Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) vs Retarus Transactional Email

Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill)8.3Visit Retarus Transactional Email6.8Visit

Higher score Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) #3 in Transactional Email Software 8.3/10 From $20 ✓ 2 of 2 features Visit Mailchimp

vs

Retarus Transactional Email #8 in Transactional Email Software 6.8/10 Pricing on request ✓ 2 of 2 features Visit Retarus

• Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) fits best

  High-volume transactional sending with predictable blocks

• Retarus Transactional Email fits best

  Enterprise teams needing compliance-oriented delivery

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Side by side

Feature	Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) 8.3/10 Visit ↗	Retarus Transactional Email 6.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.3	6.8
Ranking	#3 in Transactional Email Software	#8 in Transactional Email Software
Best for	High-volume transactional sending with predictable blocks	Enterprise teams needing compliance-oriented delivery
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	—	Not published
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Browser extension
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Docs	Phone, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Enterprise, Mid-market
Features Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) 2/2 · Retarus Transactional Email 2/2
Event webhooks	✓	✓
Dedicated IP option	✓	✓
Specs
Delivery methods	Both	Both
Template options	Both	Not published
Delivery log retention	30 days	Not published
Monthly send limit	25000 emails/mo	Not published
Our review
Pros	Supports both transactional API and SMTP sending Includes templates, dynamic content, webhooks, and inbound processing Per-block pricing falls from $20 to $10 at 161+ blocks	Supports both REST API and SMTP delivery methods Includes callbacks, webhooks, monitoring, and delivery reporting Offers enforced TLS, dedicated IPs, and enterprise integrations
Cons	No permanent free plan Requires a Mailchimp account Email content is retained for 30 days	Contact-sales pricing makes budget comparison less direct Delivery-log retention varies between monitoring and reporting functions The enterprise focus may exceed the needs of simpler sending programs
Our verdict	Mailchimp Transactional, formerly Mandrill, is a cloud email delivery service for developers sending personalized, event-driven messages. Its use cases include password resets, order confirmations, welcome emails, and outage alerts.… Read the review →	Retarus Transactional Email is an enterprise service for sending high-volume transactional messages from business applications. It supports REST API and SMTP delivery, making it suitable for teams connecting modern applications,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill) — where it wins

  • Supports both transactional API and SMTP sending
  • Includes templates, dynamic content, webhooks, and inbound processing
  • Per-block pricing falls from $20 to $10 at 161+ blocks

  Where it doesn't

  • No permanent free plan
  • Requires a Mailchimp account
  • Email content is retained for 30 days

• Retarus Transactional Email — where it wins

  • Supports both REST API and SMTP delivery methods
  • Includes callbacks, webhooks, monitoring, and delivery reporting
  • Offers enforced TLS, dedicated IPs, and enterprise integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Contact-sales pricing makes budget comparison less direct
  • Delivery-log retention varies between monitoring and reporting functions
  • The enterprise focus may exceed the needs of simpler sending programs

• Mailchimp Transactional (formerly Mandrill)8.3/10 · From $20

  A paid transactional email service with API, SMTP, templates, and volume pricing.

  Visit MailchimpFull verdict →
• Retarus Transactional Email6.8/10 · Pricing on request

  A compliance-oriented delivery service for complex enterprise messaging environments.

  Visit RetarusFull verdict →