PHP Mailer
Hosting
Install PHP Mailer in one click on our fast, reliable UK web hosting. Fully managed with free SSL, daily backups, and dedicated expert support.
What is PHP Mailer?
PHPMailer is a PHP library, not a full application. It's the most widely used SMTP-sending library in the PHP world and ships inside thousands of plugins, scripts, and bespoke applications. If you've ever used a contact form on a WordPress site, there's a good chance PHPMailer was the code that actually delivered the email.
The library handles SMTP authentication, attachments, HTML email, embedded images, DKIM signing, and most of the awkward edges of email composition that pure mail() calls get wrong. It's open-source under the LGPL, has been maintained since 2001, and works with any modern PHP version including PHP 8.3.
Because it's a library rather than an installable app, "hosting PHPMailer" really means hosting any PHP application that includes PHPMailer as a dependency. Any shared, cloud, or VPS plan with PHP 8.5 and outbound SMTP allowed will run it without trouble. The interesting questions are about deliverability, not compatibility.
365i’s editorial review of PHP Mailer
PHPMailer is one of those libraries I've been bumping into for the more than 20 years I've been running hosting. It predates a lot of the platforms it now lives inside. WordPress uses it. Dozens of CRM and helpdesk apps use it. Most of the bespoke PHP scripts I've inherited from agencies use it. So when someone asks me "do you support PHPMailer?", what they're really asking is "will my contact form deliver?", and that's a more interesting question.
The honest answer is that hosting the library is the easy part. Any 365i plan from £5.99 a month runs PHP 8.5 and lets PHPMailer load. That's not where things go wrong. Where things go wrong is at the SMTP layer, and that's a deliverability problem more than a hosting one.
"PHPMailer almost never fails because of the library. It fails because someone configured it to send through Gmail with an old password, or pointed it at port 25, or forgot DKIM. Once you stop treating email like it's free magic and start treating it like a delivery system that needs auth, alignment, and warm IPs, the library does its job quietly for years."
Mark McNeece, Founder, 365i Hosting
What I tell clients is to send transactional email through a proper SMTP relay, not through the local mail server, and not through a personal Gmail account. We support outbound SMTP on standard ports (587 with STARTTLS, 465 with implicit TLS) to any provider you like. Brevo, Postmark, Amazon SES, Mailgun, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, all fine. Plug PHPMailer's SMTP options into the relay's credentials, set SMTPSecure correctly, and you're done.
The other thing I'd say is don't bother with PHP's built-in mail() function on shared hosting in 2026. Most large mailbox providers will throw it straight in the spam folder because the headers are off, the IP isn't aligned, and there's no DKIM. PHPMailer plus a relay fixes all of that.
If you're a developer reading this and you just want to know whether to host your custom PHP app with us, the answer is yes. PHP 8.5, MySQL 8, free SSL, daily backups, one-click installers for the apps that wrap PHPMailer (WordPress, vtiger, phpMyFAQ, SuiteCRM, dozens more), and 7-day expert support if something breaks. We don't have a hidden "block PHPMailer" rule. We don't ban Composer. We don't artificially throttle outbound SMTP. The library does what it's meant to do, and our job is to stay out of its way while making sure the surrounding plumbing (DNS, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, reverse DNS) is configured correctly, which we'll help you with.
Why Host PHP Mailer with 365i?
Our web hosting is built for PHP applications like PHP Mailer. Every plan includes everything you need to launch and grow.
One-Click Installation
Install PHP Mailer with a single click from your control panel. No manual configuration, no FTP uploads, no database setup.
Free SSL Certificate
Every site gets a free SSL certificate, automatically configured and renewed. Keep your PHP Mailer installation secure from day one.
99.9%+ Uptime Track Record
Enterprise-grade data centres in the UK, US & Asia with redundant power, cooling, and network connectivity. Shared hosting runs on autoscaling cloud infrastructure with a 99.9%+ historical uptime record; Managed Cloud Servers target 99.99% uptime; our VPS products carry a contractual 99.99% network availability SLA with service credits.
Daily Backups
Automatic daily backups with easy one-click restore. Your PHP Mailer data is always safe and recoverable.
7-Day Expert Support
UK-based hosting specialists available 7 days a week including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. Real people, real help.
SSD Storage
All plans run on fast SSD storage for snappy page loads and responsive admin panels. PHP Mailer performs at its best.
Where PHP Mailer Fits
Best for
Developers building custom PHP applications that need to send email reliably. Plugins, contact forms, account verification flows, password reset emails, scheduled reports, and any bespoke script where you want SMTP authentication, DKIM signing, attachments, or HTML email handled by a battle-tested library rather than reinvented in-house.
Watch for
PHPMailer itself is solid, but historic CVEs (notably 2016 RCE bugs) mean you must keep it updated. Don't pin to an ancient version inside a custom build. The library can't fix bad SMTP config, missing DKIM, or sending from a domain you don't own. And it won't make Gmail accept mail from a fresh IP with no reputation. Deliverability is on you.
Web Hosting for PHP Mailer
Get PHP Mailer up and running in minutes with our fast, reliable web hosting. Every plan includes one-click installation, free SSL, UK, US & Asia data centres, and dedicated expert support.
- 1 website
- 10 GB SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
- 80+ 1-click installs
- Unlimited LVE resources
- Autoscaling cloud platform
- UK, US & Asia data centres
- 5 websites
- Unlimited SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
- 80+ 1-click installs
- CDN included
-
Timeline Backup/Restore
Timeline Backup
- Website files and databases
- Daily snapshots, 30-day retention
- One-click file and database restore
- Everything above, plus email mailbox backups
- 60-day database retention
- Mailbox restore (to a temporary mailbox first, then sync back)
- Unlimited LVE resources
- Autoscaling cloud platform
- UK, US & Asia data centres
- 10 websites
- Unlimited SSD storage
- Free SSL certificate
- 80+ 1-click installs
- CDN included
-
Timeline Backup/Restore (Pro)
Timeline Backup
- Website files and databases
- Daily snapshots, 30-day retention
- One-click file and database restore
- Everything above, plus email mailbox backups
- 60-day database retention
- Mailbox restore (to a temporary mailbox first, then sync back)
- Unlimited LVE resources
- Autoscaling cloud platform
- UK, US & Asia data centres
All prices exclude VAT. No contract, cancel any time.
Need More Power for PHP Mailer?
For high-traffic sites, large catalogues, or mission-critical deployments, our fully managed cloud servers give PHP Mailer dedicated resources and enterprise-grade performance.
- Dedicated CPU, RAM & SSD storage
- 99.99% uptime
- Fully managed by our team
- Choose 365i, AWS, or Google Cloud
Servers
Servers
Servers
A PHP Mailer case from our books
A small ecommerce business in the Midlands moved to us in early 2025 after their order confirmation emails started landing in spam. Their custom PHP order system used PHPMailer and was sending through their previous host's local mail server. Volume was around 280 transactional emails a day at peak.
We didn't change a line of their PHPMailer code. What we did change was the SMTP target. We pointed PHPMailer at a dedicated relay (Postmark in their case, around £8 a month for their volume), set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on their domain, and verified inbox placement against Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. Bounce rate dropped from 4.1% to 0.3% within a week. Order-confirmation open rate went from 39% to 71% in the same window because customers were actually receiving them.
What we would tell anyone in the same spot: PHPMailer isn't your problem. It's the SMTP path and the DNS records around it. Fix those first, and the library will reward you with years of quiet operation.
Anonymised at the client's request. Industry, scale, and timeline preserved.
What we look for in php libraries hosting
PHP libraries are not full applications, so the hosting question is really about the host application that uses them. We make sure Composer is installed system-wide, the standard PHP extensions are enabled (mbstring, intl, openssl, curl, gd, zip), and SSH is available for installing dependencies. The library itself runs on whatever PHP version your application supports, and our PHP version selector on every plan lets you switch between supported versions without leaving the panel.
More applications you can install on 365i hosting
Beyond PHP Libraries, our one-click installer covers 79 open-source PHP applications across 27 categories. A small selection from across the catalogue:
PHP Mailer Hosting FAQ
Common questions we hear from people running PHP Mailer on our hosting.
PHPMailer is a library that gets bundled with applications, not a separate install. WordPress, vtiger, phpMyFAQ, SuiteCRM, and many other one-click apps already include it. If you're writing your own PHP, drop it in via Composer (composer require phpmailer/phpmailer) or upload the files manually. Either way, it runs fine on every 365i plan from £5.99 a month upward.
Yes. Both work, but you'll need an app password (Gmail) or SMTP AUTH submission (Microsoft 365), not your normal account password. Configure PHPMailer with $mail->Host = 'smtp.gmail.com' or smtp.office365.com, port 587, SMTPSecure = 'tls'. Daily send limits apply (Gmail caps around 500 a day for free accounts, 2,000 for Workspace), so for high volume use a transactional relay instead.
Almost always a deliverability issue, not a code issue. Check three things: SPF record matches the sending IP, DKIM signing is enabled and the public key is in DNS, DMARC alignment passes. Run dig TXT yourdomain.com to see what's published. Our 7-day expert support can audit your DNS for free, set up the records, and verify alignment with mail-tester.com or similar.
Technically yes, but I wouldn't recommend it for transactional or marketing email. The headers are minimal, the IP isn't SPF-aligned to your domain by default, and there's no DKIM signing. Modern mailbox providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) treat unaligned mail as suspicious. Use PHPMailer plus a transactional relay (Postmark, Brevo, Amazon SES, Mailgun) and your inbox placement will be much better.
Standard submission ports (587 with STARTTLS, 465 with implicit TLS) are open to authenticated relays. Port 25 outbound is blocked by default to prevent abuse from compromised scripts, which is industry standard on shared hosting. If you have a legitimate use case for port 25 (sending to a private MTA, for example) talk to support and we can review it.
Yes, and well. Use $mail->addAttachment('/path/to/file.pdf') for attachments and $mail->addEmbeddedImage('/path/to/image.jpg', 'logo') for inline images referenced as cid:logo in your HTML body. Watch the total message size; most providers reject messages over 25MB. For larger files, send a download link instead and store the file on your hosting account.
Ready to Host PHP Mailer?
Get started with PHP Mailer on our fast UK web hosting. One-click installation, free SSL, and dedicated expert support included.