A MailSlurp Alternative for Email Testing
MailSlurp is a powerful, do-everything email + SMS platform — send, receive, SMTP/IMAP, phone numbers, SDKs in a dozen languages. That breadth is great if you need it, but if you mainly want to read verification emails in tests, it can feel like a lot — and the pricing jumps quickly. Here’s an honest look at Devmailr as a simpler alternative.
Disclaimer: We make Devmailr, so weigh this accordingly — we’ve tried to be fair, and MailSlurp is a strong product for what it does. Features and prices change; check both sites.
What MailSlurp does well
Credit where due: MailSlurp is genuinely comprehensive. Real inboxes that send and receive, SMTP/IMAP access, phone numbers for SMS OTP, a fake SMTP server to trap outbound mail, wait-for and verification-code endpoints, and official SDKs across roughly a dozen languages. If you need email and SMS and outbound capture in one API, it covers a lot of ground.
Where it can be more than you need
- Large API surface. Dozens of controllers and 12+ SDKs is powerful, but a lot to learn for “read the signup email.”
- Pricing climbs fast. Paid tiers jump from roughly $19 to $113+/mo — the most-cited complaint in reviews.
- Free-tier friction. The free plan blocks sending to major providers and rate-limits.
How Devmailr compares
Devmailr is narrower on purpose — the email-testing essentials, done well and priced low:
- Disposable inboxes over a clean REST API, with API access from €5/mo.
- Wait-for-email long-poll, code & link extraction, SPF/DKIM/DMARC verdicts, and an SSE stream — the things you actually use in CI.
- No SMS or outbound SMTP capture — if you need those, MailSlurp is the better fit.
Side by side
| Feature | MailSlurp | Devmailr |
|---|---|---|
| Disposable inboxes | Yes | Yes |
| REST API | Yes (12+ SDKs) | Yes |
| Wait-for-email | Yes | Yes |
| Code / link extraction | Yes | Yes |
| SPF/DKIM/DMARC verdicts | — | Yes |
| SMTP / IMAP access | Yes | — |
| SMS / phone numbers | Yes | — |
| Outbound SMTP capture | Yes | — |
| Entry price | ~$19/mo | Free / €5 |
Approximate, as of 2026 — check each site for current details.
Which should you pick?
- Need SMS OTP, SMTP/IMAP, or outbound capture in one API: MailSlurp.
- Mainly reading verification emails in CI, want it simple and cheap: Devmailr.
For the full landscape, see the best disposable email APIs for testing, or jump straight to the create → wait → extract pattern.
Try it in two minutes
Create a disposable prefix@devmailr.app inbox over the API, send mail to it from your app, and read it in your tests. Free plan, no card required.