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SendGrid alternatives

Best SendGrid alternatives

Looking for a SendGrid alternative? Compare modern transactional email platforms with fast API latency, deep observability, and predictable pricing.

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SendGrid (Twilio) was founded in 2009 and acquired by Twilio in 2019. It remains one of the most established email platforms, but its legacy API patterns, lack of API request logs, expensive pricing at scale, and absence of idempotency keys push many developers to explore alternatives. Here are the best options in 2026.

Common reasons

Why developers look for SendGrid alternatives

  • Legacy API design with nested payload structures and inconsistent naming
  • No API request logs: the API only returns an HTTP response with no visibility into what happened
  • Very expensive at scale, with complex pricing and add-on charges for dedicated IPs and advanced analytics
  • No EU data hosting option
  • Does not support idempotency keys, increasing the risk of duplicate sends during network failures
  • Free tier is a 60 days trial only (100 emails/day), not a permanent plan
Evaluation criteria

What to look for in an alternative

Key criteria to evaluate when choosing a SendGrid replacement.

  • Fast API send latency for high-throughput applications
  • Deep-stack observability: API logs, email flow tracking, send latency metrics, and webhook monitoring
  • Predictable, transparent pricing from a stable company
  • EU data hosting and GDPR compliance by default
  • Idempotent requests and built-in retry logic at the SDK level
Alternatives

Best SendGrid alternatives in 2026

A curated list of transactional email platforms ranked by developer experience.

1. Nuntly

Recommended

Developer-first transactional email platform with fast API send latency, deep-stack observability, EU data hosting, and predictable pricing. Bootstrap company. Free plan included.

Strengths

  • Fast API send latency optimized for high-throughput applications
  • Deep-stack observability: unified view of API logs, email flow, send latency, delivery events, and webhooks
  • EU data hosting and GDPR compliance by default on all plans
  • Type-safe TypeScript and Java SDKs with built-in retry logic and idempotent requests
  • Predictable pricing from a bootstrap company, published up to 1.5M emails/mo
Best for: Teams that need fast API latency, deep observability, EU data hosting, and predictable pricing for transactional email.
Pricing: Free (3,000 emails/mo), Starter from €10/mo, Scale from €68/mo
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2. Resend

Developer-focused email service with a clean API and React Email integration. Popular with Next.js and React developers. VC-backed with pricing that has increased significantly at higher tiers.

Strengths

  • Clean, modern API design
  • React Email template integration
  • SDKs for JavaScript/TypeScript and Java
  • Platform API for domains, API keys, and teams
Best for: Small projects using React Email templates that do not need EU hosting, unified observability, or predictable pricing at scale.
Pricing: Free (3,000 emails/mo), Pro from $20/mo

3. Postmark

Transactional-focused email service founded in 2009 and acquired by ActiveCampaign in 2020. Known for delivery speed, but one of the most expensive providers at scale with slow onboarding and no EU hosting.

Strengths

  • Strong reputation for transactional delivery
  • Inbound email processing
  • Detailed delivery analytics
Best for: Teams that need both transactional sending and inbound email processing and can accept expensive pricing at scale.
Pricing: Free (100 emails/mo), Basic from $15/mo, Pro from $16.50/mo, Platform from $18/mo

4. Mailgun (Sinch)

Established email service founded in 2010 and acquired by Sinch in 2021. Offers routing rules, email validation, and SMTP/API integration, but with form-encoded API patterns and expensive pricing at scale.

Strengths

  • Advanced routing and filtering rules
  • Built-in email validation service
  • EU region available as an option
  • SMTP and API support
Best for: Teams that need email validation, inbound routing rules, or integration with other Sinch services and can accept form-encoded API patterns.
Pricing: Free (3,000 emails/mo), Foundation from $35/mo, Scale from $215/mo

5. Amazon SES

Low-level email sending service from AWS. Very cheap at high volume but requires you to build everything else yourself: tracking, analytics, webhooks, and bounce handling.

Strengths

  • Lowest cost per email at very high volumes
  • Deep AWS ecosystem integration
  • Full control over sending infrastructure
  • Pay-per-use pricing with no monthly minimums
Best for: Teams with dedicated DevOps resources who want maximum control and minimal per-email cost.
Pricing: $0.10 per 1,000 emails (no free tier outside AWS Free Tier)

6. Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill)

Transactional email add-on for Mailchimp. Requires a Mailchimp account. Good for teams already using Mailchimp for marketing.

Strengths

  • Tight integration with Mailchimp marketing tools
  • Template system shared with Mailchimp
  • Established delivery infrastructure
Best for: Teams already using Mailchimp for marketing who want to add transactional email.
Pricing: Requires Mailchimp plan. Transactional blocks from $20 per 25,000 emails

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about choosing an email platform.

More alternatives

Resend alternatives

Looking for a Resend alternative? Compare the top transactional email platforms for developers.

Postmark alternatives

Looking for a Postmark alternative? Compare transactional email platforms with fast API latency, deep observability, and predictable pricing.

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