Site Mailer vs WP Mail SMTP
Updated 11 Oct 2026. 23 features compared side by side.
Elementor's hosted email sending service for WordPress (now listed as Email Deliverability). No SMTP setup, logs, resend and open tracking; 200 free emails.
Widely used SMTP plugin from the WPForms team: 15 mailers free, with logs, alerts, backup connections and smart routing in Pro.
Choose Site Mailer if…
- You need no paywalled mailers
Choose WP Mail SMTP if…
- You need API mailer integrations and any SMTP server
- You also want Gmail & Google workspace and failure alerts
- You want the more complete feature set (96/100 vs 36/100)
- You want the lower entry price ($99/yr vs $228/yr)
Site Mailer includes 1 feature that WP Mail SMTP lacks, including No paywalled mailers; WP Mail SMTP has 11 that Site Mailer lacks, including Any SMTP server, API mailer integrations and Gmail & Google Workspace. Both include 10 of the 23 features we track. 1 feature is not yet verified for one or both plugins.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Site Mailer WP Mail SMTPSending & mailers2/88/8
Sends only through Elementor's cloud service; you cannot enter your own SMTP host.
Other SMTP mailer connects to any host with your own credentials.
No third-party provider connections; Elementor's own email API is the only mailer.
Free API mailers include SendLayer, SMTP.com, Brevo, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, SparkPost and more.
No Gmail or Google Workspace connection.
Free Gmail mailer uses OAuth with your own Google app; one-click Gmail setup is Pro.
No Microsoft 365 or Outlook connection.
Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 one-click mailer is only in paid plans.
No Amazon SES integration.
Native Amazon SES mailer requires a Pro licence.
Falls back to native wp_mail if the Elementor service errors (v1.2.2); no second provider.
Backup connection takes over and resends when the primary mailer fails.
Single sending service with no routing rules.
Route emails by subject, content, from/to address or source plugin.
One-click connect plus a custom domain DNS wizard; test email is sent separately from settings.
Wizard verifies mailer settings with the provider and ends with a test email.
Logs & monitoring5/77/7
Logs subject, recipient, source, status, opens and date for 30 days.
Log of every email with status, headers, content and source plugin.
Resend single or bulk failed emails; needs 'Save email content' enabled.
Resend or forward logged emails individually or in bulk.
Tracks opens and open rate; no click tracking.
Open and click rates shown in Pro email reports.
Only quota and renewal notices in the admin; no alerts when sends fail.
Alerts via email, Slack, Teams, Discord, Twilio SMS or webhooks.
No queue or automatic retry is documented; failed emails are resent manually.
Background queue and rate-limit queue; failed sends are retried through the backup connection.
Dashboard totals for sent, delivered, opened and failed; no charts or email summaries.
Lite sends a basic weekly total; charts and detailed weekly stats are Pro.
Logs are kept for a fixed 30 days; you can only choose whether email content is saved.
Log retention period and optional attachment storage apply to the Pro email log.
Email control2/44/4
Sender name, From address (with custom domain) and Reply-To apply to all outgoing emails.
Force From Email and Force From Name override other plugins' sender details.
No options to disable individual WordPress or WooCommerce emails.
Turn off core comment, user, update and privacy emails; WooCommerce emails not covered.
No option to block or simulate outgoing email.
Do Not Send setting blocks all outgoing wp_mail emails.
Send a test email from General Settings; failure reasons appear in the log.
Email Test tool, plus Email Detective deliverability report.
Security & admin2/43/4
No provider keys stored; the site links to an Elementor account through a connect flow.
Mailer keys and SMTP passwords can be defined as wp-config constants.
Multisite support is not documented.
Network-wide settings and central subsite logs are Pro; Lite can be set up per subsite.
Same features in free, but sending is capped at 200 emails in total.
Microsoft 365, Amazon SES and Zoho Mail mailers are reserved for Pro.
No documented hooks, API or WP-CLI; only internal service-URL filters.
WP-CLI commands (since 4.9), constants and filters for developers.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Site Mailer Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free one-off, 1 site |
| Elementor One | $228 per year, 1 site |
| Elementor One Agency | $540 per year, Unlimited |
WP Mail SMTP Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Lite | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Pro | $99 per year, 1 site |
| Elite | $149 per year, 1 site |
| Developer | $249 per year, 20 sites |
| Agency | $449 per year, 100 sites |
Downloads trend
Site Mailer
6,103 downloads last week
WP Mail SMTP
543,473 downloads last week
Verdict
WP Mail SMTP scores higher on our feature checklist (96/100 against 36/100) and includes API mailer integrations, any SMTP server and Gmail & Google workspace that Site Mailer does not. Site Mailer still has the edge on no paywalled mailers. Paid plans start at $228/yr for Site Mailer and $99/yr for WP Mail SMTP. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: included. Free API mailers include SendLayer, SMTP.com, Brevo, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, SparkPost and more.
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: included. Other SMTP mailer connects to any host with your own credentials.
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: included. Free Gmail mailer uses OAuth with your own Google app; one-click Gmail setup is Pro.
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Alerts via email, Slack, Teams, Discord, Twilio SMS or webhooks.
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 one-click mailer is only in paid plans.
Site Mailer: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Native Amazon SES mailer requires a Pro licence.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Site Mailer or WP Mail SMTP?
WP Mail SMTP scores higher on our feature checklist (96/100 against 36/100) and includes API mailer integrations, any SMTP server and Gmail & Google workspace that Site Mailer does not. Site Mailer still has the edge on no paywalled mailers. Paid plans start at $228/yr for Site Mailer and $99/yr for WP Mail SMTP. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
WP Mail SMTP includes 22 of the 23 features we track, against 11 for Site Mailer. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Site Mailer free?
Site Mailer has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $228/yr.
Is WP Mail SMTP free?
WP Mail SMTP has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $99/yr.
Feature data last changed 11 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Site Mailer or WP Mail SMTP. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.