What is transactional email and why should I use a dedicated service?
Transactional emails are automated messages triggered by user actions: welcome emails, password resets, OTPs, order confirmations, and invoice delivery. Unlike marketing emails (newsletters sent in bulk), transactional emails are one-to-one and expected by recipients — they have very high open rates (40-60%). Never send transactional emails through your shared hosting mail server — shared IP reputation affects deliverability, and hosting servers lack the infrastructure for high-volume reliable delivery. Use dedicated transactional email services: AWS SES (cheapest at Rs 1 per 10,000 emails, requires setup), SendGrid (100 emails/day free), Mailgun (5,000 emails/month free for 3 months), Postmark (best deliverability, paid). Connect your WordPress or Laravel app to AWS SES via SMTP or API. In WordPress: WP Mail SMTP plugin, set SMTP host to email-smtp.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com, port 587, your SES credentials. This ensures OTPs and order confirmations always reach inboxes. All Connect Quest hosting supports external SMTP at connectquest.co.in.