Postmark Setup Guide

Connect Postmark to FormBlade for industry-leading email deliverability and fast inbox placement.

Free tier details

With only 100 emails per month, Postmark's free tier is best suited for testing, evaluation, or very low-traffic forms (approximately 3 submissions per day). For higher volumes, Postmark's paid plans start at $15/month for 10,000 emails.

Step 1: Create a Postmark account

1. Go to account.postmarkapp.com/sign_up
2. Sign up with your email address
3. Confirm your email via the verification link
4. Postmark will create a default server for you automatically

Step 2: Verify your sender identity

Postmark requires you to verify who you are sending from before any email is delivered. You have two options:

Option A: Sender Signature (quick start)

1. In the Postmark dashboard, go to Sender Signatures (in the top navigation)
2. Click Add Sender Signature
3. Enter the name and email address you want to send from
4. Click Create Signature
5. Check your inbox and click the confirmation link from Postmark

Option B: Domain Verification (recommended for production)

1. Go to Sender Signatures
2. Click Add Domain
3. Enter your domain name
4. Add the DKIM DNS records that Postmark displays to your DNS provider
5. Optionally add the Return-Path CNAME record for bounce tracking
6. Click Verify once DNS records have propagated

Step 3: Understand message streams

Postmark uses message streams to separate transactional and broadcast (marketing) email. Each stream has its own sending reputation and analytics.

• Default Transactional Stream — for notifications, receipts, and alerts. This is the stream FormBlade should use.
• Broadcast Stream — for newsletters and marketing. Do not use this for FormBlade notifications.

FormBlade sends via the default transactional stream automatically. You do not need to configure this.

Step 4: Get your Server API Token

1. In the Postmark dashboard, go to Servers
2. Click on your server (Postmark creates one by default, usually named "My First Server")
3. Click the API Tokens tab
4. Copy the Server API Token (a long alphanumeric string)

Step 5: Configure FormBlade

1. Log in to your FormBlade dashboard
2. Open the form you want to configure
3. Go to the Settings tab
4. Under Email Provider, select Postmark
5. Paste the Server API Token into the API Key field
6. Set your From Email to a verified sender signature or an address on your verified domain
7. Optionally set a From Name
8. Click Save

Step 6: Send a test email

1. Click Send Test Email in the Email Provider section
2. Check your inbox for the test notification
3. If it fails, verify that your sender is verified and you used the Server API Token (not the Account API Token)

Troubleshooting

"Sender signature not found" error

• The "From Email" in FormBlade must exactly match a verified sender signature or be on a verified domain in Postmark
• Go to Sender Signatures to confirm the address is listed and has a green checkmark

"Invalid API token" error

• Make sure you used the Server API Token, not the Account API Token
• The Server API Token is found on the API Tokens tab of your specific server, not in account settings
• Check for extra spaces when pasting the token

"Inactive recipient" error

• Postmark tracks bounces and will suppress delivery to email addresses that have previously bounced
• Check Activity → Suppressions in the Postmark dashboard to see if the recipient is suppressed
• You can reactivate a suppressed address if the issue has been resolved

Account suspended

• Postmark may suspend accounts that violate their acceptable use policy. Common reasons include sending marketing content through transactional streams or high spam complaint rates
• FormBlade form notifications are transactional and should not cause issues, but avoid customizing notification templates with promotional content
• Contact Postmark support if your account is suspended

Monthly limit reached

• The free tier allows only 100 emails per month. When you hit this limit, Postmark will reject further sends
• FormBlade will automatically fall back to the default mail server if Postmark rejects the request
• Upgrade to a paid Postmark plan ($15/month for 10,000 emails) or switch to Brevo for a more generous free tier

Postmark free tier summary

• 100 emails/month — very low limit, suitable for testing or very low-traffic forms only
• Transactional only — no marketing, newsletters, or promotional content
• Best deliverability — consistently top-tier inbox placement across the industry
• Sender verification required — either individual email signatures or full domain verification
• Separate message streams — transactional and broadcast are isolated

Postmark is an excellent choice if deliverability is your top priority and you are willing to pay for a plan that matches your volume. For free usage, other providers like Brevo or Resend offer significantly higher limits.

Common gotchas

• Server API Token, not Account API Token — Postmark has two types of tokens. The Server API Token (found on each server's API Tokens tab) is what FormBlade needs. The Account API Token (found in your account settings) is for managing servers and senders programmatically — it cannot send emails.
• Transactional email only — Postmark strictly prohibits marketing content, newsletters, and promotional emails. They actively monitor sending patterns and will suspend accounts that violate this policy. FormBlade form notifications are transactional and are fully allowed.
• 100 emails/month free tier is very low — At roughly 3 emails per day, this limit is realistically only useful for testing or extremely low-traffic forms. If you expect more volume, plan to upgrade to a paid plan ($15/month for 10,000 emails) from the start.
• Sender signature or domain verification required — You must verify either an individual email address (sender signature) or your entire domain before sending. Domain verification is recommended because it allows you to send from any address on that domain.
• Bounce tracking and suppressions — Postmark automatically suppresses delivery to email addresses that have previously hard-bounced. Check Activity → Suppressions if a specific recipient stops receiving notifications.
• Separate message streams — Postmark separates transactional and broadcast (marketing) email into different streams with independent reputations. FormBlade uses the default transactional stream, which is correct for form notifications.

Quick reference: where to find things in Postmark