Skip to content
Comparison

An open-source alternative to Unlayer

Both put a drag-and-drop email editor inside your product. They differ on who runs the editor, how far you can extend it before hitting a cap, and whether the output is yours to render. Everything below is checkable against public sources.

Open playgroundRead the docs

Templatical vs Unlayer

  • Pricing

    Templatical

    No fee, on any tier

    Unlayer

    Free tier, then $250, $750 or $2,000 per month, plus Enterprise

  • Domain limits

    Templatical

    None. Run it on as many domains as you like.

    Unlayer

    1 domain on Free and Launch, 3 on Scale and Optimize

  • Custom block types

    Templatical

    Unlimited, defined in your own code

    Unlayer

    Capped custom tools: 1 on Launch, 3 on Scale, 5 on Optimize

  • Reusable saved blocks

    Templatical

    Unlimited, stored wherever you choose

    Unlayer

    Custom blocks from Scale ($750/mo) up

  • White-labelling

    Templatical

    Default. No branding to remove.

    Unlayer

    From Launch ($250/mo) up

  • Who runs the editor

    Templatical

    You. The editor ships in your bundle and runs in your page

    Unlayer

    Unlayer. The embed loads the editor from their CDN; self-hosting is an Enterprise option

  • Runtime activation

    Templatical

    None. No project ID, no domain allowlist, no call to us.

    Unlayer

    A project ID with allowlisted domains for production use

  • Source access

    Templatical

    Full source in a public repository

    Unlayer

    The React wrapper is MIT; the editor it loads is not published

  • Licence

    Templatical

    FSL-1.1-MIT, converting to MIT two years after each release

    Unlayer

    Commercial subscription

  • Scope

    Templatical

    Email only

    Unlayer

    Email, pages, popups and documents

  • AMP email

    Templatical

    Not supported, and not planned

    Unlayer

    From Optimize ($2,000/mo) up

  • Output format

    Templatical

    MJML and JSON

    Unlayer

    HTML and their own design JSON

Best fit

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 the editor billed by tier or limited by how many domains you run it on.
  • You expect to add more than a handful of custom block types. Templatical does not cap them; Unlayer allows 1 to 5 depending on plan.
  • You want the editor running in your own bundle without an Enterprise contract to get it there.
  • You want portable output. Templatical exports MJML, an open standard with an MIT implementation you can run yourself; an Unlayer template is their design JSON, rendered by their engine.
  • You want the full source, and a licence that becomes MIT two years after each release.

Choose Unlayer if

  • You need pages, popups and documents as well as email. Templatical is email-only and intends to stay that way.
  • You would rather someone else operated the editor, with hosting and uptime handled for you.
  • You send AMP email. Templatical has no AMP support and no plans to add it.
  • You want a built-in image editor and stock images. Unlayer includes stock images on every plan and the image editor from Launch ($250/mo) up.
  • You want a commercial vendor behind the editor, with a dedicated customer success manager on their Enterprise tier.

Already on Unlayer? Bring your templates

Templatical ships an MIT-licensed converter for Unlayer templates, so an evaluation starts from your real designs rather than a blank canvas.

Open playgroundRead the docs
Read the Unlayer migration guide

Verified on 8 August 2026 against react-email-editor 2.0.0 as published on npm, and the plans listed at unlayer.com 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:unlayer.com/pricingdocs.unlayer.comnpm: react-email-editor

Unlayer 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 Unlayer does better. If anything here is out of date or wrong, open an issue.