Mail, domains & deliverability
How this is scored
How well the mailbox itself works: custom domains and their DNS set-up, aliases, catch-all, shared and functional mailboxes, distribution lists, mailbox and attachment size limits, IMAP, POP3, SMTP and Exchange ActiveSync or MAPI for Outlook, web and mobile apps, spam and malware filtering, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MTA-STS, out-of-office and server-side rules, send limits, and the delivery reputation of the sending infrastructure. A self-hosted groupware is judged on the mail server it ships; a suite whose mail app is only a client for another server scores at the level of that client.
0 — No mailbox at all; a product that only sends transactional mail or only reads another provider's mail without a server of its own or a documented one to pair it with.
3 — Mailboxes on a custom domain with IMAP and SMTP and a webmail; aliases, shared mailboxes, filtering and DKIM or DMARC are basic or not described.
5 — Several custom domains with a documented DNS set-up, aliases and distribution lists, shared or functional mailboxes, IMAP and SMTP plus mobile apps, spam and malware filtering, SPF and DKIM signing, mailbox size per plan stated, server-side rules and out-of-office replies.
8 — Exchange ActiveSync or native Outlook (MAPI) support, DMARC reporting and MTA-STS or DANE, catch-all and plus addressing, delegated access and send-as, quarantine an admin can review, send and attachment limits stated, and the deliverability of the outbound infrastructure documented.
10 — A mail platform a large organisation runs on: every protocol above with feature parity stated per client, inbound and outbound gateways configurable, journaling, DANE and MTA-STS enforced, delivery monitoring and bounce analysis for admins, and mail flow documented end to end.
The Small Firm Owner
Custom-domain mail is fully documented with IMAP on port 993 (SSL) and authenticated SMTP on 587 with STARTTLS, SPF, DKIM and DMARC plus anti-spam and anti-virus are stated, and the address model lets several of my staff work one shared mailbox each with their own revocable device password — that is exactly how our kanzlei@ address runs. Send limits (500 E-Mails / 24H paid), a 3 GB attachment ceiling and unlimited mailbox storage on paid plans are published. We found no public information on Exchange ActiveSync or native Outlook (MAPI) access — the documented Outlook set-up runs over IMAP — nor on catch-all, distribution lists, out-of-office replies or server-side rules. 2 3 6 7 13 17 19