The short answer
- Email teams and agencies of any size: Mailfois. Sign-off on the live email, outside approvers with no account, and the plan, translation and brand checks around it, from free.
- Developers who need rendering tests too: Litmus, if you can buy its Enterprise tier for Proof; or pair a testing tool with Mailfois.
- Enterprises building emails in one governed tool: Dyspatch, Knak or Stensul.
- Teams approving lots of non-email creative: Ziflow or Filestage.
Who’s writing this: I’m Liam Kane and I built Mailfois, so I’m not neutral. I’ve tried to be fair about where the other tool is the better choice. Facts and prices come from each company’s own website and help pages, checked on 15 October 2026.
What to look for in email approval software
- The real email, not a screenshot. Approvers should see the live email with working links, on desktop and phone, so what’s approved is what sends.
- Outside approvers without accounts. Clients, legal and market leads approve faster from a link than from a login they’ve forgotten.
- Rounds and a record. Versions, comments, who approved what and when, for when someone asks later.
- Reminders. Reply-by dates and automatic chasing, so sign-off doesn’t stall.
- Checks before approval. Brand, accessibility and legal basics found before an approver has to spot them.
12 tools side by side
| Tool | What it is | Shows the live HTML email? | Outside approvers | Price (published) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailfois | Email workflow: plan, mock up, translate, check, sign off | Yes: the live email from a preview link or HTML | Free, by private link, no account | Free; Team £24 per seat a month |
| Litmus (Proof) | Email testing, with review and approval | Yes, in Litmus | Free, no account | Contact sales; Proof on Enterprise |
| Dyspatch | Email builder with approvals and localisation | Yes, in the builder | Can comment by link; approving appears to need a user | From $149 a month |
| Knak | Enterprise email and landing-page builder | Yes, in the builder | Not confirmed | Contact sales |
| Stensul | Enterprise email creation and governance | Yes, in the builder | Not confirmed | Contact sales |
| Ziflow | Online proofing for all creative | As a web-page proof, image or PDF | Free, by proof link | Free (2 users); from $199 a month |
| Filestage | Review and approval for files, video and websites | By web link or HTML ZIP | Free, no account | Free (1 project); from €199 a month |
| Approval Studio | Proofing for packaging and marketing | Via a hosted URL | Free guests, no registration | From $60 a month |
| Lytho (inMotion) | Creative workflow, proofing and asset management | Static proofs | Unlimited reviewers | Contact sales |
| Planable | Content approval, built for social | No: newsletters as text or images | Approving needs a free approver account | From $33 per workspace a month |
| Email on Acid | Email previews and QA | Previews in 100+ clients; no approval workflow | Not applicable | From $99 a month |
| Asana, monday.com or ClickUp | Work management, as a do-it-yourself approval process | No: screenshots or attachments | Guests, varying by plan | From about £8–$25 per user a month |
Prices before tax, from each company’s own pricing page, checked 15 October 2026. Currencies are as each company shows them.
The tools in brief
Mailfois
Built for email teams and agencies. Emails come in from any ESP by preview link or HTML; approvers review the live email from a private link with no account; rounds, two-stage sign-off, reminders and a printable record are included. Legal, Pricing or a market reviewer can sign off just their part of an email, such as the footer or the terms, and approved wording is remembered for next time. Around sign-off: the campaign calendar by market, Studio mock-ups, the Copy Bank for translation, Brand Guard checks and a library of every approved email. It doesn’t render emails in dozens of email clients.
Litmus
The best-known email testing tool: previews in 100+ email clients, spam tests and native ESP connections. Its review tool, Proof, is on Enterprise plans, and Litmus no longer publishes prices. See Mailfois vs Litmus.
Dyspatch, Knak and Stensul
Email builders with approval built in, aimed at larger teams. Dyspatch publishes prices from $149 a month and has localisation on Teams+; Knak and Stensul are contact-sales enterprise tools. See Mailfois vs Dyspatch.
Ziflow and Filestage
Strong general proofing tools for every kind of creative, with free outside reviewers. Neither is email-specific; both can review an email as a web page. See Mailfois vs Ziflow and Mailfois vs Filestage.
Planable
Content approval built for social media, with newsletters as text. See Mailfois vs Planable.
Asana, monday.com and ClickUp
Many teams build approvals from tasks and attachments. It works for a small team with one approver, but approvers see screenshots rather than the email. See Asana or monday.com for email marketing.
Wrike and Adobe Workfront
Work-management platforms with proofing built in, common in larger marketing departments. Both review emails as files or web pages rather than as emails, and neither plans sends by market. See Wrike alternatives and Workfront alternatives for email teams.
Frequently asked questions
What is email approval software?
Software for getting marketing emails reviewed and signed off before they’re sent: approvers see the email, comment or request changes, and approve, with a record of who approved what.
Do clients need an account to approve emails?
It depends on the tool. In Mailfois, Litmus Proof, Ziflow and Filestage, outside reviewers don’t need an account. In Planable and some builders, approvers need a (sometimes free) account.
What is the cheapest email approval software?
Mailfois has a free plan with three sign-offs a month, and paid plans from £12 a month for one person. Ziflow and Filestage have free plans with tight limits.
Can I approve emails in Asana or monday.com?
Yes, with tasks and attachments, but approvers see screenshots rather than the live email, and there’s nothing email-specific such as brand or link checks.
Liam Kane is an email and marketing automation specialist with over ten years in marketing and seven in email, planning and building campaigns on Marketo, Bloomreach and Silverpop. He founded Mailfois, so read his take on it with that in mind. More about Liam.
Sources, checked 15 October 2026: Litmus (Proof), Dyspatch, Knak, Stensul, Ziflow, Filestage, Approval Studio, Lytho (inMotion), Planable, Email on Acid, Asana, monday.com or ClickUp. Prices are in the currency each company publishes and change over time, so check before you buy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.