How to set up Cloudflare Email Routing with your own domain?

What do you need before you start?

You need a domain whose DNS is run by Cloudflare, plus at least one existing inbox to forward to. Cloudflare's page states that you must be using Cloudflare DNS, so a domain bought elsewhere has to be added to a Cloudflare account and have its nameservers replaced.

The nameserver change is made where the domain is registered. At Postelva the DNS tab accepts your own nameservers, from 2 to 13, besides the free hosting of free DNS hosting with A, AAAA, CNAME, ALIAS, MX, TXT, NS, SRV and CAA records, DNSSEC, and your own nameservers if you prefer (2 to 13). Cloudflare's own steps tell you to copy the two assigned nameserver names exactly, and to turn DNSSEC off at the registrar first if it is on, then switch it back on once the domain shows as Active. Allow up to 24 hours for activation.

Which DNS records does Cloudflare add?

Onboarding adds MX records, an SPF record and a DKIM record on the root domain. The three MX hosts are route1, route2 and route3 under mx.cloudflare.net, and Cloudflare assigns their priorities itself, so you do not type a number. The SPF value is v=spf1 include:_spf.mx.cloudflare.net ~all.

If the domain already has an SPF record, merge the Cloudflare include into it rather than adding a second record; a domain may publish only one, and SPF counts at most 10 DNS lookups. The merge is explained in how to create an SPF record. Routing records belong on the root domain, not on a subdomain.

Because the page states that Email Routing requires Cloudflare MX records, it cannot run beside an external mail server on the same domain.

What happens if the domain already has MX records?

Onboarding fails with error 2008, Non-Cloudflare MX records exist, until you delete the old MX records. Delete your previous provider's lines and add the Cloudflare ones straight afterwards, because Cloudflare notes there is a brief window with no MX record at all.

If the old mailbox still holds mail you need, copy it out before the cutover; the order of work is in how to keep your email address when changing provider. Afterwards, verify with the checks in how to check MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.

How do addresses, plus addressing and catch-all work?

Each rule maps one address pattern to one destination, and a catch-all rule sends every other address on the domain to a single destination. The catch-all also receives misspelled local parts. Turn it on under Routing Rules, choose an action and save.

Plus addressing works: mail to [email protected] matches the [email protected] rule and keeps the +detail part. The actions are Send to an email, Send to a Worker, and Drop, which deletes matching mail without routing it and so can make an address look valid while discarding what arrives.

A rule stays disabled until its destination is verified. To send one pattern to several inboxes you need a Worker that calls forward once per destination. More ideas for aliases are in how to use a catch-all address and aliases.

What are the limits of Email Routing?

Each domain holds 200 rules, each account 200 destination addresses, and an incoming message may be 25 MiB at most. Larger messages are rejected.

Incoming mail must pass SPF or carry a valid DKIM signature, and Email Routing honours the sender's DMARC policy, so strict senders can see forwards fail. For forwarded mail Cloudflare adds two DKIM signatures, one for email.cloudflare.net and one for your domain.

The largest limit is functional: Cloudflare's page says Email Routing does not support sending or replying from your Cloudflare domain, and replies go to the destination address. To answer as [email protected] you need another sender, such as the Send mail as setting described in how to use Gmail with a custom domain, or a mailbox provider.

How many records does Email Routing add compared with a mailbox?

Email Routing adds five records, fewer than a mailbox provider asks you to type. According to Postelva's survey of 12 November 2026, Email Routing creates 5 DNS records (3 MX, 1 SPF, 1 DKIM), against 8 for a Proton Mail custom domain and 7 for addy.io, counted from the setup pages of each.

A domain at Postelva costs $12.49/year for a .com in the first year and every year after, so the forwarding stack costs only the domain plus whatever inbox you forward to. Postelva sells the domain, not the mailbox, and also offers its own free email forwarding and URL forwarding from the client area for people who do not want to move nameservers. The trade-off against a registrar is covered in the Cloudflare Registrar alternative for email domains.