MailDev
Node-based local SMTP catcher.
MailDev is a Node-based local SMTP catcher with a web UI. Install it with npm or Docker, point SMTP at port 1025, and read captured mail on port 1080. It can fire a webhook when mail arrives and optionally relay caught messages to a real SMTP host, which is useful in CI.
The question here is which one a backend engineer would rather operate. That means SDK depth in the language already in use, whether a retry can safely be replayed, how much the event log tells you when a customer says the email never arrived, and whether the pricing curve stays sane as volume grows.
Against password resets, receipts, and magic links shipped from application code, MailDev covers developer experience and webhook coverage, and does not cover SDK breadth, idempotency keys, and event stream. Whether that gap matters depends on how central those are to the build.
- DX score: 6/10
- SDKs: None
- Idempotency keys: No
- Operating since: Not published
- Event stream: No
- Best published rate per 1,000: Tiers not published in comparable form
- Webhooks: Yes
- Deliverability: Not applicable.
- Free tier: Free
Not applicable.
Node-centric local development and CI.
New projects that could start on Mailpit for closer HTML rendering.
- › Installs with a single npm install or docker run
- › SMTP on 1025 with a web UI and REST API on 1080
- › Optional webhook on new mail for CI assertions
- › Relay mode can forward caught mail to a real SMTP host
- › Vue UI renders modern HTML email less faithfully than Mailpit
- › Release cadence is slower than Mailpit
Features at a glance
| API | Yes |
| SMTP | Yes |
| SDKs | None |
| Webhooks | Yes |
| Templates | none |
| React Email | No |
| Batch send | No |
| Scheduled send | No |
| Suppressions | No |
| Multi-tenant | No |
| Inbound parsing | No |
| Event stream | No |
| Idempotency keys | No |
| Dedicated IP | No |