Is there any way to use a custom domain in Gmail without having a Google Apps account?
I have configured my domain to use:
MX 3600 1 ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
MX 3600 5 ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
MX 3600 5 ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
MX 3600 10 ASPMX2.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.
MX 3600 10 ASPMX3.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.
And when using nslookup -q=mx **, everything looks fine.
But when I go into Gmail and add an additional "send as email" account, and try to send the verification mail, I get a "Delivery Status Notification (Failure)"
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain ** by aspmx.l.google.com. **.
The error that the other server returned was:
550-5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try
550-5.1.1 double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or
550-5.1.1 unnecessary spaces. Learn more at
550 5.1.1 http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?answer=6596 ww9si26275800igb.7 - gsmtp
Google Apps is not free any more, so that’s why I don't want to use it.
Best Answer
No, you can't do that.
Alternatives: Either you find some other free mail service like outlook.com for your domain, or you create a mailbox elsewhere and forward to your Gmail inbox. Sending from your Gmail account under a different address is possible because you can set SMTP to a different provider in the Gmail settings.
Reason: If you want to use your own domain with free gmail, you have to create the email address and mailbox elsewhere and then forward those emails to your Google inbox or access them through POP3.
Simply pointing your MX to Google does nothing because Gmail is not set up to receive mails directed at your domain. It takes both: Setting the MX records and letting Google know that it is the recipient of your MX records. This is what you do in the Google Apps Control Panel when you sign on with your domain.
Since Google won't let you do that with a standard Gmail account, it's not possible.