How to Send Bulk Email Using Gmail SMTP (Step-by-Step)

Use Gmail SMTP with RAPID SMTP to send bulk email campaigns. App password setup, daily limits, and when to upgrade to Amazon SES.

Gmail SMTP is the easiest entry point for any small business in Bangladesh that wants to send bulk email through its own domain. Combined with RAPID SMTP for campaign management, you can be sending tracked, scheduled emails in under ten minutes.

What you'll need

A Gmail or Google Workspace account (Workspace strongly recommended for business sending).
2-Step Verification enabled on the account.
A free RAPID SMTP account.

Step 1 — Generate a Gmail app password

Go to Google Account → Security.
Make sure 2-Step Verification is on.
Open App passwords, name it "RAPID SMTP", and copy the 16-character password Google generates.

Step 2 — Connect Gmail SMTP in RAPID SMTP

Open RAPID SMTP → SMTP Accounts → Add account.
Enter:
- Host: smtp.gmail.com
- Port: 587
- Encryption: STARTTLS
- Username: your full Gmail address
- Password: the app password from step 1
- From email: the same Gmail address
Send a test email — it should arrive within seconds.

Step 3 — Know your Gmail limits

Gmail SMTP is generous but not unlimited:

Free Gmail: ~500 recipients/day.
Google Workspace: 2,000 recipients/day, 10,000 message attempts.

Set your campaign throttle in RAPID SMTP to stay safely under those numbers — for Workspace, 60 emails/hour is a comfortable rate.

Step 4 — When to upgrade

If you are consistently bumping into Gmail's daily cap, or sending more than ~30,000 emails/month, switch to Amazon SES. SES costs roughly $0.10 per 1,000 emails with no daily ceiling, and connects to RAPID SMTP exactly the same way Gmail does.

Common Gmail SMTP problems

"Username and Password not accepted"

You used your normal Gmail password instead of an app password. Regenerate one and try again.

Emails landing in spam

Add SPF and DKIM for your domain in Google Workspace's admin console, and follow our deliverability checklist.

Hitting the daily limit unexpectedly

Each unique recipient counts. Lower your throttle and split big lists across multiple days.