Benchmark Email vs Mailjet
Benchmark Email and Mailjet are both popular choices in the email marketing platform space. Benchmark Email has been around since 2004, giving it a 6-year head start over Mailjet (founded 2010). Mailjet starts at $17/mo versus $27/mo for Benchmark Email. Both offer free plans to get started. Benchmark Email stands out with landing pages, while Mailjet offers SMS marketing.
Quick Verdict
Benchmark Email wins on rating, integrations.
Mailjet wins on price, deliverability.
Best for most users: Mailjet (marketing teams needing real time email collaboration).
Benchmark Email
Straightforward email marketing with all features on every plan
Benchmark Email is a multilingual email marketing platform founded in 2004 that takes an all-features-included approach, giving every user access to automation, A/B testing, and analytics regardless of plan tier. Available in 9 languages with global support, it appeals to international teams and nonprofits, though its significantly below-average deliverability rate (47.1% in third-party testing) is a serious concern that undermines its otherwise user-friendly design.
Mailjet
Collaborative email platform for teams with powerful API
Mailjet is a French-founded email platform (now owned by Sinch) that uniquely combines transactional and marketing email under one roof with real-time team collaboration. Its volume-based pricing with unlimited contacts makes it particularly cost-effective for businesses with large subscriber lists but moderate sending frequency. With strong GDPR compliance baked into its European DNA and a flexible API, it bridges the gap between developer-focused tools and marketer-friendly platforms.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Benchmark Email | Mailjet |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.3/5 | 4/5 |
| Starting Price | $27/mo | $17/mo |
| Free Plan | 500 contacts, 2,500 emails/month, 1 user | 6,000 emails/month (200/day), 1,000 contacts |
| Founded | 2004 | 2010 |
| Email Templates | 200 | 70 |
| Integrations | 1,500 | 110 |
| Deliverability Rate | 47.1% | 88% |
| Marketing Automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| A/B Testing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Landing Pages | ✓ | ✕ |
| Segmentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Drag & Drop Editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS Marketing | ✕ | ✓ |
| Ecommerce Features | ✕ | ✕ |
| API Access | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-Language | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web Push Notifications | ✕ | ✕ |
| Live Chat | ✓ | ✕ |
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
Benchmark Email: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +All features included on every plan including free -- no feature gating between tiers
- +Available in 9 languages with live customer support in each, making it ideal for international teams
- +Intuitive drag-and-drop editor with mobile-optimized templates and device previews
- +Generous free plan with 500 contacts and 2,500 emails per month including AI content generation
- +Simple contact-based pricing that scales predictably without hidden charges for features
Cons
- −Extremely poor deliverability rate of 47.1% in EmailToolTester's January 2024 independent test, consistently ranking near the bottom
- −Segmentation is limited to within individual lists only -- cannot create cross-list segments for flexible targeting
- −Fewer than 30 pre-designed email templates despite marketing claims of 200+, limiting design variety
- −Slow product development cycle with features lagging behind competitors in automation and ecommerce capabilities
- −No migration support for non-enterprise customers when switching from another email platform
Mailjet: Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Real-time collaborative email editing lets multiple team members work on the same campaign simultaneously with live comments
- +Volume-based pricing with unlimited contacts means large lists stay affordable — one user grew from 0 to 50,000 subscribers affordably
- +Strong GDPR compliance built into the platform with EU data hosting, as a French-founded company under European regulations
- +RESTful API with SMTP relay supports both transactional and marketing email from a single platform
- +Deliverability rated 88% by EmailToolTester (above 83.1% industry average) with built-in list validation powered by Mailgun
Cons
- −Automation builder covers basics but lacks depth — triggers based on opens/clicks are tricky to configure and abandoned cart requires Zapier
- −No built-in landing page builder, forcing users to rely on third-party tools for lead capture
- −Many of the 110 integrations route through Zapier rather than being native direct connections
- −Migration from other ESPs is largely manual with limited import assistance for contacts, templates, and automations
- −Customer support response times are frequently criticized, with some serious technical issues going unresolved for extended periods
The Verdict
Benchmark Email edges ahead with a 4.3/5 rating compared to Mailjet's 4/5. The gap comes mainly from support (4.7 vs 3.9) and ease of use (4.9 vs 4.2). On deliverability, Mailjet reports 88% compared to 47.1% for Benchmark Email — a meaningful difference if inbox placement is critical for your campaigns.
| Criterion | Weight | Benchmark Email | Mailjet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | 30% | $27/mo | $17/mo |
| Deliverability | 25% | 47.1% | 88% |
| Rating | 25% | 4.3/5 | 4/5 |
| Integrations | 10% | 1500 | 110 |
| Free Tier | 10% | Yes | Yes |
Weights determine how much each criterion counts toward the final score. See full methodology
Choose Benchmark Email if…
- + You need built-in landing pages
- + You're a beginners
- + You're a small businesses
Choose Mailjet if…
- + You want lower starting costs ($17/mo)
- + You need SMS marketing
- + You're a marketing teams needing real time email collaboration
- + You're a european businesses requiring gdpr compliant email