What Is a Good Email Open Rate?
Here is the uncomfortable truth about this question in 2026: the reported average open rate is around 34 percent, and a decent chunk of that is fiction. Since Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection, Apple Mail preloads tracking pixels and registers an "open" whether or not a human ever reads the email, inflating reported open rates by an estimated 15 to 20 points. The real human open rate for most lists is closer to 20 to 30 percent. So a good open rate depends on which version of the number you are looking at, and the first job of this guide is helping you tell them apart. To run your own figures, use the free email open rate calculator.
The 2026 benchmarks
| Metric (2026 average) | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Open rate, reported (with Apple MPP) | ~33.9% |
| Open rate, real human (MPP removed) | ~20.7% |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | ~2.3% |
| Click-to-open rate (CTOR) | ~10% - 20% |
Source: Brevo 2026 Marketing Orchestration Benchmark, with HubSpot and Klaviyo 2026 email benchmarks. Last reviewed July 2026.
Industry moves these numbers a long way. Government and public-sector lists report open rates near 34 percent while ecommerce sits closer to 15.5 percent, so compare against your own sector rather than the blended figure.
How to judge your own open rate
First, find out how much of your list reads email in Apple Mail; most email platforms will show you. A list heavy with Apple Mail readers will report flattering opens that mean very little. Then anchor on the realistic range, working from the cited averages: the reported norm sits around 34 percent, so high twenties reported is a touch below par, high thirties is a little ahead of it, and because MPP alone can add 15 to 20 points, anything reported above the mid-forties usually says more about your Apple Mail share than your subject lines.
Second, watch the trend rather than the level. Open rate is still useful for spotting big swings: a sudden drop often means a deliverability problem, a spam-folder issue or a list-quality problem, and that signal survives the MPP noise because the noise is roughly constant.
The metrics that cannot be faked
Clicks are real. A machine can preload a pixel; it does not click your link and browse your site. That is why click-through rate and especially click-to-open rate are the numbers worth optimising. CTOR asks: of the people who opened, how many found the content worth clicking? At a typical 10 to 20 percent, it is a purer read on whether your emails deliver on their subject lines. If you optimise one email metric, make it CTOR.
The practical shift is to treat opens as a soft signal for testing subject lines and spotting delivery problems, and to judge campaign success on clicks, conversions and revenue. If the conversion side is where your funnel leaks, our guide on what a good conversion rate looks like covers the next step, and the conversion rate calculator will show where your post-click numbers sit.
Quick wins when opens are genuinely low
If your real open rate trails the range even after accounting for MPP, the usual suspects are, in order: list quality (bought or stale lists tank everything), sender reputation and authentication, subject lines that read like ads, and send timing. Clean the list first. No subject line rescues an email that lands in spam.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 30 percent open rate good?
Reported, it is around average for 2026. Whether it is genuinely good depends on your Apple Mail share and your industry: strong for ecommerce, unremarkable for government or non-profit lists.
Why did my open rate jump without me changing anything?
Most often it is Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflating opens as more of your list uses Apple Mail, not a real change in reader behaviour. Check clicks over the same period; if they are flat, the jump is probably noise.
What is a good click-to-open rate?
Roughly 10 to 20 percent is typical. Below that range, the content is not delivering on the subject line's promise. It is the most trustworthy of the standard email metrics because it cannot be inflated by pixel preloading.
Should I stop tracking open rate entirely?
No, just demote it. It is still useful for A/B testing subject lines on the same list at the same time, and for spotting sudden deliverability problems. Judge success on clicks and conversions.