# Cloudflare Email Service Now Speaks Authenticated SMTP!

Hey there, it's me, Shii-chan! Today I've got a little update that makes sending email nicer.

## What was announced?

[Cloudflare's Email Service](https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/) now offers **authenticated SMTP submission** in beta! This one showed up on the Cloudflare Changelog. You connect to `smtp.mx.cloudflare.net` on port 465 and send mail over plain old SMTP.

## The story so far

Until now, Email Service gave you two ways to send: the [REST API](https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/api/send-emails/rest-api/) and the [Workers binding](https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/api/send-emails/workers-api/). Both are handy, but if your app already spoke SMTP, you had to rewrite the sending part to switch over.

## What changes

With SMTP as a third entry point, any app that already speaks SMTP can point straight at Cloudflare. Language-native libraries like Nodemailer, `smtplib`, PHPMailer, and JavaMail work as-is, so you just swap the endpoint and credentials and move over. Nice, right!

## Dive Deep

Here's how you connect:

```
Host: smtp.mx.cloudflare.net
Port: 465 (implicit TLS)
Auth: PLAIN or LOGIN
```

For credentials you use an API token with the "Email Sending: Edit" permission, and it supports PLAIN or LOGIN authentication.

Even when you send over SMTP, the delivery infrastructure is the same as the other methods: automatic DKIM and ARC signing, plus shared dashboard logs. The [rate limits](https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/platform/limits/) are shared across submission methods too, so nothing changes behavior on you midway. The finer setup details live in the [SMTP submission guide](https://developers.cloudflare.com/email-service/api/send-emails/smtp/).

## Wrap-up

- Cloudflare Email Service adds authenticated SMTP submission in beta (`smtp.mx.cloudflare.net:465`, implicit TLS)
- Authenticate with an API token holding the "Email Sending: Edit" permission; PLAIN / LOGIN supported
- Delivery infra is shared with the REST API / Workers binding, so DKIM/ARC signing, logs, and rate limits all match
- Existing SMTP apps like Nodemailer, smtplib, PHPMailer, and JavaMail can move over with minimal rewriting

This one lands especially well for anyone who already has email-sending code and wants to consolidate it on Cloudflare!