Quick answer: Mailjet (now part of Sinch) is the better pick if you need transactional email and marketing on one platform, agency-style sub-accounts, and a very cheap entry point — paid plans start at $9/mo for 8,000 emails and the free plan sends 6,000 emails/month (Mailjet pricing). Bluey Email wins for marketers who want deep automation, a built-in CRM, and landing pages included on every paid tier, with unlimited contacts from $30/mo. Full disclosure: Bluey is my own product; I’ve held it to the same yardstick as Mailjet and say plainly where Mailjet is the better buy.
Both Bluey and Mailjet price by emails sent rather than contacts stored, so this comparison isn’t the usual flat-vs-per-contact story. The real question is what you’re sending and how much automation you need. Here’s the honest head-to-head.
What is Mailjet?
Mailjet is an email service built for both marketers and developers, now owned by Sinch. Its pitch is simplicity and price: EmailTooltester’s Inka Wibowo notes that "one of Mailjet’s biggest draws is its affordability, making it a top choice for cost-conscious businesses," and that it offers features like email previews, list validation, and sub-account management that "are not the kind of things you come across in your average email marketing platform" (EmailTooltester). It also posted a strong average deliverability score of about 85% across EmailTooltester’s test rounds.
The trade-off, in the same review’s words: "the automation builder still feels a bit behind competitors, and support can be hit or miss unless you’re on a higher plan" (EmailTooltester).
Pricing: Mailjet is cheaper to start, and gates automation behind Premium
Mailjet’s plans are volume-based. The Free plan sends 6,000 emails/month (200/day) with 1,000 contacts. Starter is $9/mo for 8,000 emails, Essential is $17/mo for 15,000 emails with unlimited contacts and segmentation, and Premium is $27/mo for 15,000 emails and adds automations, landing pages, and advanced statistics. Annual billing takes 10% off (Mailjet pricing).
The catch: automations and landing pages only unlock on Premium. If automation matters to you, your real Mailjet entry price is $27/mo, not $9.
Bluey also prices by sends, but includes the automation builder on every paid tier. Free covers 500 contacts / 500 sends; Spark starts at $7/mo (about $14 at 10,000 sends); Grow is $30/mo with unlimited contacts (roughly 50,000 sends, up to $84 at 250,000); Business is $300/mo and adds a built-in CRM, landing pages, transactional email, and pre-built ecommerce flows.
| Mailjet | Bluey Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Emails sent | Emails sent |
| Free plan | 6,000 emails / 1,000 contacts | 500 contacts / 500 sends |
| Entry paid plan | $9/mo (8,000 emails) | $7/mo (Spark) |
| Automation included from | Premium ($27/mo) | Every paid tier |
| Built-in CRM | No | Yes (Business) |
| Sub-accounts | Up to 20 (higher plans) | No |
| Transactional email | Yes | Yes (Business) |
The substantiated reason Bluey leads for marketers: with Bluey, the visual automation builder and segmentation are in the box on Spark and Grow, so a growing marketing program pays $30/mo for unlimited contacts *and* automation. On Mailjet, unlocking automation means the $27/mo Premium tier — and the automation there is, by EmailTooltester’s own assessment, "a bit behind competitors."
Where Mailjet clearly wins
Cheapest entry and a bigger free plan. 6,000 free emails a month and an $9 paid tier beat Bluey’s 500-send free plan for anyone just getting started (Mailjet pricing).
Transactional + developer tooling. Mailjet ships a mature Send API, SMTP relay, and parse API. If you send password resets and receipts alongside campaigns and want a single provider, Mailjet is purpose-built for it — you don’t need Bluey’s top Business tier to get transactional sending.
Agencies and multi-brand teams. Higher Mailjet plans allow up to 20 sub-accounts with granular permissions and locked template sections — genuinely useful for freelancers or agencies juggling clients. Bluey has no sub-account model.
Deliverability tooling. List validation (powered by Mailgun) and email previews across clients are baked in (EmailTooltester).
Where Bluey wins
Automation on every paid tier. No $27 gate — the visual builder and segmentation come with Spark and Grow.
One marketing platform. Bluey’s Business tier folds a CRM, landing pages, and transactional + marketing email onto one bill, plus pre-built ecommerce flows. Mailjet keeps marketing automation lighter and leans on integrations for CRM.
Unlimited contacts, flat as you grow. Grow is $30/mo with no contact ceiling, so a large list that emails on a normal cadence stays predictable.
Which should you choose?
Chad S. White, Head of Research at Oracle Marketing Consulting, frames the core question well: "Email marketers need to focus on managing subscribers, not campaigns" (ZeroBounce interview). Mailjet is excellent at *sending* — cheaply, transactionally, at developer scale. Bluey is built to *manage* subscribers with automation, segmentation, and a CRM.
Pick Mailjet if you’re budget-first, need transactional + marketing in one provider, want sub-accounts for multiple brands, or you’re a developer who values a clean API. Pick Bluey if you want serious automation and a CRM without gating fees, and predictable send-based pricing with unlimited contacts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mailjet really free? Yes — the free plan sends 6,000 emails per month (200/day) to 1,000 contacts, with no credit card required (Mailjet pricing).
Does Mailjet include automation on cheap plans? No. Automations and landing pages start on the Premium plan at $27/mo (Mailjet pricing).
Which has better deliverability? Mailjet scored around 85% in EmailTooltester’s tests and includes list validation; Bluey runs on dedicated infrastructure. Both are solid for clean, engaged lists (EmailTooltester).
Which is better for transactional email? Mailjet, out of the box, via its Send API and SMTP relay. Bluey offers transactional email on its Business tier.
Which has better automation? Bluey — its automation is included on every paid tier, while EmailTooltester calls Mailjet’s builder "a bit behind competitors."
The verdict
Mailjet is the right call for cost-conscious senders, developers who need transactional email, and agencies that want sub-accounts — with a genuinely generous free plan. But if you want automation and a CRM without paying to unlock them, start with Bluey Email — send-based, flat at $30/mo, unlimited contacts, automation included.
Compare the full field in Best Email Marketing Software in 2026, see the Mailjet alternatives roundup, weigh the similar Bluey vs Brevo matchup, or start with the complete email marketing guide.
— Shivam
1 thought on “Bluey Email vs Mailjet (2026): Which Is Right for You?”