GemMail

GemMail is a Brazilian email marketing tool built on a "Do it Yourself" model: it manages lists, templates, campaigns, automation and reports, while the actual sending runs through SMTP servers or sending APIs that the customer connects. The home page puts it as "Orquestre sua infra de email marketing em um único lugar" (orchestrate your email marketing infrastructure in one place) and promises to "Integre SES, Elasticemail, SendGrid, Brevo e múltiplos SMTPs em uma única plataforma com balanceamento inteligente e máxima entregabilidade" (integrate SES, Elastic Email, SendGrid, Brevo and multiple SMTPs in one platform with smart load balancing and maximum deliverability). The site is in Portuguese, prices are in Brazilian reais, and the footer credits the site to Rapt SEO.

The company names its intended users: digital agencies, website and app developers, small and medium businesses in all sectors, digital product creators (infoprodutores) and independent professionals who own a domain. For agencies it promises managing campaigns for several brands and clients at once, multiple sending servers and team access control.

How sending works

The core idea is that GemMail does not require a single sending service. Its FAQ is direct about it: for a campaign to go out, the customer must set up a delivery server (SMTP), "que pode ser da Hospedagem do seu Domínio, ou contratado externamente, ou alguma API de nossos parceiros" (which can come from your domain's hosting, be contracted externally, or be one of our partners' APIs), and the FAQ says there are more than 15 partner APIs. On DIY plans, configuring a server is mandatory. Any SMTP account can be used, and the FAQ lists API integrations with Mailgun, SendGrid, Elastic Email, Pepipost, Sendinblue, Postmastery SMTP, mySMTP.com, Tipimail, SparkPost, Postal, Mailjet, Dyn, Leadersend, Mandrill, MailerQ, Pickup Directory, Amazon SMTP and Amazon SES. The platform will not send through Gmail, Outlook, Live or Yahoo SMTP accounts: the sender must use an SMTP on the company's own domain or one of the APIs.

Load balancing is the selling point. On DIY plans a sender can split sending across all the delivery servers configured, and the FAQ gives the example of 4 servers offering 25, 7, 8 and 15 rotating IPs, spreading one campaign across 55 IPs. The home page adds a case in which GemMail built a mix of sending servers on several APIs for a customer and reports a 78% open rate.

For customers who do not want to configure anything, the Smart SMTP plans use GemMail's own sending: they are meant for companies with high volumes that "não querem ter de configurar servidores dos nossos parceiros" (do not want to set up our partners' servers), and the company says it will help set everything up end to end.

Setup is documented step by step. A tutorial walks through creating a delivery server under Servers, choosing SMTP, entering the details the way one would in an email client, validating the server and activating it from a confirmation email. It explains that SMTP ports are usually 25, 587 or 465, and shows how to find a hosting provider's SMTP hostname by checking the domain's SPF and MX records or looking in cPanel.

Campaigns, lists and automation

In the platform, a sender segments leads, creates, schedules and sends personalized campaigns, and follows delivery, open and click reports in real time. Segmentation uses custom fields and actions such as clicks and campaign results. Every field of a list or form can be used as variable data in a message, beyond the sender name. Campaign automation sends email through campaign triggers or through the API, and autoresponder campaigns (Resposta Automática) are supported. Forms come from a built-in form generator, and there is a plugin for Elementor.

The Template Builder is a drag-and-drop editor based on grape.js, and a new builder is in testing: for now it exports HTML or a ZIP file that is pasted into a GemMail template, and templates can also be edited in a simple HTML editor.

For developers, "Sim, possuímos API REST e Webhooks em listas e campanhas" (yes, we have a REST API and webhooks on lists and campaigns), and the documentation is requested from a consultant.

Free tools

GemMail publishes free tools alongside the product: an SMTP Tester that checks a server's response, ports, authentication and encryption "sem custo, sem cadastro e sem armazenar dados" (at no cost, without signup and without storing data), plus generators for DMARC, SPF, DKIM and QR codes, and MX and DMARC lookups. The blog covers DMARC, BIMI and setting up delivery servers.

Plans and prices

All plans are valid for 30 days: when the period or the send quota runs out, the plan must be renewed. New customers are on subscriptions since 2024, and payments are by credit card through Stripe; the older one-off and PayPal options were dropped.

GemMail Free ("o plano 0800") costs nothing and needs no credit card: 12,000 sends and 3,000 contacts, 20 campaigns, 5 contact lists, 2 delivery servers, 1 domain, 2 simultaneous campaigns, a bounce server, DKIM, SPF and DMARC keys, the form generator, the Template Builder and scheduling. Each person can hold one free account, and the sender must configure an SMTP server before sending.

The DIY plans (monthly):

• Small: R$ 29 and 90 centavos for 60,000 sends and 12,000 contacts, 50 campaigns, 50 lists, 5 delivery servers, 2 domains, 8 simultaneous campaigns.
• Business (marked best seller): R$ 69 and 90 centavos for 300,000 sends and 60,000 contacts, 100 campaigns, 10 delivery servers, 5 domains, 12 simultaneous campaigns.
• Growth: R$ 149 and 90 centavos for 1,500,000 sends and 300,000 contacts, 250 campaigns, 15 delivery servers, 7 domains, 20 simultaneous campaigns.
• Hacker: R$ 499 and 90 centavos for 7,500,000 sends and 1,500,000 contacts, 500 campaigns, 25 delivery servers, 10 domains, 30 simultaneous campaigns.

Paid DIY plans add webhooks and the GemMail API. The Smart SMTP plans, with GemMail's own sending: Smart SMTP 100k at R$ 169, 250k at R$ 409 and 90 centavos, 500k at R$ 819, and 1MI (1,000,000 sends and contacts) at R$ 1497 and 90 centavos a month, with between 1 and 4 domains and 15 to 40 simultaneous campaigns. Custom plans start with a form and a consultant. The home page also advertises a Hacker plan with Elastic Email as the sending server at "R$ 499,90 + $949,00 USD / mês".

Support

Support runs through chat and WhatsApp, with tutorials on the blog; the site tells beginners not to be shy and to ask support in the chat.

Who it suits

GemMail suits Brazilian senders who are comfortable connecting their own sending: agencies that want several clients, domains and servers in one panel, developers who want an API and webhooks, and volume senders who want to pay for their own SMTP or API service and spread load across IPs. The free plan covers a list of up to 3,000 contacts. Someone who wants a platform that simply sends, with no server setup, should look at the Smart SMTP plans rather than the DIY tiers.