# SmarterMail review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Business mail server for Windows and Linux with webmail Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. SmarterMail is a mail server from SmarterTools for Windows and Linux, with webmail, calendars, contacts, tasks and file storage. It comes in Free, Professional, Enterprise and High Availability editions, and licenses are priced by number of mailboxes. - **Category:** Email Apps - **Made by:** SmarterTools - **Website:** https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail - **Runs on:** Windows, Linux, Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you need to know the licence term, as the pricing page doesn't say one-time or annual. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, SmarterMail has a free plan, and paid plans start at $550 for Professional with 50 mailboxes; license term not stated. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** SmarterMail Free: one domain with up to 10 mailboxes, on Windows or Linux. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | One domain, up to 10 mailboxes; the vendor says it has 99% of Enterprise functionality. | | Professional | $550 for 50 mailboxes; billing term not shown | Webmail, shared calendars, contacts, tasks, notes, file storage. $2,500 for unlimited. | | Enterprise | $700 for 50 mailboxes; billing term not shown | Adds meetings, scheduling, chat and archiving. $1,500 at 500 mailboxes. | | Enterprise, unlimited | $3,200 for unlimited mailboxes; billing term not shown | Enterprise edition with no mailbox cap. | | High Availability | $250 per hub / month; nodes $300 per month | Clustered hubs and nodes for unlimited users and domains; first 30 days free. | Read from https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with SmarterMail before buying. ## Key features - **Webmail:** A browser interface the vendor compares to Outlook on the web, with calendars, contacts, notes and tasks. - **Shared collaboration:** Shared calendars, contacts, tasks and notes, plus file storage under your own control. - **Meetings and chat:** Enterprise adds online meetings with screen sharing, scheduling and voice and video chat. - **Archiving:** Built-in archiving of email and chats for regulatory needs such as SOX and HIPAA. - **Outlook and mobile sync:** Enterprise can add MAPI and EWS for Outlook and Exchange ActiveSync for phones, both priced separately. - **High availability:** A clustered edition with hubs, nodes and centralized storage for fault tolerance. ## Good for - SMBs and ISPs replacing Exchange with a cheaper server - Small setups that fit the free 10-mailbox edition ## Worth knowing - ActiveSync (from $325 for 25 mailboxes), MAPI/EWS and the antispam and antivirus engines are paid add-ons. - The pricing page does not say whether base licenses are one-time or annual. - Antispam and antivirus add-ons need an annual license with active maintenance and support. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. SmarterMail has a free edition for one domain with 10 mailboxes, and paid editions priced by mailbox count. The pages don't say if licences are one-time or yearly, and ActiveSync, MAPI/EWS and the antispam and antivirus engines cost extra. - **Value for money: C.** Professional is $550 for 50 mailboxes and Enterprise $700, with the billing term not shown. A price that unclear is a C, and the add-ons are extra. - **Free plan and trial: B.** SmarterMail Free covers one domain and up to 10 mailboxes on Windows or Linux. No trial is listed for paid editions. - **Features: C.** Webmail, shared calendars, contacts, tasks, files, and Enterprise adds meetings, chat and archiving. ActiveSync from $325 for 25 mailboxes, MAPI/EWS and antispam are extra. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. It is a server to install and administer, so a D. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Windows, Linux and web, with Outlook, Active Directory and LDAP, plus mobile sync as a paid add-on. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from SmarterMail's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among email apps - SmarterMail's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 29 of the 122 other email apps we grade, and level with 24. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 69 of 122) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/email ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace SmarterMail you would be making an email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 69 of the 122 other email apps grade higher. - You could make: Calendar: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: An email client: sending, receiving, threading and searching years of mail. - You could not: Storing and serving files for other people. - You could not: A real app for Windows and Linux. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: HIPAA. - You could not: Sharing with other people, which means accounts and invitations. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Microsoft Outlook, Active Directory, LDAP **Tags:** Email client, Calendar, Self-hostable, File sharing ## Alternatives - [Axigen](https://toolgpa.com/tools/axigen): Mail server with calendars and webmail for Windows and Linux. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/axigen-vs-smartermail) - [MDaemon](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mdaemon): Email server for Windows with webmail and Outlook connector. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mdaemon-vs-smartermail) - [IceWarp](https://toolgpa.com/tools/icewarp): Business email, chat, files and meetings, cloud or self-hosted. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/icewarp-vs-smartermail) - [Zimbra](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zimbra): Self-hosted email, calendar and file sharing for organizations. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/smartermail-vs-zimbra) - [GFI KerioConnect](https://toolgpa.com/tools/kerio-connect): Self-hosted business mail server with calendar, chat and local AI. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kerio-connect-vs-smartermail) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail/pricing - https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail/edition-comparison - https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/smartermail Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).