This isn't really a question about php's mail, but rather just sending out automatic e-mails. I've been hosting with DreamHost while I build up my site, and I have been pretty happy with everything so far, but I have hit a wall with my options for e-mail. They provide "announcement lists" that are remotely managed, but when it comes to automatically sending out individual e-mails (customized per user), they have a limit of 200 e-mails per hour.

I am not a spammer. I anticipate thousands of users and would like to send periodic personalized e-mails based on their account activity to each of them. However, with a limit of 200 per hour, this just won't be possible.

Is it normal for web hosters to put limits on e-mails like this? I see "mailing lists" as a common feature option...does this mean they all limit e-mail unless it's from a mass mailing list? Anyone know a host that doesn't?

Is it normal for web hosters to put limits on e-mails like this?

It is rather common I'm afraid.

It is common to limit the amount of outgoing emails. If your sending that many emails I would suggest you work with a company who specializes in it. Vertical Response is who I reccomend for sending email campaigns. They're a great company to work with and the prices really arn't bad.

That's a shame, thanks for the feedback though. Maybe I'll stick with Dreamhost then...

So what do websites do to send out personalized email? I've been to several sites with forums that send out emails every time someone replies to your message...I get several emails a day just to me...and these are not professional forums. Somebody must be hosting these guys. Perhaps they are just running their own servers from home?

Every host is different, some have limits and some don't. Any good size forum is probably not using a shared hosting account but rather a VPS or dedicated server, there are no limits on these.

back when i use to use shared hosting. site5 limited my email and people would complain about not getting accout information. now i have vps and dont have have worry that. i hate spammers!