MailMergic
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The Autocrat alternative for real PDF templates and tracked delivery

Autocrat is free, trusted and deeply woven into Google classrooms, and for many mail merges it is all you need. This page is for the moment it stops being enough: uploaded PDF forms, Excel files, email volume beyond Google quotas, or knowing what actually arrived.

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The short version

MailMergic is for you if

you need real PDF templates (including fillable forms), Excel or CSV data, more than Google’s daily email quotas, delivery and open tracking, or commercial support.

Autocrat is for you if

your templates fit Google Docs or Slides, your data is already in Google Sheets, your volumes fit Gmail quotas, and free matters more than tracking or support.

Feature comparison

MailMergicAutocrat
PriceFree plan; paid plans from $59/month ($39 yearly)Entirely free, no paid tiers
Template typesPDF (form fill and free text placement), Word, Excel and image templates, plus email-only campaignsGoogle Docs and Slides templates; PDF is an output format only
Fills uploaded PDF formsYes, plus free text placement on any PDFNot offered
Data sourcesExcel (.xlsx/.xls), CSV and Google SheetsGoogle Sheets only
Email sendingBuilt in: each recipient gets a personalized email with their document attached, sent from your own verified domainFrom your own Google account: capped at 100 recipients/day (consumer Gmail) or 1,500/day (Workspace)
Delivery, bounce and open trackingDelivery, bounce and open tracking per recipientNot documented
Large jobsBuilt for thousands of rows per mail mergeConstrained by Apps Script runtime limits; the official FAQ acknowledges triggered mail merges can time out
Automation triggersREST API and Zapier (8,000+ apps)Form-submit and time-based triggers inside the Sheet; no API or Zapier
SupportSupport team, Mon to SunCommunity forum, user guide and videos; no commercial support
Adoption4.6 stars from 240 reviews81M+ installs, 6,181 Marketplace reviews

Facts checked July 28, 2026. Found something outdated? Tell us atsupport@mailmergic.com.

Autocrat pricing

Autocrat is genuinely free, maintained by New Visions Cloudlab, a nonprofit serving educators. Its real costs are quotas and time.

PlanPriceWhat you get
AutocratFreeUnlimited merges within Google Apps Script quotas

The honest price math

Free is unbeatable until quotas bite: emailing merged documents runs through your own Google account at 100 recipients per day on consumer Gmail or 1,500 on Workspace, and long mail merge runs contend with Apps Script execution limits. A 2,000-certificate send that must arrive today, with proof of delivery, is where a paid tool earns its price.

Prices as of July 28, 2026, from the vendors' public pricing pages.

Choose Autocrat if

  • Your templates work as Google Docs or Slides and your data is in Google Sheets
  • Your email volumes fit comfortably inside Gmail daily quotas
  • Budget is the deciding factor and community support is enough
  • You are in an education context where Autocrat is already established

Choose MailMergic if

  • Your template is a real PDF, especially a fillable form, or Word, Excel or image files
  • Your data arrives as Excel or CSV, not only Google Sheets
  • You send at volumes beyond Gmail quotas and need delivery, bounce and open tracking
  • You need dependable large mail merges, an API and commercial support

Autocrat alternative: common questions

Is Autocrat really free?
Yes, completely. It is maintained by New Visions Cloudlab, a nonprofit built for educators, with 81 million installs. There are no paid tiers at all.
Why look for an alternative then?
Four common reasons: templates must be Google Docs or Slides (uploaded PDF forms cannot be filled), data must be in Google Sheets, email runs through your own Gmail account with 100 to 1,500 recipient daily caps and no documented tracking, and long mail merges can hit Apps Script time limits.
Can Autocrat fill a fillable PDF form?
No. PDF in Autocrat is an output format: your Google Docs or Slides template is converted to PDF. Filling an existing PDF form requires a PDF-native tool.
What does switching cost?
MailMergic has a free plan with no credit card, so you can rebuild one Autocrat job and compare results before paying anything. Paid plans start at $59 per month ($39 yearly).

Sources

All Autocrat facts on this page were checked against these pages on July 28, 2026:

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