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SendGrid alternatives

Four email services a developer leaving SendGrid would actually consider, weighed on inbound mail, signed webhooks, agent tooling and what an extra thousand emails costs. Every figure was read from the vendor's own page on 2026-10-17.

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SendGrid
SendGrid is Twilio's email product: an API and an SMTP service with seven official libraries, sold as Email API plans, with its campaign tooling bought as a second subscription.
What this page is
A list of four email services that would take the mail SendGrid sends for you today, compared on the same rows and against the same sources. Rasket is one of them, and we build it — so every claim we make about ourselves is linked to a Rasket page, and every claim about anybody else is linked to theirs.

Key takeaways

  • Extra emails, per 1,000 — Rasket: $0.60. SendGrid: $1.33 on Essentials 50K, $0.88 on Essentials 100K.
  • Entry paid plan — Rasket: $20 a month for 50,000 emails. SendGrid: $19.95 a month for 50,000 emails.
  • Free plan — Rasket: 3,000 emails a month, 100 emails a day, 3 domains. SendGrid: No free plan — a 60-day trial of 100 emails a day.
  • Transactional and campaigns on one plan — Rasket: Yes. SendGrid: No — campaigns are a separate purchase.
  • Official SDKs — Rasket: Coming soon. SendGrid: C#, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python and Ruby.

Why developers look for a SendGrid alternative

Three reasons that are rows of the table below rather than opinions. Each one is something SendGrid publishes about itself.

  • There is no free plan to stay on — the entry is a 60-day trial of 100 emails a day.
  • Extra email on Essentials 50K costs $0.00133 each, which is $1.33 per thousand past the quota.
  • Searchable email activity is three days on Essentials, which is shorter than most support conversations.

None of those is a reason on its own. They are reasons if they describe what you are doing: a product past its free tier, a support conversation longer than the history you can read, a campaign you would rather not buy twice.

Four alternatives to SendGrid

Rasket is first because we build it, and you should read the table before you take our word for the order.

  1. 1.Rasket

    It is, for most of what the Email API plans do. Rasket sends over a REST API or its SMTP relay, signs webhooks and lets you replay them, receives inbound mail, and keeps thirty days of history on the self-serve plans against three on Essentials. What Rasket does not have is SendGrid's seven client libraries, and it is not part of Twilio, so shared billing with SMS and voice is not on the table.

    Best for: Products that send campaigns and receive replies as well as sending receipts

  2. 2.Postmark

    Postmark is a transactional email service with six official libraries, an SMTP option and Message Streams, which keep transactional and broadcast mail on separate sending infrastructure. Free plan: 100 emails a month, and it does not expire. Extra emails, per 1,000: $1.80.

    Best for: Teams who want transactional and bulk mail kept on separate streams

  3. 3.Mailgun

    Mailgun is an email API from Sinch with six official SDKs, an SMTP relay, rule-based inbound routing and signed webhooks, sold on plans whose log retention grows with the tier. Free plan: 100 emails a day. Extra emails, per 1,000: From $1.80 on Basic.

    Best for: Teams who route inbound mail with rules and want a relay in front of it

  4. 4.MailerSend

    MailerSend is an email API with seven official libraries, an SMTP relay, signed webhooks, inbound routing and an MCP server, sold on small plans that start below every other entry price here. Free plan: 500 emails a month, 1 domain, 1 template. Extra emails, per 1,000: $0.90 on Starter and Professional.

    Best for: Small projects that want the cheapest paid plan on this list

The four, row by row

The same rows for all four, with the source of every cell numbered at the foot of the page.

Four alternatives to SendGrid, compared row by row
CriterionRasketPostmarkMailgunMailerSend
Sending and receiving
Inbound emailYes 1Receive at your own domain on every plan, delivered as a signed webhook.On the Pro and Platform plans 13The pricing table lists inbound email processing against Pro and Platform, and prices every plan by emails sent and received.1 route on Free, 5 on Basic, full routing from Foundation 21Yes 28The plan table marks inbound routing on every plan, Free included.
Transactional and campaigns on one planYes 2A campaign travels the same send pipeline as a password reset, on the same plan and the same key.Yes, on a separate Broadcast stream 13Their pricing FAQ says transactional and marketing mail are kept on parallel, separate sending infrastructure.Not published 21Not published 29
Idempotent sendsYes 4An Idempotency-Key is remembered for 24 hours.Not published 15Not published 24Not published 31
Versioned templatesYes 5Published versions with typed variables; every send records the version it used.Not published 16Templates are created and edited through the API; the page does not describe versions.Yes 25Up to 40 versions per template.Not published 31
AutomationsYes 6Not published 15Not published 21Not published 29
SMTP relayYes 11smtp.rasket.com on 465 or 587, an API key as the password. Each message is an API send.Yes 19Yes 21Yes 29
DKIM key size2048-bit, one key per domain 12Not published 20The domains API flags a key weaker than 1024 bits; it does not state the size it issues.Not published 24Not published 31
Webhooks and developer tools
Signed webhooksYes 3No signature: basic auth and an IP allowlist 14Their webhook guide says Postmark does not support HMAC signature verification, and recommends HTTP basic authentication on the webhook URL plus allowlisting Postmark's IP ranges.Yes 22A token, a timestamp and an HMAC-SHA256 signature posted with the event.Yes 30A Signature header holding an HMAC-SHA256 of the body, keyed by a per-webhook signing secret.
Replay a webhook eventYes 3Send the event again from the dashboard or the API; a replay carries the identical payload under the same event id.Not published 14The guide documents automatic retry attempts, not a manual replay.Not published 23Not published 30
MCP serverYes 7An HTTP MCP server with seven toolsets, plus a setup skill.Yes 17An open-source server you run locally with npx, linked from their MCP page.Yes 26Yes 32
Markdown docs and llms.txtYes 8Markdown at every docs URL, with llms.txt and llms-full.txt.An llms.txt index 15The index and a plain-text price list are published; a .md suffix on a documentation URL answered 404.Yes 24A .md suffix on a documentation URL returns Markdown, and llms.txt maps the set.Yes 33A .md suffix on a developer documentation URL returns Markdown, and the developer site's llms.txt indexes it.
Official SDKsComing soon 9Coming soon: the rasket package is not published yet. Today, every language sends over the REST API.Node.js and TypeScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Java and .NET 18Ruby, PHP, Python, Java, Go and Node.js 27PHP, Laravel, Node.js, Go, Python, Ruby and Java 31
Plans and pricing
Free plan3,000 emails a month, 100 emails a day, 3 domains 10100 emails a month, and it does not expire 13No overage is allowed on it.100 emails a day 21500 emails a month, 1 domain, 1 template 28A card is asked for when you subscribe, though the plan is free.
Entry paid plan$20 a month for 50,000 emails 10$15 a month for 10,000 emails 13The Basic plan. Fifty thousand emails is $55.$15 a month for 10,000 emails 21The Basic plan.$7 a month for 5,000 emails 29The Hobby plan, paying monthly.
Extra emails, per 1,000$0.60 10The rate steps down to $0.25 as the Scale ladder climbs.$1.80 13Basic, between 10,000 and 125,000 emails a month; $1.30 on Pro and $1.20 on Platform.From $1.80 on Basic 21From $1.30 on Foundation and from $1.10 on Scale.$0.90 on Starter and Professional 29That is the plan cards' rate; Hobby's card says $1.50. The same page's FAQ prices extra mail at $1.30 per 1,000 on the 100,000-email Starter tier, so the page gives two figures.
Data retention30 days on the self-serve plans 10Custom retention on a Custom plan.45 days, up to 365 on Pro and above 13Longer retention is an add-on from $5 a month, on Pro plans or higher.1 day of logs on Free and Basic, 5 on Foundation, 30 on Scale 211 day on Free and Hobby, 7 on Starter, 30 on Professional 28
Dedicated IP$30 a month per address on Scale 10Recommended above 5,000 emails a day; the choice is the customer's.$50 a month per IP, on Pro and above 13For senders above 300,000 emails a month.One included from Foundation 100k and on Scale, extra IPs $59 a month each 21Foundation 100k is $75 a month; the plan table says a dedicated IP can be added from the 50,000-email Foundation tier.For Enterprise accounts sending over 100,000 emails a week 29The plan table also lists a dedicated IP add-on on Professional; no price is stated.
Best forProducts that send campaigns and receive replies as well as sending receiptsTeams who want transactional and bulk mail kept on separate streamsTeams who route inbound mail with rules and want a relay in front of itSmall projects that want the cheapest paid plan on this list

Moving your domain off SendGrid

Add your domain in Rasket, publish the DKIM, SPF and DMARC records we generate, and keep sending through SendGrid until verification passes. Then swap the call: POST /emails takes the same pieces as their mail send, and the key moves to an Authorization header. An app on their SMTP service changes three settings instead: the host to smtp.rasket.com, the username from apikey to rasket, and the password to a Rasket key. Dynamic templates are rewritten once and published as a version; Event Webhook endpoints become Rasket webhooks with their own signing secret, and a failed delivery can be replayed from the dashboard while you finish the handler.

Nothing about a verified sending domain is exclusive, so both providers can hold it while you move. Send a small share of your mail through the new one first, watch the delivery and bounce events, and cut the rest over once the numbers look like the old ones.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best SendGrid alternative for developers?

We build Rasket, so read this as a disclosed preference and not a verdict. It is, for most of what the Email API plans do. Rasket sends over a REST API or its SMTP relay, signs webhooks and lets you replay them, receives inbound mail, and keeps thirty days of history on the self-serve plans against three on Essentials. What Rasket does not have is SendGrid's seven client libraries, and it is not part of Twilio, so shared billing with SMS and voice is not on the table.

Is there a free SendGrid alternative?

Rasket: 3,000 emails a month, 100 emails a day, 3 domains. Postmark: 100 emails a month, and it does not expire. Mailgun: 100 emails a day. MailerSend: 500 emails a month, 1 domain, 1 template. Each figure is from that vendor's own pricing page on 2026-10-17.

Which SendGrid alternative includes inbound email?

Rasket: Yes. Postmark: On the Pro and Platform plans. Mailgun: 1 route on Free, 5 on Basic, full routing from Foundation. MailerSend: Yes. Inbound means receiving mail at your own domain, not just sending from it.

Which SendGrid alternative works with AI agents?

Rasket: Yes. Postmark: Yes. Mailgun: Yes. MailerSend: Yes. An MCP server is what lets an assistant call the API directly; Markdown docs and llms.txt is the other half, and it reads: Rasket: Yes. Postmark: An llms.txt index. Mailgun: Yes. MailerSend: Yes.

How do I move my domain off SendGrid?

Add your domain in Rasket, publish the DKIM, SPF and DMARC records we generate, and keep sending through SendGrid until verification passes. Then swap the call: POST /emails takes the same pieces as their mail send, and the key moves to an Authorization header. An app on their SMTP service changes three settings instead: the host to smtp.rasket.com, the username from apikey to rasket, and the password to a Rasket key. Dynamic templates are rewritten once and published as a version; Event Webhook endpoints become Rasket webhooks with their own signing secret, and a failed delivery can be replayed from the dashboard while you finish the handler.

Sources

  1. 1Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/receiving. Read 2026-09-16.
  2. 2Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/broadcasts. Read 2026-10-17.
  3. 3Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/webhooks. Read 2026-10-17.
  4. 4Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/docs/idempotency. Read 2026-10-17.
  5. 5Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/templates. Read 2026-10-17.
  6. 6Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/automations. Read 2026-10-17.
  7. 7Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/agents. Read 2026-09-16.
  8. 8Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/llms.txt. Read 2026-09-16.
  9. 9Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/docs/quickstart. Read 2026-10-17.
  10. 10Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/pricing. Read 2026-10-17.
  11. 11Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/docs/smtp. Read 2026-09-29.
  12. 12Rasket — https://www.rasket.com/features/domains. Read 2026-10-17.
  13. 13Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/pricing. Read 2026-10-17.
  14. 14Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/developer/webhooks/webhooks-overview. Read 2026-10-17.
  15. 15Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/llms.txt. Read 2026-10-17.
  16. 16Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/developer/api/templates-api. Read 2026-10-17.
  17. 17Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/lp/mcp/. Read 2026-10-17.
  18. 18Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/developer/integration/official-libraries. Read 2026-10-17.
  19. 19Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/developer/user-guide/send-email-with-smtp. Read 2026-10-17.
  20. 20Postmark — https://postmarkapp.com/developer/api/domains-api. Read 2026-10-17.
  21. 21Mailgun — https://www.mailgun.com/pricing/. Read 2026-10-17.
  22. 22Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/webhooks/securing-webhooks. Read 2026-10-17.
  23. 23Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/webhooks/webhooks. Read 2026-10-17.
  24. 24Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/llms.txt. Read 2026-10-17.
  25. 25Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/user-manual/sending-messages/send-templates. Read 2026-10-17.
  26. 26Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/mcp. Read 2026-10-17.
  27. 27Mailgun — https://documentation.mailgun.com/docs/mailgun/sdk/introduction. Read 2026-10-17.
  28. 28MailerSend — https://www.mailersend.com/pricing.md. Read 2026-10-17.
  29. 29MailerSend — https://www.mailersend.com/pricing. Read 2026-10-17.
  30. 30MailerSend — https://developers.mailersend.com/api/v1/account/webhooks. Read 2026-10-17.
  31. 31MailerSend — https://developers.mailersend.com/. Read 2026-10-17.
  32. 32MailerSend — https://developers.mailersend.com/mcp. Read 2026-10-17.
  33. 33MailerSend — https://developers.mailersend.com/llms.txt. Read 2026-10-17.

Last checked 2026-10-17. Prices and plan contents change. Every figure above was read from the linked page on the date beside it; if one has moved since, the page it came from is the one to trust.

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