Comparisons

Understanding when to use ClawMail versus other email solutions.

ClawMail vs Traditional Email APIs

Services like SendGrid, Mailgun, and Postmark focus on sending transactional emails at scale. They're excellent for newsletters, marketing campaigns, and high-volume notifications.

Choose Traditional APIs when:

• You need to send thousands of emails per day
• You don't need to receive emails
• You need advanced deliverability features
• You're building marketing email campaigns

Choose ClawMail when:

• Each agent/service needs its own email address
• You need to receive and process incoming emails
• You want inbox management (folders, read status)
• You're building AI agents or automations

ClawMail vs Temporary Email Services

Temporary email services like Guerrilla Mail or TempMail provide disposable addresses for one-time use. They're designed for privacy and avoiding spam.

Choose Temporary Email when:

• You need a one-time throwaway address
• You're testing email flows manually
• Privacy is the main concern

Choose ClawMail when:

• You need programmatic API access
• You need to send emails, not just receive
• You're building production applications
• You need persistent, reliable addresses

ClawMail vs Self-Hosted Email

Running your own email server (Postfix, Dovecot, etc.) gives you complete control but requires significant operational overhead.

Choose Self-Hosted when:

• You need complete control over the email stack
• You have strict compliance requirements
• You have email operations expertise

Choose ClawMail when:

• You want to focus on your application, not email infrastructure
• You need a quick, reliable solution
• You don't want to manage email servers

When to Use ClawMail

ClawMail is the right choice when:

1. AI Agents Need Email - Your AI assistant, chatbot, or automation needs its own email address to communicate with users or other services.

2. Multi-tenant Email - You're building a platform where each user, team, or service needs a dedicated email address.

3. Email-triggered Workflows - You want to trigger automations based on incoming emails (support tickets, order notifications, etc.).

4. Simple Email Operations - You need basic send/receive without the complexity of enterprise email systems.

5. Prototype & MVP - You're building a proof-of-concept and need email functionality quickly.

Feature Summary