If you add lots of recipients to one message, you can hit the cap fast. To be safe, assume each recipient counts toward the 100.
Example:
Sending 35 one‑to‑one emails to clients in an hour → OK (35/100).
Sending a single announcement to 120 recipients at once → You’ll hit the 100/hour cap; ~20+ will be delayed.
2) Max 25% deferrals per hour (deliverability safeguard)
A deferral is a temporary “try again later” response from the recipient’s mail server (often due to greylisting, rate limiting, or a busy mailbox). It’s not a permanent bounce.
If more than 25% of the messages you attempt in an hour are deferred, sending may be automatically slowed or temporarily paused so we can retry safely and protect your sender reputation and our shared infrastructure.
Our system will re‑attempt deferred deliveries for a period. If a recipient’s server keeps deferring, that message can eventually fail.
Example:
You send 80 emails this hour and 5 are deferred (6.25%) → Below 25%; normal behavior.
You send 80 emails and 30 get deferred (37.5%) → Above 25%; the system may slow/space out further sends while it retries.
What’s supported vs. not supported
Supported (intended use):
Everyday business correspondence (quotes, invoices, project updates)
Personal email
Small, occasional group messages (e.g., emailing a committee or a few teammates)
Not supported:
Mass mailing (newsletters, promotions, cold outreach, list blasts)
Large distribution lists or bulk BCC sends
Automated campaigns to big recipient lists
If you need to send bulk or automated campaigns, please use a dedicated email marketing/transactional service (e.g., Mailchimp, MailerLite, Brevo/Sendinblue, Campaign Monitor, SendGrid, Amazon SES, etc.). We don’t endorse any specific provider—choose the one that fits your needs for consent management, unsubscribe handling, analytics, and compliance.
How to stay within limits and avoid deferrals
Send in smaller batches (well under 100 per hour).
Keep your lists clean: only email people who have recently opted in; remove invalid or inactive addresses.
Authenticate your domain: ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly set up to help receiving servers trust your mail.
Avoid “spammy” patterns: sudden spikes, identical templates to many recipients, or misleading subjects can trigger throttling by recipient servers.
Use the right tool for newsletters or promotions—bulk platforms are built to manage reputation, pacing, unsubscribes, and compliance.
Quick FAQ
Does one email to 10 people count as 1 or 10?
For planning purposes, assume each recipient counts toward the 100/hour. This helps you avoid surprises.
What’s a deferral vs. a bounce?
A deferral is temporary (the other server says “try again later”); a bounce is permanent (the address doesn’t exist or is blocked).
What happens if I exceed the limits?
Messages over the 100/hour cap are queued/delayed. If the 25% deferral threshold is exceeded, sending may slow or pause while we retry and protect deliverability.
Can HostBible raise my hourly limit for marketing?
No. The included email service is not for mass mailing. Please use a dedicated bulk‑email/marketing platform for higher‑volume or campaign‑type sending.