Connecting an External Database as a Contact Source

Spreadsheet import works well for a one-off list, but a business with customer data already living in its own database - a CRM, a booking system, a custom application - usually wants that data to feed the contact list directly, without a person exporting and re-uploading a file every time it changes.

Supported databases

SimpliSend can connect to Postgres, MySQL, or SQL Server as an external data source. You provide connection details and either a table or a custom query, the platform runs a test connection and shows a sample of the results, and then you map the returned columns to contact fields the same way you would for a spreadsheet import.

How credentials are handled

Database credentials for an external connection are encrypted at rest, not stored as plain text - the same standard applied to every other piece of sensitive data on the platform. Only the fields needed to establish the connection are kept; nothing about your broader database beyond the query or table you specify is ever accessed.

Syncing is manual-trigger, by design

Today, an external data source syncs when you create it and again each time you trigger a resync - there's no background scheduler pulling updates automatically on a timer yet. For most businesses this fits naturally into an existing workflow (resync before sending a campaign), but if your use case genuinely needs scheduled, unattended syncing, that's worth raising directly - it's a known gap, not an oversight.

A practical setup flow

• Test the connection and query first - nothing is imported at this stage
• Review the sample rows returned before mapping columns
• Map at minimum a phone number column; add any others you want as template variables
• Resync before major campaigns to pull in the latest data rather than relying on a stale sync

This is also the option worth considering for businesses that outgrow spreadsheet import - once a contact list update happens more than a couple of times a month, a direct database connection usually saves more time than it costs to set up.