Mailforge
Sets up and hosts cold-email sending infrastructure (domains, mailboxes, DNS, warm-up) for outbound teams.
RecommendedLast reviewed July 17, 2026
What Mailforge actually is.
Mailforge is infrastructure hosting for cold email. It sets up domains, mailboxes, DNS records, and mailbox warm-up in bulk, mostly through automation. You buy mailbox slots, add sending domains, and it configures SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in the background instead of you doing it by hand for each one. But it doesn't send anything itself. Not a sequencer. A separate tool, like Smartlead or lemlist, handles the actual scheduling and replies once your mailboxes are live.
So the catch: you're paying for capacity, not usage. Mailboxes are sold in fixed slots, and you owe for the slot whether you fill it or not. Everything runs through Mailforge's own dashboard. Headless access runs through the shared Forge tooling: the Salesforge CLI manages Mailforge domains, mailboxes, and DNS with its own API key, and the same binary runs as an MCP server.
What it does
- Spins up new sending domains and mailboxes in bulk from one dashboard.
- Auto-configures SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, plus custom tracking domains, during setup.
- Includes free mailbox warm-up through its own tool, Warmforge.
- Offers SSL and domain masking so tracking links don't expose your root domain.
- Works with outside sequencers, like Smartlead or lemlist, for actual sending.
- Handles bulk DNS updates and domain transfers across multiple workspaces.
- Lists API, CLI, and MCP access for scripting mailbox provisioning.
Mailforge says setup runs about five minutes once your domain details are in.
Where it sits in the pipeline.
- AI & Intelligence
- Data & Enrichment
- Scraping & Custom Data
- Email Infrastructure & Deliverability
- Outreach & Sending
- LinkedIn & Multichannel
- Signals & Intent
- Calls & Meetings
- CRM & Pipeline Ops
Runs well with
The tools we'd run next to Mailforge, and what each pairing covers.
Pricing, without the fiction.
Entry point is a 10-mailbox slot minimum. Billed monthly, that's $30/month total, $3 per mailbox. Billed yearly, that same minimum runs $300/year, about $2.50 per mailbox per month, with the rate dropping further at higher mailbox volumes. Domains are separate at $14/year each.
Choose it, or skip it.
Choose it if
- Agencies standing up sending infrastructure repeatedly for multiple clients, since pricing is per-mailbox and setup is bulk, automated.
- Teams needing several domains and mailboxes fast, with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured automatically instead of by hand.
- Outbound teams already running a sequencer like SmartLead or lemlist who just need mailboxes to plug into it.
- Buyers happy running things through a dashboard day to day; Mailforge also lists API, CLI, and MCP access for teams that want to script provisioning.
Skip it if
- Teams that need a proven, documented API right now; Mailforge's site lists API, CLI, and MCP access, but there's no visible developer documentation showing how complete that access is.
- Very low-volume senders who don't need 10+ mailboxes, since slots are sold in a 10-mailbox minimum and billed whether used or not.
- Teams wanting one tool that also sends sequences and tracks replies; Mailforge is infrastructure hosting only, not a sequencer.
If not Mailforge, then what.
- Maildosofrom $0.49/mailbox in bulk; typical entry ~$75/mo for 30 mailboxes ($2.50 each)
- InframailUnlimited plan from $129/mo flat (also $327/mo Agency Pack, $499/mo + $3,497 setup DFY tier); price increase planned Jul
- InboxKitGoogle and Microsoft mailbox bundles; from $2.50/mailbox/mo on Enterprise annual plans.
Asked in real client work.
What's the minimum spend to start?
Mailboxes are sold in slots with a minimum of 10 per purchase. Billed monthly, the 10-slot minimum runs $30/month total, $3 per mailbox; billed yearly, that same minimum runs $300/year, about $2.50 per mailbox per month, with the rate dropping further at higher mailbox volumes. Add $14/year per domain, charged once, on top.
Do you get charged for mailbox slots you don't use?
Yes. Slots represent purchased capacity, not active mailboxes: buy 10 slots but only create 5 mailboxes, and you're still billed for all 10. The slot count you commit to is what gets charged each cycle, regardless of how many mailboxes you actually populate. Buying more slots than you'll use adds cost with no offsetting benefit.
Is there a free trial or contract?
No free trial is offered; domains and mailboxes are purchased directly in the app before you can use them. There's no long-term contract locking you in, and cancellation is available anytime through the dashboard, so the commitment is limited to whatever slots and domains you've already bought.
Does Mailforge send my emails or just host the mailboxes?
Just the infrastructure: domains, mailboxes, DNS records, and hosting. It's built to work with any sending software, including Salesforge, so a separate sequencer such as SmartLead or lemlist handles the actual sending, scheduling, rotation, and reply tracking once the mailboxes are live.
What does the SSL and domain masking add-on cost?
It's a separate line item per domain: $2/month if billed monthly, or $6/year if billed annually, with the annual option pitched as roughly 4x the value of paying monthly. It covers SSL plus domain masking together, not billed as separate charges.