Count the unique variations in any spintax template, catch syntax errors and preview random outputs — or build {a|b|c} strings from your phrases. A free spintax tool for cold email, with no signup.
Your spintax template
Test any spintax template or build a new {a|b|c} string — variation count, syntax check and random previews, 100% in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Pick a mode
Test an existing spintax template, or build a new {a|b|c} string from your phrases.
Paste your spintax
Nested braces are supported, and {{merge_tags}} are left untouched as placeholders.
Check the output
See the unique variation count, catch syntax errors, and read 5 random previews.
Copy and send
Copy the spintax into your cold email tool and let it rotate a fresh version per send.
Spintax (short for "spinning syntax") is a way of writing one email template that produces many different versions. You wrap alternative phrases in curly braces and separate them with pipes — {Hi|Hey|Hello} — and every time the template is used, one option is picked at random. Three greetings, three verbs and two closing lines multiply into 18 unique emails from a single template.
The syntax cheat-sheet is short. Basic spintax: {a|b|c} picks one of the three options. Nested spintax: {a|{b|c}} lets an option contain its own choices, so it resolves to a, b or c. Merge tags in double braces, like {{first_name}}, are personalization placeholders — this spintax tool leaves them untouched, exactly as cold email software does.
Paste any template into the tester above to count its unique variations, catch unbalanced braces or empty alternatives, and preview five random versions — or flip to the generator to turn a list of phrases into a ready-to-paste spintax string.
Mailbox providers fingerprint message content. Send hundreds of near-identical emails and Gmail or Outlook can recognise the template and start routing it to spam — even when every recipient is a real, relevant prospect. Spintax breaks that pattern: with enough variation points, every recipient gets a structurally distinct email, so no two messages in your campaign look machine-copied.
Spintax works best alongside personalization, not instead of it. Merge tags like {{first_name}} and per-line custom openers change what the email says to each person; spintax changes how it says it. Most modern spintax tools and sending platforms apply both at send time, which is why the combination has become standard practice for cold outreach at any volume.
Be honest about the limits, though: spintax will not save bad copy or a bad list. If your offer is irrelevant, your list unverified, or your domain unwarmed, rotating synonyms changes nothing. Treat spintax as one layer of a healthy sending setup — not a spam-filter cheat code.
Vary the parts of an email that carry the least meaning: greetings ({Hi|Hey|Hello}), observation verbs ({saw|noticed|came across}), transitions, and calls to action ({Worth a quick chat?|Open to a short call?}). Every alternative should keep the sentence's meaning constant — if one option changes what you are actually saying, it belongs in a separate template, not in the spintax.
Quality-check with the previews: generate five random samples and read each one aloud. If any version sounds awkward, doubles a space, or breaks grammar, fix the alternative that caused it and re-roll. A template with 50 clean variations beats one with 5,000 sloppy ones every time.
Here is the full syntax this tester accepts. One set of curly braces holding pipe-separated options is a single spin point: {Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday} resolves to exactly one of the three. Braces nest, so an option can carry its own choices — {a|{b|c}}. Anything in double braces is treated as a merge tag and left completely untouched: {{first_name}}, {{company}} and any other {{field}} pass through unchanged, exactly as your sending platform will fill them in later.
Two details trip people up. First, whitespace inside the braces is literal — {Hi | Hey} keeps the spaces around each option, so it renders as an extra space before and after the word; write {Hi|Hey} tight and put any spacing outside the braces. Second, the tester validates as you type: an unclosed { or a stray } is flagged as unbalanced braces, an empty option like {a||b} raises a warning because one variation will be blank at that spot, and anything nested deeper than 100 levels is rejected outright. Clear every error before you copy the template out.
Nesting lets one option contain its own spin, which is how you vary branches that have different shapes. Take {Congrats on the move to {{company}}|{Saw|Noticed} you joined {{company}}}: the first branch is a single phrase, while the second branch spins Saw or Noticed inside it. That one template produces three openers — Congrats on the move to {{company}}, Saw you joined {{company}}, and Noticed you joined {{company}} — with the merge tag filled per recipient in every case.
The variation count follows one rule, and it is the same one the counter above uses. Inside a single set of braces the options add up; when you place separate braces one after another, their counts multiply. So {Hi|Hey|Hello} {there|{{first_name}}} is 3 x 2 = 6 variations, and a full opener with three greetings, three observation verbs and two calls to action is 3 x 3 x 2 = 18. Nesting a spin inside a branch simply folds that branch's own count into the total, which is why a few nested layers grow the number quickly.
The most common spintax bug is a merge tag written with one brace instead of two. {{first_name}} is a merge field and is left alone; {first_name} is read as a spin with a single option and gets sent literally as the word first_name. If a preview above shows a raw field name in the body, that is the cause — switch it to double braces. Because this tester renders merge tags untouched, you can see at a glance which tokens will be personalized and which are being spun.
You can safely mix the two: {Hi {{first_name}}|Hey {{first_name}}} is valid, and the spin is resolved independently from your merge fields at send time, so the recipient's real name fills in no matter which greeting is chosen. One caution — a lead with a missing field leaves a blank, so lean on your sending tool's fallback values where they are supported. Before you launch, re-roll a few previews and paste one into a spam word checker, since swapping in synonyms can quietly introduce a trigger word like free or guarantee that was not in your original draft.
What is spintax?
Spintax (short for spinning syntax) is a template format where alternative phrases are wrapped in curly braces and separated by pipes, like {Hi|Hey|Hello}. Each time the template is used, one option is picked at random, so a single template produces many different emails. Alternatives can be nested, like {a|{b|c}}, and the total number of unique variations is the product of every choice point in the template.
How does spintax work in cold email tools?
Cold email software resolves the spintax separately for every recipient at send time: each {a|b|c} block is replaced with one randomly chosen option. Merge tags in double braces, like {{first_name}}, are handled separately and filled with each prospect's data. The result is that every email in the campaign reads slightly differently while saying the same thing.
Does spintax improve email deliverability?
It helps at the margin, but it is not a fix on its own. Spam filters fingerprint repeated content, so sending hundreds of identical emails is a real risk that spintax reduces by making each message distinct. Deliverability still depends far more on a verified list, a warmed-up domain, correct SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and copy that people actually reply to — spintax cannot compensate for any of those.
What is the difference between spintax and personalization?
Personalization inserts information about the specific recipient — their name, company or a custom first line — usually through merge tags like {{first_name}}. Spintax randomly varies your own wording, so the same recipient could have received any of the variations. The strongest cold emails use both: personalization makes the email relevant to the reader, while spintax makes each message in the campaign distinct from the others.
Can I use spintax in Emailchaser?
Yes. Emailchaser's campaign sequences support spintax, and every email is spun automatically at send time, so each prospect receives a unique variation. Write your template with the {a|b|c} syntax used by this tool, combine it with merge tags for personalization, and Emailchaser handles the rotation for you across the whole campaign.
Why is my spintax showing up as {Hi|Hey} in the sent email?
Because Gmail and Outlook do not understand spintax on their own. If you paste {Hi|Hey} straight into a normal compose window and hit send, the recipient sees the braces and pipes exactly as typed. Spintax is only expanded by a sending platform that processes it at send time, such as Emailchaser — test the template here first, then send it through a tool that actually spins it.
How many spintax variations do I need for cold email?
Fewer than most people think. The goal is simply that no two messages going to your list are identical, so a few well-chosen variation points that produce a few hundred combinations is plenty for a normal campaign. A handful of clean, natural variations beats tens of thousands of awkward ones, so use the counter above to confirm you have comfortably more unique versions than recipients, then stop.
Can I use spintax in the subject line?
Yes, the same {a|b|c} syntax works in subject lines, and it arguably matters more there. Subject lines are the most repeated and most heavily fingerprinted part of a campaign, so spinning them — {Quick question|Quick one} about {{company}} — keeps them from looking mass-sent. Keep every option equally relevant and honest; our cold email subject line tester can score the wording of each one.
Is spintax the same as A/B testing?
No. A/B testing sends a small number of fixed variants and measures which one wins on opens or replies, so you learn what performs best. Spintax rotates many variants at random mainly to keep your content from looking identical across a list, and it does not track which variation did better. They solve different problems and are often used together.
Why does {first_name} appear as literal text instead of the name?
Single braces are spintax, not personalization. {first_name} is interpreted as a spin with only one option, so it is sent verbatim as the word first_name. Merge tags must use double braces — {{first_name}} — which this tool and every major sending platform leave untouched so they can be filled with each prospect's data.
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