Litmus is the best-known name in email testing, and for good reason. But it's no longer the cheap, obvious default it was. Litmus is now part of Validity Engage, its own site no longer lists prices, and Capterra's listing for its entry Core plan is $500 a month for five users. If that's prompted you to look around, the right alternative depends on what your team actually uses Litmus for.
Who's writing this: Mailfois is our product, and it appears below. It doesn't do everything Litmus does, and we say where. Prices are from each company's own pricing page unless we say otherwise, in US dollars, checked in October 2026. They change, so check before you buy.
First: what do you use Litmus for?
Most teams use it for some mix of four jobs:
- Rendering previews. Screenshots of your email in Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail and many more, to catch layouts that break.
- Pre-send checks. Links, images, spam triggers, accessibility, the preheader, the plain-text version.
- Review and approval. One place for comments and sign-off.
- Analytics and deliverability. Engagement data and inbox placement.
Only the first one strictly needs a rendering service. If your team mostly uses Litmus for the second and third, you may be paying for a lot you don't use.
The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Rendering previews | Review and approval | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Litmus | Teams that want testing, review and analytics from one vendor | Yes, 100+ clients and devices | Yes | Not published. Capterra lists Core at $500/month for 5 users |
| Email on Acid | Like-for-like rendering at a lower price | Yes, 100+ clients and devices | Not listed on its pricing page | $99/month (1,000 previews) or $199/month (2,000), unlimited users |
| Parcel | Teams that code their own email HTML | Add-on on paid plans, 80+ inboxes | On the Business plan | Free Community plan; Pro $29 and Business $56 per user a month; previews from $49 per 500 |
| Mailtrap | Developers testing transactional email | Device previews on request, as an add-on | No | Free plan; paid sandbox plans from $17/month |
| Mailfois | Planning, pre-send checks and approvals across markets | No | Yes, with versions and approver-only sign-off | Free tools; Team plan £24 per seat a month (founder price, minimum 3 seats) |
Email on Acid: the closest like-for-like
If rendering previews are what you can't do without, Email on Acid is the most direct swap. It previews across more than 100 clients and devices, and every plan has unlimited users, which matters if Litmus seat limits were the problem. Basic is $99 a month for 1,000 previews and Premium is $199 for 2,000, with extra previews at $0.15 each. Its pricing page doesn't describe an approval workflow, so you'll need something else for sign-off.
Parcel: for teams who write their own code
Parcel is a code editor built for email, and a good one. The free Community plan covers one person writing and checking email code. Inbox previews in 80+ inboxes are a paid add-on for the Pro and Business plans, starting at $49 for 500 previews. Approvals and feedback are on Business, at $56 per user a month. If your team builds in a drag-and-drop editor inside your ESP rather than writing HTML, it's probably not the right fit.
Mailtrap: for developers, not campaigns
Mailtrap's sandbox catches test emails from your app so they never reach real people. It's excellent for transactional and product email, there's a free plan, and device previews are available as an add-on on request. It isn't built for planning or approving marketing campaigns.
Free alternatives
There's no free tool that renders your email in Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail the way Litmus does. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something. But a lot of what teams use Litmus for doesn't need rendering at all, and these are free:
- Pre-send checker: a readiness score across subject, preheader, links, deliverability and accessibility.
- Spam checker SPF, DKIM & DMARC checker Gmail clipping checker Email word counter: spam-trigger words, capitals, punctuation and link balance.
- Inbox preview: how your from name, subject and preheader appear in the inbox list in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail. Note that this is the inbox line, not a render of the email itself.
- Plain-text generator and UTM builder.
They run in your browser, with no sign-up. Parcel's free Community plan is also worth a look if you write HTML. Already on Email on Acid? See Email on Acid alternatives Workfront alternatives Wrike alternatives Best email approval software.
Where Mailfois fits
Mailfois doesn’t take real screenshots in email clients, so it doesn’t replace that part of Litmus. Its Brand Guard does run the pre-send code checks (Gmail clipping, Outlook problems, dark mode, accessibility, preview text, spam phrases and risky links), each shown in a phone, desktop, dark mode and images-off preview. Around that, it does the work around the email: the plan for every market, the review and approval rounds, rules-based brand checks before anything is approved, and a library of everything that went out. For a team that needs rendering and approvals, a sensible setup is a rendering tool plus Mailfois. For example, Email on Acid Basic at $99 a month plus three Mailfois Team seats at $29 each comes to $186 a month, before tax.
Our honest take
- Keep Litmus if you use all of it: rendering, review, analytics and deliverability, and the price works for you. One vendor has real value.
- Switch to Email on Acid if rendering is the part you can't live without and you want the closest match for less.
- Look at Parcel if your team writes its own email code.
- Look at Mailfois if what you really need is planning and approvals across several markets, with free pre-send checks, and rendering is an occasional need.
Sources, checked October 2026: litmus.com, Capterra Litmus pricing, Email on Acid pricing, Parcel pricing, Mailtrap pricing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
