GrapesJS
An embeddable drag-and-drop visual editor for emails, landing pages, websites and documents, built on the open-source GrapesJS framework. Available as a white-label SDK for your own app or as a hosted, AI-assisted builder with clean HTML export.
What is GrapesJS?
GrapesJS began around 2015 as an open-source web template editor framework created by Artur Arseniev, and is still published on GitHub. Around that free core, Grapes Studio Inc. now sells two commercial products, and grapesjs.com markets both.
The first is the Studio SDK, a fully embeddable, drag-and-drop, white-label edition of the Studio editor that drops into any external web application. It installs from npm, pnpm, yarn or a CDN as @grapesjs/studio-sdk, and ships both a React component and a plain JavaScript API. Three project types are supported: web pages, emails built on MJML for reliable rendering across mail clients, and documents. Because the architecture runs in the end user's browser, there is no backend bottleneck, and content need never pass through the vendor's servers.
The second is Grapes Studio, a hosted builder that needs no integration at all. Its AI side generates entire sites and emails from a written prompt, from an uploaded image, from a PDF resume, or by cloning an existing site, and it accepts voice input. A template library and a list of recent projects sit alongside. Since May 2026 the same editor is also available as an app inside ChatGPT, built on MCP.
The feature set advertised on the homepage runs to seventeen blocks: a customisable built-in interface, multi-format output, white-labelling, a Style Catalog and Template Manager, custom components your own users can drag around, granular responsive styling on any CSS property, an asset manager, page and layer managers, reusable symbols across pages, external data sources for dynamic content, and built-in code editing. Output is simple JSON with HTML, CSS and JavaScript export, and hosting is explicitly flexible: cloud or self-hosted, with no lock-in.
The customer logos shown on the site include ByteDance, Microsoft, BBC, Braze, Gainsight, ServiceNow, Deloitte, Pfizer and Phreesia. ByteDance is described in detail: it uses the SDK for internal email creation precisely so that sensitive content stays in-house, with no third-party database access.
What it does
- Generate a complete website or email from a plain-language prompt
- Build a page from an uploaded image, a PDF resume, or by cloning an existing site
- Refine everything by drag and drop, with responsive styling and layer, page and asset managers
- Export clean HTML, CSS and JavaScript, or MJML for responsive newsletters
- Embed the whole editor white-label inside your own web application
- Push a finished email design straight into Mailchimp, or export the code
- Manage projects and templates programmatically through the Studio Platform API
When to use GrapesJS / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if GrapesJS is the right fit.
When to use GrapesJS
- SaaS product teams that need to offer their own users a visual page or email builder without building one from scratch
- Enterprise teams that must keep email and website content in-house, with no third-party database access
- Front-end and full-stack developers who want an extensible editor framework rather than a closed platform
- Marketers and freelancers producing landing pages and newsletters without writing code
- Agencies and consultants who need to spin up client sites quickly and hand over clean, portable HTML
When not to use GrapesJS
- Anyone looking for an all-in-one hosting and sending platform: the SDK handles editing, not email delivery or backend
- Teams that need a mobile app, since no iOS or Android application exists
- Organisations that require formal GDPR paperwork, as the site publishes no GDPR statement, DPA or subprocessor list
- Small budgets on the SDK side, where the first paid tier starts at 200 USD per month
- Users under 16, who are excluded by the minimum age set in the privacy policy
How to use GrapesJS
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Decide which route fits: the hosted Grapes Studio for no-code use, or the Studio SDK to embed the editor in your own product
- For a first look with no signup, open the playground at app.grapesjs.com/playground
- In the hosted builder, describe the site or email you want, or upload an image, a PDF resume or the URL of a site to clone
- Let the AI generate a first draft, then refine it with drag and drop, responsive styling and the page, layer and asset managers
- Export clean HTML and CSS, or push an email design directly to Mailchimp
- To integrate instead, claim a licence from the SDK licences dashboard, starting on the free tier
- Install the package with npm i @grapesjs/studio-sdk and import the stylesheet
- Mount the StudioEditor React component, or call createStudioEditor in plain JavaScript, setting the project type to web, email or document
- Customise blocks, themes, global styles, templates, fonts and data sources through the configuration options
- Wire the exported HTML or MJML into your own backend for storage and email delivery
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Built on a mature, widely adopted open-source framework with an established plugin ecosystem
- Genuinely no lock-in: open HTML, CSS and MJML export, and the option to self-host the data
- Verifiable enterprise references shown on the site, including ByteDance, Microsoft, BBC, ServiceNow, Deloitte and Pfizer
- A permanent free tier on both the hosted builder and the SDK, with no credit card required
- Fully public SDK pricing, down to the per-unit cost of session and storage overages
- Front-end architecture with no backend bottleneck, so sensitive content can stay inside your own infrastructure
- Solid documentation with React and JavaScript examples, plus Agent Skills to help AI coding agents integrate faster
Cons
- No mention of the GDPR anywhere on the site, and no DPA, subprocessor list or Article 27 representative
- No security certification is claimed, neither SOC 2 nor ISO 27001
- No public support email address: contact runs through a Google form and a sales address
- A steep jump on the SDK side, from the free tier straight to 200 USD per month and then 2,000 USD per month
- Most announced email integrations are still marked Coming soon; only Mailchimp is actually available
- Two separate pricing grids coexist without the site explaining how they relate, and the hosted one opens on annual billing by default
- No mobile application, and a careers page that is published but lists no openings
Pricing & Plans
A permanent free plan is available on both products, with no credit card required. The cheapest paid entry point is the Grapes Studio Pro tier at 8.33 USD per month on annual billing, or 10.00 USD per month billed monthly. On the Studio SDK side the first paid tier is Startup at 200 USD per month. There is no time-limited free trial: the free tiers are permanent.
- 100 AI credits per month
- 0.1 GB cloud space
- unlimited drag-and-drop edits
- HTML/CSS export
- community support
- 500 AI credits per month plus 1
- 800 extra credits
- 10 GB cloud space
- custom domains
- branding removal
- priority support
- embedded editor SDK
- dedicated support
- white-label solution
- SLA guarantee
- 1
- 000 editor sessions per month then 50 USD per extra 1
- 000
- 100 MB storage then 20 USD per GB
- 1 domain
- Studio branding
- standard email support
- 20
- 000 sessions per month then 20 USD per extra 1
- 000
- 10 GB storage then 10 USD per GB
- 2 domains and 150 USD per extra domain
- custom branding
- priority email support
- AI Chat front-end plugin
- 50
- 000 sessions per month then 10 USD per extra 1
- 000
- 100 GB storage then 5 USD per GB
- 2 domains and 100 USD per extra domain
- wildcard domains
- dedicated Slack channel
- custom AI Chat backend
- unlimited sessions and storage
- multiple domains
- 24x7 phone support
- custom plugin support and custom development
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how GrapesJS handles your data.
GDPR overview
The site makes no mention of the GDPR whatsoever. A full-text search across every collected page, HTML included, returns not a single occurrence of GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation. There is no data processing agreement, no published subprocessor list and no representative designated under Article 27. The terms do define "Data Protection Laws" and "Personal Data" generically, without naming the GDPR, and they actually require the customer to warrant that no personal data processed under the agreement falls under California's CPRA. The privacy policy states the company is headquartered in the United States and that data may be transferred there or to other locations where privacy laws are less protective. No security certification is claimed. The only legal contact is legal@grapesjs.com.
Who owns the data?
The terms are explicit: Customer Content, and all worldwide intellectual property rights in it, remain the exclusive property of the customer. Grapes Studio Inc. takes only a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use that content in order to provide and improve the Services during the term, and to use customer trademarks and logos as needed to deliver them. Beyond the term, the licence survives only in aggregated and anonymised form, for service improvement, analytics and benchmarking, and usage statistics; no customer-specific statistics are disclosed to third parties without consent. The SDK and its documentation stay the property of the company. Backups of customer content are the customer's responsibility alone.
Reuse rights
Customers keep full reuse rights over what they create: the editor outputs plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, plus MJML for emails, and the company advertises no vendor lock-in, so exported code can be published, modified, resold or moved elsewhere without asking permission. Data hosting can be cloud-based or entirely self-hosted. The customer is nonetheless solely responsible for the accuracy, quality and legality of that content, and must secure any third-party licences, consents and permissions the company needs to process it. Nothing in the terms restricts commercial reuse of the customer's own output, and the terms contain no clause about training AI models on it.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Hosting is presented as a deliberate choice rather than a constraint: the site advertises flexible data hosting with no lock-in, letting you pick between a cloud option and self-hosting. With the Studio SDK the architecture is front-end, so editing runs in the end user's browser and content can stay entirely inside your own infrastructure. ByteDance is cited as doing exactly that for internal email creation, with no third-party database access. What the site never does is name a hosting country or region for its cloud option, which is why no jurisdiction is recorded here. The privacy policy adds only that the company is headquartered in the United States and that personal information may be transferred there or to other locations where privacy laws may be less protective. Anyone with a data residency requirement should either self-host or get the answer in writing before committing.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting GrapesJS.
- The hosted pricing page opens on annual billing by default, so the 8.33 USD figure assumes a twelve-month commitment while the real monthly rate is 10.00 USD
- Almost every email integration is still marked Coming soon: confirm what actually works before building a workflow around it
- SDK billing is metered by session with per-unit overages, so model your real volume before picking a tier or the bill can escalate quietly
- No written GDPR commitment exists, which is a real obstacle for European deployments and should be settled with the vendor in writing
- The terms require the customer to warrant that no personal data processed falls under California's CPRA, an unusual burden to accept without reading
- Contracts renew automatically for one-year terms unless cancelled thirty days in advance, and the company takes no obligation to back up customer content
- Letting an AI generate whole sites and emails invites publishing unchecked copy and layouts: review generated output for accuracy, accessibility and brand fit rather than shipping it as-is
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Two very different levels. Using the hosted builder requires no technical skill at all: the playground opens without signup and a written prompt produces a first draft. Embedding the Studio SDK is a front-end developer task, but a light one to begin with, since a single npm install plus a React component or one JavaScript call yields a working editor. Real effort appears with deeper customisation, custom components, data sources, themes and plugins, and with wiring email delivery into your own backend, which remains entirely your responsibility.
Deployment
Integrations
Behind GrapesJS
Fundraising
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Alternatives
Tools that compete with or complement GrapesJS.
Frequently asked questions
Is GrapesJS free to use?
What is the difference between GrapesJS, Grapes Studio and the Studio SDK?
Can I embed the editor in my own application?
What counts as a session in the SDK pricing?
Where is my data stored?
Is there a mobile app?
Is the tool GDPR compliant?
Is my content used to train AI models?
Is there a minimum age?
Which email platforms can I export to?
Should you pick GrapesJS?
GrapesJS is one of the more technically credible options in its category, and for a simple reason: the commercial products sit on an open-source framework that thousands of developers have already adopted. Grapes Studio Inc. sells two things around it, an embeddable white-label SDK and a hosted AI builder, and both rest on the same promise of portability. Content leaves as clean HTML, CSS or MJML, hosting can be entirely self-managed, and with the SDK the editing happens in the end user's browser, so sensitive material need never reach the vendor. That is a genuine differentiator rather than a marketing line, and the customer logos on the site, ByteDance and Microsoft among them, give it weight.
The reservations are mostly about what the site does not say. There is no mention of the GDPR anywhere, no data processing agreement, no subprocessor list and no security certification, which will stop some European and regulated buyers before any technical evaluation begins. Support has no public email address. The pricing picture is confusing: two separate grids coexist without explanation, the hosted one opens on annual billing so the headline figure understates the monthly rate, and the SDK leaps from free to 200 USD and then 2,000 USD per month. Most of the advertised email integrations are still announcements rather than features.
For a developer or product team that wants a customisable editor and intends to keep control of its own data, this is a strong and unusually open choice. For a buyer who needs formal compliance paperwork, or who expects the integration list to work today, it is worth asking pointed questions first.
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