Looking for a SendGrid alternative?
Fast API send latency, deep-stack unified observability, EU data hosting, and cost effective pricing. No legacy patterns, no surprise fees.
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SendGrid 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, absence of idempotency keys, and expensive pricing at scale push developers toward modern alternatives. Nuntly is built from the ground up with fast API latency, unified deep-stack observability, and EU data hosting by default.
- SendGrid is a mature platform with marketing email features but carries legacy API patterns from 2009
- Nuntly adds fast API latency, unified deep-stack observability, idempotent requests, and EU data hosting
- SendGrid has no API request logs and is very expensive at scale with complex add-on pricing
Why developers choose Nuntly over SendGrid
The differences that matter most when choosing an email platform.
Fast API send latency
Optimized for speed at every volume tier. SendGrid carries legacy overhead that slows down API responses.
Unified deep-stack observability
API logs, email flow, delivery events, and webhooks in a single unified view. SendGrid has no API request logs and charges extra for advanced analytics.
EU data hosting by default
All data stored and processed in Europe. Full GDPR compliance without additional configuration.
Cost effective pricing
Bootstrap company with cost effective pricing. No 60-day trial limits, no complex add-on charges, no surprise fees at scale.
Feature by feature
A side-by-side look at what each platform offers.
Nuntly
SendGrid
Deliverability
Both platforms cover deliverability fundamentals. SendGrid has a longer track record and a large shared IP pool, but that pool serves both transactional and marketing email senders. Nuntly focuses exclusively on transactional email, which keeps shared IP reputation cleaner.
API Performance
Nuntly is optimized for fast API send latency, which matters for high-throughput applications where every millisecond counts. SendGrid API latency is slower, and the difference adds up at scale.
Advanced SDKs
SendGrid has SDKs for many languages, but they lack type safety and built-in retry logic. SendGrid does not support idempotency keys, increasing the risk of duplicate sends during network failures. Nuntly SDKs are fully typed, include automatic retries with exponential backoff, and support idempotent requests out of the box.
Developer Experience
SendGrid's v3 API carries legacy design patterns like nested payload structures and inconsistent naming. The API only returns an HTTP response with no request logs, giving you no visibility into what happened. Nuntly was built from scratch with flat, predictable request bodies, full API request logs, and a platform API that covers every feature.
Security
SendGrid processes data in the US. For European teams, this means relying on data processing agreements and Standard Contractual Clauses. Nuntly hosts all data in Europe by default, removing this compliance overhead entirely.
Observability
SendGrid's API only returns an HTTP response with no request logs. Aggregate statistics are available, but detailed per-email logs require higher-tier plans. Nuntly provides a unified view of API logs, email flow, delivery events, and webhooks in a single place, with event replay on every plan.
Cost Effective
SendGrid's free tier is a 60-day trial limited to 100 emails/day, not a permanent plan. Nuntly offers a permanent free tier of 3,000 emails/mo. SendGrid is very expensive at scale, with add-on charges for dedicated IPs and advanced analytics. Nuntly is a bootstrap company with cost effective pricing that includes observability and EU data hosting on all plans.
Sending Capabilities
Core sending capabilities are equivalent. Both support single and bulk sending, scheduled delivery, and HTML or plain text content. SendGrid also supports marketing campaigns, which adds complexity to its sending API. Nuntly keeps the API surface focused on transactional email, resulting in a simpler integration.
Last verified: 2026-02-08
Pricing comparison
A side-by-side look at what each platform costs at different volumes.
SendGrid's free tier is a 60 days trial, not a permanent plan. The Essentials plan covers up to 100k emails/mo at $34.95/mo, but features like dedicated IPs and advanced analytics require the Pro plan at $89.95/mo. Nuntly publishes transparent pricing from free to 1.5M emails/mo, with observability and EU data hosting included on all plans.
Prices as of 2026-02-08. Check each provider's website for the latest pricing.
Which platform fits your needs?
Different teams have different requirements. Here is an honest breakdown.
Choose Nuntly if you need
- Teams that need fast API send latency at scale
- Projects requiring unified deep-stack observability with API request logs
- Teams that need EU data hosting and GDPR compliance
- Organizations looking for cost effective pricing from a bootstrap company
Consider SendGrid if you need
- Teams that also need built-in marketing email campaigns
- Organizations already deeply integrated with Twilio services
- Projects where legacy API patterns and lack of idempotency keys are acceptable trade-offs
Developers who switched
What teams say after moving to Nuntly.
“Nuntly's observability is game-changing. Real-time API logs, detailed event tracking, reliable webhooks with retry mechanisms. I know exactly what's going on. This level of transparency should be standard for every email platform.”
Pierre Formont
Senior Engineer, Olyzon
“Exceptional inbox delivery from day one with production-grade infrastructure that feels developer-friendly. Having data hosted in Europe gives us full confidence in our compliance.”
Aurelien Pelletier
Platform Director, Wenvision
Switch from SendGrid in minutes
Most developers complete the migration in a single session.
Create your account
Sign up for free at nuntly.com. No credit card required.
Start with SMTP relay
If you want a gradual migration, start by pointing your SendGrid SMTP settings to Nuntly SMTP relay. This lets you test without changing application code.
Verify your domain
Add your sending domain and configure DKIM, SPF, and DMARC records. Nuntly generates the exact DNS records you need.
Switch to the SDK
Replace @sendgrid/mail with @nuntly/sdk for a cleaner, type-safe integration. The Nuntly API is simpler: no v3 mail/send payload nesting, just flat fields.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about switching email providers.
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