Send emails through your PHP contact form

How to make your contact forms successfully send emails

If you're having problems getting your PHP contact form to send emails on your web hosting, then this page should help you solve it.

We explain which settings you need to use to make your contact form work properly on the biggest and most popular web hosting companies.

Form emailing options with PHP

With PHP you have several options when sending emails, the three most common options are listed below:

PHP mail() function

The PHP mail() function can work and is the simplest option, however, it's very limited and not recommended these days as more and more hosting providers and email systems are blocking these.

Email API's with PHP

Working with email service providers API's is also a more common way to send email using PHP. Although these have real benefits (such as making use of advanced service features that may not be available in SMTP), they also have some downsides, mainly that they are all different so if you decide to switch providers then you most likely need to rebuild your PHP email integration. For PHP contact forms, this is not the recommended way unless there's a very good reason.

PHP SMTP Connection

Sending emails through PHP with SMTP is usually the best option for several reasons. You can use a local or remote SMTP Server, and you can make use of powerful libraries that know how to speak to a huge list of SMTP Servers.

SMTP is the recommended option and covered on this page.

Sending PHP emails with SMTP

Pick your hosting provider below to see which settings to use.

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

SMTP Settings

If your hosting provider is not yet listed, then we suggest asking your hosting provider this question:

What's the outgoing SMTP details (hostname, port number, username, and password) needed to send emails through PHP?

If you're trying to run your form on your computer on "localhost", then you need to make sure you've correctly set up your mail server. Details on that are out of the scope of this page.

Still not working for you? don't worry, read the installation guide and contact form troubleshooting for details on how to switch on debug mode and identify your issue.

SMTP Settings for GoDaddy

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through GoDaddy.

GoDaddy supports standard SMTP connections without SSL or TLS.

These settings are using port 25 which is non-SSL/TLS, however, It may still be possible to send emails with PHP through GoDaddy with TLS on port 587, but you will need to contact support to confirm the correct hostname to use for your account.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using GoDaddy, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Ionos (1 & 1)

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Ionos.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Ionos.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Ionos, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Bluehost

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Bluehost.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over SSL on port 465 with Bluehost.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Bluehost, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for OVH Hosting

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through OVH.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over SSL on port 465 with OVH.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using OVH, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Hetzner

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Hetzner.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Hetzner.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Hetzner, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Namecheap

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Namecheap.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Namecheap.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Namecheap, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Liquid Web

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Liquid Web.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Liquid Web.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Liquid Web, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Siteground

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Siteground.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Siteground.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Siteground, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for DreamHost

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through DreamHost.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over SSL on port 465 with DreamHost.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using DreamHost, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for InMotion

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through InMotion.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over SSL on port 465 with InMotion Hosting.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using InMotion, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for HostGastor

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through HostGastor.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over SSL on port 465 with HostGastor.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using HostGastor, please let us know.

SMTP Settings for Hostinger

These are the important SMTP settings you need to use when sending emails with PHP through Hostinger.

You need to provide the SMTP username or SMTP password for authentication over TLS on port 587 with Hostinger.

SMTP Host and Port settings with contact form installer

SMTP "Email From" setting with contact form installer

If this solution didn't work for you and you are using Hostinger, please let us know.