MJML
Ranked 3 of 4 email builders by recommenders
People recommend MJML for building responsive email HTML that handles cross-client quirks so developers do not have to. It is widely described as mature and battle-proven.
People recommend MJML for building responsive email HTML that handles cross-client quirks so developers do not have to. It is widely described as mature and battle-proven.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Handles cross-client email compatibility quirks
“Picking MJML as the output format instead of raw HTML is the move. That's the layer where the cross-client pain has already been solved by people more patient than any of us.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” “MJML was built to abstract all the table-based, Outlook-2007-quirks, Gmail-strips-style nonsense”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” “eliminates almost all the cross-client compatibility quirks”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” - Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer”
Maintainers absorbed the cross-client pain
“The devs maintaining MJML deserve so much credit for dealing with Gmail/Outlook's monopoly bullshit and 2007 html.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Email.md – Markdown to responsive, email-safe HTML” “I think the people who built MJML absorbed an enormous amount of pain so the rest of us don't have to.”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” “the MJML team has laid so much groundwork and it frankly made this project possible”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Email.md – Markdown to responsive, email-safe HTML” Default choice for email output
“always coming back to mjml only”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: Unitpost/email – open-source Email Components and Layouts” “great choice going with MJML”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” “So glad the output is MJML.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer” Mature, battle-proven, well documented
“MJML is the older, more reliable, better documented technology.”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Email.md – Markdown to responsive, email-safe HTML” “rest with MJML is already battle-proven”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Show HN: I built an open-source email builder, alternative to Beefree/Unlayer”
Other email builders people recommend
The three most recommended other email builders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-source email builder SDK | 14 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Email.md | 13 | 3 | 81% | 2 | — | — |
| MJMLThis page | 10 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Unlayer | 6 | 7 | 46% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“always coming back to mjml only”
“rest with MJML is already battle-proven”
“MJML is as close as it gets to works-for-majority”
“I think the people who built MJML absorbed an enormous amount of pain so the rest of us don't have to.”
“great choice going with MJML”
“there are foot guns to be found and the docs won’t mention most of them”
“eliminates almost all the cross-client compatibility quirks”
“So glad the output is MJML.”
“Picking MJML as the output format instead of raw HTML is the move. That's the layer where the cross-client pain has already been solved by people more patient than any of us.”
“MJML was built to abstract all the table-based, Outlook-2007-quirks, Gmail-strips-style nonsense”
“MJML is the older, more reliable, better documented technology.”
“MJML does a good job of simplifying it for most use cases.”
“which has nice VScode plugins for live previews”
“have personally found MJML great for solving the issues you'd run into”
“the MJML team has laid so much groundwork and it frankly made this project possible”
“The devs maintaining MJML deserve so much credit for dealing with Gmail/Outlook's monopoly bullshit and 2007 html.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.