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Configuring Email Authentication and Routing

Ever send an email from your domain and wonder why it ended up in someone’s spam folder? Or maybe you use Google Workspace for email but your hosting keeps trying to handle incoming mail? This guide covers exactly how to fix both of those problems. The FREAKHOSTING Web Hosting Control Panel at web.freakhosting.com gives you control over three important email settings: DKIM authentication (so your emails actually reach the inbox), mail routing (so incoming mail goes where you want it), and Cloudflare integration (so your DNS stays in sync).

Difficulty

Intermediate

Time

5 Minutes
Before configuring email settings, make sure your domain is added to your hosting account and pointed to the FREAKHOSTING nameservers. See How to Manage Domains for setup instructions.

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Email Authentication (DKIM)

Think of DKIM as a digital signature that proves your email actually came from your domain — not from someone pretending to be you. When you send an email, DKIM attaches a cryptographic signature that receiving mail servers (like Gmail or Outlook) can verify. If the signature checks out, your email is trusted. If not, it is far more likely to land in spam. Here is a real-world example: Say you are sending invoices from billing@yourbusiness.com. Without DKIM, Gmail has no way to confirm those emails genuinely came from your domain. Your invoices might end up in your clients’ spam folders, and they never see them. Enable DKIM, and Gmail can verify the signature — your invoices land right in the inbox where they belong.

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How to Enable DKIM

1

Navigate to Email Authentication

Log in to web.freakhosting.com, select your website, click the Domains tab, then click on the domain you want to configure. Select Email authentication from the left sidebar.
2

Enable DKIM

You will see a toggle switch labeled DKIM with the description “DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) verifies that an email is from a legitimate sender.” Flip the toggle to the on position. The control panel automatically generates and publishes the necessary DKIM DNS records for your domain — there is nothing else you need to do.
Turn DKIM on for every domain that sends email. It does not matter if you are sending newsletters, contact form notifications from WordPress, password reset emails from your app, or just regular business emails — DKIM helps all of them reach the inbox. It is a single toggle and there is no reason to leave it off.

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Why DKIM Matters

Without DKIM, receiving mail servers have no way to verify that an email claiming to be from your domain was actually sent by your server. This means your emails are more likely to be:
  • Flagged as spam by providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo — even when the email is completely legitimate.
  • Rejected outright by mail servers with strict authentication policies (and more servers are getting strict every year).
  • Spoofed by bad actors who send fraudulent emails pretending to be from your domain, potentially damaging your reputation.
Major email providers like Gmail and Yahoo now require DKIM (along with SPF) for bulk senders. Even if you only send a handful of emails per day, enabling DKIM signals to every receiving server that you take email security seriously.

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Mail Routing Settings

Mail routing tells the control panel what to do with incoming email for your domain. Should emails to hello@yourdomain.com be delivered to mailboxes on your FREAKHOSTING account, or should they be forwarded to an external service like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365? You will find two options in the Mail routing settings section of your domain settings:
“I’m using this hosting package to receive inbound emails.”When set to Local mail, all incoming emails addressed to your domain (for example, info@yourdomain.com) are delivered to email accounts on your FREAKHOSTING hosting package. This is the default setting and the right choice if you create and manage your email accounts directly through the control panel.Choose Local mail if:
  • You set up email addresses like hello@yourdomain.com in the FREAKHOSTING control panel
  • You access your email through webmail or connect it to an email client using IMAP/POP3 settings from your hosting account
  • You do not pay for a separate email service
“I’m using a third party email server to receive inbound emails (Gmail etc.)”When set to Remote mail, incoming emails are routed to a third-party email provider instead of your hosting account. The control panel updates the necessary records to direct mail away from the local server so your external provider can handle delivery.Choose Remote mail if:
  • You use Google Workspace and manage email through Gmail with your custom domain
  • You use Microsoft 365 and manage email through Outlook or Exchange Online
  • You use Zoho Mail, ProtonMail for Business, or any other external email service
  • You already have MX records pointing to a provider outside FREAKHOSTING

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Which Should I Choose?

Not sure? Here is a quick way to figure it out:
QuestionAnswerYou should use
Where did you create your email accounts?In the FREAKHOSTING control panelLocal mail
Where did you create your email accounts?In Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another serviceRemote mail
Do you log into Gmail/Outlook with your custom domain?Yes, through Google Workspace or Microsoft 365Remote mail
Did you set up email through webmail at your hosting?YesLocal mail
Are you paying a separate company for email?YesRemote mail
Are you paying a separate company for email?No, just using what came with hostingLocal mail
Still not sure? If you did not specifically sign up for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another email service, you are almost certainly using local mail — which is the default.

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How to Change Mail Routing

1

Open Mail Routing Settings

From your domain settings page, select Mail routing settings from the left sidebar. You will see the heading “Configure how the system treats the incoming mail for this domain name.”
2

Choose Your Routing Option

Select the radio button for either Local mail or Remote mail depending on where you want your incoming emails delivered.
3

Configure Your External Provider (Remote Only)

If you switched to remote mail, make sure you have already configured the correct MX records from your third-party email provider. See How to Manage DNS Records and DNSSEC for instructions on adding MX records.
Switching from local to remote mail routing means emails will no longer be delivered to mailboxes on your hosting account. Make sure your third-party email provider is fully configured and working before you make this change. Otherwise, incoming emails could bounce or get lost during the transition.

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Cloudflare Integration

If you use Cloudflare for DNS management, CDN, or security features, the control panel lets you connect your Cloudflare account directly. This means you can keep managing DNS records from the FREAKHOSTING control panel while Cloudflare actually serves them — the two systems stay in sync automatically. Here is why this matters: Without the integration, you would need to log into Cloudflare separately every time you want to add or change a DNS record. With the integration, you make changes in the FREAKHOSTING control panel and they get pushed to Cloudflare behind the scenes. One place to manage everything.

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How to Connect Cloudflare

1

Open Your Domain Settings

On the domain settings page, look for the Cloudflare dropdown at the top of the page (it displays the Cloudflare logo). Click the Select API token dropdown.
2

Add Your Cloudflare API Token

If you have not added a token yet, you will need to create one in Cloudflare first. Log in to your Cloudflare dashboard, go to My Profile > API Tokens, and create a token with DNS Edit permissions for the zone (domain) you want to manage. Copy the token and paste it into the FREAKHOSTING control panel.
3

Save and Sync

Once connected, the control panel manages DNS records through Cloudflare on your behalf. Any DNS changes you make in the panel — adding email records, pointing subdomains, enabling DKIM — will be pushed to Cloudflare automatically.
When using Cloudflare integration, your DNS provider column on the Domains tab will display Cloudflare instead of the default provider. This confirms the connection is active and DNS changes are being synced.

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Cloudflare and FREAKHOSTING Nameservers

When you use Cloudflare, your domain’s nameservers point to Cloudflare instead of the FREAKHOSTING nameservers — you cannot use both simultaneously. However, the API token integration bridges that gap: you manage DNS records from the FREAKHOSTING control panel, and those changes are automatically pushed to Cloudflare. You get the convenience of managing everything in one place while still benefiting from Cloudflare’s CDN and security features. Practical example: You host your website on FREAKHOSTING and use Cloudflare for its CDN and DDoS protection. You want to add a new email account and need the right DNS records. Instead of logging into Cloudflare to add MX and DKIM records manually, you just enable DKIM and configure mail routing in the FREAKHOSTING control panel — the records are pushed to Cloudflare automatically.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — there is really no reason not to. DKIM adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails that proves they came from your domain. Without it, your emails are more likely to end up in spam or get rejected entirely. It is a single toggle switch and takes about two seconds to enable.
Local mail delivers incoming emails to mailboxes on your FREAKHOSTING hosting account. Remote mail routes incoming emails to an external provider like Google Workspace (Gmail) or Microsoft 365 (Outlook). If you created your email accounts in the FREAKHOSTING control panel, use local mail. If you pay for a separate email service, use remote mail.
Set your mail routing to Remote mail so incoming emails go to Google’s servers instead of your hosting account. You will also need to add Google’s MX records to your DNS — see How to Manage DNS Records and DNSSEC. You should still enable DKIM for outgoing emails sent from your hosting (like contact form notifications).
No. If you use Cloudflare, your domain’s nameservers will point to Cloudflare instead of FREAKHOSTING. You can still manage DNS from the FREAKHOSTING control panel using the Cloudflare API token integration, which syncs records between both platforms automatically.
No. Switching to remote mail only changes where new incoming messages are delivered. Your existing email accounts on the FREAKHOSTING hosting package remain intact, but new incoming messages will be routed to your external email provider instead of those local mailboxes.
Log in to your Cloudflare account, navigate to My Profile > API Tokens, and create a new token with DNS Edit permissions for the relevant zone. Copy the token and paste it into the Cloudflare dropdown on your domain settings page in the FREAKHOSTING control panel.
DKIM is one part of the puzzle. Make sure you also have valid SPF and DMARC records in your DNS. Check that your sending IP is not on any blocklists, and avoid spam-trigger words in your subject lines. You can test your email authentication setup using free tools like Mail Tester to see exactly what might be causing issues.

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Need Extra Help?

If you encounter any issues, our support team is ready to assist:

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Last Updated: March 2026 | Web Hosting Support: Email authentication and routing made simple.