Elastic Email is a low-cost email delivery platform offering both SMTP relay and REST API, popular with cost-conscious developers, agencies handling many client sends, and SaaS teams looking for a cheaper alternative to SendGrid or Mailgun. The unsubscribe mechanism uses a merge tag that Elastic Email replaces at send time with a signed URL scoped to the recipient. The platform enforces an unsubscribe link on every marketing campaign and offers a built-in suppression list that syncs across all sending subdomains under the same account. This guide covers the tag, the account-level suppression model, and the RFC 8058 status for both marketing and transactional sends.
Elastic Email unsubscribe link
| Tag syntax | {unsubscribe} |
| Alternative | {unsubscribeurl} |
| Placement | Auto-embedded in Marketing campaigns, manual for API sends |
| Scope | Account-wide suppression list |
| Config path | Settings > Domains > Manage domain settings |
| RFC 8058 one-click | Yes, automatic for marketing campaigns with authenticated domain |
How to add the unsubscribe tag in Elastic Email
Place the merge tag exactly as shown below in the email template. Elastic Email replaces it at send time with a signed URL scoped to the recipient and campaign.
{unsubscribe}For custom HTML templates, wrap the tag in an anchor to render a proper hyperlink in the delivered email:
<a href="{unsubscribe}">Unsubscribe from this list</a>Auto-embedded in Marketing campaigns, manual for API sends
Yes, automatic for marketing campaigns with authenticated domain The recipient's mailbox provider (Gmail, Yahoo) uses the List-Unsubscribe-Post header to expose the native one-click button on the message. Requires domain authentication with DKIM and DMARC.
The suppression list is account-wide, not per-subaccount. If you use Elastic Email subaccounts to segregate client sends, an unsubscribe on Subaccount A also blocks sends from Subaccount B to the same recipient. This surprises agencies who assume each client gets a fresh suppression pool.
Testing your Elastic Email unsubscribe link
- Send a test message to a controlled Gmail address you own via the Elastic Email campaign preview action
- Click the footer unsubscribe link and confirm the opt-out on the landing page
- Check the subscriber or contact record: the status should be Unsubscribed within seconds
- Verify the RFC 8058 headers in Gmail: open the message, click three dots, then Show original. Look for
List-UnsubscribeandList-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
Want the full 222-platform reference?
See the pillar guide with the compliance landscape, the RFC 8058 deep dive, and the unsubscribe tag for every ESP: How to add an unsubscribe link: the complete 2026 guide →
How Elastic Email handles unsubscribes
Elastic Email is a mid-market email delivery platform serving both marketing and transactional use cases. Its unsubscribe mechanism uses the {unsubscribe} merge tag in campaign templates, replaced with a signed URL at send time. The email editor includes a default footer with the tag pre-populated, and Elastic Email rejects campaigns that lack an unsubscribe mechanism when sent through the marketing channel. Transactional messages sent through the API skip the automatic unsubscribe injection.
Marketing and transactional separation
Elastic Email distinguishes marketing sends (through the campaign interface) from transactional sends (through the API endpoints). Marketing sends automatically include unsubscribe footers and RFC 8058 headers; transactional sends do not, matching the standard convention. This separation is enforced at send time based on the API endpoint used, which prevents accidental inclusion of unsubscribe links on account-related emails (which some receivers treat as a soft marketing signal).
RFC 8058 headers
Elastic Email adds RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe headers on marketing sends from authenticated domains. Domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is completed under the Domain settings, which Elastic Email verifies before enabling one-click headers. For accounts sending significant volume to Gmail or Yahoo, one-click headers are required to meet the February 2024 bulk-sender enforcement. Elastic Email dashboard shows domain authentication status prominently to highlight configuration gaps.
Suppression list and API access
Elastic Email maintains an account-wide suppression list that blocks marketing sends to unsubscribed, hard-bounced, or complained addresses. The suppression list is exposed through the API, allowing developers to query the current suppression state and reconcile with external databases. Attempting to send a marketing message to a suppressed address is blocked at send time, protecting the sender from CAN-SPAM violations and preserving sending reputation.
About the Author
Alaa · LinkedIn
Email infrastructure specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in SMTP, deliverability, and email verification. I’ve configured and troubleshot mail systems across Postfix, Exchange, and cloud relays, managed IP reputation and warmup campaigns, and built verification pipelines processing millions of addresses. My work spans DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), bounce handling, blocklist monitoring, and compliance frameworks including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. I write every article on SMTPedia to give email professionals, developers, and marketers the accurate, RFC-grounded reference they need.
About SMTPedia
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