Mailjet vs Selzy:
daily email caps, free contacts and sending volume
Compare Mailjet and Selzy for free audience capacity, same-day newsletters, monthly sends and paid automation requirements.
Start with the workload.
Price the retained plan.
Mailjet fits a larger free audience, but its 200-email daily cap can prevent a same-day newsletter even when the month has capacity. Selzy has a much smaller free contact ceiling. Select by the people who must receive each message, its deadline and the editor or integration the team will operate.
Seven differences that change the shortlist
| Buying question | Mailjet | Selzy |
|---|---|---|
| Free contacts | 1,000 contacts | 100 contacts |
| Monthly free emails | 6,000 | 1,000 |
| Daily scheduling constraint | 200 emails per day on Free | Check account sending restrictions; the stated 1,000 is a monthly ceiling |
| Developer delivery | APIs, SMTP relay and webhooks on Free | Email API; confirm transactional service separately |
| Automation packaging | Automations start at Premium | Email automation listed on Free |
| Audience segmentation | Essential and above | Lite and above |
| Upgrade inputs | Send volume, contact scope and feature tier | Contact-list size, feature tier and billing term |
Four worked buying briefs
These are hypothetical scenarios with explicit assumptions. They do not establish equal capabilities, measured usability or a negotiated price.
| Buying brief | Mailjet | Selzy |
|---|---|---|
| 500 recipients, one newsletter today | Contacts fit, but 500 exceeds the 200-email daily cap. | 500 contacts exceed Free’s 100-contact ceiling. |
| 80 recipients, four newsletters in a month | 320 sends fit the monthly allowance if the daily total stays within 200. | 320 sends and 80 contacts fit the stated free ceilings. |
| 80 recipients, fourteen newsletters in a month | 1,120 monthly sends fit if no daily total exceeds 200. | 1,120 sends exceed the 1,000 monthly ceiling despite the small list. |
| A growing list needs segmentation | Evaluate Essential or above for segmentation. | Evaluate Lite or above for segmentation. |
500 recipients, one newsletter today
Can the free package deliver the full audience today?
Mailjet: Contacts fit, but 500 exceeds the 200-email daily cap.
Selzy: 500 contacts exceed Free’s 100-contact ceiling.
Spreading a newsletter over days changes delivery timing; it is not an equivalent same-day campaign.
80 recipients, four newsletters in a month
How much published free capacity is used?
Mailjet: 320 sends fit the monthly allowance if the daily total stays within 200.
Selzy: 320 sends and 80 contacts fit the stated free ceilings.
Include welcome journeys and other messages in the final usage count.
80 recipients, fourteen newsletters in a month
Can list size hide a volume problem?
Mailjet: 1,120 monthly sends fit if no daily total exceeds 200.
Selzy: 1,120 sends exceed the 1,000 monthly ceiling despite the small list.
This is arithmetic for newsletters only; automation traffic needs to be added.
A growing list needs segmentation
Which retained plan matters after the trial?
Mailjet: Evaluate Essential or above for segmentation.
Selzy: Evaluate Lite or above for segmentation.
A paid trial can expose features that disappear on Free; price the continuing edition.
Write down the delivery deadline
A monthly email allowance does not promise that a whole audience can be reached at once. Start the brief with recipient count and the latest acceptable delivery time. A 500-person event reminder due this afternoon differs from an evergreen sequence spread across the week.
Keep the provider’s published daily reset and scheduling behaviour with the plan notes. Do not split the audience into multiple lists to assume a daily account restriction disappears. Use an authorised small test to check queuing and suppression behaviour before a deadline-sensitive campaign.
Reconcile audience state before migration
Export subscribed, unsubscribed and bounced records separately. Count the people the new service will store, the people each campaign can reach and the messages sent by automated journeys. Importing the same audience twice is not a reliable capacity workaround.
Prepare one representative newsletter, an unsubscribe and a welcome event using sample recipients you control. Verify the sender configuration and export the results. This comparison establishes package limits; it does not measure inbox placement, engagement or deliverability.
Questions before you choose
Does Mailjet’s 6,000-email free allowance allow a 500-person newsletter today?
No. Mailjet Free also has a 200-email daily maximum, so the monthly number alone does not support that same-day send.
Which free plan holds more contacts?
Mailjet lists 1,000 contacts on Free; Selzy lists 100. Sending limits and the required features must fit as well.
Are these free plans evidence of better email delivery?
No. Audience and send ceilings describe capacity, not inbox placement or campaign results. Evaluate the sender setup and your own consented test messages separately.
Keep the assumptions with the figures
Use the date, billing cycle, units and limits with each example. Check current account terms before purchasing. Unverified prices and model costs stay unpriced.
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Use these examples when discussing the shortlist with your team.