How Proofel compares
There are many ways to gather feedback on a design. Here is what sets Proofel apart when the design is an email campaign that needs a confident sign-off.
Built for email, not generic files
Proofel reviews the rendered HTML email itself — device widths, client lenses, dark mode, links, contrast, and file size — rather than treating it as a flat image or PDF.
Pixel-pinned feedback on the design
Comments attach to the exact element they are about, so feedback is unambiguous and stays with the design across versions and reviewers.
No login for reviewers
Clients and stakeholders open one link, enter a name, and comment or approve. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
Real approvals with an audit trail
Approval links ask for a decision, not just feedback, and every Approve or Request changes is recorded — including multi-approver sign-offs.
Findings that name the line, not just the symptom
Because Proofel transforms your HTML rather than photographing a render, a finding can point at the CSS declaration a client drops, or the exact contrast ratio a caption falls to once Gmail inverts it. A screenshot shows you that something broke; this says which line did it.
The whole previewing surface is free
Twenty client lenses, per-client dark mode, blocked images, inbox rows, the Gmail clip line, and a live SPF/DKIM/DMARC check are on every plan, including Free — and on /tools with no account at all. Pro is where the scored pre-send report lives.
Honest about its limits
Proofel cannot promise a pixel-exact classic-Outlook (Word engine) render, and publishes no accuracy percentage, because no defensible way to compute one exists. Every limit is written down rather than buried.
Works with every ESP you already send from
Proofel is the sign-off step, not a sending platform. Keep sending from Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Braze, HubSpot, or wherever you send today.
Where it fits
Proofel complements your rendering tests and your ESP rather than replacing them.
The full method — what each simulation is derived from, and every case where it can be wrong — is written up in How our simulation works. You can try any of it, on your own email, with no account.
Common comparisons
- Is Proofel an alternative to email testing tools like Litmus or Email on Acid?
- They answer a different question, and plenty of teams use both. Litmus and Email on Acid render your email on real machines running real clients and hand back screenshots. Proofel simulates deterministically: it transforms your HTML and renders the result, which keeps the colour model and the CSS intact. That is what lets it report WCAG AA contrast measured inside a Gmail dark-mode inversion, name the exact declaration a client will drop, lint the constructs Outlook’s Word engine mishandles down to the line, and compose states (dark plus images blocked plus 320px) a screenshot service would have to photograph separately. The tradeoff is real and we publish it: no pixel-exact classic-Outlook render, and no accuracy percentage. Proofel also does the part a rendering tester does not — pixel-pinned feedback, versions, and recorded sign-off.
- Should I stop testing on real devices?
- No. Treat Proofel as the fast first pass that catches the class of problem you cannot see by eye — contrast after inversion, dropped declarations, subject truncation, Gmail clipping, blocked images — then test anything high-stakes on the real clients your list actually uses. If classic Outlook for Windows is a large share of your list, test there specifically: we lint it and tell you which CSS it drops, but we do not claim to position it to the pixel.
- How is Proofel different from generic proofing tools like Filestage or Ziflow?
- General proofing platforms review many file types (video, PDF, images) with pinned comments and approvals. Proofel is purpose-built for HTML email: it renders the real email at desktop and mobile widths, applies 20 client lenses mapped to their actual engines, models each client’s dark mode, measures contrast, checks every link, and fixes Gmail clipping — details a generic file proofer structurally cannot see.
- Does Proofel send my email campaigns?
- No. Proofel is not an email service provider. It is the review and approval layer before the send; you export the approved email as a standard .eml file or send it from your existing ESP. The one thing it does send is a test of the email to your own account address, so you can open the real message in your real mail app.
- Do reviewers need an account or a paid seat?
- No. Guest reviewers are unlimited on every plan and never need an account. Paid seats only apply to the people in your workspace who create and manage campaigns.
Try the email-specific review layer
Bring in a campaign and see pixel-pinned review, link checks, and approvals in one link.
14-day all-access trial · no credit card required · reviewers never need an account