Email Sending Limits Overview

Watch the Video

What Are Sending Limits?

Sending limits are the maximum number of emails your email service provider (ESP) allows you to send from your mailbox per day and hour.

Email Service Provider Limits

Apollo does not send emails on your behalf. When you use Apollo for engagement, you send emails via a mailbox connected to Apollo. You can link multiple email providers to your Apollo account, including Gmail and Microsoft, among others. Every ESP monitors sent emails to ensure you are an individual emailing other individuals.

They each have their own daily and hourly sending limits. However, there are additional unpublished limits based on a variety of factors, including:

• The age of your mailbox
• The recipients receiving your emails
• The type of content in your messages
• The number of spam reports you've received

To maintain a healthy email deliverability rate and keep your domain safe, you should aim to keep your email activity as close to average as possible. The average person does not send more than 50 emails a day—even when they're incredibly active via email.

Apollo Sending Limits

Sending limits in Apollo act as an additional safety net to help you adhere to best practices and prevent your ESP from suspending or limiting your email account.

To gain more control over the number of emails your team sends via a mailbox connected to Apollo, configure sending limits within Apollo. To keep your email account safe, Apollo advises staying within our recommended limits.

Refer to the sections below to access and edit your sending limits for a connected mailbox in Apollo, learn about recommended limits, and jump into related faqs.

Back to Top

Edit Sending Limits in Apollo

To access and edit sending limits:

1. Launch Apollo and click Settings > Mailboxes.
2. Apollo displays the daily and hourly limits for each connected mailbox. From here, you can visualize and track your progress towards your daily limits in Apollo. For example, if you set your limits to 50 for a connected mailbox and you've sent 35 emails via Apollo from that mailbox so far that day, Apollo displays 35/50.
    

   Only in Apollo

   Please note, Apollo only tracks the emails you send via Apollo. Any emails you send directly from your mailbox outside of Apollo do not count towards your daily Apollo sending limits.

3. To change the limits, click the mailbox you want to edit.
4. Click Set to default if you want to adhere to Apollo's recommended sending limits.
5. Then, click Reset to default to confirm the change. Apollo automatically reverts all sending limits for the selected mailbox.
6. To manually make changes, edit the fields for daily and hourly limits and the minimum delay between emails. Then, click Save changes.
    

   Resist Temptation!

   We get it. You want to reach as many of your ideal prospects as possible—without restrictions. But your reputation matters. If you overdo it, you risk getting flagged as spam. Nobody likes spam.

   Want to avoid suspension or sending limitations? Stick within the recommended limits, follow email deliverability best practices, and A/B test your messaging to help keep that domain squeaky clean. If you experience deliverability issues, lower your sending limits immediately.

   Hungry for more tips? Check out our webinar on mastering email deliverability.

7. (Recommended) While you're here, configure an unsubscribe link to accompany your email signature. If you give recipients an alternative, they are less likely to flag your email as spam.

When you reach your hourly or daily limit for a mailbox, Apollo pauses any scheduled emails until the next hour or day.

Daily limits in Apollo are based on a rolling 24-hour period, not the calendar day. The period begins the moment you turn on a sequence. When you enroll contacts into a sequence, Apollo verifies the number of emails both sent and scheduled to dispatch within the current 24-hour period. Apollo then respects the specified sending limits and pauses any emails that exceed the limit until the next period. If you make any changes to your limits, this influences and determines how many emails Apollo will schedule for the next 24-hour period.

Back to Top

Recommended Sending Limits

Apollo strongly advises you start with the recommended mailbox setting of 50 emails per day, 6 per hour, and with a 600-second delay between emails.

While the maximum number of emails you can send from a connected mailbox via Apollo is higher than this, you should start with 50 and monitor your email performance closely. If you notice any deliverability issues, lower your sending limits immediately.

If you need to increase email volume, add more mailboxes and do not increase your sending limits until you have established solid deliverability and domain reputation. If you consistently achieve a 5% or higher reply rate and you have a strong domain reputation, you can increase the number of emails you send per day. However, even then, please remember that higher sending limits often correlate with worse deliverability rates. You increase your sending limits at your own risk.

To send a higher volume of emails without putting your domain at risk:

• Link additional mailboxes. Each mailbox has its own sending limits. Depending on your plan, you can add up to 15 mailboxes per user. See the pricing page for more information.
• Integrate with SendGrid or Mailgun. Apollo recommends you do this if you already actively use SendGrid or Mailgun for transactional or marketing emails related to your service or product. If you don't, consider using this Apollo partner to help follow deliverability best practices.

Back to Top

What Happens When I Hit My Limits In Apollo?

If you hit your daily or hourly sending limits, Apollo automatically places the remaining emails in the "scheduled-delayed" queue until the next day or hour.

To check the status of your emails:

1. Launch Apollo and click Emails.
2. You can view the status on the right of each email. If the status is "scheduled-delayed," it is likely because you hit your sending limit. If so, Apollo sends the email the following hour or day when the limit refreshes.

Back to Top

What Happens When My Email Provider Limits or Suspends My Account?

If your email service provider suspends or rate limits your email account, it means you've sent too much underperforming content or too many emails per day or hour. You should immediately lower your sending limits in Apollo, check the sequence stats, edit the email content of any messages that received a high bounce or spam-blocked rate, and follow any further instructions from your email provider to get back in their good graces.

Additional Resources:

• Guidelines to Avoid Spam Filters
• Email Deliverability Checklist
• Mastering Email Deliverability Webinar

Back to Top