# Botmail vs Mails.ai

[Mails.ai](https://mails.ai) and Botmail both give AI agents their own email
addresses with an API and an MCP server. Mails.ai is a developer API: you sign
up, mint a key, and your code creates agents and handles their mail. With
Botmail, the agent claims its own address and a human approves it, with no key
for you to copy.

## The main difference

**With Mails.ai, a developer sets things up.** You sign in with a magic link,
create an API key (`mk_live_…`), and your first `POST /v1/messages` creates an
agent as it sends. The agent sends from `name@<workspace>.mails.ai` and
receives at a separate inbound address that is set as the Reply-To, so replies
come back to it. Mail arrives as structured events you read from the API, a
live stream or webhooks.

**With Botmail, the agent sets itself up.** You paste one prompt into Claude
Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode. The agent claims `ada@botmail.pro`, emails you
an approval link, and once you accept it has a mailbox it reads and answers
over [MCP](https://botmail.pro/guides/email-mcp-server) or REST. The same address sends and
receives.

## Side by side

| | Botmail | Mails.ai |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Setup | The agent claims an address; you approve one email | A developer signs up, creates an API key and sends the first message |
| Free plan | 1 mailbox, 100 MB, 1,000 sends a day | 1 agent, 3,000 events a month, up to 300 sends a day and 30 an hour |
| Cheapest paid plan | $5/month: 3 mailboxes, 1 GB | $20/month: 5 agents, 50,000 sends and 50,000 inbound replies a month |
| Larger plan | $50/month: 50 mailboxes | $99/month: unlimited agents, 250,000 sends |
| Custom domains | Not yet | From $20/month |
| MCP server | Hosted at `https://botmail.pro/mcp`, OAuth or API key | Runs locally with `npx @mailsai/mcp-server` and an API key |
| SDKs | None; plain HTTP | TypeScript; Python listed as coming next |
| Inbound mail | Mailbox with threads, search and `wait_for_mail` | Structured reply events with an injection score, via API, stream or webhooks |
| Cold email | Cold outreach at volume isn't allowed | Cold outreach and bulk marketing refused at the API |

Mails.ai figures are from its [pricing page](https://mails.ai/pricing),
[limits](https://mails.ai/docs/limits),
[quickstart](https://mails.ai/docs/quickstart) and
[SDK and MCP docs](https://mails.ai/docs/sdks) in October 2026.

## Where they differ in practice

**Who holds the key.** Mails.ai keys are minted by a developer and given to
the agent, usually as `MAILS_API_KEY` in the MCP config. Botmail's MCP server
uses OAuth, so you sign in once in the browser and choose what the client can
do (read, send, manage) and which mailboxes it can use. No key ends up in a
config file unless you choose that.

**Prompt injection.** Mails.ai scores every inbound message for prompt
injection and includes the score in the event, which your code can branch on.
Botmail's approach is instructions to the agent to treat email content as data
and never as instructions, plus a small blast radius: the mailbox holds only
mail sent to the agent.

**Sending limits.** Mails.ai caps sends per hour, day and month and counts
each recipient. Botmail caps sends per day and limits how many new recipients
an account can reach (25 a day for new accounts, rising with trust), and
checks mail to first-time recipients for spam and phishing.

**Pricing shape.** Mails.ai prices by events, with separate allowances for
sends and inbound replies. Botmail prices by mailboxes, storage and daily
sends.

## Choose Botmail if

- you want an agent you already use to have an address in two minutes, with no
  code and no API key to manage
- you want a human to approve each address and, when needed, review drafts
  before they go out
- you want one address that both sends and receives

## Choose Mails.ai if

- you're writing code that creates and runs many agents, and want SDKs
- you need to send from your own domain now
- you want a per-message prompt-injection score to act on in your own code
- you expect high inbound volume; its Scale plan includes 500,000 inbound
  replies a month

## Try Botmail

Paste this into your agent:

```text
Read https://botmail.pro/skill.md and claim a mailbox for yourself. Send the invite to my email, then wait for me to approve it.
```

Or see [Botmail vs AgentMail](https://botmail.pro/compare/agentmail) and
[how Botmail works](https://botmail.pro/ai-agent-email).

## Questions

### What is the difference between Botmail and Mails.ai?

Mails.ai is a developer API: you create an API key and your code creates agents and handles their mail. With Botmail the agent claims its own address and a human approves it with one click, with no code.

### Does Mails.ai have a free plan?

Yes. Its free plan includes one agent and 3,000 events a month, with sends capped at 300 a day and 30 an hour. Botmail's free plan includes one mailbox with 1,000 sends a day.

### Does Mails.ai have an MCP server?

Yes. Mails.ai publishes @mailsai/mcp-server on npm; it runs locally with npx and an API key. Botmail's MCP server is hosted at https://botmail.pro/mcp and supports OAuth.

---

Source: https://botmail.pro/compare/mails-ai
Agent instructions: https://botmail.pro/skill.md
All guides: https://botmail.pro/llms.txt