Mailrelay vs Sender (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Mailrelay: it is second in our ranking of email marketing and newsletter tools, and it grades higher too, 3.0 against 2.8.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mailrelay grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mailrelay
Email marketing with a large free plan and SMS and WhatsApp add-ons
Sender
Email and SMS marketing with a free plan for 2,500 subscribers
Which one is for you
Pick Mailrelay if
- Fits if you have a list under 20,000 and want to send for nothing
- Works for shops that need an SMTP relay and an API alongside newsletters
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you grow, as Standard goes from €48 at 100,000 emails to €260 at 1,000,000
- Tight if you want a clean footer, because removing the logo is a €4.95 a month add-on
- Watch out: transactional email is a 30-day trial then €14.95 a month, and WhatsApp a 10-day trial then €9.95
- Watch out: prices are in euros and priority queue, chat and phone support are on paid plans only
Pick Sender if
- Fits if your list is under 2,500 and you want automation without paying
- Works for Shopify or WooCommerce shops that want cart emails and pop-ups
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if Sender's logo on your free emails, forms and pages would bother you
- Pricey if you count on the discounts, as the 30% yearly and 24-month Black Friday offers are promotions with no end date given
- Tight if you're on Standard and want texts inside workflows, which needs Professional
- Watch out: SMS credits on Standard are bought separately and priced by destination country
- Too light for a team on the free plan, which has 1 seat; Standard has 3 and Professional 10
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMailrelayVery good | 2.8GPASenderGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe free plan is large, but paid starts at €48 a month for 100,000 emails and climbs to €132 at 500,000, which is above the $20 category middle. | BStandard is $9 a month for 500 subscribers, inside the cheaper quarter of email tools, and $69 a month at 10,000. Yearly billing lists the same, but a Black Friday sale takes 30% off a year, $75.60 instead of $108, and first-time users get 40% off 24 months of Standard. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree forever: 80,000 emails a month to up to 20,000 recipients. The cost is a Mailrelay logo in the footer of every email. | BFree Forever covers 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, with automation, pop-ups, forms, 10 landing pages and transactional email. One person could live on that. It's 1 seat, and everything carries Sender's branding. |
| Features | BEditor with AI, email and SMS automations, segments, landing pages, forms, SMTP and API, and statistics. The listed extras are paid on top. | BDrag-and-drop and HTML editors, workflows with splits on every plan, over 40 pop-up and form templates, landing pages, SMS from Standard, transactional email over SMTP and an API, and shop segments. That's the whole job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It is a web app where you build the lists, templates and automations yourself. | CNo App Store rating on record and no phone app. It's a web app where you import a list, build templates and set up workflows yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb app with an SMTP relay and API, plus Make.com and WooCommerce. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BWeb only, with Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Jumpseller and Zapier, and an API. No desktop or phone app keeps it at a B. |
| Best for | a big free email plan with a logo | a free plan with automation for small shops |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Mailrelay and Sender. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mailrelay starts at about $53.63 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sender starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Sender starts $44.63 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Mailrelay for less, and none scores higher than Sender for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Mailrelay also covers sMS marketing, transactional email and a/B testing.
- Sender also covers forms and business texting.
At a glance
| Mailrelay | Sender | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €48 per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly | $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Free forever: 80,000 emails a month to up to 20,000 distinct recipients, with a Mailrelay logo in the footer of emails. | Free Forever plan: up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails a month, 1 seat, automation, pop-ups, forms, 10 landing pages and transactional email, with Sender branding. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day trial of Professional features when you open a free account |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Mailrelay | UAB Sender.lt |
| Price read from | mailrelay.com | sender.net |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mailrelay
- Prices are in euros and rise with monthly email volume: €76 at 250,000 emails on Standard, €260 at 1,000,000.
- Transactional email on the free account is a 30-day trial, then €14.95 a month; WhatsApp is a 10-day trial, then €9.95 a month.
- Free accounts carry a Mailrelay logo in emails; removing it is a €4.95 a month add-on.
- A prepaid option sells email credits instead of a subscription; annual billing takes 10% off.
Sender
- The yearly and 24-month discounts are promotions shown on the pricing page; the yearly list price is the same as twelve monthly payments.
- Free plan emails, forms and landing pages carry Sender branding.
- SMS credits are bought separately on Standard and priced by destination country.
- Pay-as-you-go credits are sold instead of a plan, from $29 for 5,000 emails with no Sender logo.
Key features
Mailrelay
- Drag-and-drop editor with AI
- A drag-and-drop email editor that can draft a basic template with AI, with scheduled delivery, conditional content and A/B tests.
- Automations by email and SMS
- A visual editor for workflows such as welcome, birthday and abandoned-cart messages. Automations are available on the free account.
- Segmentation
- Groups, tags, segments, custom fields and contact scoring for sending different content to different people.
- Landing pages and forms
- Subscription forms and landing pages that feed the same contact lists.
- SMTP and API
- A REST API, webhooks and an SMTP server for transactional email; the vendor lists Make.com and WooCommerce as integrations.
- Statistics
- Reports on open rate, click rate, a click heatmap, bounces and inbox placement.
Sender
- Email builder
- Drag-and-drop, HTML and plain-text editors with over 100 templates, product and abandoned-cart blocks, and a countdown timer on Professional.
- Automation workflows
- Pre-built and custom workflows with splits and custom triggers on every plan, Free included. SMS steps in workflows need Professional.
- Pop-ups, forms and landing pages
- Over 40 pop-up and form templates with exit-intent and spin-to-win options. Free allows 10 landing pages; paid plans have no cap and allow a custom domain.
- SMS campaigns
- Text campaigns from Standard, paid with credits priced by destination country. Professional includes free credits equal to its monthly fee.
- Transactional email
- Order and account emails over SMTP and an API on every plan, with event webhooks and email logs kept 1 to 30 days by plan.
- Segments and reports
- Behavioral and ecommerce segments, click heatmaps and audience growth reports; sales reports start at Standard.
Plans
Mailrelay
Free€0
80,000 emails a month, up to 20,000 contacts, normal sending queue and ticket support.
Standard€48
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
Priority queue, ticket and chat support, transactional email and WhatsApp included. Price rises with email volume: €132 a month at 500,000.
Enterprise€67
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
Everything in Standard plus phone support at the highest priority. Price rises with volume: €185 a month at 500,000.
Sender
Free Forever$0
2,500 subscribers, 15,000 emails a month, 1 seat and 10 landing pages, with Sender branding on emails, forms and pages.
Standard$9
per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed monthly
Emails up to 12 times the list, 3 seats, no branding, SMS and A/B tests. $108 billed yearly before discounts. $69 a month at 10,000 subscribers.
Professional$15
per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed monthly
24 times the list in emails, 10 seats, $6 of free SMS a month, advanced automation and reports. $180 billed yearly before discounts. $127 a month at 10,000.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited emails and users, a success manager, phone support, SSO, activity logs and a service level agreement.
Ways to pay less
Mailrelay
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
The pricing page shows an annual billing option that takes 10% off the monthly price on Standard and Enterprise.
Sender
- Annual discount
30% off with yearly billing
Sender's pricing page gives 30% off yearly billing, labelled for all users during its Black Friday sale: Standard at 500 subscribers is $75.60 for the year instead of $108.
- Other savings
Black Friday: up to 60% off a 24-month plan
First-time users who pay for 24 months get 40% off Standard and 60% off Professional: at 500 subscribers, $129.60 instead of $216 and $144 instead of $360. No end date is given.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mailrelay or Sender?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sender is cheaper to start with: $9 a month, against about $53.63 a month for Mailrelay. Mailrelay starts at €48 per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly, and Sender starts at $9 per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Mailrelay or Sender?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Mailrelay and Sender have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.