Sending Infrastructure
How NorthRelay delivers your mail from one protected IP
Sending Infrastructure
One clean relay, actively protected, shared by every tier.
One relay for everyone
Every message you send through NorthRelay — on any plan, from any sender domain — leaves through a single sending relay:
| Hostname | sovereign.north-pipe.ca |
| IPv4 | 76.13.27.101 |
| HELO | sovereign.north-pipe.ca |
| SPF include | include:_spf.north-pipe.ca |
You connect to smtp.north-pipe.ca (or the REST API); NorthRelay queues your message and hands it to the relay, which signs it with DKIM and delivers it to the recipient's mail server. There is nothing to choose and nothing to configure — the path is the same for every account.
How we protect its reputation
A single IP only works if it stays clean. These protections are enforced in code on every message:
- Verified-From policy — you can only send from a domain you have added and verified in your dashboard (or a subdomain of one). Requests from any other address are rejected with
403 FORBIDDEN_SENDERand a message telling you which domain to verify. Nobody can spoof a domain they don't own. - One-click unsubscribe — every marketing and campaign message carries RFC 8058
List-Unsubscribeheaders, so recipients can opt out with one click instead of reporting spam. - Bounce and complaint suppression — hard bounces and spam complaints are added to your suppression list automatically and never mailed again.
- Hourly delivery canary — every hour NorthRelay sends a real message through the full sending path to a monitored mailbox and checks that it arrives with SPF, DKIM and DMARC passing. If it fails or goes stale, our team is alerted.
- Full authentication alignment — the relay signs with DKIM for your verified domain,
include:_spf.north-pipe.cacovers SPF for IPv4 and IPv6, and both align with DMARC. See DNS Setup.
What changes between tiers
Plans differ in limits and features, not in where your mail comes from:
| Tier | Price (CAD/mo) | Emails/Month | Custom domains | Inbox cap | Inbox retention | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3,000 | -- | -- | -- | API sending from a system subdomain |
| Starter | $5 | 5,000 | 1 | 1 GB | 90 d | + Inbox (JMAP + IMAP), aliases, 1 webhook |
| Micro | $12 | 20,000 | 2 | 2 GB | 180 d | + Campaigns, templates, scheduling |
| Pro | $29 | 50,000 | 5 | 5 GB | 365 d | + Catch-all, team members, priority support |
| Scale | $79 | 150,000 | 20 | 20 GB | 365 d | High volume |
See Plans & Pricing for the full comparison.
Upgrading
Upgrades take effect immediately:
- Go to Dashboard → Settings → Billing
- Select your new tier
- Complete payment
Your new quota and features apply to your next message. An upgrade never requires code changes, new credentials or DNS changes — your SMTP settings, API keys and SPF/DKIM records stay exactly as they are.
Previously: the Two-Pool system
Until September 2026, NorthRelay routed Free/Starter/Micro accounts through a "Shared" IP and Pro/Scale accounts through an "Isolated" IP. That design was retired in favour of one well-protected IP for everyone: a single warm, monitored relay with a strict sender policy is simpler, easier to defend and delivers at least as well as splitting traffic across two addresses. This page keeps its URL so existing links continue to work.
Mailing Lists and Newsletters
Build newsletter signup, double opt-in, a preference page and unsubscribe handling in your own app on top of NorthRelay.
NorthRelay Studio
One place for email templates and brands — visual or HTML editing, versioned releases, brand previews, and the same templates from the dashboard, the API, SDKs, MCP and embedded apps