How this page was made. Every figure was read from each vendor's own pages on 19 September 2026 and is linked at the bottom. emailcampaign.ai is the third column and the publisher of this page; where Mailforge or Zapmail is the better choice, the page says so. Prices change; check the linked pages before buying.
Mailforge and Zapmail both sell mailboxes by the slot for a sequencer you already run, and they sell different things. Mailforge's are its own shared-IP SMTP mailboxes at $3 a slot billed yearly with a ten-slot minimum; Zapmail's are Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 accounts in bundles of ten from $39 a month, with a price step after the first year. The provider behind the mailbox and the second-year bill decide this one.
Side by side
| Mailforge | Zapmail | emailcampaign.ai | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $3 per mailbox a month billed yearly, minimum 10 slots | $39 a month for 10 mailboxes, then $3.50 each; hero price 'from $2.50 a mailbox' on annual | Free 14-day trial; Basic $39 a month; Pro $94 a month |
| Pricing model | Per mailbox slot; .com domains $14 a year; SSL and domain masking $2 a month; warm-up not included (Warmforge is separate) | Bundles of 10, 30 or 100; after the first year mailboxes rise to $6, $5.50 or $5 each plus base fees of $59, $169 or $499; payments are not refundable | Plan by emails per month; unlimited mailboxes and warm-up on every plan; infrastructure at cost plus $5 setup per mailbox |
| Provisions mailboxes and domains | Yes: its own shared-IP SMTP mailboxes and domains; not Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 | Yes: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 mailboxes; domains $13 to $14 a year | Yes: domains (about $12 a year), Google Workspace seats ($8.40 a month), Microsoft 365 seats at Microsoft's rate, or self-hosted servers from $39 a month; you own the domains and accounts |
| DNS | Automated DKIM, DMARC, SPF and tracking-domain setup, described as under ten minutes | SPF, DKIM, DMARC and tracking domains set up automatically | SPF, DKIM (selectors read from the provider), DMARC and postmaster records written through the registrar and shown before they go live |
| Warm-up | Not included; Warmforge sold separately at $10 a mailbox a month billed quarterly | No ongoing warm-up; pre-warmed mailboxes sold separately, maintained for twelve months, not renewable | Included, unlimited, with a maintenance level after the ramp; never reaches your inbox |
| Placement test | None found | None | Yes, per mailbox at Gmail and Outlook |
| White-label | None found (Infraforge, its sibling, has a reseller programme) | None; affiliate programme at 10 percent | Yes: a complete webmail and admin console on the client's own domain, plus dashboard branding |
| Reviews | G2 about 4.7 from about 84 reviews; Trustpilot 3.7 from 18 | G2 4.3 from 6 reviews (third-party count); Trustpilot 4.5 from 87 | New listing; reviews being gathered |
| Best for | Very large fleets where the lowest per-slot price matters more than provider reputation | Buying provider mailboxes quickly in bulk for a sequencer you already run | Teams that want the mailboxes, domains, DNS and warm-up done for them behind one approval, and agencies that need a client-branded door |
| Watch out for | Shared IP pools: Reddit threads report placement problems attributed to neighbours on the same pool, and a reviewer noted zero out-of-office replies after 500 sends as a warning sign | The year-two price step is easy to miss; reviews report India-based IPs despite US and EU marketing, and mailboxes burning out within one to two weeks | The recommended 8 to 10 sends a day per mailbox means volume comes from fleet size; if you want 100 a day from one mailbox, nothing here will let you |
Where Mailforge is stronger
Price and speed. $3 a mailbox a month billed yearly, .com domains at $14, and DKIM, DMARC, SPF and tracking-domain setup described as under ten minutes. No second-year step is published.
Options around it. SSL and domain masking at $2 a month, Warmforge warm-up at $10 a mailbox a month billed quarterly, and Infraforge for dedicated IPs from the same group. Reviews: G2 about 4.7 from 84, Trustpilot 3.7 from 18.
Where Zapmail is stronger
Real provider accounts. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 mailboxes rather than a shared SMTP pool; the placement problems reported about Mailforge on Reddit are attributed to neighbours on the same IP pool.
Trustpilot 4.5 from 87 reviews, better than Mailforge's 3.7, though with only six G2 reviews.
Pre-warmed accounts available separately, maintained for twelve months.
Where emailcampaign.ai fits
emailcampaign.ai provisions the same provider accounts Zapmail sells, Google Workspace at $8.40 a seat and Microsoft 365 at Microsoft's rate plus a $5 setup, or a self-hosted server from $39 a month, and puts all of it in your name: your tenant, your domains, DNS written and confirmed before use, warm-up and placement tests included, and no second-year step. It costs more per mailbox than either in year one and less than Zapmail in year two, and it is a sending platform, so the mailboxes are meant to be used here.
Decide by the question you are asking
- “Lowest possible cost per slot for a very large fleet.” Mailforge, with the shared-pool risk priced in.
- “Provider accounts for a sequencer we keep.” Zapmail, after reading the year-two price.
- “Ownership, no price step, warm-up included.” emailcampaign.ai.
- “We need warm-up from the same vendor.” emailcampaign.ai includes it; Mailforge sells Warmforge at $10; Zapmail has no ongoing warm-up.
- “We may leave in a year.” emailcampaign.ai or Mailforge; Zapmail's payments are not refundable and its pre-warmed accounts are not renewable.
Sources: Mailforge: Mailforge pricing · Mailforge: Mailforge · Mailforge: Reddit thread via Maildoso · Zapmail: Zapmail · Zapmail: Year-two pricing · Zapmail: Review via Infraforge · emailcampaign.ai: Pricing · emailcampaign.ai: Infrastructure ·
Questions, answered straight
- What does Zapmail cost in year two?
- Its pricing page says mailboxes rise to $6, $5.50 or $5 each after the first year plus base fees of $59, $169 or $499 by bundle size. Ten mailboxes go from $39 a month to $119. emailcampaign.ai's Google seats stay at $8.40 with no base fee; Mailforge publishes no step.
- Are Mailforge mailboxes Google or Microsoft?
- Neither. They are Mailforge's own shared-IP SMTP mailboxes. Zapmail and emailcampaign.ai supply Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 accounts; emailcampaign.ai also offers self-hosted servers on dedicated IPs.
- Is warm-up included?
- Mailforge: no, Warmforge is $10 a mailbox a month billed quarterly. Zapmail: no ongoing warm-up; pre-warmed mailboxes are sold separately and are not renewable after twelve months. emailcampaign.ai: included, unlimited, with a maintenance level.
Published 19 September 2026. Updated 19 September 2026. Written by the team that runs the infrastructure; numbers come from the platform's own provisioning and sending, and from the providers' published documentation at the time of writing.