A Parcel alternative for emails you write in your own editor
Emailens checks your email before your client opens it: a free account gives live previews across all 21 inboxes (five without an account); real screenshots from $19 a month. It has no shared editor for writing emails in the browser.
No signup · Five clients free, Outlook Classic included · All 21 with an account
The checker needs a computer screen.
Parcel is the better tool if
- You want to write emails in a shared editor in the browser. Emailens checks the email you write in your own editor or framework.
Emailens is the better tool if
- You write emails in code (HTML, React Email, MJML or Maizzle) and want to see which CSS fails in which client, with the engine's fix (Free).
- You want a pull request to fail when an email breaks in Outlook (GitHub Action, Pro).
- Your AI coding assistant writes emails and should check them before it hands them over (MCP server, Free).
- You want real-client screenshots when they matter, not on every save (real-device checks, Dev + Real).
Do you keep real screenshots? Yes, metered.
A real-device check screenshots your email in real Outlook on Windows and Mac, Apple Mail on Mac and iPad, Gmail and Yahoo on the web and Android, and Proton: 20 checks a month on Dev + Real, 50 on Pro + Real. Here is the Emailens probe for one feature on real installs, beside our live preview.
Works in 16 of 21 · partial in 4 · not supported in 1
Three clients, picked by one rule: the one where border-radius is not supported, one where it is partial, one where it works. Where it is supported you should see rounded corners.
caniemail: border-radius is not supported in Outlook Classic.
caniemail: border-radius is partly supported in Yahoo Mail.
Partial support. Shorthand for setting elliptical borders with the slash / notation is not supported e.g. border-radius: 27% 73% 70% 30% / 30% 34% 66% 70%;.
caniemail: border-radius works in Outlook 365.
This Outlook.com install drops the <style> in the head, so only inline styles apply.
Also captured, not counted as evidence (3)
- Outlook for Microsoft 365 · not mapped to an engine client yet Real screenshot
- Outlook 2019 for Mac (legacy app) · not counted as Outlook for Mac Real screenshot
This is the legacy Outlook for Mac app. The new Outlook for Mac, which the table describes, drops gradients, grid sizing functions, var() and more.
- Gmail (web) · not counted as Gmail Real screenshot
This Gmail install does not apply Gmail's sanitiser, so it shows more than real Gmail does.
Every account includes one free real-device check in classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac and Apple Mail, after you verify your email and run one preview, while this month's free capacity lasts. How real-device checks work →
The fix for Outlook Classic
Use VML to render rounded buttons in Outlook
<!--[if mso]>
<v:roundrect xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
href="https://example.com"
style="height:44px; v-text-anchor:middle; width:200px;"
arcsize="14%" strokecolor="#6d28d9" fillcolor="#6d28d9">
<w:anchorlock/>
<center style="color:#fff; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
font-size:14px; font-weight:bold;">Click Here</center>
</v:roundrect>
<![endif]-->
<!--[if !mso]><! -->
<a href="https://example.com"
style="background-color: #6d28d9; color: #fff;
padding: 12px 32px; border-radius: 6px;
text-decoration: none; display: inline-block;">
Click Here
</a>
<!-- <![endif]-->Show the original
<a href="https://example.com"
style="background-color: #6d28d9; color: #fff;
padding: 12px 32px; border-radius: 6px;
text-decoration: none; display: inline-block;">
Click Here
</a>The checker needs a computer screen.
A free account opens all 21 clients and keeps your checks for 7 days. Create a free account →
What it costs
- Parcel Community · 50 emails $0
- Parcel Pro · unlimited emails $29 per user a month
- Parcel Business · unlimited workspaces $56 per user a month
- Parcel Inbox Previews · 500 previews, pay as you go $49
Read at Their pricing page on 11 Nov 2026
Emailens, by what you need
A free account: 30 checks a day in all 21 clients, kept for 7 days.
- Real-client screenshots
Dev + Real is $19 a month, with 20 real-device checks a month. Real-device plans →
- The pull-request gate in CI
GitHub Action (Pro). Pro is $19 a month. The pre-send gate in CI, and the history behind every check. See the plans →
- Both
Pro + Real is $39 a month, with 50 real-device checks a month.
- Sandbox SMTP and the API
Sandbox SMTP (Dev). Dev is $9 a month. Share links for your client's sign-off, a test inbox and an API key. See the plans →
Dev + Real and Pro cost the same: one adds real-client screenshots, the other the pull-request gate in CI.
Row by row
- Capability
- Emailens
- Parcel
- Rendering check
- Every email in a live preview of all 21 clients (Free; five without an account)
- Parcel: Inbox Previews across device and platform combinations.checked 11 Nov 2026
- Real-client screenshots
- Real Outlook on Windows and Mac, Apple Mail on Mac and iPad, Gmail and Yahoo on the web and Android, and Proton: 20 checks a month (Dev + Real), 50 (Pro + Real); one free check in classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac and Apple Mail with an account
- Parcel: Says its inbox previews come from real devices, apps and clients.checked 11 Nov 2026
- Which CSS fails where, and the fix
- Per-client findings with the engine's fix (Free)
- Parcel: Shows Can I Email support data for HTML and CSS in its editor.checked 11 Nov 2026
- Pull-request gate
- GitHub Action (Pro)
- Parcel: not checked
- AI coding assistants
- MCP server (Free)
- Parcel: not checked
- Test inbox
- A private @try address (Free); sandbox SMTP and API (Dev)
- Parcel: A unique workspace email address: send a test from your ESP to it and the email is imported into Parcel.checked 12 Nov 2026
- Shared editor in the browser
- Not offered
- Parcel: A code editor a team can edit together in real time.checked 11 Nov 2026
Moving over from Parcel
- Create a free account and check an email you sent with Parcel, in all 21 clients.
- Add the GitHub Action, so a pull request fails when an email breaks (Pro).
- Point your AI assistant at the MCP server, or run the CLI in your terminal.
Questions
- What do I lose moving from Parcel?
- A shared editor in the browser. Emailens checks the email wherever you write it, in your editor, terminal, pull requests or AI assistant, but it is not the place you write it.
- Can I try Emailens without paying?
- Yes. The checker needs no signup: five clients, 3 checks a day, results kept for an hour. A free account opens all 21 clients and keeps your checks for 7 days. It allows 30 checks a day. Every account includes one free real-device check in classic Outlook, Outlook for Mac and Apple Mail, after you verify your email and run one preview, while this month's free capacity lasts.
- Which plan does the GitHub Action need?
- Pro. The Action's pre-send gate is a Pro feature: on Free and Dev it answers "The pre-send gate is available on the Pro plan."
Sources
- Parcel (Rendering check): parcel.io/platform/previews ↗, read 11 Nov 2026.
- Parcel (Real-client screenshots): parcel.io/docs/preview/inbox-preview ↗, read 11 Nov 2026.
- Parcel (Which CSS fails where, and the fix): parcel.io/docs/editor/can-i-email ↗, read 11 Nov 2026.
- Parcel (Test inbox): parcel.io/solutions/esp/sendgrid ↗, read 12 Nov 2026.
- Parcel (Shared editor in the browser): parcel.io/pricing ↗, read 11 Nov 2026.
- A row that reads "not checked" has no source yet. Where we say Parcel is the better tool, that is our reading of what it is built for, not a checked feature list. We list competitor prices only with a source and the date we checked. Their pricing page ↗
- Emailens plans and prices: pricing; real installs and the probe: real-device checks.
- Something here wrong about Parcel? Write to contact@emailens.dev.
Real captures 14 Oct 2026 on 10 installs · caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22 · tested upstream 9 Mar 2021 · data last changed 10 Nov 2026
Check an email you sent with Parcel
No signup · Five clients free, Outlook Classic included · All 21 with an account
The checker needs a computer screen.
A free account opens all 21 clients and keeps your checks for 7 days. Create a free account →
Your next question
- Does border-radius work in Outlook Classic?
Works in 16 of 21 · partial in 4 · not supported in 1
fix - How do real-device checks work?
- Which plan do I need?
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