If you own a domain and want to use an email address like contact@yourdomain.com inside Gmail, you can do it for free using Cloudflare Email Routing and Gmail SMTP.
With this setup you can:
- Receive emails sent to your custom domain directly in Gmail
- Send emails from Gmail using your custom domain address
- Avoid paying for Google Workspace
This guide explains the complete setup step-by-step.
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HOW THE EMAIL SYSTEM WORKS
Incoming email flow
Sender → Domain MX Records → Cloudflare Email Routing → Gmail Inbox
Outgoing email flow
Gmail → Gmail SMTP Server → Recipient
Cloudflare handles email forwarding while Gmail handles sending emails.
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REQUIREMENTS
Before starting make sure you have:
- A registered domain
- DNS managed through Cloudflare
- A Gmail account
Services used in this tutorial:
Cloudflare Dashboard
Gmail
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STEP 1 — CONFIGURE EMAIL ROUTING IN CLOUDFLARE
Cloudflare Email Routing allows you to forward emails from your domain to another email address such as Gmail.
Open the Cloudflare dashboard:
https://dash.cloudflare.com/
Select your domain.
Then go to:
Email → Email Routing
Documentation:
https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/
Click Enable Email Routing.
Cloudflare will automatically create the required MX records.
Example:
MX 10 route1.mx.cloudflare.net
MX 20 route2.mx.cloudflare.net
These records allow Cloudflare to receive email for your domain.
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ADD A DESTINATION EMAIL ADDRESS
Add your Gmail address as the destination email.
Example:
Destination email: yourgmail@gmail.com
Cloudflare will send a verification email.
Open Gmail and confirm the verification.
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CREATE A CUSTOM EMAIL ADDRESS
Next create a routing rule.
Example:
Custom address: contact@yourdomain.com
Destination: yourgmail@gmail.com
Now any email sent to contact@yourdomain.com will automatically appear in your Gmail inbox.
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STEP 2 — CREATE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT USING YOUR CUSTOM DOMAIN EMAIL
Next create a Google account using your custom domain email address.
Open the signup page:
https://accounts.google.com/signup
Click:
Use my current email address instead
Enter your custom domain email:
contact@yourdomain.com
Google will send a verification code which will arrive in your Gmail inbox through Cloudflare forwarding.
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ADD PROFILE PICTURE
Open:
https://myaccount.google.com/
Navigate to:
Personal Info → Profile Picture
Upload your profile image.
This profile picture will appear when you send emails from this address.
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STEP 3 — GENERATE A GMAIL APP PASSWORD
To send emails using Gmail SMTP you must create an App Password.
Open:
https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
Steps:
Security → Enable 2-Step Verification
Security → App Passwords
Create a new app password.
Select:
App: Mail
Device: Other (Custom)
Google will generate a 16-character password.
Example:
abcd efgh ijkl mnop
Save this password because it will be used later.
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STEP 4 — ADD CUSTOM EMAIL ADDRESS IN GMAIL
Open Gmail:
https://mail.google.com/
Go to:
Settings → See all settings → Accounts and Import
Find the section:
Send mail as
Click:
Add another email address
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ENTER YOUR CUSTOM EMAIL
Fill the form:
Name: Your Name
Email: contact@yourdomain.com
Continue to SMTP configuration.
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CONFIGURE SMTP SERVER
Use Gmail SMTP settings:
SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
Port: 587
Username: yourgmail@gmail.com
Password: App Password
Important:
Username must be your Gmail address.
Password must be the App Password.
Click Add Account.
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VERIFY EMAIL ADDRESS
Gmail will send a verification email to your custom domain address.
Because Cloudflare forwards the email, you will receive it in your Gmail inbox.
Enter the verification code or click the confirmation link.
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STEP 5 — TEST SENDING EMAIL
Open Gmail and click Compose.
In the From dropdown select your custom domain email.
Example:
contact@yourdomain.com
Send a test email.
Example:
To: another email
Subject: Test custom domain email
Message: Testing Cloudflare email routing setup.
If everything is configured correctly, the email will be sent using your custom domain.
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EMAIL SETUP SUMMARY
Domain DNS: Cloudflare
Incoming Mail: Cloudflare Email Routing
Mailbox: Gmail
Outgoing Mail: Gmail SMTP
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ADVANTAGES OF THIS SETUP
- Free custom domain email
- No Google Workspace required
- Use Gmail interface
- Easy DNS management with Cloudflare
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REFERENCES
Cloudflare Email Routing
https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-routing/
Gmail SMTP documentation
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370
Google App Passwords
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833
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