What is SpamDuster?
SpamDuster is a mail filter that stops spam, viruses and phishing before they reach your mailboxes. It receives your mail first and delivers the clean mail to your own mail server. See What is SpamDuster?.
Which SpamDuster editions can I buy today?
SpamDuster Cloud and SpamDuster On-Premise Inbound are available today: order SpamDuster Cloud or order On-Premise Inbound. SpamDuster On-Premise Outbound is coming soon and cannot be ordered yet. See SpamDuster Cloud or On-Premise?.
How much does SpamDuster Cloud cost?
SpamDuster Cloud has seven plans, priced by server size, from Micro at $19 a month to Enterprise Plus at $660 a month. Paying yearly costs the same as 10 monthly payments. Each plan includes a number of domains and email addresses. Servers in Jakarta and São Paulo cost a little more, and backups are an optional add-on. The Micro plan does not include antivirus scanning. See SpamDuster Cloud plans for every price.
Do you charge per mailbox or per domain?
Not per mailbox. Each SpamDuster Cloud plan includes a number of domains and email addresses (from 100 domains and 1,000 addresses on Micro to 10,000 and 100,000 on Enterprise Plus), and a domain expansion pack adds more. See SpamDuster Cloud plans.
On-premise, each licensed mail server that runs a supported hosting control panel (cPanel & WHM, Plesk on Linux or Windows, and DirectAdmin) includes unlimited domains and mailboxes. Domains added to an on-premise appliance by hand or through the billing API, without a control panel, are charged in domain packs. See SpamDuster On-Premise Inbound.
What happens if I go over my plan?
Your mail keeps flowing and no domain is ever refused. If you use more domains or email addresses than your plan includes and Add capacity automatically is on (the default), SpamDuster adds a domain expansion pack, emails you and invoices it pro-rata. If the option is off, or a pack cannot be added, a server at its address limit asks the sender to try again later for mail to a new address: sending servers retry, so mail is not lost. Addresses that received mail in the last 30 days always get their mail. To add capacity yourself, contact us or upgrade to a larger plan. See SpamDuster Cloud plans.
Who do I pay, you or Linode?
You pay us. One charge, monthly or yearly, covers your dedicated server on Linode and SpamDuster; there is no Linode account or bill for you. See How SpamDuster Cloud billing works.
Where does SpamDuster Cloud run?
SpamDuster Cloud runs on Linode, Akamai's cloud platform. Every customer gets their own dedicated server, which we deploy, update and monitor.
Is my server shared with other customers?
No. Your SpamDuster Cloud server is yours alone. See Security and how SpamDuster handles your mail.
Can I change plan later?
Yes, to a larger plan. Contact us and we move your filter to a bigger server as your mail volume grows. A SpamDuster Cloud plan cannot be moved to a smaller plan, because a server's disk cannot be made smaller. See SpamDuster Cloud plans.
What do I need before I order?
You need your own mail server, access to your domains' DNS records, and the ability to let your mail server accept mail from the SpamDuster server. See What you need to use SpamDuster Cloud.
Does SpamDuster work with Microsoft Exchange or other mail servers?
Yes, SpamDuster works in front of any standard SMTP mail server. It delivers clean mail to the server and port you choose. See Set your destination mail server.
Does SpamDuster work with cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin?
Yes. SpamDuster connects to cPanel & WHM, Plesk on Linux or Windows, and DirectAdmin servers and keeps their domain lists in sync automatically. See Connect a hosting control panel. For cPanel & WHM, download the SpamDuster plugin from your console. It also gives each hosting customer a Mail Filtering page in cPanel, and it keeps itself up to date. See Install the cPanel & WHM plugin.
How long does setup take?
Your server is built automatically within minutes of your order becoming active. Setting the filter up usually takes under an hour of your time; the MX change then takes as long as your DNS records' time-to-live. See Get started with SpamDuster Cloud.
Do I have to install anything?
No. We build and run your SpamDuster server. You set it up from the console in your web browser.
Will my users notice anything?
No. Your users keep their mailboxes and mail programs. They simply receive less spam. While greylisting is on, the first message from a new sender can arrive a few minutes late.
Will I lose mail while switching to SpamDuster?
No. While your MX records change, mail arrives either through SpamDuster or directly at your own server. Send a test message through the filter before you change MX records. See Send a test message through the filter.
What happens to blocked mail?
Blocked mail is refused, and a copy is kept in the console where an administrator can review it and release anything blocked by mistake. Nothing is silently deleted. See Review blocked mail.
How do I get a wanted message that was blocked?
Open it on the Mail page of the console and select Release + not spam. It is delivered and the filter learns. See Release a blocked message.
How do I stop a trusted sender being blocked?
Add the sender under Allowed senders, for one of your domains or one mailbox. Their mail is still scanned for malware. See Allow a sender.
Why was the first email from a new sender late?
While greylisting is on, the first message from a sender SpamDuster has not seen before is delayed by a few minutes; later messages are not delayed. See Mail from new senders is delayed.
Can I prove a message was delivered to my mail server?
Yes. Log search shows the reply your mail server gave when it accepted the message, with a printable delivery receipt. See Find a message and prove it was delivered.
Does SpamDuster catch phishing?
Yes. SpamDuster checks each message's content, links and claimed sender, and looks links up in the SpamDuster PhishList, including mail that passes SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Blocked phishing goes to its own folder.
Does SpamDuster scan attachments and archives?
Yes. Every message and attachment is scanned for malware, on every plan except Micro, which does not include antivirus scanning. On every plan, zip, rar and 7z archives are inspected for warning signs, such as password-protected archives, programs hidden inside and disguised file names, and you can refuse chosen file types by their extension.
Does SpamDuster Cloud filter the mail I send?
No. SpamDuster Cloud filters incoming mail. Filtering outgoing mail is SpamDuster On-Premise Outbound, which is coming soon. See SpamDuster On-Premise Outbound.
If I run SpamDuster in AWS, Google Cloud or Azure, who bills me?
You pay us only for the SpamDuster licence; your cloud provider bills you for the server and everything else in your cloud account. SpamDuster On-Premise Inbound listings on AWS Marketplace, Google Cloud Marketplace and Azure Marketplace are coming soon. See SpamDuster On-Premise Inbound.
Can several people manage the filter?
Yes. Add each person as a console user with their own login; the Audit log records who changed what. See Add and manage console users.
Can I use my own hostname for the filter?
Yes. Point a name on your domain at your server and set it as the custom hostname; a certificate is issued for it automatically. See Use your own hostname for the filter.
How is SpamDuster kept up to date?
SpamDuster Cloud updates itself with signed releases, and rolls back automatically if an update fails. Threat signatures and rules refresh continuously. See How SpamDuster updates itself.
Do you read my mail?
No one reads your mail. It is processed and stored on your own server. Copies of messages may be sent to the SpamDuster Cloud Scan Engine, an automated service we run, to be scanned for malware. The health reports your server sends us contain no messages. See Security and how SpamDuster handles your mail.
What happens if my invoice is not paid?
The service is suspended: incoming mail is temporarily rejected, so senders keep retrying, and mail resumes as soon as the account is reactivated. See My SpamDuster service is suspended.
How do I cancel?
Cancel in the billing portal; see Cancel a service. Point your MX records at another server before the service ends so your mail keeps arriving.
How do I get help?
Open a ticket in the billing portal. See Open a support ticket.