SureMail vs WP Mail SMTP
Updated 11 Oct 2026. 23 features compared side by side.
Free SMTP and email log plugin from Brainstorm Force with 15+ mailers, backup connections, auto-retry, resend and email simulation.
Widely used SMTP plugin from the WPForms team: 15 mailers free, with logs, alerts, backup connections and smart routing in Pro.
Choose SureMail if…
- You need no paywalled mailers
Choose WP Mail SMTP if…
- You need Microsoft 365 / Outlook and open & click tracking
- You also want turn WordPress emails on or off
- You want the more complete feature set (96/100 vs 81/100)
- You prefer the more widely used option
SureMail includes 1 feature that WP Mail SMTP lacks, including No paywalled mailers; WP Mail SMTP has 3 that SureMail lacks, including Microsoft 365 / Outlook, Open & click tracking and Turn WordPress emails on or off. Both include 18 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.
SureMail WP Mail SMTPSending & mailers7/88/8
'Other SMTP' connection takes any host, port, SSL/TLS and optional login.
Other SMTP mailer connects to any host with your own credentials.
API connections for SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Brevo, SparkPost, Mailjet, MailerSend, SMTP2GO and more.
Free API mailers include SendLayer, SMTP.com, Brevo, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, SparkPost and more.
Google Workspace / Gmail connection authorises with Google OAuth using your Cloud client ID and secret.
Free Gmail mailer uses OAuth with your own Google app; one-click Gmail setup is Pro.
No Microsoft 365 or Outlook OAuth connection among the listed providers; generic SMTP only.
Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 one-click mailer is only in paid plans.
Dedicated Amazon SES connection.
Native Amazon SES mailer requires a Pro licence.
Connections for the same From email are tried in sequence until one succeeds.
Backup connection takes over and resends when the primary mailer fails.
Emails go to the connection matching their From address; no other routing rules.
Route emails by subject, content, from/to address or source plugin.
Onboarding wizard (v1.7+) sets up the first connection; the SureContact path ends with a test step.
Wizard verifies mailer settings with the provider and ends with a test email.
Logs & monitoring6/77/7
Logs every email with status, body, headers, attachments and server response.
Log of every email with status, headers, content and source plugin.
Resend one email or bulk-resend selected emails from the log.
Resend or forward logged emails individually or in bulk.
Logs show delivery status only; no open or click tracking is offered.
Open and click rates shown in Pro email reports.
Needs the separate OttoKit plugin (free plan available) using the 'Email Failed to Send' trigger.
Alerts via email, Slack, Teams, Discord, Twilio SMS or webhooks.
Failed emails are retried automatically across all connections after 30 minutes.
Background queue and rate-limit queue; failed sends are retried through the backup connection.
Dashboard charts of sent and failed emails plus an optional weekly email summary.
Lite sends a basic weekly total; charts and detailed weekly stats are Pro.
Choose when logs are auto-deleted; optional attachment storage.
Log retention period and optional attachment storage apply to the Pro email log.
Email control3/44/4
Per-connection Force From Email and Force From Name toggles override other plugins.
Force From Email and Force From Name override other plugins' sender details.
No settings to switch off individual WordPress or WooCommerce notification emails.
Turn off core comment, user, update and privacy emails; WooCommerce emails not covered.
Email Simulation logs outgoing emails without delivering them.
Do Not Send setting blocks all outgoing wp_mail emails.
Send Test Mail from the Connections tab; failures show the provider's response in the log.
Email Test tool, plus Email Detective deliverability report.
Security & admin3/43/4
Connection credentials are encrypted in the database; no wp-config.php constants.
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.
No paid version; every mailer is in the free plugin.
Microsoft 365, Amazon SES and Zoho Mail mailers are reserved for Pro.
Filters such as suremails_before_send_email and suremails_provider_list, plus Abilities API; no WP-CLI.
WP-CLI commands (since 4.9), constants and filters for developers.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
SureMail Free
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free 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
SureMail
16,364 downloads last week
WP Mail SMTP
525,551 downloads last week
Verdict
WP Mail SMTP scores higher on our feature checklist (96/100 against 81/100) and includes Microsoft 365 / Outlook, open & click tracking and turn WordPress emails on or off that SureMail does not. SureMail still has the edge on no paywalled mailers. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
SureMail: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Microsoft Outlook.com/Office 365 one-click mailer is only in paid plans.
SureMail: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Open and click rates shown in Pro email reports.
SureMail: not included. WP Mail SMTP: paid version (Pro). Turn off core comment, user, update and privacy emails; WooCommerce emails not covered.
SureMail: included. WP Mail SMTP: not included. No paid version; every mailer is in the free plugin.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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SureMail vs others
FAQ
Which is better, SureMail or WP Mail SMTP?
WP Mail SMTP scores higher on our feature checklist (96/100 against 81/100) and includes Microsoft 365 / Outlook, open & click tracking and turn WordPress emails on or off that SureMail does not. SureMail still has the edge on no paywalled mailers. 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 19 for SureMail. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is SureMail free?
SureMail has a free version on WordPress.org.
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 SureMail 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.