Mailrelay vs Acumbamail vs Mailjet: 2026 email marketing comparison

Are you torn between several email marketing tools with a free plan and finding it hard to see how they really differ? That’s normal.

On each one’s website everything seems included, until you read the small print.

In this comparison we put Mailrelay, Acumbamail and Mailjet head to head, three common choices in the Spanish-speaking market. Two are Spanish and the third is French.

All three offer a free account, but they are less alike than they seem.

First, let’s look at a summary table, and then at the nine differences that matter most day to day. At the end you’ll find a recommendation for each type of business.

The data is from September 2026 and comes from each provider’s website and from comparison sites such as EmailToolTester, Capterra and ComparaSoft.

Quick comparison: Mailrelay, Acumbamail and Mailjet

This table sums up the basics of each tool. If you only have a minute, almost everything is here.

As you can see, the big difference lies in the free plan. But it’s not the only one. Let’s take it step by step.

The 9 differences that matter most between Mailrelay, Acumbamail and Mailjet

Each section follows the same structure: what each tool offers and who benefits from it.

1. Free plan: how much you can send without paying

Mailrelay has the most generous free account of the three: up to 80,000 emails a month to 20,000 contacts, with no ads in your emails.

With it you can send a weekly newsletter to a list of several thousand people without paying anything.

Acumbamail offers 250 subscribers and 2,000 emails a month. That’s enough to try out the tool or for a small list. Your emails carry its logo until you move up to the Basic plan.

Mailjet allows 6,000 emails a month, but with a maximum of 200 a day, to a list of up to 1,000 contacts.

That daily limit makes campaigns awkward: with 1,000 contacts, a single newsletter takes five days to go out.

If you compare with other well-known tools, the contrast is similar. Mailchimp was cut down to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month in 2026.

2. Pricing: how what you pay is calculated

All three charge mainly by emails sent, not by contacts stored. That’s good news if you have a large list and send in moderation.

Mailrelay has monthly plans by volume and prepaid packages.

The Standard plan costs €48 a month for 100,000 emails and 20,000 contacts. You can see all the tiers on its pricing page.

Acumbamail lets you choose between paying per email sent, per subscriber or with prepaid credits that expire after two years.

It doesn’t publish a fixed table: the price comes from a slider on its website. Paying annually is 20% cheaper.

Mailjet starts at $9 a month (Starter, 8,000 emails). The Essential plan costs $19 for 15,000 emails, and Premium, with automations, $29.

3. Support: who helps you and how

The differences here are big, and you notice them the day something goes wrong.

Mailrelay offers support by chat, ticket and phone on all plans, including the free account. Real people answer you, in Spanish, and support is prioritized on paid plans.

Acumbamail offers chat, email and phone from the Basic plan up. The PRO plan adds a monthly email marketing consultation, and Enterprise, an account manager.

Mailjet is the most limited on this point.

On the free plan, personal support lasts for the first month. Live chat is only available on the Premium plan and during European business hours.

4. Automations and segmentation

Automations save you work: the welcome email, the abandoned cart reminder or the birthday greeting go out on their own.

Mailrelay includes automations on all its plans, with a visual editor, conditions, abandoned cart and SMS sending from the workflows. Also segmentation, A/B tests and contact scoring.

Acumbamail includes automations from the Basic plan and increases their number on PRO. This plan also adds automatic resending to those who didn’t open the campaign, and list cleaning.

Mailjet keeps automations and A/B tests for the Premium plan. Segmentation comes with Essential. EmailToolTester considers its automations basic compared to other tools.

5. Transactional emails and API

Transactional emails are the ones your website sends automatically: an order confirmation, an invoice or a password notice.

Mailjet is the specialist. It was born with a very complete API and good documentation for developers. That’s its greatest strength.

Mailrelay offers an SMTP server and a REST API.

On the free account you can try SMTP for 30 days and then add it for €14.95 a month. It’s included in the Standard and Enterprise plans.

Acumbamail also has transactional SMTP, useful for connecting your store or website.

6. SMS and other channels

If you want to send mobile messages as well as email, this point is worth a look.

Acumbamail combines email and SMS on the same platform, with prepaid packages or a monthly fee. It’s one of its strong points.

Mailrelay also lets you send SMS, from campaigns and automations, and adds WhatsApp sending with a 10-day trial.

Mailjet focuses on email. If you need SMS, you’ll have to look for another tool.

7. Ease of use and editor

All three have a drag-and-drop editor and ready-to-use templates. None of them requires coding skills.

Mailrelay adds an AI editor that writes a first draft of your newsletter. It also has landing pages and forms included on all plans.

Acumbamail boasts more than 850 templates. Its PRO plan allows landing pages with your own domain and white label, useful for agencies.

Mailjet stands out for real-time collaborative editing: several people can work on the same campaign and leave comments.

8. Deliverability: making sure your emails arrive

Sending a lot is of little use if your campaigns end up in spam. All three tools help you authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, a must since the 2024 Gmail and Yahoo requirements.

Mailrelay sends from its own IP ranges and includes automatic list cleaning on all plans, including the free one. If you need it, you can get a dedicated IP with annual billing.

Mailjet inherits list validation from Mailgun, which detects non-existent addresses before sending. A dedicated IP is only available on the Premium plan and from 100,000 emails a month.

Acumbamail includes list cleaning on the PRO plan and keeps the dedicated IP for the Enterprise plan.

9. Integrations

Your email tool has to talk to your website, your store or your CRM.

Mailrelay has a WordPress plugin, integrations with WooCommerce and Make, a REST API and webhooks.

Mailjet also has a WordPress plugin, but for everything else it relies mainly on Zapier. EmailToolTester estimates it has around 100 integrations.

Acumbamail offers an API, SMTP and, on the PRO plan, a Facebook Ads integration to create audiences from your lists.

Which tool suits you best?

There is no single answer. It depends on how many contacts you have, how much you send and what you need besides email.

If you run an SME with a list of thousands of contacts

Mailrelay is your best fit. With 20,000 contacts and 80,000 free emails a month, you can send newsletters frequently without paying. And if something goes wrong, you can pick up the phone.

If you’re a developer or mainly send transactional emails

Take a look at Mailjet. Its API is its main strength, and its paid plans are affordable for moderate volumes. That said, for marketing campaigns its free plan falls short.

If you want email and SMS from a Spanish company with a small list

Acumbamail is a reasonable option if your list fits its plan or you don’t mind paying early on. Its combination of email and SMS is convenient.

If you work at an agency with several brands

Here all three have something to offer. Mailjet brings team editing and subaccounts. Acumbamail, white label on the PRO plan.

And Mailrelay includes roles and permissions for multiple users on all plans, including the free one.

User reviews

Public ratings also help you decide, although it’s worth reading them with some perspective.

Acumbamail has a 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra, from 155 reviews.

Users value its price and its support.

The most common complaint is how hard it is to downgrade without being charged for the higher plan.

Mailjet gets a 3.8 out of 5 on EmailToolTester and a 4 out of 5 on TechRadar. Its API is praised and its support on the lower plans is criticized.

Mailrelay shows a rating of 4.9 out of 5 from 583 reviews on its website. The comments highlight the free account and the speed of support.

If you want to dig deeper into each tool separately, you’ll find the Acumbamail and Mailjet entries in our glossary.

How Mailrelay helps you

Mailrelay is the option in this comparison designed for those who need volume without paying. The free account includes up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, with no logos or ads.

All plans include an AI editor, email and SMS automations, segmentation, landing pages, A/B tests and automatic list cleaning. And we take care of your deliverability with our own IP ranges.

If you’re coming from another tool, you can import your contacts in a few minutes.

You’ll find the full step-by-step process in our guide to Mailchimp alternatives, which works just as well if you’re coming from Acumbamail or Mailjet.

Conclusion

Mailrelay, Acumbamail and Mailjet are three good tools, but they don’t play in the same league on everything.

If you want to send a lot without paying, with phone support in Spanish, Mailrelay is the clearest choice.

If your priority is transactional emails via API, Mailjet is very well equipped. And if you’re looking for email and SMS with a small list, Acumbamail does the job.

Our advice: try the free accounts with a real campaign.

Check how long it takes you to set it up, how it lands in the inbox and what happens when you contact support. That afternoon of testing will tell you more than any table. If you want to widen your list of candidates, you’ll find more options in our guide to email marketing software.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which has the best free plan: Mailrelay, Acumbamail or Mailjet? Mailrelay, with 80,000 emails a month to 20,000 contacts. Acumbamail offers 2,000 emails to 250 subscribers, and Mailjet, 6,000 emails with a maximum of 200 a day.

What is the best alternative to Acumbamail? If you need more free emails, Mailrelay lets you send 40 times more emails a month without paying. If your priority is transactional emails, Mailjet is a good option.

Is Acumbamail free? It has a permanent free plan of 250 subscribers and 2,000 emails a month, with its logo in your emails. To remove it and send more, you need to move up to the Basic plan.

Mailjet or Acumbamail? Mailjet is better for transactional emails and technical teams. Acumbamail is a better fit if you want email and SMS with phone support on the paid plans.

What do users think of Acumbamail? On Capterra it has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 from 155 reviews. They highlight its price and support, and criticize how difficult it is to downgrade.

Mailrelay or Mailchimp? Mailrelay lets you send 80,000 emails a month for free to 20,000 contacts; Mailchimp, 500 emails to 250 contacts. You’ll find the full comparison in our Mailchimp entry.

Jose Argudo

CMO at Mailrelay. Writes about email marketing, copywriting and conversion for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

More articles by Jose · LinkedIn