Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App vs WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin (2026): PluginCheck
Quick Verdict
Pick WP Mail SMTP if you want the more polished, widely trusted option with stronger support metrics and tighter integration with the WPForms ecosystem. Pick Post SMTP if you specifically need features like a mobile app for on-the-go monitoring and you prefer a lighter plugin footprint.
Both Post SMTP and WP Mail SMTP tackle one of WordPress's most persistent headaches: getting transactional emails from your site to actually arrive in inboxes. They each replace the default PHP mailer with authenticated SMTP and offer provider integrations, email logs, and failure alerts. The decision mostly comes down to scale, ecosystem familiarity, and how much you value polished onboarding.
Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App
Improve WordPress email deliverability. Connect Gmail SMTP, Microsoft 365, Brevo, SendGrid, Mailgun, Zoho, Amazon SES, etc. #1 WordPress SMTP Plugin.
- Active installs 300k+
- Rating 4.7/5 (525)
- Last updated Aug 25, 2026
- Support resolved 59%
- Tested to WP 7.0.4
- Requires PHP 7.1
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin
Make email delivery easy for WordPress. Connect with SMTP, Gmail, Outlook, SendGrid, Mailgun, SES, Zoho, + more. Rated #1 WordPress SMTP Email plugin.
- Active installs 4M+
- Rating 4.8/5 (5,185)
- Last updated Jun 25, 2026
- Support resolved 87%
- Tested to WP 7.0.4
- Requires PHP 7.4
Where Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App Wins
Backup SMTP failover
Post SMTP advertises built-in backup SMTP routing, which lets you define a secondary mailer to kick in when the primary fails. WP Mail SMTP's free tier is more limited on multi-connection redundancy.
Mobile app access
Post SMTP ships a dedicated mobile app companion, giving you push-based monitoring of email logs and alerts from your phone. WP Mail SMTP does not offer a comparable native mobile experience.
Lighter codebase footprint
With 300,000 active installs compared to 4,000,000, Post SMTP is a less ubiquitous codebase with a narrower third-party footprint, which some security-conscious admins prefer for a smaller attack surface.
Where WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin Wins
Install base and social proof
WP Mail SMTP sits at 4,000,000 active installs versus Post SMTP's 300,000, roughly 13x the user base. That scale translates into more community tutorials, third-party guides, and battle-testing across hosting environments.
Support resolution rate
WP Mail SMTP resolves 87.0% of support tickets compared to Post SMTP's 59.1%, a 27.9 percentage point gap. For non-technical site owners, that responsiveness difference can be decisive.
Overall quality score
WP Mail SMTP scores 97.01/100 versus Post SMTP's 87.49/100, nearly 10 points higher on PluginCheck's composite metric. Its ratings also edge ahead at 96/100 across 5,185 reviews versus 94/100 across 525.
Score-by-Score Comparison
WP Mail SMTP dominates popularity at 99/30 versus Post SMTP's 82/30, reflecting its 4,000,000 installs against 300,000. For most admins this signals a safer default choice.
Both plugins score a perfect 100/25 on maintenance, with Post SMTP last updated 2026-08-25 and WP Mail SMTP on 2026-06-25. Both are clearly active and well-maintained.
WP Mail SMTP rates 96/15 versus Post SMTP's 94/15, and the review count (5,185 vs 525) makes its average considerably more statistically reliable. Both are well-liked, but WP Mail SMTP has the larger sample.
WP Mail SMTP resolves 87% of support tickets compared to Post SMTP's 59.1%, scoring 87/15 versus 59/15. This is the single biggest functional gap between the two plugins.
Both plugins tie at a perfect 100/15 on compatibility, indicating no flagged conflicts in PluginCheck's testing matrix. Either one should coexist cleanly with major page builders, WooCommerce, and security plugins.
The Bottom Line
WP Mail SMTP is the stronger pick for the vast majority of WordPress sites: a higher quality score (97.01 vs 87.49), a 13x larger install base, and a meaningfully better support resolution rate (87.0% vs 59.1%) all point the same direction. Post SMTP remains a reasonable choice, particularly if backup SMTP failover or a mobile companion app are non-negotiable for your workflow. For a typical small business or WooCommerce store, WP Mail SMTP will deliver fewer headaches and a richer ecosystem of documentation.