7 Best SendGrid Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Paid)

The best SendGrid alternatives in 2026 are Mailgun, Postmark, Resend, Amazon SES, Mailtrap, Brevo, and SMTP2GO. The main change since 2025 is that SendGrid no longer has a free plan: new accounts get a 60-day trial at 100 emails a day, then Email API plans start at $19.95 a month.

Last validated: September 2026. Pricing and limits were checked against each provider's official pricing page, linked in References.

Is SendGrid free?

No. SendGrid retired its free plan in 2025. New accounts get a 60-day free trial⁠, and when it ends, email sent through the API or SMTP stops until you choose a paid plan.

What the SendGrid free trial includes:

• Email API: up to 100 emails a day through the web API or SMTP, for 60 days.
• Marketing Campaigns: up to 100 emails a day and 100 stored contacts, for the same 60 days.
• After the trial: Email API Essentials⁠ costs $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails or $34.95 for 100,000. Pro, with dedicated IPs, starts at $89.95.

Feb 2019Twilio acquires SendGridTwilio completes its all-stock acquisition of SendGrid, valued at about $3B.Source

Mar 25, 2025New direct signups moved to trialNew direct SendGrid accounts start on a 60-day free trial (100 emails/day).Source

May 27, 2025Free plan retirement announcedExisting free accounts get 60 more days, then must move to a paid plan (from $19.95/mo).Source

1. Feb 2019Twilio acquires SendGridTwilio completes its all-stock acquisition of SendGrid, valued at about $3B.Source
2. Mar 25, 2025New direct signups moved to trialNew direct SendGrid accounts start on a 60-day free trial (100 emails/day).Source
3. May 27, 2025Free plan retirement announcedExisting free accounts get 60 more days, then must move to a paid plan (from $19.95/mo).Source

Existing free accounts got 60 more days after Twilio's May 27, 2025 announcement⁠, then sending paused. SendGrid still fits teams that want dedicated IPs, subusers, and a marketing product in one account; the alternatives below fit if you want a permanent free tier, lower cost, or a different developer experience.

Free SendGrid alternatives compared

A 100-per-day cap works out to about 3,000 emails a month only if your sends are spread evenly. A launch-day spike will hit the cap.

Quick comparison

Provider	Starting Price	Best For	Migration
Mailgun	$15/mo for 10K	Developer teams who need email validation + sending	2/5
Postmark	$15/mo for 10K	Teams prioritizing transactional delivery and stream separation	2/5
Resend	$20/mo for 50K transactional	React/Next.js devs wanting modern DX	2/5
Amazon SES	$1 to $1.60 for 10K	High-volume senders on AWS with engineering resources	4/5
Mailtrap	$15/mo for 10K	Teams wanting a large free tier and separate transactional/bulk streams	2/5
Brevo	From $9/mo for 5K	Small businesses wanting email + CRM + SMS in one tool	2/5
SMTP2GO	$15/mo for 10K	SMTP-first teams wanting simple, low-volume pricing	2/5

The starting prices above cover different amounts of email. The cost table below compares them at the same volumes.

1. Mailgun: best for sending plus validation

Mailgun combines API and SMTP sending with email validation. Its plans⁠ include 100 emails a day free, Basic at $15 for 10,000 emails, Foundation at $35 for 50,000 or $75 for 100,000, and Scale at $90 for 100,000.

• Choose it when: validation and sending should live in one developer-focused service, or you need inbound routing.
• Watch for: Free and Basic keep logs for one day and allow one custom domain. Foundation keeps 5 days; Scale keeps 30 and includes a dedicated IP.
• Compared with SendGrid: cheaper at 10,000 emails, more expensive at 50,000 and 100,000.
• Migration: easy for most API or SMTP integrations. Map webhook payloads and template syntax before cutover.

2. Postmark: best for transactional deliverability focus

Postmark separates transactional and broadcast traffic into Message Streams on separate infrastructure. Pricing⁠ starts at $15 a month for 10,000 emails on Basic; the free developer plan covers only 100 emails a month.

Reputation architecture

Separate transactional and broadcast streams

Transactional and broadcast stream separation

Stream	Examples	Suggested subdomain
Transactional	Password resets, receipts, security alerts	auth.example.com
Broadcast	Newsletters, launches, promotions	news.example.com

• Choose it when: you want transactional and bulk reputation kept strictly apart.
• Watch for: it gets expensive with volume. Basic costs $55 for 50,000 emails and $115 for its 125,000 tier, and Basic excludes inbound processing. Postmark sends broadcasts but isn't a marketing suite.
• Compared with SendGrid: 45 days of message history by default versus SendGrid's 3 to 7; SendGrid is about a third of the price at 100,000 emails.
• Migration: straightforward. Plan a separate marketing tool if you need more than broadcasts.

3. Resend: best for React and Next.js teams

Resend works closely with React Email, so templates can live as JSX components in your repo. Its transactional plans⁠ include 3,000 emails a month free, $20 for 50,000, and $35 for 100,000, with $0.90 per 1,000 in overage.

• Choose it when: developers own templates in code and your app uses React or Next.js.
• Watch for: the free plan caps you at 100 emails a day and 3 domains. Marketing broadcasts use a separate plan priced by contacts, from $40 a month for 5,000.
• Compared with SendGrid: same price at 50,000 and 100,000 emails, plus a permanent free tier and 30 days of logs. SendGrid includes dedicated IPs on Pro; Resend charges $30 a month on a Scale or Marketing Pro plan.
• Migration: API changes are usually small. Rebuilding many hosted SendGrid templates in React Email is the bigger job.

For a line-by-line price comparison, see Resend vs SendGrid.

4. Amazon SES: best for low raw sending cost

Amazon SES is AWS email infrastructure, not a finished product. Since July 21, 2026, new accounts start on the Essentials plan⁠ at $0.16 per 1,000 emails, which bundles deliverability monitoring. Any account can switch to à la carte pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 and buy those extras separately.

• Choose it when: your team already runs on AWS and can own event handling, template code, and IAM setup.
• Watch for: new accounts start in the SES sandbox, limited to 200 emails per 24 hours and verified recipients until AWS approves production access. The old SES free tier of 3,000 emails a month is closed to new customers.
• Compared with SendGrid: $10 to $16 for 100,000 emails versus $34.95. SES has console dashboards and basic stored templates, but you wire up event handling and build the richer template tooling SendGrid includes.
• Migration: the most work on this list. Budget time for bounce and complaint handling.

5. Mailtrap: generous free tier and cheap volume

Mailtrap offers REST and SMTP sending, with transactional and bulk traffic on separate streams and IP pools, reports by mailbox provider, and a separate testing sandbox.

Mailtrap pricing⁠ includes 4,000 emails a month free, Basic at $15 for 10,000, $20 for 50,000, or $30 for 100,000, and Business at $85 for 100,000.

• Choose it when: you want a 4,000-email monthly free tier, or the lowest price on this list at 100,000 emails after Amazon SES.
• Watch for: logs last 3 days on Free, 5 on Basic, and 15 on Business. Dedicated IPs and 24/7 support start on Business. Overage is capped; sends beyond the cap are rejected.
• Compared with SendGrid: a permanent free tier and lower prices at 100,000 emails; SendGrid has a fuller marketing product and subusers.
• Migration: REST and SMTP cover the common paths. Send marketing email through the bulk stream, as Mailtrap requires.

6. Brevo: best all-in-one for marketing teams

Brevo combines transactional email, campaigns, CRM, SMS, and WhatsApp. Its pricing⁠ includes 300 emails a day free, Starter from $9 a month for 5,000 emails, and Standard from $18. At 100,000 emails a month, Starter costs $82.

• Choose it when: a marketing or operations team wants several channels in one interface.
• Watch for: the bill grows with send volume, add-ons, and seats.
• Compared with SendGrid: more business tooling; SendGrid gives developers more granular sending and account controls, and is cheaper at 100,000 API emails.
• Migration: API and SMTP are available; the bigger change is moving your team's workflows into Brevo.

7. SMTP2GO: best for straightforward SMTP relay

SMTP2GO offers SMTP relay, an email API, reporting, subaccounts, and webhooks. Its pricing⁠ includes 1,000 emails a month free, Starter at $15 a month for 10,000, and Professional at $75 a month for 100,000 with a dedicated IP.

• Choose it when: an existing app, device, or plugin already speaks SMTP and you want a simple low-volume plan.
• Watch for: the free plan keeps 5 days of reporting, caps sends at 200 a day, and limits you to 25 emails an hour until you verify a sender domain. Overage stops at 300% of your plan's allowance.
• Compared with SendGrid: a permanent free plan and cheaper at 10,000 emails; SendGrid costs less at 100,000 and has a marketing product.
• Migration: swap SMTP credentials or API calls, map events, authenticate the domain, and test suppressions.

Cost by monthly API volume

This table uses the cheapest monthly plan that covers each volume without overage, for a new account. It excludes marketing plans, contact storage, attachments, and add-ons.

*After SendGrid's 60-day trial.

†Mailgun and Resend cap free sending at 100 emails a day.

‡SMTP2GO's Starter plan has a 50,000-email tier; check its current price on the pricing page. Starter 10K can't reach 50,000 because overage stops at 30,000.

Postmark's 100,000 figure is its Basic 125,000-email tier. SES ranges from à la carte pricing ($0.10 per 1,000) to the Essentials plan new accounts start on ($0.16). If you also send campaigns to a contact list, see our mixed-workload comparison.

How to choose

• Mailgun: sending plus email validation and inbound routing.
• Postmark: transactional focus and strict stream separation, at a premium.
• Resend: React Email and templates in code.
• Amazon SES: lowest cost, with in-house engineering to run it.
• Mailtrap: a generous free tier and the lowest price here at 100,000 emails after SES.
• Brevo: campaigns, CRM, SMS, and transactional email together.
• SMTP2GO: SMTP relay with simple low-volume plans.

No provider guarantees inbox placement. Authentication, list quality, reputation, and sending patterns matter more; our email deliverability guide covers the setup.

Other options

Consider MailerSend when non-developers maintain transactional templates, Mailjet when you want campaigns and API sending together, Elastic Email for low advertised API pricing, or Mailchimp Transactional if you already pay for Mailchimp.

Where Dreamlit fits

Dreamlit, the company behind this blog, isn't on this list because it isn't an email API. If you're replacing SendGrid for password resets, receipts, and alerts, pick from the seven above.

Dreamlit runs activation email for you, start to finish. Our experts spot where new users stall, send the emails that move them forward, and are accountable for the numbers. You get a weekly report on what moved. It's built for companies with 500+ signups a month.

If the real reason you're shopping for email tools is that too few signups become paying users, get a free activation audit.

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References

1. SendGrid Email API pricing⁠
2. Twilio SendGrid trial account plan⁠
3. Changes coming to SendGrid's free plan⁠
4. SendGrid Marketing Campaigns pricing⁠
5. Mailgun pricing⁠
6. Postmark pricing⁠
7. Resend pricing⁠
8. Amazon SES pricing⁠
9. AWS: Introducing Amazon SES pricing plans⁠
10. Mailtrap pricing⁠
11. Mailtrap bulk stream⁠
12. Brevo pricing⁠
13. SMTP2GO pricing⁠
14. SMTP2GO email overage⁠

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Frequently asked questions

Is SendGrid free?

No. SendGrid retired its free plan in 2025. New accounts get a 60-day free trial capped at 100 emails a day, and when it ends, sending stops until you pick a paid plan. The cheapest paid plan, Email API Essentials, costs $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails.

Does SendGrid have a free trial?

Yes. New accounts get 60 days to send up to 100 emails a day through the API or SMTP, plus Marketing Campaigns with up to 100 stored contacts. There is no permanent free tier after the trial.

What's the best free SendGrid alternative?

Mailtrap has the biggest fixed monthly allowance at 4,000 emails (150 a day), and Resend gives 3,000 (100 a day). Brevo allows 300 a day, SMTP2GO 1,000 a month, and Mailgun 100 a day. Postmark's free tier is only 100 emails a month.

What's the cheapest SendGrid alternative for high volume?

Amazon SES, at $0.10 to $0.16 per 1,000 emails ($10 to $16 for 100,000). It includes console dashboards and basic stored templates, but you wire up event handling and build any richer tooling yourself. Among full-service providers, Mailtrap's Basic plan covers 100,000 emails for $30 a month.

Can I migrate from SendGrid without downtime?

Yes. Authenticate your domain with the new provider, send a small share of traffic through it, compare bounces and complaints, then shift the rest. Keep SendGrid running until suppressions, webhooks, and templates are mapped.

Is SendGrid still worth using in 2026?

It can be for higher-volume teams that need dedicated IPs, subusers, and a marketing product in one account. For small teams, the lack of a free plan and 3-day activity history on Essentials make alternatives more attractive.

Which SendGrid alternative has the best deliverability?

There is no universal winner. Deliverability depends more on sender reputation, list quality, authentication, and sending patterns than on the provider's brand.