PHPMailer - what sending method is most appropriate?

Question

Hello.

I need to use PHPMailer to send emails out for the following reasons:

• small lists (less then 500)
• password resets
• general notifications, 100ish emails at a time

And PHPMailer gives me the option to send via mail(), sendmail, or SMTP. Is there any reason to prefer one of these methods over the other?

I don't know enough about email services in general to make an informed decision.

Answer 1

The mail() function of PHP will automatically use your webhost's sending method, which will usually be sendmail. That should be preferable. If mail() doesn't work, you could use an SMTP server, or ask your host, they'll know whether it is preferable to use sendmail. Sendmail will only work on Unix systems though.