Private Email or cPanel email?
Namecheap sells two kinds of email, and they use different servers:
- Private Email is Namecheap’s email service. You read it at
privateemail.com. This guide is for it. - cPanel email comes with Namecheap shared hosting and is managed in cPanel. Use the cPanel email SMTP guide instead.
On a shared hosting plan you can’t run both on one domain: Namecheap notes that cPanel email stops working once the domain uses Private Email.
1Create an app password
Namecheap keeps two passwords per mailbox: the master password for webmail, and app passwords for mail apps. When a mailbox is created they’re the same. Once you change the mailbox password, the new one only works in webmail, and apps (FormSMTP included) need an app password. Create one just for your website:
- Sign in at
privateemail.com, open Settings and click Launch Security Center. - Open the App passwords tab and click Create new password.
- Name it “FormSMTP”, click Proceed, then confirm with your regular password.
- Copy the password now. Namecheap shows it only once. It’s 29 characters: six groups of four, separated by hyphens.
A separate app password per app means you can delete this one later without breaking your phone or desktop mail.
2Create the FormSMTP project
Sign up free and add a project. There’s no Namecheap preset in the provider list, so leave it on Custom and type the host and port below.
3Enter the settings
| Provider | Custom |
| Host | mail.privateemail.com |
| Port | 465 with SSL on, or 587 with SSL off (STARTTLS) |
| Username | Your full email address, e.g. hello@yourdomain.com |
| Password | The app password from step 1 (or the original mailbox password, if you’ve never changed it) |
| From email | The same address |
Namecheap only accepts encrypted connections, so both options use TLS. Port 465 encrypts from the first byte; 587 upgrades with STARTTLS, which FormSMTP does automatically when SSL is off.
Click Test connection, then add your form. See the HTML contact form guide, or compare every provider on the SMTP settings page.
Sending limits
| Plan | Limit |
|---|---|
| Launch, Expand, Scale | 500 emails per hour, per mailbox |
| Any plan during the free trial | 20 emails per hour, per mailbox |
| Every message | At most 50 recipients across To, Cc and Bcc |
A contact form sends one email per submission, so 500 an hour is plenty. Watch the trial limit while you test: 20 messages an hour goes quickly when you’re submitting test forms. Namecheap also says it may lower a mailbox’s limit while it confirms an account is trustworthy.
Common errors
- 535 Authentication failed: almost always the password. If you changed the mailbox password, that new password only works in webmail; create an app password. Also check the username is the full address.
- Can’t open Security Center after wrong passwords: after five failed master-password attempts, Namecheap asks you to set a new master password before you can make changes there.
- Sender address rejected: the From address isn’t the mailbox you signed in with (or one of its aliases). Use the same address.
- Messages stop for a while, then resume: you hit the hourly limit. It resets after an hour.
- Timeouts: switch between 465 (SSL on) and 587 (SSL off). A mismatch between port and SSL setting looks like a hang.
For anything not listed here, look the code up in SMTP error codes explained.
Sources: Private Email client settings · App passwords · Sending limits · Private Email vs cPanel email. Checked November 2, 2026.
FAQ
Is my Namecheap account password the SMTP password?
No. SMTP uses the mailbox’s own password or an app password created in the Private Email Security Center, never the password you use to sign in to Namecheap.
Why does my new password work in webmail but not in FormSMTP?
Changing the mailbox password only changes the webmail (master) password. Mail apps keep using the app password, so create a new app password and use that.
Should I use port 465 or 587?
Either works. Use 465 with SSL on, or 587 with SSL off so FormSMTP upgrades the connection with STARTTLS.
Why do my messages land in spam?
Usually the From address isn’t on a domain you’ve verified with the provider, or the domain has no SPF and DKIM records. Verify the domain, send from an address on it, and check the Deliverability panel in FormSMTP’s Settings.