Relais

What Relais is

Relais connects email on a custom domain to Gmail for incoming and outgoing messages. Inbound mail is delivered to Gmail through the Gmail API, without forwarding or intermediary mailboxes. For outbound mail, Relais uses Gmail’s Send As feature with SMTP credentials for each domain. The service is aimed at people who want to use custom-domain email in their existing Gmail without adding a Google account or migrating. To set it up, add a domain and update its DNS records; the homepage says this takes five minutes. The managed plan includes automatic DNS verification, delivery logs, and monitoring. Its 14-day free trial provides access to all features and does not require a credit card to start. If you do not subscribe after the trial, delivery pauses while your configuration is preserved. The managed plan is $5/year per Gmail account and allows unlimited domains and email addresses; you can connect as many Gmail accounts as needed, each at that price. Relais also offers a free self-hosted version with the same features as the managed platform, running on your own infrastructure. The maker says its full source code is available under the GPL license. The application is described as a TypeScript Next.js app deployed on Vercel, with a self-hosted Stalwart mail server for SMTP; Vercel Workflow is used for delivery durability and automatic retries.

Who it suits

Relais suits people who want custom-domain sending and receiving in an existing Gmail account without migrating or adding a Google account. It also suits users who prefer to run the same feature set on their own infrastructure and can provide that infrastructure.

Limits

The managed trial lasts 14 days; if you do not subscribe afterward, delivery pauses while your configuration is preserved. Self-hosting has no listed service charge, but requires your own infrastructure.

Getting started

1. Open https://www.relais.sh/.
2. Choose the managed platform or the self-hosted version.
3. For the managed plan, start the 14-day trial without a credit card, or subscribe at $5/year per Gmail account.
4. Add your domain and update its DNS records.
5. Connect the Gmail account you want to use.

Verdict

Pick Relais if you want to use a custom domain with your existing Gmail for both receiving and sending, or want to self-host the same feature set. Look elsewhere if you need delivery to continue after the trial without subscribing to the managed plan or running the self-hosted version.