The complete guide to better mail merge for Outlook

Traditional mail merge using Microsoft Word is cumbersome and error prone. Thankfully there are many newer options for sending mass personalized email even including advanced features like individual attachments, cc and bcc using a number of additional tools and plugins. We have compiled a list of the most popular ones.

Feature	Advanced but easy to use mail merge for Outlook that keeps your data safe	MailMerge365 Personalized mass email and can track opens, clicks and has unsubscribe features.	ContactMonkey HR tool for internal communication with two way mail merge tool.	SalesHandy Cold email automation suite with mail sequences and deliverability tools.	Mail Merge Toolkit Extends the traditional Microsoft Word mail merge with extra features.	Ablebits Mail Merge Team template manager with built-in mail merge functionality.	Topalt Mail Merge Mail merge is part of the Topalt Outlook suite of add-ins.	Sperry Send Indivually Converts an email with many recipients into single email copies to send.	ReliefJet Essentials Task based automations for Outlook to perform a wide range of tasks.	Doug Robbins Add-In Mail Merge with Attachments, CC, BCC and custom Subject and personalized charts.	Outlook Freeware Free version of ReliefJets automations for Outlook.

Outlook Add-In available	Windows, macOS, Web	Windows, macOS, Web	Windows, macOS, Web	No	None, only Word Add-In	Windows, macOS, Web	Windows	Windows	Windows	Windows	Windows
Free Plan or Trial Period	Unlimited Free Plan	100 emails	No	200 emails	50 emails per run	60 days trial	14 days trial	100 emails	Limited trial	20 runs	Unlimited Free Plan
Cost for 1 user (for <10000 emails)	Free / $10 per month	$180 per year	$15 per month	$34+ per month	$30-$99 per year	$16 per month	$20 one time	$70 one time	$20 one time	$30 one time	Free
Cost for 1 user (for >10000 emails)	Free / $10 per month	$180 per year	Contact sales	$94+ per month	$30-$99 per year	$16 per month	$20 one time	$70 one time	$20 one time	$30 one time	Free
Mail merge directly from Outlook helptext: Can you create a mail merge from scratch directly in the Outlook mail composer without switching to another application?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Available on Office Add-In Store	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Data is processed locally Is your mail merge data (e.g. the spreadsheet) processed locally on your computer or is it sent to a third party server that you have to trust with your data?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Sending capabilities

Feature	SecureMailMerge Advanced but easy to use mail merge for Outlook that keeps your data safe	MailMerge365 Personalized mass email and can track opens, clicks and has unsubscribe features.	ContactMonkey HR tool for internal communication with two way mail merge tool.	SalesHandy Cold email automation suite with mail sequences and deliverability tools.	Mail Merge Toolkit Extends the traditional Microsoft Word mail merge with extra features.	Ablebits Mail Merge Team template manager with built-in mail merge functionality.	Topalt Mail Merge Mail merge is part of the Topalt Outlook suite of add-ins.	Sperry Send Indivually Converts an email with many recipients into single email copies to send.	ReliefJet Essentials Task based automations for Outlook to perform a wide range of tasks.	Doug Robbins Add-In Mail Merge with Attachments, CC, BCC and custom Subject and personalized charts.	Outlook Freeware Free version of ReliefJets automations for Outlook.
From personal Microsoft 365 mailbox	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
From shared Microsoft 365 mailbox	No	No	No	No	Professional version only	No	Only default account	Only default account	Only default account	No	Only default account
Use email alias Can you send email campaigns using a configured email alias on your mailbox?	No	No	No	No	Professional version only	No	No	No	No	No	No
Offline sending Can you start a campaign and will it continue generating and sending if you close your Outlook or shutdown your computer?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Send via SMTP Can you send email campaigns through SMTP directly?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Other email providers Can you send email campaigns through other email providers than Microsoft 365?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Recipients selection

Feature	SecureMailMerge Advanced but easy to use mail merge for Outlook that keeps your data safe	MailMerge365 Personalized mass email and can track opens, clicks and has unsubscribe features.	ContactMonkey HR tool for internal communication with two way mail merge tool.	SalesHandy Cold email automation suite with mail sequences and deliverability tools.	Mail Merge Toolkit Extends the traditional Microsoft Word mail merge with extra features.	Ablebits Mail Merge Team template manager with built-in mail merge functionality.	Topalt Mail Merge Mail merge is part of the Topalt Outlook suite of add-ins.	Sperry Send Indivually Converts an email with many recipients into single email copies to send.	ReliefJet Essentials Task based automations for Outlook to perform a wide range of tasks.	Doug Robbins Add-In Mail Merge with Attachments, CC, BCC and custom Subject and personalized charts.	Outlook Freeware Free version of ReliefJets automations for Outlook.
Spreadsheet	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	6 columns max.	No	No	No
Address book (contacts)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Text file	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Use email addresses from "To" field	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Sharepoint lists	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

Campaign features

Feature	SecureMailMerge Advanced but easy to use mail merge for Outlook that keeps your data safe	MailMerge365 Personalized mass email and can track opens, clicks and has unsubscribe features.	ContactMonkey HR tool for internal communication with two way mail merge tool.	SalesHandy Cold email automation suite with mail sequences and deliverability tools.	Mail Merge Toolkit Extends the traditional Microsoft Word mail merge with extra features.	Ablebits Mail Merge Team template manager with built-in mail merge functionality.	Topalt Mail Merge Mail merge is part of the Topalt Outlook suite of add-ins.	Sperry Send Indivually Converts an email with many recipients into single email copies to send.	ReliefJet Essentials Task based automations for Outlook to perform a wide range of tasks.	Doug Robbins Add-In Mail Merge with Attachments, CC, BCC and custom Subject and personalized charts.	Outlook Freeware Free version of ReliefJets automations for Outlook.
Send attachments	No	Up to 3MB total email size	Up to 4MB total email size	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Send individual attachments	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Send images	No	Up to 3MB total email size	No	Up to 4MB total email size	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

SecureMailMerge

MailMerge365

ContactMonkey

SalesHandy

Mail Merge Toolkit

Ablebits Mail Merge

Topalt Mail Merge

Sperry Send Indivually

ReliefJet Essentials

Doug Robbins Add-In

Outlook Freeware

Send attachments

Up to 3MB total email size

Up to 4MB total email size

Send individual attachments

Send images

Up to 3MB total email size

Up to 4MB total email size

So which mail merge plugin for Microsoft 365 should you choose?

SecureMailMerge is a great free option for all operating systems (Windows, Web and macOS) if you don't want to download and run a setup program.

MailMerge365 is great if you need to provide recipients with an option to unsubscribe and you want to track clicks to your links.

Doug Robbins Merge Tools Add-In has a learning curve and is not as easy to use as other options, but has the most number of features and a simple one-time license fee.

Try SecureMailMerge

Easy to use, available on the Office store and free to use