Free business email in Portugal: set up nome@suaempresa.pt

Portugal makes two things easy and one thing strict. Starting a business is quick (Empresa na Hora, or a simple activity opening at Finanças for a freelancer), and a .pt domain is open to anyone and registered in minutes. The strict part is invoicing: invoices must come from certified software and carry the ATCUD and QR code, and the PDF that the customer receives is almost always sent by email. The address that PDF comes from should be yours. This guide sets it up free on a .pt domain.

Quick answer

Register suaempresa.pt at DNS.PT directly or at a Portuguese registrar, paying by MB WAY, Multibanco reference or card. Create a free OquMail workspace with no card, add the domain, paste four DNS records, click Verify and create your mailboxes. Set the new address as the sender in your invoicing software and add the mailbox to your phone over IMAP.

Choosing your domain: .pt or .com

• .pt: the Portuguese registry (DNS.PT) sells it directly at dns.pt and through registrars such as PTisp, Amen and Domínios.pt. Open to anyone, priced in euros, recognised by Portuguese customers and public bodies.
• .com.pt: the older business form; fine if the plain .pt name is taken.
• .com: sensible for businesses selling mostly abroad, including those serving the many remote workers and expatriates in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.
• Accented names (João, Conceição) should be registered in their plain ASCII form for use in email addresses.

Why a domain address matters in Portugal

Tourism operators compete on listing sites against businesses whose contact address matches their website. Wine, cork and olive oil exporters are vetted by importers before the first pallet moves. Construction and renovation firms working for foreign property buyers deal with clients who are cautious about fraud and check that the quotation, the invoice and the email all carry the same domain. Startups in Lisbon and Porto pitching to investors are judged on the small details first. And every business sends invoices by email, where a Gmail sender next to a certified ATCUD invoice looks mismatched.

Step by step: from domain to working inbox

1. Register suaempresa.pt at DNS (your domain's settings panel — like an address book for the web and email).pt or a registrar. Pay by MB WAY, Multibanco reference or card; the domain is active within minutes.
2. Go to oqumail.com and create a free workspace with your name and a password. No card, no trial countdown.
3. In the dashboard choose Add domain and type suaempresa.pt. OquMail shows the four DNS records to add.
4. Log in where the domain is managed, open the DNS zone, and add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records exactly as shown. DNS.PT provides a zone editor if you registered there directly.
5. Return to OquMail and click Verify. The live check names any record still missing.
6. Create your mailboxes: geral@ (general), faturacao@ (billing), and one per person. The free plan allows up to 15 mailboxes with 5 GB each.
7. In your certified invoicing software, set the sending address to faturacao@suaempresa.pt (most programs send through SMTP; use the settings below), then add the mailbox to your phone.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs in Portugal

• The .pt domain: a yearly fee in euros at DNS.PT or a registrar
• Mailboxes: free on OquMail, up to 15 with 5 GB each, 250 sends a day per mailbox
• No monthly fee, no hosting plan required

Mistakes common in Portugal

• Keeping the old provider's free mailbox after moving the domain; both cannot receive at once. Finish the move, then close the old one.
• Accents in mailbox names. Use joao@ and put João in the display name.
• Sending invoices from the invoicing software's own address so replies go nowhere. Point it at your mailbox over SMTP.
• MEO, NOS and Vodafone consumer connections block outgoing port 25. Use port 587 in every mail app.
• Forgetting that the RGPD (GDPR) applies to the customer data in your mailboxes: one mailbox per person, no shared passwords, and remove access when someone leaves.

Common questions

Can a freelancer on recibos verdes use this?

Yes. A .pt can be registered by an individual, and a single mailbox on it costs nothing. Use it as the sender in the Portal das Finanças invoicing or your invoicing program.

Does it work with Outlook and my phone?

Yes. Add an IMAP account with the settings above in Outlook, Apple Mail or the Gmail app, using your full address as the username.

What are the limits?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no expiry. Extra mailboxes are added on request without touching DNS.

Want to see how your own domain is set up? Use the free SPF checker, DMARC checker and MX lookup: they run in your browser and store nothing.