EmailQA is a Mailgun Inspect alternative that costs $20 per month for 1,000 real-device renders with no overage charges, compared to Mailgun Inspect's Basic plan at $99 per month for 1,000 previews plus $0.15-per-preview overages. Where EmailQA does meter, on the $99 Business plan, it is $0.05 a render against three times the included volume. It focuses on real-device rendering previews and pin-based reviewer feedback without requiring reviewer accounts, but does not do spam testing or accessibility checks.
Usage-based email QA suite replacing Email on Acid
Best for: Email on Acid customers keeping the full pre-deployment QA suite through the 2026 migration
Email preview & feedback tool
Best for: Teams using the migration moment to switch to flat pricing for rendering, feedback, and approvals
| Feature | Mailgun Inspect | EmailQA |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99/month (Basic, previews only) | Free (14-day Pro trial) |
| Pricing model | Usage-based with overages | $20/mo flat |
| Overage rate | $0.15/preview on every plan | None on Pro; $0.05/render on Business |
| Monthly allowance | 1,000 previews on Basic ($99) | 1,000 renders on Pro ($20) |
| Free plan | No (30-day trial) | Yes (3 projects/month) |
| Email preview | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-device preview | Yes | Yes |
| Real device rendering | Yes | Yes |
| Visual feedback | Not yet (on 2026 roadmap) | Pin & box comments |
| Guest reviewer access | Account needed (unlimited users) | Unlimited, no account |
| ESP integrations | On 2026 roadmap | 9 ESPs on Pro |
| Accessibility check | Premium ($199/mo) | No |
| Spam analysis | Premium ($199/mo) | No |
| Code analysis | Premium ($199/mo) | No |
| Link & image validation | Premium ($199/mo) | Yes |
| Approval workflow | Pre-send QA workflow | Included in trial, then $20/mo |
| Version comparison | Limited | Visual slider |
| Rendering API | Included (usage-based) | $99/mo Business, 3,000 renders shared with the app |
We would rather you pick the right tool than the cheap one. Stay with Mailgun Inspect if:
Mailgun Inspect is the email QA suite replacing Email on Acid. Starting June 2026, Email on Acid subscription customers are being migrated to Inspect, with annual and contract customers moving at the end of their current term. Inspect keeps the core QA tools (email previews, accessibility checks, spam analysis, link and image validation, code analysis) but switches to usage-based pricing with no free plan: after a 30-day free trial, Basic is $99/month for 1,000 previews (previews only) and Premium is $199/month for 2,000 previews plus the QA checks, with $0.15 for each preview over the cap.
Yes. EmailQA Pro is $20/month flat, with a 14-day free Pro trial and no credit card required. Mailgun Inspect starts at $99/month for previews only (Basic), or $199/month with the QA checks (Premium), plus $0.15 for each preview past your cap. Switching saves a small team roughly $950/year versus a $99/month plan, and Pro has no overage at all — nothing to be surprised by.
Pro ($20/month) includes 1,000 real-device renders a month — one render is one email client, with light and dark counting as one, so that is about 83 full checks across every client. Pro has no overage at all: if you run out, rendering waits for the 1st and everything else keeps working. Only Business ($99/month, 3,000 renders) bills overage, at $0.05 a render — a third of Mailgun Inspect's $0.15. Mailgun meters previews on every plan and charges overages beyond your cap.
For rendering, previews, and team review, yes. EmailQA covers real device rendering on Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and more in Light Mode and Dark Mode, plus pin-based comments, no-account guest review, version comparison, and approval workflows. It does not replace Inspect's spam analysis, accessibility checks, or code analysis, which are on its $199 Premium plan. If those audits are required in your process, some teams keep Inspect for the audit step and use EmailQA for everything else.
Not yet. Mailgun's guide to migrating from Email on Acid lists commenting and flagging, an in-app code editor and ESP integrations as coming in 2026, and none had shipped as of September 2026. EmailQA has pin-based comments, no-account guest review, per-version approvals and imports from 9 ESPs today.
Mailgun Inspect is the better choice if: You need the automated audit suite on the Premium plan ($199/mo): accessibility checks, spam analysis and code analysis; Your preview volume fits comfortably inside the plan caps, so usage pricing stays predictable; You want to keep the Email on Acid QA workflow your team already knows through the migration. For teams that mainly need rendering previews and stakeholder review, EmailQA covers that for $20/month flat.