“My Gravity Forms notifications aren’t arriving” is one of the most common problems I help people with. Almost every time, the form is fine. The problem is how WordPress sends email.
If you’ve ever turned on Gravity Forms logging, you may have seen something like this:
ERROR --> GFCommon::send_email(): WordPress was unable to send the notification email (#64833fe769979 - Admin Notification) for entry #2 to the sending server.
DEBUG --> GFCommon::send_email(): PHPMailer class returned an error message: Could not instantiate mail function.By default, WordPress sends mail with your web server’s PHP mail function. Many hosts limit or block it, and email from a web server usually lacks the authentication that inboxes expect, so it lands in spam or disappears. The fix is to send through a real email service. Gravity SMTP is the Gravity Forms team’s plugin for exactly that.
What It Does
Gravity SMTP routes all of your site’s email through the service you choose: Gravity Forms notifications, WordPress password resets, WooCommerce receipts, and anything else that uses wp_mail.
- Integrations: Amazon SES, Brevo, Cloudflare, Elastic Email, Emailit, Google / Gmail, Mailchimp Transactional, MailerSend, Mailgun, Mailjet, Mailtrap, Microsoft 365 / Outlook, Postmark, Resend, SendGrid, SMTP.com, SMTP2GO, SparkPost and Zoho Mail, plus Custom SMTP for any other server.
- Email log: every email with its status, recipient and source. You can search it, view the message and resend.
- Test mode: stops all outgoing email while still logging it. Perfect for staging sites.
- Alerts: get a text (via Twilio) or a webhook message (Slack, Zapier and others) when email fails.
- Dashboard and digests: sent, failed and open counts, with daily, weekly or monthly summary emails.
- Backup connection and routing: use a second service if the main one fails.
- Suppressions: keep addresses that bounce or complain from receiving more mail.
- WP Mail SMTP migration: brings over your existing settings.
The Pros
- Built by the Gravity Forms team, and included with licenses many Gravity Forms users already have.
- Clear email log. When a client says “I never got it,” you can see in seconds whether it was sent.
- Test mode means staging and development sites never email real customers.
- Lots of integrations using each service’s API, which is more reliable than plain SMTP.
The Cons
- Not free on its own. It comes with the Elite, Nonprofit and Developer licenses, so Basic and Pro users need another option.
- You still need an email service, and some charge once you pass their free tier.
- It can’t fix DNS for you. You still need to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your sending domain. Gravity SMTP just makes the connection.
Pricing
Gravity SMTP is included at no extra cost with Gravity Forms Elite ($259/year), Nonprofit and Developer licenses, and you download it from your Gravity Forms account. Your email service may charge separately. Check the Gravity Forms pricing page for current details.
Who Should Use It
- ✅ Elite license holders. You already own it, so use it.
- ✅ Agencies that need email logs to answer “did it send?” questions
- ✅ Anyone with a staging site that shouldn’t email real people
- ❌ Basic and Pro license holders who don’t want to upgrade. A free SMTP plugin will do the core job.
The Verdict
If you have an Elite license, install Gravity SMTP on every site. It solves the most common “notifications aren’t sending” problem, and the email log alone saves a lot of support time. If you don’t have Elite, it’s a nice bonus to weigh when you’re deciding whether to upgrade, but not a reason on its own.
Need More Help?
If you still need help, use the chat or leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.
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