Volanea

What is Volanea?

Volanea is an email platform that combines transactional email, campaigns, workflows and inbound email on one API and one contact record. It is built by Volanea and is aimed at developers and AI coding agents: an MCP server lets Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP client create templates, wire webhooks and add sending code. The problem it solves is vendor sprawl. Instead of joining a transactional API, a marketing tool and an automation builder, teams send every message type from one place where segments, suppressions and analytics share the same data.

Key features

• Transactional API. One REST endpoint sends receipts, resets and alerts, with templates, variables, attachments and idempotency keys.
• MCP server for agents. Its 23 tools cover templates, segments, workflows, webhooks and domains, and test-key sessions render and log without delivering.
• Campaigns and workflows. Broadcasts and journeys run on the same contact record as transactional mail, and campaigns are created as drafts for a human to send.
• Inbound email. Each inbox gets a real address and fires an email.received event, so incoming mail can create a contact or start a workflow.
• Deliverability controls. SPF, DKIM and DMARC are checked against live DNS, bounces and complaints are suppressed everywhere, and a reputation guard warns, throttles, then pauses sending.
• Signed webhooks and test mode. Delivery, open and click events stream to HMAC-signed webhooks with retries and replay, while test keys exercise the real API safely.
• Editor and templates. A visual editor and AI composer build emails from a brief, with 100 ready-made templates and a reusable image library.

Who is Volanea for?

Developers building SaaS products, and teams using AI coding agents to ship them. It suits startups that want transactional email and lifecycle campaigns without three vendors, engineering teams that care about DNS authentication and bounce handling, and agent builders that need an inbox an assistant can read and reply from.

Use cases

• Sending password resets, receipts and alerts from an app.
• Running a welcome sequence or onboarding journey from product events.
• Giving an AI agent its own address so it can receive and answer mail.
• Sending a product announcement to a segment without exporting contacts.

Pricing

Volanea has a Free plan with 1,000 email credits every month, one sending domain, tracking and a small "Sent with Volanea" line, with no credit card required. Starter costs $5 per month for 7,500 credits and three domains, Growth costs $20 per month for 50,000 credits and ten domains, and Scale costs $149 per month for 200,000 credits and 25 domains. Attachments cost two credits. Contacts are free and unlimited, credits reset monthly, and sending pauses instead of billing overage. Enterprise is available above 200,000 emails per month. See the official Volanea pricing page.

Getting started

1. Create an account and copy a secret key from project settings.
2. Verify a sending domain so SPF, DKIM and DMARC are in place.
3. Send a test message with the REST API, or connect the MCP server to your coding agent.

curl https://api.volanea.com/v1/send \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_..." \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: order-4921" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to":"[email protected]","subject":"Your order shipped","html":"<p>On its way.</p>"}'

Alternatives

• Resend is an email API for transactional and product email.
• Loops combines marketing, product and transactional email.
• Novu is open source notification infrastructure with email and in-app channels.
• Knock is a notification platform with workflows and an in-app feed.

FAQ

Is Volanea free?

Yes. The Free plan includes 1,000 emails per month, one sending domain and tracking. Paid plans start at $5 per month.

What is Volanea used for?

Volanea sends transactional email, campaigns and automated journeys from one API and one contact record. It also provides inbound inboxes and an MCP server for AI coding agents.

Does Volanea work with AI coding agents?

Yes. Its MCP server exposes 23 tools for templates, segments, workflows, webhooks and domains, and works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf and other MCP clients.

Volanea vs Resend?

Both offer a transactional email API. Volanea adds campaigns, workflows, inbound inboxes and an MCP server on the same contact record. Resend focuses on the sending API and developer email. Teams that want one platform for transactional and lifecycle email may prefer Volanea.