Send Email with PHPMailer on Shared Hosting

[alkastraverse]

PHPMailer is more reliable than PHP's mail(), and works well on shared hosting without Composer.  

 

Steps:  

1. Download PHPMailer ZIP here  

2. Upload the folder to your host (e.g. /phpmailer/)  

3. Use this sample code:

 

	<?php
	use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
	require 'phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php';
	require 'phpmailer/src/SMTP.php';
	 
	$mail = new PHPMailer();
	$mail->isSMTP();
	$mail->Host = 'your_email_server';
	$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
	$mail->Username = 'your_email@example.com';
	$mail->Password = 'your_app_password';
	$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
	$mail->Port = 587;
	 
	$mail->setFrom('your_email@example.com', 'Your Name');
	$mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com');
	$mail->Subject = 'Test Email';
	$mail->Body = 'Hello, this is a test email sent via PHPMailer on shared hosting.';
	 
	echo $mail->send() ? "Sent!" : "Error: ".$mail->ErrorInfo;
	?>
	

 

PHPMailer + SMTP ensures better deliverability, supports HTML emails and attachments

[alkastraverse]

Honestly, you should avoid using PHP's mail(). 

- Many shared hosts disable it.  

- Even if it works, emails often land in spam.  

- It doesn’t support authentication or encryption.  

 

PHPMailer (with SMTP) is much more reliable and is considered the best practice for sending emails in PHP today.

[wolstech]

Crappy free hosts disable it as a lazy way to avoid people sending spam. I've never known a paid host that blocked it, and we don't block mail() here even on our free plans. Rather ironically, our experience is that very few legitimate apps actually use phpmailer...most apps use mail(), SimpleMail (which is ultimately a wrapper for mail() ), or some SMTP implementation instead.

Mail vs PHPMailer has nothing to do with mail landing in spam, as the resulting emails are identical from both methods. Content, DNS configuration, and domain reputation are the major factors. Mail() doesn't support authentication or encryption because they aren't applicable. It uses the server-wide mail settings in php.ini and doesn't even accept a mail server name.

Also, is this AI generated nonsense? We don't appreciate AI generated posts here...they're often inaccurate and could get you banned from the forum for spam.