plainmailPlainmail vs AgentMail
Prices checked November 8, 2026
AgentMail is an API for creating inboxes inside your own product, with a free tier and high send volume. Plainmail is email hosting for your own domains: $5 a month for 50 domains and 100 mailboxes that an agent runs through MCP and you read in any mail app. Building an agent product? AgentMail. Running mail for your own projects? Plainmail.
Side by side
| Plainmail | AgentMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5 a month, flat; no free tier | Free; Developer $20 a month; Startup $200 a month; Enterprise custom |
| Inboxes | 100 | 3 free, 10 on Developer, 150 on Startup; $2 a month each extra |
| Custom domains | Up to 50 | 1 free, 10 on Developer, 150 on Startup; $2 a month each extra |
| Sending | 200 per mailbox a day; personal and transactional mail only | 100 a day free, 1,000 on Developer, 15,000 on Startup |
| Storage | 25 GB | 3 GB free, 10 GB on Developer, unlimited on Startup |
| Footer on your mail | None. We never add anything to what you send | Free plan adds a "Sent via AgentMail" footer; paid plans don't |
| MCP server | Remote, OAuth sign-in with scoped permissions; listed in the Claude directory | Yes, on every plan |
| DNS setup | Written for you on Cloudflare, Vercel and Porkbun; exact records and checks elsewhere | Not listed on its pricing page |
| Mail apps | Any IMAP/SMTP app, plus a web inbox | IMAP and SMTP, signing in with an API key |
When AgentMail is the better pick
- Your product creates inboxes for its users or agents through an API.
- You need more than 200 messages per mailbox a day.
- You want to start free with three inboxes and don't mind a "Sent via AgentMail" footer on your mail.
When Plainmail is the better pick
- You want real mailboxes on your own domains, at $5 a month for all of them instead of $20 for 10.
- You add domains often and want the DNS written for you.
- You and your agent share the mailbox: Claude replies, you read it in Apple Mail.
- You want to connect Claude in one click from the directory, with permissions you choose.
- You don't want someone else's branding on your mail. Plainmail never adds a footer.
Switching to Plainmail
- Add your domain in Plainmail and create the same addresses you have today.
- Copy your old mail over with your mail app or any IMAP migration tool. Both sides speak IMAP.
- Let Plainmail write the new MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, or copy them at your DNS host. New mail starts arriving at Plainmail within minutes to a few hours, depending on DNS caching.
- Cancel the old plan once nothing new arrives there.
Questions
Is Plainmail an AgentMail alternative?
For mailboxes on your own domains, yes, at a flat $5 a month. If your product needs to create inboxes programmatically at scale, AgentMail is the closer fit.
Do both work with Claude?
Yes. Both have MCP servers. Plainmail is listed in the Claude connectors directory, so you can connect it from Claude without setup.
Get started$5 a month for up to 50 domains and 100 mailboxes