email-templates is a free, MIT-licensed collection of 28 responsive HTML email templates authored in MJML, built for marketers, startups, and developers who need ready-made layouts that render correctly in Mailchimp or any other email service.

What it is

email-templates is an open-source library maintained by Colorlib. It ships 28 email layouts grouped into three sets: "Colorlib classic" (templates 1–20), "Modern minimal" (21–24), and "Designed minimal" (25–28). Every template is written in MJML and compiled to table-based HTML, so the output renders reliably in Outlook on Windows as well as in modern web and mobile clients. Each template is distributed as a pre-built N/index.html file that can be used as-is, alongside the MJML source for teams that want to build and customize. The project is written in HTML, carries the MIT licence, and has 1,240 stars and 2,695 forks with 2 open issues. A root index.html provides a gallery view linking to all 28 templates.

The problem it solves is the fragility of email HTML. Email clients disagree about CSS support, and Outlook in particular breaks layouts that would work in a browser, which historically forced authors to hand-write nested tables for every campaign. By keeping MJML as the source and shipping compiled table-based HTML, the project removes that manual table authoring from the workflow. The catalogue also covers the layouts most teams actually need rather than leaving them to build from a blank page: transactional messages such as 22 · Northbound for an order receipt, 23 · Strata for a password reset, 10 · e-Verify for email verification, 12 · Shop for a cart reminder, and 11 · Friend request for a social notification, plus campaigns across restaurant, corporate, travel, fashion, gym, real estate, church, and conference verticals.

Key capabilities

• 28 templates, each as a self-contained N/index.html file, split across "Colorlib classic" (1–20), "Modern minimal" (21–24), and "Designed minimal" (25–28).
• MJML source compiled to bulletproof, table-based HTML that renders in Outlook (Windows) and in modern web and mobile clients.
• Responsive, mobile-first layouts that adapt to phones, tablets, and desktops.
• Common email patterns included: heroes, content blocks, product grids, CTA buttons, and footers.
• A root index.html gallery view that links to every template for quick browsing.
• Transactional and lifecycle templates such as 21 · Lume for SaaS welcome and onboarding, 25 · Loop for product launch, 26 · Signal for webinar invite, and 27 · Verge for winback.
• Newsletter and dark-mode options including 7 · Winter, 24 · Brief editorial newsletter, and 28 · Pulse dark-mode newsletter.

Who uses it and how

• Marketing teams that need campaign emails for specific verticals, such as 1 · RestoBar for restaurants, 5 · Travel for travel agencies, 16 · Fitness for gyms, and 17 · Real Estate for property listings.
• SaaS and product teams that need lifecycle messages, using 21 · Lume for onboarding, 23 · Strata for password reset and security, and 22 · Northbound for an order receipt.
• Developers who clone the repository, edit the MJML source, and rebuild the compiled HTML to match a brand.
• Teams that upload a compiled template to an ESP such as Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, or SendGrid, or preview it through a rendering service like Litmus or Email on Acid before sending.

Getting started

Clone the repository with git clone https://github.com/ColorlibHQ/email-templates.git and open a template's N/index.html file directly, or follow the development section to build from the MJML source.

How it compares

The facts name no paid products that this project replaces, so its place is among the tools it sits beside. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and SendGrid handle delivery, Litmus and Email on Acid handle rendering previews, and MJML provides the authoring language, while email-templates supplies the ready-made markup layer that is uploaded into those systems. It therefore complements an email stack rather than substituting for an email service provider.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster who customizes from source must operate the MJML build toolchain, and anyone who wants a hosted drag-and-drop builder or a full sending platform should look elsewhere, because this project provides static HTML files only, with no backend, database, or SMTP component. The catalogue is broad but the README reads largely as a template gallery, with the changelog, versioning, and roadmap detail thin in the excerpt, so teams that need formal release notes should check the repository directly before adopting it.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ColorlibHQ/email-templates.git
cd email-templates

# Open a template
# Example (adjust path as needed):
open path/to/template/index.html  # macOS
# or
start path\to\template\index.html # Windows
# or
xdg-open path/to/template/index.html # Linux

npm install            # one-time: installs mjml, chokidar, playwright-core
npm run build          # compile every src/N.mjml → N/index.html
npm run dev            # watch + live-reload at http://localhost:3000/  (PORT=3001 to change)
npm run screenshots    # regenerate the README thumbnails in screenshots/