# Send email from Crewtavo

> Connect a free Resend account under Settings → Email (it works on every Railway plan), or your own business mailbox on Railway Pro or your own server.

Crewtavo emails quotes, invoices, reminders, team invitations, password resets and team notifications. Owners and admins set this up under **Settings → Email**, which offers two ways to send:

| Option | Works on | What you need |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Resend** (**Recommended**) | Every Railway plan and your own server | A free Resend account and your own domain, like `yourcompany.com` |
| Your own mailbox: Gmail, Google Workspace, Zoho, Microsoft 365, Yahoo, iCloud or any SMTP server | Railway's Pro plan or your own server | An app password from your email provider |

Railway blocks outgoing mail servers (SMTP) on its trial and Hobby plans, so a mailbox can't send from there. Resend sends over the web instead, so it works everywhere. When Crewtavo runs on Railway, the screen reminds you of this.

## Connect Resend (recommended)

Resend is free for up to 100 emails a day (3,000 a month). Open **Settings → Email** and choose **Resend**. The screen walks you through four steps, each with a button that opens the right page in Resend:

1. **Create a free Resend account.** Sign up with your email or Google account.
2. **Add your domain.** In Resend, open **Domains**, press **Add Domain** and type your website's address, like `yourcompany.com`. Resend lists a few DNS records. Add them where you manage your domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Squarespace, Cloudflare and so on), then wait for Resend to show **Verified**. That's usually within 15 minutes.
3. **Create an API key.** Open **API keys** and press **Create API Key**. Name it Crewtavo, choose **Sending access**, and leave the domain on all domains so the key isn't tied to just one. Copy the key straight away: Resend only shows it once.
4. **Paste it below.** Back in Crewtavo, fill in **API key** and **Send from**, check the **Sender name**, then press **Connect**. **Send from** can be any address on the domain you added, like `office@yourcompany.com`. It doesn't need its own inbox, as long as replies go somewhere else (see [Where replies go](#where-replies-go)).

Crewtavo sends you a test email before saving, so you'll know straight away that it works.

:::tip
Resend keys start with `re_`. Resend can't send from a Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook or iCloud address, only from a domain you own. Crewtavo warns you about both before you press **Connect**.
:::

:::note
If you added a subdomain in Resend, like `mail.yourcompany.com`, send from an address on that exact subdomain (`office@mail.yourcompany.com`), or add your main domain too. Resend treats each one as a separate domain.
:::

## Connect your own mailbox (Railway Pro or your own server)

1. Open **Settings → Email**.
2. Under **Or send from a mailbox you already have**, choose your provider: Gmail, Google Workspace, Zoho, Microsoft 365, Yahoo, iCloud, or **Another email provider** for any SMTP server.
3. Fill in the **Email address**, then make an app password with your provider (the screen links to where each one makes it) and enter it.
4. Check the **Sender name** and press **Connect**.

Crewtavo signs in and sends you a test before saving. There are no DNS changes, no extra account and nothing to pay.

## Who your emails are from

**Sender name**, on the same form as the address, is the name clients see the email as coming from. It starts as your business name. Change it to something like "Jane at Acme Lawn Care" if you'd rather, or clear it to use your business name.

## Where replies go

When a client replies to a quote, invoice, reminder or any other email from Crewtavo, the reply goes to the **Email** in **Settings → Company**. If that's empty, it goes to the address emails are sent from. The email Crewtavo sends you when you connect says which: "Replies go to …".

So fill in **Email** in **Settings → Company** with an inbox someone reads, especially if you send from an address that has no inbox of its own, like a Resend address on your domain. Replies would be lost otherwise.

Crewtavo sends email but doesn't receive it, so replies never show up in **Messages**: answer them from your own email. See [Text and email clients from Messages](https://crewtavo.com/docs/clients/messages/).

## Send a test

Once email is connected, **Settings → Email** shows the address it sends from, the provider and **Connected**. Press **Send me a test** any time to check it still works: Crewtavo emails "Test email from" your business name to the address you sign in with, and says "Test email sent to …". If it doesn't go, the reason shows under the button.

**Change** updates the address, key or password, and **Disconnect** stops sending from it.

## If Resend refuses the connection

Crewtavo explains what Resend said and what to change. The usual ones:

| What Crewtavo says | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| "This Resend API key can only send from a different domain, not …" | The key was limited to one domain when it was made. Create a new key with **Sending access** for all domains and paste it in, or send from an address on the domain the key is for. |
| "… isn't verified in Resend yet." | In Resend, open **Domains**, check every DNS record is added, and wait until the domain shows **Verified**. |
| "Resend can't send from a gmail.com address." | Send from an address on your own domain instead. |
| "Resend didn't accept this API key." | The key was deleted or only partly copied. Create a new one under **API keys** and paste the whole key. |
| "This Resend account has reached its daily sending limit …" | The free plan sends 100 emails a day. Sending starts again after midnight UTC, or upgrade your Resend plan. |

If a connected Resend account stops working later, **Settings → Email** shows **Needs attention** with the same explanation. Fix it in Resend, then press **Connect again**.

## For whoever runs the server: a default sender

Whoever installed Crewtavo can also set `RESEND_API_KEY` and `EMAIL_FROM` on the server (on Railway, in the **crewtavo** service's **Variables**). That gives every company a default sender until it connects its own under **Settings → Email**. Most businesses don't need this: connecting Resend in **Settings → Email** does the same job without touching Railway.

## Until email is connected

Crewtavo keeps working. Team invites show a link to copy and text instead. If email still isn't arriving after setup, see [Emails aren't arriving](https://crewtavo.com/docs/troubleshooting/email-not-arriving/).

Source: https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/email/ (last updated 2026-10-28)