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React Email vs MJML vs Maizzle: Email Template Frameworks (2026)

·PkgPulse Team
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TL;DR

React Email builds emails with React components — JSX syntax, styled components, preview server, integrates with Resend, modern developer experience. MJML is the responsive email markup language — custom tags that compile to responsive HTML, handles email client quirks, the most popular email framework. Maizzle is the Tailwind CSS email framework — write emails with Tailwind utility classes, builds to inlined CSS, template-based, maximum control. In 2026: React Email for React developers, MJML for responsive email templates, Maizzle for Tailwind CSS emails.

Key Takeaways

  • React Email: ~500K weekly downloads — React components, JSX, Resend integration
  • MJML: ~1M weekly downloads — custom markup, responsive, email client compatibility
  • Maizzle: ~50K weekly downloads — Tailwind CSS, utility-first, inlined CSS output
  • All three solve email HTML pain (tables, inline styles, client quirks)
  • React Email has the best DX for React developers
  • MJML has the widest adoption and email client support

React Email

React Email — React components for email:

Basic email

import {
  Html, Head, Body, Container, Section,
  Text, Button, Heading, Hr, Img,
} from "@react-email/components"

export default function WelcomeEmail({ name }: { name: string }) {
  return (
    <Html>
      <Head />
      <Body style={{ backgroundColor: "#f6f9fc", fontFamily: "sans-serif" }}>
        <Container style={{ maxWidth: 600, margin: "0 auto", padding: 20 }}>
          <Img
            src="https://pkgpulse.com/logo.png"
            width={120}
            alt="PkgPulse"
          />
          <Heading style={{ fontSize: 24, color: "#1a1a1a" }}>
            Welcome to PkgPulse, {name}!
          </Heading>
          <Text style={{ fontSize: 16, color: "#374151", lineHeight: 1.6 }}>
            Start comparing npm packages and make better dependency decisions.
          </Text>
          <Hr style={{ borderColor: "#e5e7eb" }} />
          <Button
            href="https://pkgpulse.com/dashboard"
            style={{
              backgroundColor: "#3b82f6",
              color: "white",
              padding: "12px 24px",
              borderRadius: 6,
              textDecoration: "none",
            }}
          >
            Go to Dashboard
          </Button>
        </Container>
      </Body>
    </Html>
  )
}

Render to HTML

import { render } from "@react-email/components"
import WelcomeEmail from "./emails/welcome"

// Render to HTML string:
const html = await render(<WelcomeEmail name="Royce" />)

// Render to plain text:
const text = await render(<WelcomeEmail name="Royce" />, {
  plainText: true,
})

// Send with Resend:
import { Resend } from "resend"
const resend = new Resend(process.env.RESEND_API_KEY)

await resend.emails.send({
  from: "PkgPulse <hello@pkgpulse.com>",
  to: "royce@example.com",
  subject: "Welcome to PkgPulse!",
  react: <WelcomeEmail name="Royce" />,
})

Preview server

# Start the email preview server:
npx react-email dev

# Opens http://localhost:3000 with:
# - Live preview of all email templates
# - Hot reload on file changes
# - Desktop/mobile preview toggle
# - Send test email
# - View HTML source

Tailwind support

import { Tailwind } from "@react-email/components"

export default function StyledEmail() {
  return (
    <Tailwind
      config={{
        theme: {
          extend: {
            colors: { brand: "#3b82f6" },
          },
        },
      }}
    >
      <Html>
        <Body className="bg-gray-100 font-sans">
          <Container className="max-w-xl mx-auto p-5">
            <Heading className="text-2xl font-bold text-gray-900">
              Package Update
            </Heading>
            <Text className="text-base text-gray-600 leading-relaxed">
              New versions are available for your tracked packages.
            </Text>
            <Button
              href="https://pkgpulse.com"
              className="bg-brand text-white px-6 py-3 rounded-md"
            >
              View Updates
            </Button>
          </Container>
        </Body>
      </Html>
    </Tailwind>
  )
}

MJML

MJML — responsive email markup:

Basic email

<mjml>
  <mj-head>
    <mj-attributes>
      <mj-all font-family="Arial, sans-serif" />
    </mj-attributes>
  </mj-head>
  <mj-body background-color="#f6f9fc">
    <mj-section background-color="#ffffff" padding="40px">
      <mj-column>
        <mj-image width="120px" src="https://pkgpulse.com/logo.png" />
        <mj-text font-size="24px" color="#1a1a1a" font-weight="bold">
          Welcome to PkgPulse!
        </mj-text>
        <mj-text font-size="16px" color="#374151" line-height="1.6">
          Start comparing npm packages and make better dependency decisions.
        </mj-text>
        <mj-divider border-color="#e5e7eb" />
        <mj-button
          background-color="#3b82f6"
          color="white"
          border-radius="6px"
          href="https://pkgpulse.com/dashboard"
        >
          Go to Dashboard
        </mj-button>
      </mj-column>
    </mj-section>
  </mj-body>
</mjml>

Multi-column layout

<mjml>
  <mj-body>
    <mj-section>
      <mj-column>
        <mj-text font-weight="bold">react</mj-text>
        <mj-text>25M downloads/week</mj-text>
      </mj-column>
      <mj-column>
        <mj-text font-weight="bold">vue</mj-text>
        <mj-text>5M downloads/week</mj-text>
      </mj-column>
      <mj-column>
        <mj-text font-weight="bold">svelte</mj-text>
        <mj-text>2M downloads/week</mj-text>
      </mj-column>
    </mj-section>
    <!-- Automatically stacks on mobile! -->
  </mj-body>
</mjml>

Compile to HTML

import mjml2html from "mjml"

const { html, errors } = mjml2html(`
  <mjml>
    <mj-body>
      <mj-section>
        <mj-column>
          <mj-text>Hello World</mj-text>
        </mj-column>
      </mj-section>
    </mj-body>
  </mjml>
`)

if (errors.length > 0) {
  console.error("MJML errors:", errors)
}

// html → Full responsive HTML with tables, inline styles, media queries

CLI and tooling

# Compile single file:
mjml input.mjml -o output.html

# Watch mode:
mjml --watch input.mjml -o output.html

# Validate:
mjml --validate input.mjml

# With config:
# .mjmlconfig
{
  "beautify": true,
  "minify": false,
  "validationLevel": "strict"
}

Maizzle

Maizzle — Tailwind CSS email framework:

Basic email

<!-- src/templates/welcome.html -->
<x-main>
  <table class="w-full">
    <tr>
      <td class="bg-gray-100 p-6 sm:p-10">
        <table class="w-150 mx-auto bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md">
          <tr>
            <td class="p-10">
              <img src="https://pkgpulse.com/logo.png" width="120" alt="PkgPulse" />
              <h1 class="text-2xl font-bold text-gray-900 mt-6">
                Welcome to PkgPulse!
              </h1>
              <p class="text-base text-gray-600 leading-relaxed mt-4">
                Start comparing npm packages and make better dependency decisions.
              </p>
              <div class="mt-6">
                <a href="https://pkgpulse.com/dashboard"
                   class="inline-block bg-blue-500 text-white px-6 py-3 rounded-md no-underline">
                  Go to Dashboard
                </a>
              </div>
            </td>
          </tr>
        </table>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</x-main>

Build configuration

// config.js
module.exports = {
  build: {
    templates: {
      source: "src/templates",
      destination: {
        path: "build",
      },
    },
    tailwind: {
      config: "tailwind.config.js",
    },
  },
  inlineCSS: true,       // Inline all CSS
  removeUnusedCSS: true,  // Purge unused styles
  shorthandCSS: true,     // Merge shorthand properties
  prettify: true,          // Format HTML output
}

Layouts and components

<!-- src/layouts/main.html -->
<html>
<head>
  <style>{{{ page.css }}}</style>
</head>
<body class="bg-gray-100">
  <content />
</body>
</html>

<!-- src/components/button.html -->
<a href="{{ href }}"
   class="inline-block bg-blue-500 text-white px-6 py-3 rounded-md font-bold no-underline">
  <content />
</a>

<!-- Usage in template: -->
<x-main>
  <x-button href="https://pkgpulse.com">
    View Dashboard
  </x-button>
</x-main>

Build and preview

# Development (with preview):
npx maizzle serve
# → http://localhost:3000 with live reload

# Production build:
npx maizzle build production
# → Outputs inlined, purged, minified HTML emails

# Build output:
# - CSS inlined on elements
# - Unused CSS removed
# - HTML minified
# - Responsive with media queries

Feature Comparison

FeatureReact EmailMJMLMaizzle
SyntaxJSX (React)Custom markupHTML + Tailwind
ApproachComponent-basedTag-basedUtility-first CSS
Responsive✅✅ (auto)✅ (media queries)
Preview server✅✅ (online editor)✅
CSS inlining✅ (auto)✅ (auto)✅ (auto)
Tailwind CSS✅ (component)❌✅ (core feature)
Components✅ (React)✅ (mj-include)✅ (x-components)
TypeScript✅❌❌
Server rendering✅ (render())✅ (mjml2html)❌ (build-time)
Resend integration✅ (native)❌❌
Email client compatGoodExcellentGood
Learning curveLow (React devs)LowMedium
Weekly downloads~500K~1M~50K

When to Use Each

Use React Email if:

  • Already using React in your stack
  • Want component-based email development
  • Using or planning to use Resend for email delivery
  • Want TypeScript support and modern DX

Use MJML if:

  • Need the best email client compatibility
  • Want automatic responsive layouts
  • Building emails for multiple clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.)
  • Prefer a template language over JavaScript

Use Maizzle if:

  • Love Tailwind CSS and want it in emails
  • Need maximum control over HTML output
  • Building a design system for emails
  • Want utility-first CSS approach

Methodology

Download data from npm registry (weekly average, February 2026). Feature comparison based on @react-email/components v0.0.x, mjml v4.x, and maizzle v5.x.

Compare email tooling and developer utilities on PkgPulse →

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