Email Sending Services

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the Email Sending Services page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 18, 2026.

Send receipts, password resets and other emails from your app through a reliable server, by API or SMTP.

Before you choose, here are 7 things to know about email sending services, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 12 email sending services

   9 of them are free or have a free plan, and 2 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $15 a month in the middle

   From $6.30 (MailerSend) to $25 (SMTP.com), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: MailerSend

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than it without costing more.

4. 4

   0 of 12 have iPhone and Android apps

   12 run in a web browser and 0 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.5

   0 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is Amazon SES, at 2.8.

6. 6

   Best free option: Bird Email

   Bird Email has the highest GPA of the free ones, 2.6. SparkPost's successor: Bird's email API, paid from a prepaid balance.

7. 7

   12 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 12 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 0 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three email sending services we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   2.6GPA

   Resend

   Free plan · from $20/mo

   For: Most small apps and shops sending account and order emails

   Resend sends account and order emails from an app through a REST API, SMTP or official SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, Java, Elixir and .NET, with templates written as React components, signed webhooks for bounces and complaints, inbound email and a test mode. The free plan sends 3,000 emails a month with 3 domains and 30 days of logs, and Pro is $20 a month for 50,000 with no daily limit and 10 domains. Know the limits: the free plan stops at 100 emails a day, there is no plan between Free and $20 and no yearly billing, and a dedicated IP needs Scale at $90 plus $30 a month.

   The Resend Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   2.8GPA

   Amazon SES

   Free trial

   For: Apps on AWS, or sending in volume

   Amazon SES sends and receives email for apps through an API, SMTP or AWS SDKs, with address validation, shared or dedicated IPs and rules for routing incoming mail. There is no monthly fee: the à la carte rate is $0.10 per 1,000 emails, and Essentials, where new accounts start, is $0.16. It is second because it is slower to start: new accounts sit in a sandbox that only sends to verified addresses until AWS approves a limit increase, there is no free monthly allowance beyond up to $200 of credits for new AWS customers, and setup runs through code and the AWS console.

   The Amazon SES Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   2.4GPA

   Mailjet

   Free plan · from $8.10/mo

   For: Shops sending order emails and newsletters

   Mailjet sends receipts and password resets through an API or SMTP relay and newsletters through a drag-and-drop editor, from one account and one plan, with webhooks, a parse API for inbound email, EU data centers and connections to WordPress, WooCommerce and Shopify. The free plan sends 6,000 emails a month with no card, and Starter is $8.10 a month billed yearly ($9 monthly) for 8,000 with no daily limit. It is third because app email alone costs more: 50,000 emails is $40 a month on Essential, billed monthly, against $20 on Resend. The free plan stops at 200 emails a day, and online support lasts only the first month.

   The Mailjet Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, MailerSend gives the most for the money among email sending services: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $15 a month across the 11 that charge, from $6.30 (MailerSend) to $25 (SMTP.com).

6 of the 11 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 1 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded email sending services, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
Amazon SES	A	C	B	C	B	2.8
Bird Email	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Elastic Email	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Mailtrap	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Resend	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
Twilio SendGrid	B	C	B	C	B	2.6
MailerSend	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Mailgun	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Mailjet	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Postmark	D	C	B	C	B	2.2
SMTP2GO	C	C	C	C	B	2.2
SMTP.com	C	F	C	C	B	1.8

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where email sending services land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 12

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 0

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every email sending service we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1Amazon SESFree trial2.8
2. 2Bird EmailFree plan · from $15/mo2.6
3. 3Elastic EmailFree plan · from $19/mo2.6
4. 4MailtrapFree plan · from $15/mo2.6
5. 5ResendFree plan · from $20/mo2.6
6. 6Twilio SendGridFree trial · from $19.95/mo2.6
7. 7MailerSendFree plan · from $6.30/mo2.4
8. 8MailgunFree plan · from $15/mo2.4
9. 9MailjetFree plan · from $8.10/mo2.4
10. 10PostmarkFree plan · from $15/mo2.2
11. 11SMTP2GOFree plan · from $15/mo2.2
12. 12SMTP.comFrom $25/mo1.8

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 2,281

  tools graded

• 73

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries