Mailjet vs Mailerflow: Pricing Models, AI and Transactional Email Compared
Mailjet and Mailerflow solve different parts of the same problem. Mailjet is a long-established sender with a free tier that includes APIs, SMTP Relay and Webhooks, and a transactional reputation built over years. Mailerflow is an AI-first platform where every paid plan includes unlimited emails, the Free plan covers 2,500 contacts and 10,000 emails a month, and the editor can draft a full responsive email from a written description. The right pick depends on whether you are optimising for send volume, AI-assisted production, or API-first transactional work.
The short answer
If you are already standardised on SMTP for transactional sending and want a free tier with API access from day one, Mailjet is the natural starting point. If your sending volume is high relative to your list size, or you want AI to draft designs, subject lines and automations rather than starting from a blank canvas, Mailerflow fits better. Teams with EU data-residency requirements should look closely at where each vendor hosts data before deciding.
Choosing a provider at the same time? Our comparison of the Best Email Marketing Platforms ranks them by verified prices for your list size and sending volume.
Comparison table (verified on 12 November 2026)
The Mailjet figures below come from Mailjet's pricing page (mailjet.com/pricing) and Mailerflow's from its own plan information, both checked on 12 November 2026. Plan names, limits and prices change; confirm current details on each official pricing page before you commit.
| Mailjet | Mailerflow | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0/month; 6,000 emails/month, 200 emails/day, 1,000 contacts | $0/month; 2,500 contacts, 10,000 emails/month, 1 sending domain, 1 user, 3 active automations, 100 AI actions/month, Mailerflow branding in emails |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $9/month; 8,000 emails/month, no daily limit, 2,000 contacts, 1 subaccount | Starter $14.90/month; 5,000 contacts, unlimited emails |
| Email volume model | Monthly email allowance tied to the plan tier | Unlimited emails on every paid plan |
| Contacts model | Contact allowance on Free and Starter; unlimited contacts from Essential ($19/month) | Contacts define the tier: 5,000 / 15,000 / 50,000 / 200,000 / 500,000 |
| Higher tiers | Essential $19/month (15,000 emails, 500 email validations, 500 previews); Premium $29/month (15,000 emails, 2,000 previews, dedicated IP for 100k+ plans on request); custom Enterprise plans | Growth $29.90/month (15,000 contacts); Pro $69.90/month (50,000); Business $199/month (200,000); Scale $499/month (500,000) |
| Billing discount | Annual payment gives a 10% discount | Yearly billing costs the same as 10 months |
| AI features | Not enumerated in the verified pricing facts; check Mailjet's own feature pages | AI email builder (describe an email, get a responsive design, subject lines and preview text); AI automation builder; AI segmentation from a plain-language description |
| Transactional API | Free plan includes APIs, SMTP Relay and Webhooks | Transactional email API on a high-priority lane; REST API with scoped keys, idempotency keys, OpenAPI spec, code samples and a JS SDK; signed webhooks with retries and delivery logs |
| Data hosting | Not stated in the verified pricing facts; confirm with Mailjet | Data hosted in Europe |
Pricing models: per-email tiers vs unlimited sending
This is the structural difference that matters most, and it is not a question of one being cheaper in the abstract. Mailjet's published plans pair a monthly email allowance with a contact allowance, so growth in either dimension can move you up a tier. Mailerflow separates the two: contacts define the plan, and every paid plan includes unlimited emails.
Two illustrative examples (not real customers) show how the models diverge.
Example A: 2,000 contacts sending 4 campaigns a month. That is 8,000 emails a month. On Mailjet, Starter at $9/month covers 8,000 emails and 2,000 contacts exactly. On Mailerflow, Starter at $14.90/month covers 5,000 contacts with unlimited emails, so the same list fits with room to send more often without changing tier.
Example B: 12,000 contacts sending 8 campaigns a month. That is 96,000 emails a month. Mailjet offers custom Enterprise plans for high-volume senders, but the verified pricing facts do not state the threshold at which a standard plan stops being an option, so confirm with Mailjet whether your volume fits a published tier or requires Enterprise. On Mailerflow, Growth at $29.90/month covers 15,000 contacts with unlimited emails, so the sending frequency does not affect the price.
The pattern: if your list is small but you send often, contact-based pricing tends to be cheaper. If your list is large and you send frequently, unlimited sending removes a variable you would otherwise have to forecast every month. Mailjet's annual billing gives a 10% discount; Mailerflow's yearly billing costs the same as 10 months.
Email editor and templates
Mailjet's editor and template details are not covered by the verified pricing facts; check Mailjet's own feature pages. What the pricing page does confirm is email previews on higher tiers: 500 per month on Essential and 2,000 on Premium (verified 12 November 2026).
Mailerflow uses a visual block editor with headings, heroes, products, columns and social links, plus reusable templates. The difference is the starting point. Instead of assembling from empty blocks, you can describe the email you want and get a complete responsive design, subject lines and preview text back, then edit it. For teams producing several campaigns a week, the expectation is that the first draft arrives faster than building from a blank canvas — treat that as a workflow difference to test on your own templates, not a measured outcome. For teams with a locked-down brand template, the manual route is often faster.
Automation and segmentation
The verified pricing facts do not enumerate Mailjet's automation features, so check Mailjet's own feature pages for the specifics that matter to you.
Mailerflow's automation count is a plan constraint you should map before choosing a tier: 3 active automations on Free, 10 on Starter, 50 on Growth, and unlimited from Pro upward. The builder supports waits, conditions, webhooks and AI steps, with triggers on signups, events, dates, inactivity and website behaviour. There is also an AI automation builder: describe a workflow in a sentence and it drafts the trigger, waits, conditions and emails for you to review before activation.
On segmentation, Mailerflow builds dynamic segments on fields, tags, engagement, events and website behaviour, and can generate a segment from a plain-language description. If your planned journeys include welcome, onboarding, win-back and cart recovery, that is four automations before you have added anything seasonal — worth counting against the tier you are considering.
Deliverability and sending infrastructure
Mailjet's verified facts include dedicated IP availability on Premium for 100k+ plans upon request, and email address validations (500 on Essential, 2,000 on Premium for 100k+ plans). Beyond that, the pricing page does not detail authentication or bounce handling, so confirm those on Mailjet's documentation.
Mailerflow sends from your own domain with guided DKIM, SPF and DMARC setup and automatic verification, suppresses bounces and complaints automatically, monitors reputation and applies warm-up limits to new sending domains.
Transactional email, API and integrations
Mailjet's Free plan includes APIs, SMTP Relay and Webhooks (verified 12 November 2026), which makes it a realistic way to test transactional sending at no cost. If your stack already speaks SMTP, that relay is a documented, supported path you can evaluate on the free tier before committing.
Mailerflow takes a REST-first approach: a transactional email API on a high-priority lane with templates and variables, scoped API keys, idempotency keys, an OpenAPI spec, code samples and a JS SDK, plus signed real-time webhooks with retries and delivery logs. For a developer, the practical difference is SMTP relay plus webhooks versus a documented REST API where idempotency keys protect you from duplicate sends during retries. If your stack is already SMTP-based, that is a reason to stay; if you are building new transactional flows, the REST-first model is usually less work to integrate.
Support, data location and compliance
Mailjet's verified pricing facts do not detail support tiers, so check its official support pages for response times and channels.
Mailerflow provides GDPR tooling including data export, erasure, consent logs and configurable retention, with data hosted in Europe. Embeddable signup forms support double opt-in and keep consent records alongside the contact. For teams with EU data-residency requirements, hosting location is a concrete selection criterion — and one you should confirm in writing with any vendor before signing, not infer from a marketing page.
Which one to choose
Choose Mailjet if: you want a free tier that includes API, SMTP Relay and Webhooks from day one; you are already standardised on SMTP for transactional sending; you want a low entry price at $9/month for Starter (verified 12 November 2026); or you need a custom Enterprise arrangement for very high volume.
Choose Mailerflow if: your sending volume is high relative to your list size and you want unlimited emails on paid plans; you want AI to draft designs, subject lines and automations rather than starting from a blank canvas; you need website-behaviour triggers and dynamic segments; or EU data hosting and GDPR tooling are requirements.
On migration: Mailerflow supports CSV import with duplicate and validity checks, custom fields and tags, and offers free migration help covering contacts, suppression lists, templates and core automations on eligible paid plans.
FAQ
Is Mailjet's free plan enough to start? It gives you 6,000 emails a month, 200 a day and 1,000 contacts (verified 12 November 2026). That is fine for testing and small lists, but the 200/day cap and 1,000-contact ceiling get tight quickly once you are sending regularly.
Does Mailerflow really include unlimited emails on paid plans? Yes, on every paid plan. Contacts define the tier, so a heavy sending month does not push you into a new one.
Can I send transactional email on the free plans? Mailjet's Free plan includes APIs, SMTP Relay and Webhooks. Mailerflow's Free plan includes 100 AI actions a month and 3 active automations; check the current transactional limits on each official page before you rely on it for production traffic.
Which is better for an EU-based team? Mailerflow hosts data in Europe. Mailjet's verified pricing facts do not state a hosting location, so confirm any vendor's data location in writing before signing.
How do I migrate without losing suppression lists? Mailerflow's CSV import checks for duplicates and invalid addresses, and free migration help on eligible paid plans covers suppression lists, templates and core automations. Mailjet also documents its own import process on its site.
If you want to see how the contact-based model and the AI builder work on your own list, start on the Free plan, import your contacts by CSV, and ask about migration help if you move to a paid tier.
