/ Plugin Category

/ Communication & Messaging

/ Transactional Email

/ SAR Friendly SMTP

SAR Friendly SMTP

By Samuel Aguilera

Communication & Messaging / Transactional Email

SAR Friendly SMTP Review - In-Depth Analysis

A friendly SMTP plugin for WordPress that uses native WordPress capabilities. It avoids third-party libraries and respects modifications made by other plugins.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.84/10

User Rating

4.6/5 (based on 46+ reviews)

Active Installations

2,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This SMTP plugin is designed to be simple and effective. Unlike many other SMTP plugins that rely on third-party libraries, this one uses WordPress's core functionality. This ensures better compatibility and fewer issues.

It respects the fields modified by other plugins, such as Gravity Forms, ensuring that your email functionality remains intact. You can also enable a debug mode to log communication between WordPress and your SMTP server.

With a user-friendly settings page that utilizes the WordPress settings API, this plugin is secure by default. It also allows non-administrator users to access the settings page if needed, thanks to custom capabilities.

Comparing to Alternatives

SAR Friendly SMTP is a straightforward SMTP plugin for WordPress, focusing on ease of use and basic SMTP functionality. When compared to other SMTP plugins, it offers a simple setup without advanced features.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and user-friendly interface suitable for beginners
Lightweight plugin with minimal configuration required
Supports essential SMTP features for reliable email sending

Weaknesses

Lacks advanced features like email logging and alerts
No integration with popular email service providers
No premium version means limited feature expansion

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback for SAR Friendly SMTP is limited but generally positive regarding its simplicity and reliability for basic SMTP needs.

Positive highlights

Easy to configure and works out of the box (User A)
Reliable email delivery without complicated settings (User B)
Lightweight and does not slow down the site (User C)

Common complaints

Lack of advanced features such as email logs
No support for multiple SMTP providers
Limited customization options

Weaknesses

No premium support or updates beyond the free version
Minimal documentation available

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who need a simple, no-frills SMTP plugin to ensure their WordPress emails are sent reliably without complex setup.

Not ideal for

Those looking for advanced features like email logging, multiple SMTP provider support, or premium customer support should consider other plugins.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes basic SMTP configuration options sufficient for most standard email sending needs.

Final Verdict

SAR Friendly SMTP is a solid choice for users seeking a simple and effective SMTP solution without extra features or complexity.

However, users requiring advanced functionality or premium support may need to explore alternative plugins with more comprehensive offerings.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free SAR Friendly SMTP plugin.

SMTP plugin

Email notifications

WordPress SMTP

FAQ

This plugin is just a way to tell WordPress something like: “Please dear WordPress, use my SMTP server to send the emails, not the web server.”

That means that this plugin doesn’t send you emails, when the plugin is enabled WordPress sends your emails using your SMTP server.

If you’re having trouble sending your emails, you can activate the debug mode in settings page. That activates the logging of the commands and data between WordPress and your SMTP server, and most of the time you will find useful information in your PHP error_log file.

Remember to turn off Debug Mode when you’re done with the troubleshooting to avoid raising your server load by generating unnecessary logs.

Since version 1.1 you can do this. Below you can see an example of use.

define( 'SAR_FSMTP_USER', 'your_username' ); define( 'SAR_FSMTP_PASSWORD', 'your_password' ); define( 'SAR_FSMTP_HOST', 'smtp.example.com' ); // IMPORTANT! Don't use quotes for the SAR_FSMTP_PORT value! define( 'SAR_FSMTP_PORT', 587 ); define( 'SAR_FSMTP_ENCRYPTION', 'tls' ); // These two are optional. SAR_FSMTP_FROM must be a valid email according to is_email() WP core function. define( 'SAR_FSMTP_FROM', '[email protected]' ); define( 'SAR_FSMTP_FROM_NAME', 'Your Name' );

In 1.2 the following constants are added too:

define( 'SAR_FSMTP_DEBUG_MODE', 'error_log' ); define( 'SAR_FSMTP_ALLOW_INVALID_SSL', 'on' );

This is useful if you want to use the same settings network-wide in a WordPress network (multisite installation).

Contributors and developers

“SAR Friendly SMTP” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Samuel Aguilera

Free Version Docs

WPS

6.84

Average

Ratings

4.6 out of 5 | 46

Version

1.2.6

Last updated

1 month ago

Active installations

2,000+

WordPress version

7.0.4 or higher

PHP version

7.0 or higher

Languages

Other plugins you might like

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin

By Syed Balkhi

WPS

7.78

Very Good

4.8/5

5.2k+reviews

4M+

active installation

Tested with

7.0.4

Flamingo

By Rock Lobster Inc.

WPS

7.44

Very Good

4.2/5

121+reviews

800k+

active installation

Tested with

7.1

Hello Dolly

By Matt Mullenweg

WPS

7.5

Very Good

4.4/5

177+reviews

600k+

active installation

Tested with

6.9.7

Simple SMTP

By Casey

WPS

6.92

Average

5/5

11+reviews

2k+

active installation

Tested with

6.8.8

SmartSMTP

By ThemeGrill

WPS

6.86

Average

4.7/5

3+reviews

2k+

active installation

Tested with

7.0.4

SAR Friendly SMTP Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (46)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (0)

Previous Versions

WPS

6.84

Other plugins you might like

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin

Flamingo

Hello Dolly

Simple SMTP

SmartSMTP