Imitate Email Review, Pricing & Features

Imitate Email is a sandbox SMTP testing tool for developers and QA teams. Free plan included; paid plans start at €6/month for the Developer tier.

Category
Automation
Pricing
Freemium, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 20, 2026
Headquarters
Oxford, United Kingdom
Free PlanWeb AppAPIFreemium

What Is Imitate Email?

Imitate Email is a sandbox email server built for developers, QA engineers, and product teams who need to test email-sending flows without the risk of accidentally delivering test messages to real recipients. It functions as a test SMTP server that plugs into an application's existing email code with minimal changes.

The product is made by Imitation Software Ltd, a company registered in the UK and headquartered in Oxford. It is positioned for teams building or QA-testing transactional and marketing email, offering both a hosted web interface and embeddable widgets for viewing captured emails inside another application.

Key Features

Imitate Email captures outgoing test emails via a standard SMTP connection supported across common programming languages, and also supports IMAP/POP3 and WebSocket access for programmatic testing.

Embedded email-viewer widgets for Chrome and Firefox let teams display captured emails directly inside their own product during demos or QA sessions. Additional tools include spam and deliverability checks, multi-client rendering previews, login-less pre-authentication for testers, and permission-based multi-project support for teams working across several environments.

Imitate Email Pricing

Imitate Email offers a free-forever plan that includes 15 test emails per day (up to 2,000 per month), one user, and 30-day data retention, with the widget branded with the Imitate Email logo.

Paid plans remove branding restrictions and raise limits: Developer at 6 euros/month, Starter at 15 euros/month, Team at 39 euros/month, and Business at 139 euros/month, each increasing user seats, mailboxes, and monthly email volume. Annual billing is available at a discount on every paid tier.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Free plan covers up to 2,000 test emails per month with no credit card
  • Simple SMTP integration that doesn't require rewriting email code
  • Embeddable widgets make it easy to show captured emails inside another product
  • Granular paid tiers let teams pay only for the capacity they need
  • Supports IMAP/POP3 and WebSockets for automated testing

Cons

  • Free and Developer tiers keep Imitate Email branding on the widget
  • Data retention is capped at 30 days across all listed plans
  • Pricing is in euros, which may add currency conversion overhead for some teams
  • Higher email volumes require moving up multiple paid tiers

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Imitate Email used for?

Imitate Email is used as a sandbox SMTP server so developers and QA teams can test email-sending flows without delivering messages to real inboxes.

Is there a free plan?

Yes, the free plan allows up to 2,000 test emails per month (15/day) forever, with one user and 30-day data retention.

How much does Imitate Email cost?

Paid plans range from 6 euros/month (Developer) to 139 euros/month (Business), with annual billing discounts available.

Who makes Imitate Email?

Imitate Email is made by Imitation Software Ltd, a UK company headquartered in Oxford.

Can I embed Imitate Email in my own app?

Yes, Imitate Email provides embeddable email-viewer widgets for Chrome and Firefox that display captured emails inside your own application.

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