What are the differences between BIMI and Apple Branded Mail, and do you need both for email branding?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 25 Jun 2025
Updated 18 Aug 2025
8 min read
As businesses increasingly rely on email for communication and marketing, ensuring brand consistency and trust in the inbox has become paramount. Two key technologies have emerged to help achieve this: Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and Apple Branded Mail.
While both aim to display your brand's logo next to your emails, they operate on different principles and cater to different ecosystems. Understanding their distinctions is crucial for developing a comprehensive email branding strategy.
Many ask if one can replace the other or if both are necessary. I'll break down what each technology entails, how they compare, and whether you truly need to implement both to maximize your brand's visibility and trustworthiness across various email clients.
Understanding BIMI: Brand Indicators for Message Identification
BIMI, or Brand Indicators for Message Identification, is an open email standard designed to allow organizations to display their registered brand logos next to their authenticated emails in supporting inboxes. It's built on a foundation of strong email authentication protocols.
For BIMI to work, your domain must have a DMARC policy enforced, meaning it must be set to either p=quarantine or p=reject. This ensures that only legitimate emails from your domain are delivered. Many providers also require a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) to display your logo, which is a digital certificate proving ownership of your logo's trademark. You can find more about BIMI implementation requirements here.
The core purpose of BIMI is to increase trust and brand recognition. When recipients see a verified logo next to an email, they are more likely to recognize and open it, reducing the chance of your messages being mistaken for spam or phishing attempts. This can lead to improved email engagement and deliverability. Major email providers like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Fastmail support BIMI, making it a powerful tool for broad reach. The BIMI Group FAQ provides more insights.
Implementing BIMI involves creating a DNS TXT record that points to your logo's SVG file and, if required, your VMC. It requires careful configuration of your email authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM to ensure proper alignment and prevent your emails from being flagged or placed on a blacklist (or blocklist).
Introducing Apple Branded Mail
Apple Branded Mail, introduced as part of Apple's Business Connect, offers a different approach to displaying brand logos within the Apple ecosystem. Unlike BIMI, which is an open standard, Apple Branded Mail is a proprietary feature. It aims to provide verified businesses with enhanced visibility in Apple's Mail app, Phone app, and Wallet.
One of the most significant differences is the setup process. Apple Branded Mail typically doesn't require a VMC, which can significantly reduce the cost and complexity compared to BIMI for some organizations. Instead, businesses verify their identity through Apple Business Connect. Once verified, your logo and business name can appear prominently, even for Gmail users who access their email through the Apple Mail app, a scenario where BIMI logos might not always display.
This capability is particularly beneficial for businesses with a physical presence, as Apple Business Connect integrates with maps and other local services. It enhances trust signals within the Apple ecosystem, providing a consistent brand experience for users across multiple Apple applications. While it offers unique advantages, its reach is limited to Apple users, unlike the broader, although more complex, scope of BIMI.
Key differences and overlaps
BIMI: Brand Indicators for Message Identification
Standard: Open industry standard for logo display.
Cost: Can involve costs for a VMC (trademark registration, certificate fees).
Reach: Supported by various mailbox providers like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and some Apple Mail users (specifically iCloud accounts).
Complexity: More technical setup, involving DNS records and DMARC alignment.
Apple Branded Mail
Standard: Proprietary feature within Apple Business Connect.
Authentication: Verified through Apple Business Connect, generally no VMC required.
Cost: Free of charge for logo display, though requires Apple Business Connect.
Reach: Exclusive to Apple Mail, Phone, and Wallet users, regardless of their email provider (e.g., Gmail accessed via Apple Mail).
Complexity: Simpler setup, integrated within Apple's business services.
The key distinction lies in their scope and requirements. BIMI is a universal standard, working across various email clients and providers, provided they support it and you meet its strict authentication criteria. Apple Branded Mail, on the other hand, is specific to Apple's ecosystem but can display your logo to a wider range of users within that ecosystem, including those who access non-iCloud emails (like Gmail) through their native Mail app.
For instance, if you send an email to a Gmail user, their logo might appear via BIMI in the Gmail app or on the web. However, if that same Gmail user views the email in the Apple Mail app, the BIMI logo might not display. This is where Apple Branded Mail fills the gap, ensuring your logo shows up in the Apple Mail app regardless of the underlying email provider. This distinction is crucial for understanding why both might be valuable for your branding efforts.
Another notable difference is how they handle domains and subdomains. BIMI applies at the domain level, and its configuration involves DNS records. Apple Branded Mail is tied to your Apple Business Connect profile, which can allow for a more streamlined experience within the Apple ecosystem, potentially crossing domain boundaries in how logos are displayed. However, both require maintaining good email sending practices to avoid your domain or IP address landing on a blacklist (or blocklist).
Do you need both for comprehensive branding?
The short answer is, yes, for comprehensive email branding, you likely need both BIMI and Apple Branded Mail. While they both serve the primary goal of displaying your brand logo, their coverage and mechanisms are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Relying on just one might leave significant gaps in your brand's inbox presence.
Consider your audience. If a significant portion of your recipients uses Apple devices and accesses mail through the Apple Mail app, Apple Branded Mail ensures your logo is visible there, even if they use a Gmail or Yahoo address. For all other email clients and webmail interfaces, BIMI remains the standard for consistent logo display.
Implementing both strategies allows you to cover the widest possible audience with your brand logo, reinforcing trust and recognition across the email landscape. While BIMI often comes with the hurdle of obtaining a VMC and ensuring rigorous email authentication, Apple Branded Mail offers a complementary, more streamlined path within Apple's ecosystem.
For specific examples on how to implement BIMI for various providers, including Gmail and Yahoo, you can explore how to get your logo to show. Maintaining robust email authentication, including DMARC monitoring, is essential for the success of both BIMI and Apple Branded Mail.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Ensure your DMARC policy is set to `p=quarantine` or `p=reject` for BIMI to function correctly.
Common pitfalls
Assuming BIMI alone will cover all Apple Mail users; it typically only applies to iCloud email addresses within the app.
Expert tips
Prioritize Apple Branded Mail if your audience heavily uses Apple devices, then consider BIMI for broader reach.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says Branded Mail provides additional advantages if your business has a physical presence.
2024-03-25 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says Branded Mail can display your logo to Gmail users accessing their mail through Apple Mail, where BIMI typically does not.
2024-03-25 - Email Geeks
Maximizing your brand's inbox presence
In the evolving landscape of email marketing and security, brand visibility in the inbox is no longer just a nice-to-have, but a critical element for building trust and encouraging engagement. Both BIMI and Apple Branded Mail are powerful tools that help achieve this, yet they cater to different parts of the email ecosystem.
BIMI offers a standardized approach that works across multiple supporting email providers, relying on robust email authentication and often a Verified Mark Certificate. Apple Branded Mail provides a streamlined, proprietary solution specifically for Apple's native Mail app, extending logo display even to users with non-iCloud email addresses.
To achieve maximum brand recognition and foster recipient trust, I recommend considering both BIMI and Apple Branded Mail. Implementing both allows your logo to appear consistently across a broader range of email clients and devices, maximizing your brand's presence and strengthening your email deliverability efforts.
Gmail, 
Yahoo Mail, and 
Fastmail support BIMI, making it a powerful tool for broad reach. The BIMI Group FAQ provides more insights.
Apple's Business Connect, offers a different approach to displaying brand logos within the Apple ecosystem. Unlike BIMI, which is an open standard, Apple Branded Mail is a proprietary feature. It aims to provide verified businesses with enhanced visibility in Apple's Mail app, Phone app, and Wallet.
