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.

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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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