React Email Builder That Ships Faster

Design, preview, and export production-ready emails in your own app with full ownership.

For product teams and SaaS builders

Add a modern email editor without vendor lock-in

Use GrapesJS and React to launch a white-label email experience your users actually enjoy. Build templates visually, keep your data in your stack, and export clean HTML for any provider.

Launch Snapshot

Production Ready

Setup Time

< 30 min

Core Cost

$0 license

Export Format

HTML + CSS

Rendering

MJML ready

22k+
GrapesJS Stars
100+
Plugin Options
MIT
Open License
10y+
Battle Tested

What your users get on day one

Visual template composer

Drag blocks, edit copy inline, and create reusable sections without touching code.

Responsive previews

Switch between desktop and mobile previews to catch layout issues before send.

Brand consistency

Lock logos, colors, and legal footers while still giving customers creative freedom.

Safe collaboration

Control who can edit, approve, and publish templates inside your existing account model.

Clean export pipeline

Send generated HTML/CSS into your ESP, queue worker, or campaign service automatically.

No licensing traps

Self-host and scale without per-seat editor fees eating your margin.

Implementation blueprint

View React integration details

1. Mount the editor

Create a client-side wrapper component and initialize GrapesJS in useEffect with newsletter preset.

2. Sync content state

Listen for change events and store HTML/CSS as drafts in your API for autosave and history.

3. Add team controls

Enable role-based publishing so marketers can edit while admins manage locked sections.

4. Deliver at scale

Push exported templates to your campaign pipeline and run test sends before production release.

Quick start

This starter snippet gives you a working React email editor with live export hooks.

React + GrapesJS starter
import { useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
import grapesjs from 'grapesjs';
import grapesjsNewsletter from 'grapesjs-preset-newsletter';
import 'grapesjs/dist/css/grapes.min.css';

export default function EmailEditor({ onChange }) {
  const editorRef = useRef(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const editor = grapesjs.init({
      container: editorRef.current,
      plugins: [grapesjsNewsletter],
      pluginsOpts: {
        [grapesjsNewsletter]: {},
      },
      storageManager: false,
    });

    editor.on('change:changesCount', () => {
      onChange?.({
        html: editor.getHtml(),
        css: editor.getCss(),
      });
    });

    return () => editor.destroy();
  }, []);

  return <div ref={editorRef} style={{ height: '600px' }} />;
}

Recommended plugin stack

Start lean, then add capabilities your customers ask for most.

🧩
EmailFree

MJML Newsletter Preset

React-ready MJML email builder

⚙️
ReactFree

React Email Wrapper

Drop-in React component for email editing

📦
BlocksFree

Email Block Library

Header, footer, CTA, and content blocks

📤
ExportFree

HTML Exporter

Export inlined HTML for any ESP

📱
UIFree

Responsive Preview

Test at mobile, tablet, and desktop sizes

🌙
StylesFree

Dark Mode Emails

Automatic dark mode media query support

Decision matrix: GrapesJS vs Unlayer

FeatureGrapesJS + GJS.MarketUnlayer (react-email-editor)
Open source✓ MIT✗ Proprietary
PricingFree$149–$2,499/mo
MJML support
Self-hosted✗ Hosted only
Custom blocksUnlimitedLimited
White-label✓ Free✓ Paid plans only

High-impact use cases

Email SaaS

Build a standalone email template builder as a SaaS product with subscription billing.

CRM platform

Embed an email designer inside your CRM so users can create campaigns without leaving your app.

Marketing platform

Add a template editor to your email marketing tool and let users design their own newsletters.

Pre-launch checklist for teams

Configure autosave and template versioning

Set brand-safe locked sections (header/footer/legal)

Test Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail rendering

Create approval flow before campaign publish

Track block usage analytics to improve defaults

Prepare fallback text for image-heavy templates

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to launch?

Build your email experience this week

Pick your starter plugin stack, connect your editor, and ship a branded template workflow your users trust.