Email avatars

The avatar shown next to your emails in a customer’s inbox is controlled entirely by their email client, not by Plain. Plain sends clean, authenticated messages and does not embed avatars in outgoing emails. That said, there are steps you can take to influence what email clients display.

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BIMI (Brand indicators for message identification)

BIMI lets you display your brand logo next to emails by adding a DNS record pointing to an SVG file of your logo. Gmail and several other providers support it, with caveats:

• To guarantee your logo appears in Gmail, you need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC): a third-party certification that costs around 200/year.
• Without a VMC, some clients may still show your logo, but support is inconsistent.

Best for: Teams investing in high-trust branding who work with enterprise customers.

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Gravatar

Some email clients display avatars based on the sender’s email address using Gravatar. You can create a free Gravatar profile for your support email address and, where supported by the recipient’s client, your chosen image will appear. Best for: Lightweight branding when BIMI isn’t feasible.

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Gmail profile picture

If your support email is managed through Google Workspace, Gmail may display the profile picture associated with that account. You can update it from Gmail settings or through the Admin Console. This only affects how your email appears in Gmail clients. Best for: teams on Google Workspace who want avatar control without extra setup.