Best Outlook mail merge tools
The four real options — Word, a macro, a paid add-in, a bulk platform — and the questions that decide between them.
Compare
Ways to do this, and when each one is right
We make one of the options on these pages, so read them with that in mind. What we have tried to do is describe the alternatives accurately enough that you can tell when they are the better answer — because for a fair number of people, they are.
An alternative to Word's mail merge
Word's merge is free, capable and already installed. Here is exactly where it stops, and what to do when you reach that point.
A Mail Merge Toolkit alternative
A long-established Windows add-in that extends Word's merge. What differs structurally, and who each suits.
Before any of it: does Tellmerge even work for you?
Tellmerge needs a Microsoft mailbox — a Microsoft 365 work or school account, or a free Outlook.com address. It sends through Microsoft's own mail API, so a Gmail or Google Workspace mailbox will not work, even if you read that mail in the Outlook app. If that is you, none of these pages will end well, and we would rather say so here than after you pay.
Prefer instructions to comparisons? The guides cover per-recipient attachments, invoices and payslips.