HTML email blog
Eleven long-form guides on designing, coding and sending HTML email. Each one answers a single question, links the vendor pages it relies on, and names what it could not verify.
The blog splits into two halves. The first is about the email itself: which builder or framework produces it, which CSS survives, which clients break it. The second is about everything behind it: which provider sends it, how transactional and marketing mail are kept apart, how Stripe events become messages, how a trial user is welcomed. Pick the half that matches the problem you have today, then the article that matches the question.
Building the email
For the person who owns the template: which tool, which CSS, which client.
The HTML email builder guide
Fifteen builders, frameworks, embedded editors and testers sorted by who owns the handoff, with a month of cost on four realistic stacks and a 90-minute pilot.
CSS in email
Fourteen tools matched to a CSS job (frameworks, visual builders, inliners, render tests) and a short list of rules for properties that survive production.
Responsive email design
Fifteen tools profiled by how they handle media queries and fluid layouts, plus what to test before committing to one.
Email client compatibility
How to pick a client matrix, score a two-week pilot and decide which of fourteen tools gives you the coverage you need.
Dark mode email design
A client-by-client table from caniemail.com for four dark-mode features, a starter code pattern and what the builders' dark previews can and cannot show.
HTML email accessibility
Semantic structure, alt text, contrast and link wording for developers, with a QA matrix to run before each release.
Sending the email
For the person who owns the stack behind the template: provider, streams, triggers.
Email deliverability
Authentication, reputation monitoring, inbox testing and sending infrastructure, covered through fifteen tools and a 30-day pilot.
Transactional vs marketing email
The FTC's test for sorting SaaS messages, what Google asks of marketing mail, and what a split stack costs across thirteen sending tools.
How to choose an email tool
Start from the category (API, marketing platform or lifecycle tool), then shortlist from thirteen options with a procurement checklist and a two-week pilot.
Stripe and email
What billing events make possible in email (revenue attribution, churn signals, segmentation), when a custom integration beats a native one, and what to look for.
SaaS onboarding sequences
A five-email framework for trials, the behavioural triggers that should change it, and subject-line and measurement advice.
Which article answers which question
| If you are asking | Read | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Which builder should my team use? | html-email-builder-guide | then css-in-email-guide if developers own the code |
| Why does my email look wrong in Outlook? | email-client-compatibility-guide | and css-in-email-guide for the property-level cause |
| Will my email work on phones? | responsive-email-design-guide | checks media queries and fluid layouts |
| What happens to my colours in dark mode? | dark-mode-email-design | client support table plus a starter pattern |
| Can screen-reader users read it? | html-email-accessibility | structure, alt text, contrast, links |
| Why do my emails land in spam? | email-deliverability-guide | authentication first, tools second |
| Are my receipts and my newsletter allowed on the same setup? | transactional-vs-marketing-email | classification, legal pointers, stream split |
| Which sender or lifecycle tool fits my product? | how-to-choose-email-tool | category first, vendor second |
| How do I email people after a Stripe event? | stripe-email-integration | native versus custom |
| What should a trial user receive in week one? | saas-onboarding-email-sequences | the five-email sequence |
Beyond the blog
When you already know the two tools you are weighing, skip the guides and open a head-to-head under Compare. When you are leaving a tool, the alternatives pages cover who to switch to and what the move involves. The audience pages pick tools for a specific kind of team, and the tools directory lists what the site covers. The same guides exist in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese, each written for readers of that language rather than translated sentence by sentence: see Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, 日本語 and Português.
FAQ
Where do the prices in these articles come from?
From each vendor's own pricing page, read on the date shown in the article byline, with the plan name and limit quoted as the vendor words it. Where a vendor publishes no price, the article says so and gives none. Screenshots on comparison pages are captures of the live pricing page with the date in the caption.
How do you know which email clients support a CSS feature?
The CSS and dark-mode articles take support data from caniemail.com and link the feature page next to each claim. If a client is not in that data, the article does not say anything about it.
Do you test the tools you write about?
No. The editor reads vendor documentation, pricing pages and changelogs, and says so. Where a statement rests on a vendor's own description, the text says it is the vendor's description. The how-we-evaluate page lists the rules, including the disclosure about the one sponsored partner.