Open-Source Email Templates Worth Knowing About

HTML email still makes ordinary web development look pleasantly predictable. A tested template or framework gives you a much better starting point than an empty file and a brave attitude.

Here are several open-source options. They solve slightly different problems, so choose one that matches the amount of structure you want:

• MJML uses its own readable markup and compiles it into responsive email HTML. This is a good fit when you want to avoid writing all the tables and client fixes by hand.
• Email Blueprints is Mailchimp’s collection of reusable email layouts. It includes Mailchimp template elements and merge tags.
• Ink is a responsive email framework with a 12-column grid and a small set of interface components.
• Send With Us provides community-maintained themes and templates that you can adapt to a project.
• Responsive HTML Email Template is a single, editable foundation built to work across major email clients.
• Email Boilerplate is a collection of snippets for avoiding common HTML email rendering problems. You can use the whole boilerplate or take only the fixes you need.
• Salted is a responsive template aimed at broad email-client support.
• Transactional Email Templates provides layouts for the emails that products send repeatedly, such as receipts and account notifications.
• Cerberus offers a few solid responsive patterns rather than a large framework.
• Antwort keeps columns on desktop and turns them into rows on narrower screens.

Whichever one you choose, send test messages to the clients your audience actually uses. A template removes plenty of pain, but email clients remain email clients.