MailFrom.dev and Nitrosend handle the same email at two different stages, so a team uses them one after the other rather than choosing between them. MailFrom.dev is an SMTP sandbox for developers: while an app is being built or tested, it sends through MailFrom.dev's SMTP credentials, and every signup confirmation, password reset and invoice lands in a shared test inbox where the team can inspect the HTML, headers and attachments, and the person each email is addressed to never gets it. Nitrosend is for sending email to real people: once the app is live, it sends those same messages through Nitrosend, alongside the newsletter and automated flows that an AI agent inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex can write and send. To send from an AI agent, add Nitrosend's MCP server at api.nitrosend.com/mcp to the assistant and sign in with OAuth, as the MCP setup guide shows. Development and staging point at MailFrom.dev, and production points at Nitrosend.
What Nitrosend and MailFrom.dev each do
Eight jobs a team usually needs covered when an app sends email. A tick means the product does the job as described on its own pages today. Where one product has a cross, the other is usually the tool for that job.
What Nitrosend does, and what MailFrom.dev does
Checked September 25, 2026| Job | Nitrosend | MailFrom.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Sends to real customersDoes the email reach the person it is addressed to? | Yes. Yes. Transactional email, campaigns and flows, from 20,000 emails a month on Pro. | No. No. It captures test email; the person it is addressed to never gets it. |
| Campaigns and automated flowsCan it build a newsletter, a welcome series or an abandoned-cart flow? | Yes. Yes, written and designed by the agent in the brand's own style. | No. No. It is a testing inbox. |
| Catches an app's email in developmentCan a developer run the app and see every email it sends, without emailing anyone? | Not a yes or no. It sends real email. Its test send goes to your own inbox. | Yes. Yes. Every email the app sends lands in a shared test inbox. |
| Accepts email over SMTPCan an app send to it with standard SMTP settings? | Not a yes or no. It sends through its REST API, SDK, CLI and MCP server. | Yes. Yes. Standard SMTP on port 587, from any language or framework. |
| Shows HTML, headers and attachmentsCan a developer inspect the raw message? | Not a yes or no. A preview and a test send show the finished email. | Yes. Yes. Rendered HTML, plain text, raw source, headers and attachments. |
| Team workspacesCan several people share one account? | Yes. Yes. 3 seats on Pro, 10 on Ultra. | Yes. Yes. Up to 10 teams and 20 users on Business. |
| Works from an AI agentCan an agent in Claude or ChatGPT use it over MCP? | Yes. Yes. A hosted MCP server. An agent can create the account and send. | No. No MCP server on its site or in its docs. API tokens fetch captured email. |
| Free planIs there a plan that costs nothing and does not expire? | Yes. Yes. 8,000 emails, then 500 a month. | Yes. Yes. 100 captured emails a month, kept for one day. |
A tick means the product does the job as described on its own pages today. A dash means the job sits with the other tool, or is only partly covered. The two columns are not a contest: each product is built for different jobs.
The handover needs one decision in the app's code. MailFrom.dev's own framework setup guide shows the switch as two environment files with different SMTP hosts, which works when the production service also takes SMTP. Nitrosend does not document an SMTP relay: its supported path for app email is the REST API, with an SDK, a CLI and the MCP server on top. So production changes the mail transport itself, not just the host name: Laravel's MAIL_MAILER, Django's EMAIL_BACKEND, or Rails' delivery_method, which the same guide already sets per environment in config/environments/development.rb. Development and staging keep an SMTP transport pointed at MailFrom.dev, and production calls the Nitrosend API.
That split has a cost worth planning for. The twelve-factor guidance on dev/prod parity warns that when development and production use different backing services, code that passed in staging can still fail in production. A sandbox proves what the app builds: the subject, the HTML, the links, the attachments. It never exercises the production sending path, so the API key, the sender address and the call to Nitrosend are first used for real on launch day. The fix is one real send from staging through Nitrosend to the team's own address before release, with the sandbox still catching everything else.
On the Nitrosend side, that check is built into the agent's tools. A test send goes only to the test recipients saved on the account, never to the audience, and a campaign or flow stays a draft until someone approves it; a single transactional email goes out on the call, which is why it belongs in code that has already been tested. The MCP guide walks through the preview, test, approve and send steps.
Two MailFrom.dev details change how a team sets it up. Captured email can leave the sandbox: a forwarding rule sends a copy, as an attached .eml file, to an address that has clicked a verification link, and a rule set to all emails forwards every message the app sends. And the inbox holds a fixed number of messages at a time, 20 on Free, 40 on Individual and 200 on Business, according to its pricing table, so a test suite that triggers many emails should clear the inbox between runs.
The short version
At a glance
Nitrosend is for sending email to real people: an app's receipts and password resets, plus campaigns and automated flows, run from an AI agent. MailFrom.dev is for catching email during development: an SMTP sandbox that holds every message an app sends so a developer can inspect it, and delivers none of them to the people they are addressed to. A team uses MailFrom.dev while it builds and Nitrosend when it ships, so this page carries no score and no winner. Every MailFrom.dev figure was read on its own site on September 25, 2026.
Nitrosend
Ship the email your app already sends
Connect Nitrosend to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex, or call its REST API from the app. The same account sends the receipts and the newsletter.
Free: 8,000 emails to start, then 500 a month. No credit card.
Start freeWhat each one costs in 2026
MailFrom.dev's pricing is in euros, excluding VAT. Free captures 100 emails a month for one user. Individual is €2.99 a month, or €1.99 a month billed annually, for 400 emails and four users. Business is €14.99 a month, or €9.99 billed annually, for 1,200 emails, 20 users and up to ten teams. Paid plans keep captured email for four to ten days and start with a 14-day trial.
Nitrosend's pricing is by emails sent: Free gives 8,000 emails and then 500 a month, Pro is $20 for 20,000, and Ultra is $100 for 125,000. Transactional email, campaigns and flows draw on the same allowance, and contacts are unlimited.
What each one costs
List prices, EUR and USD as published, September 25, 2026| Plan | Nitrosend | MailFrom.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free: 8,000 emails, then 500 a month | Free: 100 test emails a month, 1 user, kept 1 day |
| First paid plan | Pro, $20 a month: 20,000 emails, 3 seats | Individual, €2.99 a month (€1.99 billed annually): 400 test emails, 4 users |
| Team plan | Ultra, $100 a month: 125,000 emails, 10 seats | Business, €14.99 a month (€9.99 billed annually): 1,200 test emails, 20 users |
The two bills cover different things. MailFrom.dev counts the test emails a team captures, and Nitrosend counts the emails that reach real people, so a team running both pays each for its own stage.
Nitrosend and MailFrom.dev FAQ
No. MailFrom.dev captures test email and never delivers it to the person it is addressed to, so it cannot send an app's email to customers. Its forwarding rules only send a copy to verified addresses, such as a QA inbox. Nitrosend sends real email. A team uses MailFrom.dev during development and Nitrosend in production.
Not directly. MailFrom.dev receives email over SMTP, and Nitrosend sends through its REST API, SDK, CLI and MCP server rather than an SMTP relay. The usual setup is to choose the mail transport per environment in the app: MailFrom.dev's SMTP settings in development and staging, Nitrosend's API in production.
No. mailfrom.com redirects to a different email gateway. This page covers MailFrom.dev, the SMTP sandbox for developers.
Its site and docs list no MCP server. Its API tokens fetch captured email and clear inboxes, which a script or a coding agent with HTTP access can call, for example to read the confirmation link in a signup test. Each token is tied to one team and to the abilities chosen when it is made, so an agent that only reads test email needs mails:read; clearing the inbox needs mails:write. Nitrosend runs from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex over a hosted MCP server.
Add the MCP server at api.nitrosend.com/mcp to Claude, or turn on the Nitrosend connector in Claude Desktop and Claude.ai, then sign in when prompted. The setup guide covers Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Codex. Claude can then write a campaign, send a test to your own inbox and send it once you approve, while the app's receipts and resets go out through the REST API.
Both have free plans. Paid, the smallest pairing is MailFrom.dev Individual at €2.99 a month, or €1.99 billed annually, and Nitrosend Pro at $20 a month.