MailCatcher
MailCatcher is a simple, open source email testing tool for developers. It runs a local SMTP server to catch emails sent from web apps during development, allowing developers to preview them in a web interface instead of sending them externally.
email
testing
smtp
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MailCatcher: Simple Email Testing Tools
MailCatcher is an open source email testing tool for developers, allowing them to catch and preview emails in a web interface
What is MailCatcher?
MailCatcher is an open source email testing tool used by developers to test and debug email sending in web applications during development. It runs a simple SMTP server on localhost along with a web interface to display messages sent by your application.
When your application sends an email, MailCatcher will catch it instead of relaying it externally. You can then view that email in the MailCatcher web interface to check formatting, headers, etc. This is helpful for testing and debugging email functionality without needing to setup actual email accounts and servers.
Some key features of MailCatcher include:
- Catches all emails sent to localhost's SMTP server instead of sending externally
- Displays a list of caught emails in a web interface with useful debugging info
- Lets you view full source, headers, attachments for caught emails
- Simple to install and integrate with most frameworks
- Lightweight and runs locally without affecting production
- Free and open source
MailCatcher is commonly used during development of web apps with Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP, Node.js and other languages. It's faster and simpler than mocking SMTP servers and useful for testing email deliverability.
MailCatcher Features
Features
- Catches emails sent from web apps
- Runs a local SMTP server
- Allows previewing emails in a web interface
- Simple and easy to use
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Open source and free
Great for testing emails during development
Prevents sending test emails externally
Easy to set up and use
Cons
Only for development/testing purposes
Limited features compared to full email services
Requires running a local server
Official Links
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