An open-source alternative to Chamaileon SDK
Both put a drag-and-drop email editor inside your product. Chamaileon runs its editor in an iframe it serves, meters both your users and your exports, and needs a token to start. Everything below is checkable against public sources.
Templatical vs Chamaileon SDK
| Feature | Templatical | Chamaileon SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | No fee, on any tier | Free Starter, then $200 or $600 per month, plus Enterprise |
| What is metered | Nothing. No counter on users, templates or exports. | Two counters at once — monthly active users and generator calls |
| Monthly active users | Unlimited | 10 on Starter, 200 on Standard, 1,000 on Scale |
| Export limits | None. Render as often as you like. | Generator calls: 100, 500 or 15,000 per month. Each HTML export counts as one, and they budget 2–3 per campaign for review and QA |
| How it mounts | In your page, in a shadow root you control | In an iframe they serve, after fetching config from their servers |
| Runtime activation | None. No token, no config fetch, no call to us. | An access token you mint, refreshed roughly every 24 hours |
| White-labelling | Default. No branding to remove. | Included on every plan |
| Headless rendering | The MIT renderer runs anywhere, with no service and no limit | Available via their API; each export counts against generator calls |
| Source access | Full source in a public repository | The npm shim ships under their own terms; the editor it loads is not published |
| Licence | FSL-1.1-MIT, converting to MIT two years after each release | Commercial subscription |
| Output format | MJML and JSON | HTML and their own JSON |
Pricing
TemplaticalNo fee, on any tier
Chamaileon SDKFree Starter, then $200 or $600 per month, plus Enterprise
What is metered
TemplaticalNothing. No counter on users, templates or exports.
Chamaileon SDKTwo counters at once — monthly active users and generator calls
Monthly active users
TemplaticalUnlimited
Chamaileon SDK10 on Starter, 200 on Standard, 1,000 on Scale
Export limits
TemplaticalNone. Render as often as you like.
Chamaileon SDKGenerator calls: 100, 500 or 15,000 per month. Each HTML export counts as one, and they budget 2–3 per campaign for review and QA
How it mounts
TemplaticalIn your page, in a shadow root you control
Chamaileon SDKIn an iframe they serve, after fetching config from their servers
Runtime activation
TemplaticalNone. No token, no config fetch, no call to us.
Chamaileon SDKAn access token you mint, refreshed roughly every 24 hours
White-labelling
TemplaticalDefault. No branding to remove.
Chamaileon SDKIncluded on every plan
Headless rendering
TemplaticalThe MIT renderer runs anywhere, with no service and no limit
Chamaileon SDKAvailable via their API; each export counts against generator calls
Source access
TemplaticalFull source in a public repository
Chamaileon SDKThe npm shim ships under their own terms; the editor it loads is not published
Licence
TemplaticalFSL-1.1-MIT, converting to MIT two years after each release
Chamaileon SDKCommercial subscription
Output format
TemplaticalMJML and JSON
Chamaileon SDKHTML and their own JSON
Which one you should pick
The table is the detail; this is the decision. If a reason in the right column is a requirement for you, buy their product — it is the better fit and we would rather you knew.
Choose Templatical if
- You do not want two meters running — one on how many people open the editor, another on how many times you export.
- You want the editor in your own page and stylable with your own tokens, rather than inside an iframe served by someone else.
- You need the editor to start without a token and a config fetch from a third party.
- You want portable output. Templatical exports MJML, an open standard with an MIT implementation you can run yourself.
- You want the full source, and a licence that becomes MIT two years after each release.
Choose Chamaileon SDK if
- You want to embed the pieces separately — editor, preview, gallery, variable editor — rather than one editor component.
- You manage many brands and want a brand design system enforcing fonts, colours and logos across them.
- You want an asset gallery shipped as part of the SDK. Chamaileon has one; Templatical expects you to supply the picker.
- You would rather someone else operated the editor, with hosting and uptime handled for you.
- You want a commercial vendor with a named technical contact on their Enterprise tier rather than an open-source project.
Try it before you weigh any of this
The playground runs the real editor with no signup. If it does not fit your product, none of the rest matters.
Verified on 8 August 2026 against @chamaileon-sdk/plugins 1.1.5 as published on npm, and the plans listed at chamaileon.io on that date. Pricing and features change — check their site for current terms.
“Not documented” means we found no mention of the capability in their public documentation or marketing on the verification date, not that it is impossible to build.
Sources:chamaileon.io/sdknpm: @chamaileon-sdk/plugins
Chamaileon is a trademark of its respective owner. This page is maintained by Templatical and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by them.
This page is a snapshot, not a standing claim — including what we say Chamaileon SDK does better. If anything here is out of date or wrong, open an issue.