Inbox is a messaging system for your own WordPress site. It is not an email client and does not connect to Gmail or other mailboxes. It lets the people on your site talk to each other, and lets visitors reach them, without anyone leaving WordPress. It works on any site, and supports WooCommerce vend
PricingFree downloadThe WordPress.org download is free. Pro versions, add-ons or external services may cost extra.
CompatibilityRequires WordPress 5.8 and PHP 7.4.
SourceWordPress plugins · Nov 10, 2026
01 / Source details
Aboutthistool.
Inbox is a messaging system for your own WordPress site. It is not an email client and does not connect to Gmail or other mailboxes. It lets the people on your site talk to each other, and lets visitors reach them, without anyone leaving WordPress. It works on any site, and supports WooCommerce vendors and customers automatically when WooCommerce is active.
What you can do
Private messages between members. Students, customers, vendors, staff, anyone with an account.
Messages from visitors. People who aren’t logged in can write to a member or to your support team. Visitor messages arrive in a separate Requests folder, so strangers never clutter the main inbox.
Reply to visitors. Visitors confirm their email address first, then follow the conversation through a private link and get an email when someone replies.
Stay in control. Every member can switch off visitor messages, and block or report a sender. Admins can switch visitor messages off for the whole site.
A real inbox. Inbox, Requests, Sent, Archived and Trash folders, read/unread, search, and email notifications.
Support departments. Create departments, assign staff, and put a help form on any page. Staff can close and reopen conversations.
Announcements. Send or schedule a message to all members or to one role.
Blocked words. Reject messages that contain words you choose.
WooCommerce. A “Message the seller” button on product pages and a Messages link in My Account.
Shortcodes. [inbox] , [inbox_help] and [inbox_contact] . Inbox and Help pages are created for you on activation.
Security and privacy
Visitor forms are protected by a honeypot, a signed timing check, rate limits, email confirmation and an optional CAPTCHA.
Requests, replies and settings are checked with nonces and capability checks. Input is sanitized, output is escaped, and queries are prepared.
Message text is plain text only. Nothing a user writes is ever rendered as HTML.
Visitor links are secret tokens. Only a hash is stored in the database.
A member’s email address is never shown to visitors.
Administrators can’t read private member conversations unless you turn that on in Settings. Support requests are always readable by staff.
Choose to delete all data when the plugin is uninstalled.
External services
Inbox does not contact any external service by default. If you choose a CAPTCHA provider under Inbox > Settings, the plugin loads that provider’s script on pages that show a visitor form, and sends the visitor’s CAPTCHA response (and IP address) to the provider to check it. Providers you can choose, with their terms and privacy policies:
Cloudflare Turnstile: terms , privacy policy
hCaptcha: terms , privacy policy
Google reCAPTCHA: terms , privacy policy
Good to know
Live chat and file attachments are not included.
Version 2 starts with a clean slate. Conversations from version 1.x are not imported (they are left untouched in your database).
01Upload the plugin to /wp-content/plugins/inbox , or install it from the Plugins screen.
02Activate it. An Inbox page and a Help page are created for you.
03Go to Inbox in the admin menu to review the settings and add support departments.
04Add the Inbox page to your menu so members can find it.
03 / Source details
Frequently asked questions.
Is Inbox an email client?
No. It is a messaging and help desk system for the users of your own site. It does not read or send from your Gmail or other mailboxes.
Do I need WooCommerce?
No. Inbox works on any WordPress site. When WooCommerce is active, buyers can message sellers from product pages.
Can visitors who are not logged in send messages?
Yes, if you leave “Messages from visitors” on. They must confirm their email address first. Their message then arrives in the recipient’s Requests folder, and the recipient can reply.
Can I stop messages from strangers?
Yes. Each member can switch off visitor messages in their inbox settings or profile, and block or report any sender. Admins can switch visitor messages off for the whole site.
How do members find each other?
Through contact buttons and links ( [inbox_contact] , the WooCommerce button) or, if you turn on “Member search”, through a search box when writing a new message.
Where do help requests go?
To the staff of the department the person chose. If a department has no staff, requests go to all administrators.
Can users delete or archive messages?
Yes. Conversations can be archived, moved to Trash, deleted permanently, searched, and marked unread.
Does it work with caching plugins?
Yes. Visitor forms don’t use nonces, so a cached page keeps working.
Can admins read private messages?
Not by default. Turn on “Admins can read conversations” in Settings if your policies allow it. Support requests are always readable by staff.
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