Guide to email MCP servers (Plus, 6 you can use today)
Duncan
That’s what email Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers make possible. By connecting your email account to your AI tools, you get your own personal AI email assistant that can draft emails, manage subscribers, analyze performance and more, all with natural language commands.
We believe that MCP servers are going to change how you interact with your email tools drastically. Now is the time to start experimenting to see what they can do.
This guide will help by showing how MCP servers work, what they can do, and highlighting 6 powerful options you can start using today.
What is an email MCP server?
An email MCP server is a server that uses the MCP standard to act as an intermediary between your AI tool and your email service. By giving the AI tool controlled access to the email tool's data, it lets the user perform actions in the email tool by prompting your AI tool with natural language.
It’s a radically new way of interacting with your email platform. Once set up, these tools can send emails, analyze performance data, segment subscribers, and more. Exactly what your AI can do depends on the platform you’re connecting to, whether it’s an email marketing tool, transactional email service, or your regular inbox.
The 2 types of MCP servers: Hosted and self-hosted
There are 2 ways to connect your AI to your email: hosted and self-hosted MCP servers. Each requires a different level of technical know-how to set up and use.
We believe that for most people, the future is in hosted MCP servers, since they are much more accessible than self-hosted tools.
Hosted MCP servers
Hosted MCP servers are managed by the platform that creates them. Set up is simple for even non-technical people; all you need to do is add the MCP server address via your AI tool’s settings. They’re perfect for marketers, founders, or developers who want to get started fast. See how easy the setup process is in the video below.
Self-hosted MCP servers
Self-hosted MCP servers are those that you download and set up. Developers and those willing to get to grips with the technical setup will be able to use them. Non-technical users and developers who want to get started fast will prefer a hosted solution.
How to send emails with an MCP server
Sending emails with a hosted MCP is so much easier than you think. You just need 2 things:
An LLM AI tool that enables MCP (like ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor)
An account with an email service that has an MCP server (like MailerLite or MailerSend)
Once you have both accounts set up, you can connect the MCP server and ask the AI to start sending emails.
We recommend starting with a hosted server and either ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor.
ChatGPT and Claude are easy to use, and you can access the apps from the web or desktop. You just need a paid account
Cursor requires the desktop app and is more developer-focused. A big plus is that you can connect MCP servers on the free plan
For email services, we recommend MailerLite for marketing emails, MailerSend for transactional emails, and Zapier’s MCP client for Gmail. You’ll find further details about each service below.
6 email MCP servers to test today (and use cases they enable)
Ready to try sending emails via AI yourself? Here are six MCP email servers worth exploring.
The first 3 are hosted servers. They’re perfect if you’re looking to start using an MCP server without the hassle of setting one up. The last 3 are self-hosted, meaning you’ll have to set them up yourself.
MailerLite: Email marketing MCP server
MailerLite’s email MCP server is the easiest way to use MCP for email marketing. Since the tool is hosted by MailerLite, the setup and authentication process is super simple, you can do it in minutes.
Once finished, your AI tool can access your MailerLite account and start taking action. This enables a ton of exciting email marketing use cases, including analyzing your account data, creating new campaigns, and managing subscribers.
Email marketing MCP use cases
Here are some specific examples of things you can do with MailerLite’s hosted MCP server.
Create a draft campaign in MailerLite
Analyze what worked in past campaigns and create strategies to improve
Repurpose your existing campaign content into social posts
Suggest high-performing subject lines for future campaigns
Read this article for more about the MailerLite MCP server, including a full setup guide and 9 different ways to use it.
MailerSend: Transactional email MCP server
MailerSend’s MCP server is designed to make managing your app or website’s transactional email easier than ever. It uses the same super-simple signup process as the MailerLite server, so you can quickly connect to any tool that supports MCP.
Transactional email MCP use cases
MailerSend’s MCP server enables a ton of functionality related to transactional emails. You can:
Send or schedule HTML or templated emails
Troubleshoot SPF/DKIM issues, bounce rates, and reputation scores
Get reports on your transactional email sending and ask for ways to improve
Set up workflows like new user emails, password resets and order confirmations
Since the MCP has access to the MailerSend API, you can also ask it to generate code for your projects using up-to-date endpoints and methods.
Find out more by heading to the MailerSend MCP server guide.
Gmail MCP server: Zapier
There are several self-hosted Gmail MCP servers, but no hosted ones. Zapier’s MCP server offers a clever workaround by acting as the link between Gmail and your AI chatbot.
This allows you to manage your inbox, send emails, and search through messages with simple prompts. To get started, create a Zapier account and go through the instructions to set up the MCP server with your chosen tool.
You can also use the Zapier MCP server to connect to other email inboxes, including Microsoft Outlook.
Gmail MCP server use cases
Zapier’s MCP server lets you manage your emails and perform actions in Gmail. For example, you can:
Draft emails with AI and then send it via Gmail
Find all emails from a particular sender
Search your inbox for email content
Organize your inbox
Reply to your messages
See a list of all the actions you can take here.
Other self-hosted MCP servers
Several other transactional email companies have created self-hosted email MCP servers. Consider using these if you have an account with the company and understand the nitty-gritty of MCP server setup.
Mailgun MCP server
Mailgun’s open source MCP server allows you to read data in your account and get immediate insights without navigating dashboards, request specific email metrics without writing custom code, and improve workflow efficiency with AI-driven queries. Set it up by cloning the GitHub repository and configuring it in your chosen AI tool.
Mailtrap MCP server
Mailtrap is email marketing and transactional email software. Its MCP server lets you send HTML or plain text emails, analyse your email infrastructure, authenticate necessary DNS records, and check the history of your email sending.
Postmark MCP server
Postmark is another transactional email marketing tool with a self-hosted MCP server. It allows you to connect with your AI tools like Claude desktop or Cursor and then send emails with templates, track delivery statistics, and manage your email workflows.
Email MCP servers: This is just the beginning!
This list highlights 6 email MCP servers you can use for everything from analyzing your marketing emails to sending transactional campaigns and managing your personal inbox.
The technology is still very new. As adoption grows, we think that what you can do with tools, and the ease of doing it, will improve rapidly. For now, stay on the cutting edge by experimenting with the platforms mentioned in this article.
