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From trial to your own domain

What the shared trial is for, what stays the same when you upgrade, and the clean order of steps so company addresses start working without surprises.

About 10 minutes · Best read before you change DNS

What the trial includes

When you register an organization, you get a free trial with up to 5 accounts on a shared Fayvad trial domain. That lets you:

  • Sign into webmail and send/receive on trial addresses.
  • Practice organization admin — invite people, create mailboxes, explore settings.
  • Decide whether Fayvad Mail fits before you buy a domain plan or change company DNS.

Trial addresses are real mailboxes on Fayvad’s infrastructure, but they are not your brand. Partners and customers should get you@yourcompany.co.ke only after your domain is active.

What the trial does not do

  • It does not put mail on your company domain yet.
  • It does not replace MX at your registrar — you shouldn’t point production DNS at Fayvad until you’re upgrading.
  • Account limits stay at the free tier until a paid plan is active.
  • Some domain lifecycle actions stay locked until billing is confirmed.

Think of the trial as a sandbox

Use it to learn the product. Treat your company domain cutover as a separate, deliberate step once payment and DNS are ready.

Upgrade and billing

Pick a yearly plan that fits your mailbox count — Basic, Professional, or Enterprise — on the pricing page. Request an upgrade from the product (or via support), then arrange M-Pesa STK or bank transfer. When payment is confirmed, billing unlocks domain attach and activation.

You do not need to finish DNS before paying — but you should not announce new company addresses until the domain is verified and activated.

Attaching your domain

After billing is unlocked, the path is:

  1. Attach — add yourcompany.co.ke (or .com) in Domains.
  2. DNS — publish MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC from the values we show.
  3. Verify — Fayvad checks that the public DNS matches.
  4. Activate — mail for that domain goes live on Fayvad Mail.

Detailed registrar steps: Connect your domain (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

Mailboxes and addresses

Trial users live on the shared domain. After your domain is active, create mailboxes like info@yourcompany.co.ke and jane@yourcompany.co.ke for the people who need them.

Plan for communication: tell staff their new address and password, update letterheads and invoices, and keep the trial inbox monitored briefly if anyone still writes there. Old trial addresses are not a substitute for a professional domain long term.

Moving from another email host

If Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or cPanel already receives mail for the domain, changing MX cuts over delivery. Export or forward important mail first; lower DNS TTL a day ahead if you can; pick a quiet window.

Cutover checklist

  1. Trial evaluated — webmail and admin make sense for your team.
  2. Paid plan chosen; payment confirmed; billing unlocked.
  3. Domain attached; DNS published; verification green.
  4. Domain activated in Fayvad Mail.
  5. Company mailboxes created; passwords shared securely.
  6. Optional: configure Outlook / phone / Thunderbird.
  7. Send a test message to Gmail/Outlook and from an external account back to you.
  8. Update public contact addresses and remove reliance on personal Gmail for the business.

Stuck on a step? FAQ or contact support with your organization name and domain.