Mailbox vs Alias vs Forwarder vs Distribution List Explained

A mailbox is a real account with storage, a password and folders. An alias is an extra address that delivers into an existing mailbox without storage of its own. A forwarder takes mail for an address and sends a copy to another address, often outside the domain. A distribution list is one address that delivers to several recipients at once. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason small teams end up with lost replies and messages nobody owns.

Quick summary

• Mailbox (you@yourdomain.com): stores mail on the server, has its own login, can send, syncs by IMAP to every device, keeps Sent and folders. Counts against your mailbox quota.
• Alias (sales@ delivering to you@): a second name on a mailbox. Mail to sales@ appears in your inbox. Many providers also let you send as the alias. No extra storage, no extra password.
• Forwarder (info@ to your Gmail): redirects each message to another address. Nothing is kept on your domain, replies come from the other address, and SPF breaks on the forwarded copy.
• Distribution list (team@ to five people): copies each message to every member. Members reply individually and there is no shared record of who answered.
• Will someone need to log in, search history and reply from this address regularly? Mailbox.

The four, side by side

• Mailbox (you@yourdomain.com): stores mail on the server, has its own login, can send, syncs by IMAP to every device, keeps Sent and folders. Counts against your mailbox quota.
• Alias (sales@ delivering to you@): a second name on a mailbox. Mail to sales@ appears in your inbox. Many providers also let you send as the alias. No extra storage, no extra password.
• Forwarder (info@ to your Gmail): redirects each message to another address. Nothing is kept on your domain, replies come from the other address, and SPF breaks on the forwarded copy.
• Distribution list (team@ to five people): copies each message to every member. Members reply individually and there is no shared record of who answered.

Example: a five-person company

Mailboxes (5):   ana@, ben@, chidi@, dana@, support@
Aliases:         hello@ -> ana@       billing@ -> dana@
                 press@ -> ana@       careers@ -> ben@
Distribution:    team@  -> ana@, ben@, chidi@, dana@
Forwarder:       none (old Gmail forwards INTO ana@ during migration, not out)

How to choose

1. Will someone need to log in, search history and reply from this address regularly? Mailbox.
2. Is it just another name for a person or a role already covered by a mailbox? Alias.
3. Do several people need to see every message and reply as themselves? Distribution list, or a shared mailbox like support@ if you need a single record.
4. Do you need mail to leave the domain entirely, for example to an external accountant? Forwarder, and accept the authentication caveats.
5. Is it a role address such as support@ that customers reply to and that needs a paper trail? Shared mailbox, never a forwarder.

Common mistakes

• Forwarding support@ to three personal Gmail accounts. Replies come from gmail.com addresses, threads split, and nobody knows what was handled.
• Creating a mailbox for every role address and paying for storage nobody reads. Use aliases for names that route to a person.
• Using a distribution list for customer support. Two people answer the same ticket, or both assume the other did.
• Forwarding to an external address with an autoresponder, which can create mail loops.
• Deleting a mailbox when a person leaves instead of converting the address to an alias on the manager mailbox, losing inbound mail from customers.

What each looks like in OquMail

OquMail free plan gives you up to 15 mailboxes across up to 3 domains, each with 5 GB, webmail, and IMAP/SMTP for any app. A sensible small-team layout is one mailbox per person, one shared mailbox for support@ that two people open in their mail apps over IMAP, and aliases for the role names that should route to a specific person. Every mailbox sends DKIM-signed mail through the SPF and DMARC records the guided setup verifies, and the per-message delivery log applies to all of them.

Common questions

Can I send email from an alias?

In webmail and most mail apps you can choose the alias as the From address once it is configured as an identity. The message is still sent by the underlying mailbox credentials.

Is a catch-all the same as an alias?

No. A catch-all delivers anything at the domain that does not match a real address into one mailbox. It attracts spam and dictionary attacks; explicit aliases are safer.

Shared mailbox or distribution list for support@?

Shared mailbox. It keeps one thread history, one Sent folder and one place to see what is still open. Use a distribution list for announcements, not conversations.