# Werkmail vs Lettermint

Reviewed August 2026. Lettermint is a **developer-first EU transactional send API**: JSON `from` / `to` / `subject` / `html`, `project_id` as the workspace, and a thin REST surface. Werkmail is an **operator platform**: the same consent and content gate on GUI and API, isolated tenants, stream split, and practice kinds.

If you already have a Lettermint client, point it at Werkmail’s [Lettermint drop-in](/api/compat) (`/api/compat/lettermint`). Bodies stay familiar. Gates do not turn off.

## At a glance

| | Lettermint | Werkmail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Primary job | Thin EU transactional API | Regulated transactional + modest broadcast |
| DX | REST send, `project_id`, familiar JSON | HTTP JSON, curl, OpenAPI, inbound send hook |
| Drop-in | Native Lettermint paths | `/api/compat/lettermint` plus native `/api/emails` |
| Tracking | Product default | Off by default for `termin` / `recall` / `doi` |
| Broadcast | Not the identity | Separate `broadcast` route, DOI, Impressum |
| Healthcare | Generic transactional | First-class kinds + compliance check |
| Volume | Developer signup; verify current pricing on their site | Test → Supporter → Termin / Praxis / Gruppe |

## They win

- **Time to first send.** A small JSON body and a key is the whole product story. That is a real advantage when you only need receipts or password resets.
- **Familiar contract.** `project_id`, `/send`, `/emails`, and batch are what many EU apps already speak. Werkmail implements that shape; Lettermint *is* that shape.
- **Focus.** They do not pretend to be a practice cockpit, consent ledger, or marketing suite.

## Werkmail wins

- **Productized compliance.** DOI ledger, channel prefs, DSAR, Impressum, List-Unsubscribe on every send including transactional.
- **Stream purity and practice kinds.** Appointment mail cannot share a marketing pool. `termin` / `recall` / `doi` carry tracking and footer rules.
- **Same gate on GUI and API.** Pointing a Lettermint client at Werkmail still hits content score, consent, suppressions, and inbox-risk pause.
- **Operator cockpit.** DNS wizard, bounce-reason rollup, content-score history, audit CSV.

## Honest gaps on our side

- We will lose bake-offs that score official SDKs, SMTP, and cents per thousand.
- The drop-in is a transport swap, not a clone of their dashboard or every bulk template feature. Templated bulk on Werkmail is `POST /api/emails/send-bulk`.
- If all you need is “send this receipt from Europe,” a thin Lettermint account is rational.

## Stay on Lettermint if

Your app is transactional-only, legal is satisfied by an EU vendor + DPA, and you already store consent in your own product.

## Switch to Werkmail if

Someone will ask for **evidence** (who consented, which wording, which channel), or appointment mail must not share a pool with a newsletter — and you do not want to staff that platform yourself.

## If you migrate

Keep the Lettermint client. Change the **base URL** to `https://werkmail.eu/api/compat/lettermint` and put a Werkmail bearer (`wm_team_…` / `wm_proj_…`) in the token field. Set `message_kind` and routes when you can. Broadcast still needs DOI and Impressum. Import suppressions; do not assume their list is yours. Details: [Drop-in send APIs](/api/compat).

See also: [Compare hub](/compare) · [EU transactional APIs](/compare/eu-transactional) · [Regulated transactional](/regulated) · [Lettermint drop-in](/api/compat)