AuthSMTP vs SMTP.com (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, AuthSMTP and SMTP.com share a 1.8 GPA, neither has a free plan, and AuthSMTP starts cheaper, at $6 a month when paid by the year against $25 a month.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
AuthSMTP grades higher on value for money. SMTP.com grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SMTP.com
SMTP relay and email API sold in monthly volume plans from 50,000
Which one is for you
Pick AuthSMTP if
- Fits if you want to send from your own domain through SMTP and need nothing else
- Works for older apps and devices that can only send through SMTP
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to try it free, because there is no free plan or trial
- Skip it if you want a campaign builder or marketing tools, as it is an SMTP relay only
- Watch out: pricing is by the year only, charged up front
- Watch out: the 14-day money-back guarantee covers only new card or PayPal accounts and ends after 100 messages
- Tight if you send big files: data allowances assume an average message of 300 KB
Pick SMTP.com if
- Fits if you already send 50,000 emails a month and want one flat monthly price
- Works for senders moving from SendGrid or Mailgun who want help with the switch
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to try sending before you pay, since there's no free plan or trial
- Too light for apps that need webhooks, templates or incoming email, which the listing doesn't mention
- Pricey if you send a few thousand emails a month, as the smallest plan is $25 for 50,000
- Watch out: Reputation Defender and Insight Engine each add 20% of the plan price, $5 a month each on Essential
- Tight if you want a dedicated IP on Essential, which sends from a shared one until the $80 plan
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAuthSMTPWeak | 1.8GPASMTP.comWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | B$72 a year for 2,000 emails a month works out to $6 a month, inside the cheapest quarter of email sending tools. It is billed yearly, and 10,000 emails a month is $216 a year. | CGraded on 50,000 emails a month: Essential is $25 for exactly that, on a shared IP, the middle of this category at that volume. Reputation Defender and Insight Engine add $5 a month each, and a dedicated IP means Starter at $80 for 100,000. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial. A 14-day money-back guarantee is not a trial, and it ends after 100 messages sent or an upgrade. | FNothing free: no free plan and no trial. The smallest plan is $25 a month, so you pay before you've sent a single email. |
| Features | CIt does one job: authenticated SMTP sending, with several from addresses, a control panel, logs and scanning. It is a smaller job, and it does that job fully. | CSMTP relay and an email API, detailed delivery reports, dedicated IPs from the $80 plan, and paid add-ons that weed out bad addresses as you send. It handles the sending, but nothing on record covers templates, webhooks or inbound email. |
| Ease of use | CA web control panel with no rating on record. You enter SMTP credentials into whatever sends your mail. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: you choose a plan and pay before you get to send, then use SMTP or the API. No rating on record. Managed onboarding and migration help are offered if you're moving from another provider. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb control panel only, with no integrations listed on the pages read. | BWeb, with an SMTP relay and an email API, plus WordPress, Shopify, Google Forms, Google Docs, Wufoo, Airtable, Trello and Slack. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | sending from an app or device through SMTP | senders already past 50,000 emails a month |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AuthSMTP and SMTP.com. How we grade
Price against what you get
AuthSMTP starts at $6 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SMTP.com starts at $25 a month and scores 2.3.
SMTP.com scores higher, and starts $19 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email sending services on the chart, 2 score higher than AuthSMTP for less, and 13 score higher than SMTP.com for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| AuthSMTP | SMTP.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $72 per year for 2,000 emails a month | $25 per month for 50,000 emails |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GetOnline Ltd | J2 Global Canada, Inc. |
| Price read from | authsmtp.com | smtp.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AuthSMTP
- Pricing is by the year only, and no free plan or trial is offered.
- The 14-day money-back guarantee ends after 14 days, after 100 messages sent or after an upgrade, and covers new card or PayPal accounts only.
- It is an SMTP relay without a campaign builder or marketing tools.
- Data allowances are calculated on an average message size of 300 KB, which the pricing page lets you change.
SMTP.com
- There is no free plan or free trial; the smallest plan is $25 a month for 50,000 emails.
- Reputation Defender and Insight Engine each cost 20% of the plan price; on Essential that is $5 a month each.
- Essential sends from a shared IP; a dedicated IP starts with the $80 Starter plan.
Key features
AuthSMTP
- Authenticated SMTP
- Sends from any application through an authenticated SMTP server, with SSL or TLS, alternative ports and multiple concurrent connections.
- Multiple from addresses and domains
- Each account allows a set number of from addresses or domains, from 20 on the smallest to 600 on the larger accounts.
- Flexible quota upgrades
- The site says an account can be boosted in a month as usage grows, with no automatic payments.
- Control panel and logs
- An online control panel shows account status and logged errors. A separate REST API is described, with message submission in beta.
- Security and scanning
- Messages are virus-scanned, with sender-domain validation and SPF and DKIM support. The site says it maintains PCI DSS compliance.
SMTP.com
- SMTP relay and email API
- Send from an app or another platform through SMTP or the email relay API, with documentation for developers and help with custom API integrations.
- Dedicated IPs
- Every plan from the $80 Starter plan up sends from a dedicated IP address; Essential uses a shared one.
- Reputation Defender add-on
- Checks addresses at the moment of sending and suppresses invalid ones, to cut hard and soft bounces and protect your domain and IP reputation.
- Insight Engine add-on
- A daily report with extra data about the people on your lists, meant for building customer profiles and new segments.
- Migration help
- Managed onboarding and help moving over from providers such as SendGrid and Mailgun, with in-house support on every plan.
Plans
AuthSMTP
AuthSMTP 2$72
per year for 2,000 emails a month
20 from addresses or domains, 600 MB of data a month, shared IP address.
AuthSMTP 4$108
per year for 4,000 emails a month
40 from addresses or domains, 1.2 GB of data a month, shared IP address.
AuthSMTP 10$216
per year for 10,000 emails a month
100 from addresses or domains and 3 GB of data a month. Steps of 6, 8 and 15 sit between the larger ones.
AuthSMTP 20$336
per year for 20,000 emails a month
200 from addresses or domains and 6 GB of data a month.
AuthSMTP 50$450
per year for 50,000 emails a month
500 from addresses or domains and 15 GB of data a month; the table marks a dedicated IP as available from this size.
AuthSMTP 100$870
per year for 100,000 emails a month
600 from addresses or domains and 30 GB of data a month. Larger accounts continue past 1 million a month.
SMTP.com
Essential$25
per month for 50,000 emails
Shared IP, email relay API, support and detailed reporting. Overage is $0.000625 per email ($0.63 per 1,000).
Starter$80
per month for 100,000 emails
Adds a dedicated IP address, with the same API, support and reporting.
Growth$300
per month for 500,000 emails
Dedicated IP, email relay API, support and detailed reporting.
Business$500
per month for 1,000,000 emails
Dedicated IP, email relay API, support and detailed reporting.
High Volume SendersCustom
At least 250 million emails a month: a dedicated instance of the platform, its own IP and mail server, and a dedicated account manager.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AuthSMTP or SMTP.com?
As of Nov 12, 2026, AuthSMTP is cheaper to start with: $6 a month when paid by the year, against $25 a month for SMTP.com. AuthSMTP starts at $72 per year for 2,000 emails a month, and SMTP.com starts at $25 per month for 50,000 emails.
Which has a free plan, AuthSMTP or SMTP.com?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither AuthSMTP nor SMTP.com has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.