1. Greenhouse Support
  2. All Recruiting topics
  3. Emails
  4. Email verification and setup

Configure your Greenhouse Email Service

Permissions: Users with “Can configure email settings” permission

Product tier: Available to all subscription tiers

When sending emails from Greenhouse Recruiting, organizations can choose between two messaging services:

  • Custom SMTP: Greenhouse emails are sent through your organization’s email infrastructure.
  • Mailgun: Greenhouse emails are sent through a third-party service.

In this article

Overview

Assign user permission

Set up custom SMTP

Set up Mailgun

Change email services

Overview

Note: Your email service applies to your whole organization. Work with your organization's IT team during set up.

Greenhouse sends emails using Custom SMTP or Mailgun. The best choice depends on whether your organization wants Greenhouse to send emails (Mailgun) or wants to send emails through its own email system (Custom SMTP).

Choose Custom SMTP if your IT team prefers more control. Emails go through your company’s email setup, so your IT team will provide the SMTP details and run a quick test.

Screenshot of custom SMTP email flow

Choose Mailgun if you want the simplest setup. Greenhouse manages email sending (your IT team will still need to help verify your domain for best deliverability). Learn more about Mailgun.

Screenshot of traditional email flow

Assign "Can configure email settings" user permission

To set up your email service, you'll need a Site Admin with "Can configure email settings" permission. To assign this setting, go to Configure > Users, then select the user who will configure your email service. 

Scroll to “Developer permissions” and select the “Can configure email settings.” Next, click Save permissions.

Note: If you don’t see  Developer permissions in your user settings, you don’t have permission to "edit another user's advanced settings." If that happens, ask someone at your org with developer permissions to update your access.

Setup custom SMTP

When using custom SMTP, Greenhouse Recruiting sends all emails to one of our SMTP servers, then relays these emails to your organization's mail server. 

Work with your Org's IT team

Before you begin setup, work with your org's IT team to collect the following information:

  • SMTP host name
  • Server username (if required)
  • Server password  (if required)
  • Port
  • Authentication type

Next, share Greenhouse’s IP Address Allowlist with your org’s IT team so your systems recognize Greenhouse’s servers and don’t block emails or data.

Configure your custom SMTP

Once you have the required information from your IT team, you’re ready to set up your email service in Greenhouse. Go to Configure > Dev center, then select Email settings.

On the email verification page, select “Custom SMTP” from the dropdown menu on the right.

Enter the SMTP details provided by your org’s IT team:

  • SMTP host name
  • Server username (if required)
  • Server password  (if required)
  • Port
  • Authentication type

Next, send a test email to confirm your configuration. 

Once you’ve confirmed that your email reached the recipient, select Save.

Set up Mailgun

Mailgun is Greenhouse Recruiting’s third-party email service. When you choose Mailgun, Greenhouse sends emails through Mailgun on your behalf.

Go to Configure > Dev center > Email settings.

Verify your domain

First, verify your domain so emails can be sent from your organization’s domain. Work with your IT Team to:

  • Register your domain with Greenhouse
  • Add your DNS provider
  • Verify your DNS provider

Follow the process listed in the Email domain verification quick start guide or go to Email domain verification for detailed step-by-step instructions.

Note: If your domain isn’t verified, Greenhouse can still send emails through Mailgun, but they’ll be sent through outbound-mail.greenhouse.io and are more likely to get filtered as spam.

Configure Mailgun

Select Mailgun from the dropdown menu on the right.

If your organization uses an allowlist, share Greenhouse’s Mailgun IP address list with your org’s IT team to help ensure messages reliably reach internal inboxes.

Change email services

Your organization can change email services at any point without contacting Greenhouse Technical Support.

Note: Before switching email services, coordinate with your organization's IT team.

Mailgun to SMTP

To change your email service, from Mailgun to SMTP, go to Configure > Dev center > Email settings. Select the drop-down, then "SMTP." 

Select “Continue” to finalize your change.

Note: When changing from Mailgun to SMTP, your organization's SMTP settings must be configured or emails may not be delivered.

SMTP to Mailgun

To change your email service, from SMTP to Mailgun, go to Configure > Dev center > Email settings. Select the drop-down, then "Mailgun." 

Select “Continue” to finalize your change.

Note: When changing from SMTP to Mailgun, your IT team will need to verify your domain in your DNS settings, but Greenhouse will continue sending emails in the interim.

For more information regarding custom SMTP, reach out to Greenhouse Technical Support.