Applies to: All plans.
Before you start: you need your client area login at my.maxinodes.com, your domain already pointing at the Maxinodes nameservers, and the DNS records from your existing email provider (their MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC values).
You can keep your email exactly where it is and still host your website with us. Bring-your-own (BYO) email is welcome at Maxinodes — your hosting and your email are independent. To make it work, point your domain's mail records (MX, plus SPF, DKIM and DMARC) at your external provider in the client area DNS manager, and leave the rest of your domain pointing at your hosting.
Your hosting plan includes mailboxes, but you do not have to use them: you can keep your mail with any provider (see Email at Maxinodes for the options). Whether you use our managed Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace or your own provider, your mailboxes live with that provider — the DNS records simply route mail to them.
How BYO email works
Your domain has one set of DNS records. Some of them point your website at our hosting node; others point your email at your mail provider. They do not conflict:
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Website records (the
AandAAAArecords for your domain, andwww) point at the Maxinodes hosting node — IPv4185.185.49.198and IPv62a00:7c80:0:286:c::10. (Customer websites are served over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack): when your domain uses our nameservers, both theAand theAAAArecords are created for you — you do not have to add anything.) -
Email records (
MX, and theSPF/DKIM/DMARCTXT/CNAMErecords) point at your external email provider.
You manage all of these in the client area, because our DNS is managed by us, on our own nameservers. The cPanel zone editor does not control your live DNS here.
What your zone already holds
When we create the DNS zone for a hosting service, we look at where your domain's mail goes at that moment:
- An outside mail provider (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or another provider or host whose mail servers have their own name): we copy its MX, SPF, DMARC, autodiscover and common DKIM records, so your mail keeps going where it goes now. Check them against your provider's values.
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No MX, or an MX inside your own domain (such as
mail.yourdomain.com, common at other cPanel hosts): the zone gets the records for the mailboxes included in your plan instead, and incoming mail comes to us as soon as the nameservers switch. To keep your own provider, replace them in the steps below.
Not sure which applies? Tell us before you switch the nameservers or cancel your old hosting: we check, and if your mail is at your old host, we can move the mailboxes and mail to your plan, free of charge.
Step-by-step
- Get the exact mail records from your current email provider. Every provider publishes its own MX, SPF and DKIM values — copy them from that provider's admin panel or setup guide. Do not guess them.
- Log in to your client area at my.maxinodes.com.
- Go to Domains -> My Domains, open the domain, and find the DNS manager (or open the DNS records area for the matching hosting service).
- Add or update the MX record(s) to point at your provider's mail server, with the priority your provider specifies, and delete the MX
mx.maxinodes.comif the zone has one. - Add your provider's SPF record as a single
TXTrecord. Keep only one SPF record on the domain — if you send from more than one service, merge theinclude:parts into one line. If the zone already has our SPF record (v=spf1 include:_spf.maxinodes.com ~all), edit it rather than adding a second; keepinclude:_spf.maxinodes.comin it if your website still sends mail from our server. - Add the DKIM record(s) your provider gives you (usually
CNAMEorTXT), and optionally a DMARCTXTrecord at_dmarc(start withp=none). - Delete the
autoconfigandautodiscoverrecords and the SRV record_autodiscover._tcpif the zone has them (they point mail apps at our server), and edit the existing_dmarcrecord rather than adding a second one. - Save. Leave your website's
Arecord untouched so your site keeps loading from Maxinodes.
Result: within minutes to a few hours (up to ~24–48h worst case, set by your record TTL), mail for your domain flows to your chosen provider while your website continues to load from Maxinodes.
Good to know
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One SPF record only. A domain must have a single SPF
TXTrecord. A second one breaks SPF. - Your provider's settings. With your own provider, your mail apps use that provider's server and client settings, not the ones for the mailboxes included in your plan.
- Forwarding is not a mailbox. If you only need to relay an address to an existing external inbox, use registrar/client-area email forwarding instead (see the forwarding guide below).
- Want a hand with the records? Ask support and share your provider's records — DNS lives in your client area on our nameservers, so we can check them through with you. Guided email setup and free migration come with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace seats ordered through us, and do not extend to a mailbox you keep at another provider. Moving your mail into the mailboxes included in your plan is free on every plan.
Troubleshooting this task
- Mail still going to the old place? DNS changes are not instant. Wait for propagation, then re-check the MX record.
- Outgoing mail landing in spam? Confirm your provider's SPF and DKIM records are present and correct, and that there is only one SPF record.
- Mail your website sends to your own addresses doesn't reach your provider? Our server may still treat your domain's mail as local. In cPanel, open Email Routing and choose Remote Mail Exchanger for the domain (or ask us), and make sure the same addresses don't also exist as mailboxes in your hosting plan.
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Website went down after editing DNS? Check you did not change or remove the
Arecord pointing at185.185.49.198. - Can't see the records save? Make sure you edited them in the client area DNS manager, not the cPanel zone editor — the cPanel editor does not control live DNS here.
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