---
"@context": https://schema.org
"@type": TechArticle
"@id": https://www.twilio.com/docs/glossary/mta#article
headline: Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)
description: "*Internet standard*. A system that transfers email messages from one computer to another using a client-server application architecture."
url: https://www.twilio.com/docs/glossary/mta
inLanguage: en
dateModified: 2026-05-06T13:22:30.000Z
author:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio Developer Education Team
publisher:
  "@type": Organization
  name: Twilio
---

# Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)

*Internet standard*. A system that transfers email messages from one computer to another using a client-server application architecture. These typical MTA is an [SMTP server][smtp-server].

An Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) implements both the client, or sender, and server, or recipient, portions of the [Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)][smtp].

[smtp]: /docs/glossary/smtp

[smtp-server]: /docs/glossary/smtp-server