# Alternatives to ImprovMX

ImprovMX is a widely used email forwarding service that turns a custom domain into unlimited catch-all-capable aliases forwarding to any inbox, with a generous free tier and paid plans adding SMTP sending, webhooks, and more domains/aliases. It is a standalone, dedicated forwarding product rather than a feature bundled into a larger platform.

ImprovMX ranks #7 of 10 in Email alias services, with an Alt Score of 55. It is proprietary, freemium from $9/mo and available on the web. 9 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/improvmx/
Category: Email alias services

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Individuals, indie developers, and small businesses who want to receive and send email at a custom domain (e.g. for side projects, marketing sites, or internal tools) without paying for full mailbox hosting. ImprovMX states it serves over 200,000 users.
- **What you get**: Unlimited-style email forwarding to an existing inbox (Gmail, Outlook, etc.), with catch-all/wildcard aliases, regex aliases, multi-destination and webhook-based routing rules, and email delivery logs. Paid plans add SMTP credentials so you can send and reply from your alias address through your normal email client, plus API access and webhooks on every plan.
- **How it works**: You point your domain's MX (and SPF/DKIM/DMARC) DNS records at ImprovMX's mail servers, then create aliases in the ImprovMX web dashboard that map addresses at your domain to a destination inbox; incoming mail is relayed to that destination. On paid plans, ImprovMX also issues SMTP credentials so outgoing mail sent from your alias is routed and signed through ImprovMX's servers.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Starts at**: $9/mo (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Platforms**: Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [SimpleLogin](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/simplelogin.md) | 100 | AGPL-3.0 | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [addy.io](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/addyio.md) | 90 | AGPL-3.0 | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension |
| 3 | [Forward Email](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/forward-email.md) | 90 | BUSL-1.1 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 4 | [Firefox Relay](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/firefox-relay.md) | 75 | MPL-2.0 | ? |
| 5 | [33mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/33mail.md) | 60 | ? | Web |
| 6 | [AliasVault](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aliasvault.md) | 60 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| 7 | [Apple Hide My Email](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/apple-hide-my-email.md) | 45 | Proprietary | iOS, macOS, Web |
| 8 | [DuckDuckGo Email Protection](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/duckduckgo-email-protection.md) | 40 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 9 | [Burner Mail](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/burnermail.md) | 30 | ? | Web, Browser extension |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Email alias services checklist | ImprovMX | SimpleLogin | addy.io | Forward Email | Firefox Relay | 33mail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | $9/mo | $36/year | ? | $3/mo | ? | $1/mo |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 | BUSL-1.1 | MPL-2.0 | ? |
| Platforms | Web | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web | ? | Web |
| Unlimited aliases (paid) | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domains | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reply from alias | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? |
| Open source | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| PGP encryption | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Free tier limits | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Catch-all support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for ImprovMX. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://improvmx.com/guides/why-are-you-not-open-source> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “we made the decision to keep the code internally because of various reasons”
- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://improvmx.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Start forwarding for free, upgrade for advanced features”
- **Status**: active — <https://improvmx.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “ImprovMX has been forwarding emails since 2013. We're also fully profitable and self-funded, so you can rest assured we're here to stay.”
- **Starts at**: $9/mo — <https://improvmx.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Premium $9 / mo”
- **Platforms**: Web — <https://improvmx.com/guides/catchall-wildcard-aliases> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: No native desktop/mobile apps or browser extension found; only a web dashboard plus an optional macOS Raycast (launcher) extension.
  - Quote: “Log in to ImprovMX and go to domain's Aliases dashboard.”
- **Unlimited aliases (paid)**: Partial — <https://improvmx.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Only the custom-priced Enterprise tier lists 'Unlimited aliases' in its plan table; the cheapest paid tier, Premium ($9/mo), caps aliases at 100/domain, and Pro ($24/mo) caps at 200/domain.
  - Quote: “100 aliases per domain”
- **Custom domains**: Yes — <https://improvmx.com/guides/generic-dns-configuration> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “MX records are set at your DNS provider which is usually the same as the domain registrar you've used to purchase your domain.”
- **Reply from alias**: Yes — <https://improvmx.com/guides/smtp-introduction> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: NOTE on the page: this is a premium-plan feature, not available on the free tier.
  - Quote: “You've set up email forwarding with ImprovMX - now you want to send from those same aliases.”
- **Browser extension**: No — <https://improvmx.com/guides/raycast-extension> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: ImprovMX ships a Raycast (macOS command-launcher) extension, not a browser extension; no Chrome/Firefox/Safari extension is listed anywhere in the guides index.
  - Quote: “For now, this is only available on macOS.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://improvmx.com/guides/why-are-you-not-open-source> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Our code can not easily be copied and run elsewhere.”
- **Open source**: No — <https://improvmx.com/guides/why-are-you-not-open-source> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “At ImprovMX, we made the decision to keep the code internally because of various reasons.”
- **PGP encryption**: No — <https://improvmx.com/transparency/security-and-reliability> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: The Security & Reliability page enumerates ImprovMX's encryption practices (TLS in transit, encryption at rest) and does not mention PGP/end-to-end message encryption.
  - Quote: “Encryption: TLS in transit for all SMTP connections that support it, and encryption at rest for stored data.”
- **Free tier limits**: Yes — <https://improvmx.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Free plan also has 0 SMTP sends/month (sending requires a paid plan, per the Sending/Receiving Limits guide).
  - Quote: “Free $0 Includes: 1 domain 25 aliases 500 emails forwarded per day 7-day Email log retention”
- **Catch-all support**: Yes — <https://improvmx.com/guides/catchall-wildcard-aliases> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “A catch-all alias in ImprovMX receives all emails sent to your domain, even if the address doesn't exist.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/