OquMail vs MailerSend: Free Business Email vs Transactional API

MailerSend is a transactional email service from the MailerLite family, with templates, analytics and a friendly API. OquMail is a free business email host with mailboxes and a send API. If your product sends receipts and your team also needs inboxes, this comparison shows which covers what.

Quick summary

• Mailboxes: MailerSend none; OquMail up to 15 free
• Free plan: MailerSend a small free monthly allowance; OquMail free plan with 3 domains and 5 GB per mailbox
• API: MailerSend REST API, SDKs, templates, inbound routing; OquMail send API with from, to, subject and html
• DNS guidance: MailerSend SPF, DKIM and Return-Path for sending; OquMail MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live verification
• IMAP/SMTP: MailerSend SMTP relay for sending; OquMail IMAP and SMTP for any mail client

Who each is for

MailerSend is for product teams, especially where marketers edit transactional templates, that send meaningful volume and want analytics, suppression management and SMS. It assumes you already have a mail host for the humans and only need the machine side handled well. OquMail is for small businesses that need name@yourdomain.com for staff plus a simple API for confirmation emails, and want to pay nothing until they outgrow it. It handles the human side first and the machine side at modest volume.

Feature comparison

• Mailboxes: MailerSend none; OquMail up to 15 free
• Free plan: MailerSend a small free monthly allowance; OquMail free plan with 3 domains and 5 GB per mailbox
• API: MailerSend REST API, SDKs, templates, inbound routing; OquMail send API with from, to, subject and html
• DNS guidance: MailerSend SPF, DKIM and Return-Path for sending; OquMail MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live verification
• IMAP/SMTP: MailerSend SMTP relay for sending; OquMail IMAP and SMTP for any mail client
• Storage: MailerSend activity logs by plan; OquMail 5 GB per mailbox and per-message delivery logs

Where MailerSend wins

• Drag-and-drop template editor that non-developers can use
• Higher volume, bulk endpoints and detailed analytics
• Inbound routing, email verification and SMS on paid plans
• Sibling product to MailerLite for marketing campaigns

Where OquMail wins

• Inboxes with webmail and IMAP so customer replies are read
• Free for 15 mailboxes and 3 domains with no card
• One dashboard for mailboxes, DNS verification and API keys
• Delivery logs showing the remote SMTP response for each message

Total cost at 5 and 15 users

MailerSend prices by monthly email volume; team size does not change the bill but neither does it include mailboxes, so 5 or 15 staff still need a host. OquMail is free at both sizes and covers modest transactional sending too. The sensible path for many startups is OquMail first, then MailerSend when template management or volume needs justify it.

The free third option: OquMail

OquMail's send API is intentionally small: POST a JSON body with from, to, subject and html, authenticate with a Bearer key, and check the delivery log if anything bounces. That is enough for signup emails, receipts and alerts on a small product, and it lives next to the team's mailboxes on the same domain.

• Free plan: up to 15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, no credit card
• Webmail included; IMAP/SMTP for Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird and phones
• IMAP mail.oqumail.com port 993 (SSL/TLS); SMTP mail.oqumail.com port 587 (STARTTLS)
• Guided SPF, DKIM and DMARC with live DNS verification; MX is mail.oqumail.com priority 10
• Transactional send API at https://api.oqumail.com/api/v1/emails with Bearer API keys (from, to, subject, html)
• Per-message delivery logs so you can see the exact response a receiving server gave

Verdict by scenario

• Product with marketing-owned templates and rising volume: MailerSend
• Small business with a website and a handful of staff: OquMail
• Team already on MailerLite: MailerSend for transactional, OquMail for inboxes
• Pre-revenue startup that wants zero vendors billing it: OquMail

Common questions

Does OquMail have templates like MailerSend?

No. You build the HTML in your application and send it in the html field. MailerSend's editor is a real advantage if non-developers maintain your emails.

Can I read replies with MailerSend?

MailerSend can route inbound mail to a webhook on paid plans, but that is not a mailbox. For a support@ inbox people log into, use OquMail.

Is it fine to use both?

Yes. Send high-volume transactional mail through MailerSend and keep staff mailboxes on OquMail, both authenticated on the same domain with separate DKIM selectors.

What does a minimal OquMail API call look like?

Send a POST to https://API (a way for your app or website to send email automatically).oqumail.com/api/v1/emails with an Authorization header of Bearer and your oqm_live key, a Content-Type of application/json, and a body containing from, to, subject and html. The from address must be on a domain you have verified in the dashboard. A successful call appears in the delivery log within seconds.