Courier vs Resend (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Resend: it is first in our ranking of email sending services, and it grades higher too, 2.6 against 2.4.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Courier grades higher on the free plan. Resend grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Courier
Notification and messaging API across email, SMS, push and chat
Resend
Developer email API with React Email templates and a free tier
Which one is for you
Pick Courier if
- Fits if you send mail, SMS and push from one product and want one API
- Works for small apps that stay under 10,000 sends a month
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want Courier to deliver email itself, since it routes through your own provider
- Tight if you pass 10,000 sends a month, when Business charges $0.005 per send
- Pricey if you send high volume, where 100,000 sends works out at $500
- Watch out: AI Translations, the AI node and EU data residency are on Business
- Watch out: Device Preview is an extra from $20 a month
Pick Resend if
- Fits if you build in React or Next.js and want emails written as components
- Works for apps or AI agents that need inboxes that send and receive by API
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you need a dedicated IP, at $30 a month on top of the $90 Scale plan and over 3,000 emails a day
- Tight if you need SSO, which is a $150 a month add-on on Scale
- Skip it if you want to pay yearly for a discount, since billing is monthly only
- Watch out: the free plan stops at 100 emails a day, and the next step up is Pro at $20
- Watch out: marketing email is priced separately by contacts, from $40 a month for 5,000
How we grade them
| 2.4GPACourierFair | 2.6GPAResendGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe Developer plan is free and Business is $0.005 per send with no per-seat fees, so 10,000 sends cost $50, in the ordinary range for email tools at low volume and above it at high volume. | BGraded on 50,000 emails a month: Pro is $20 for exactly that, in the lowest-priced quarter of this category at that volume, with 10 domains and no daily limit. There's no yearly discount, and extra emails are $0.90 per 1,000. |
| Free plan and trial | BDeveloper is free for 10,000 sends a month with journeys, broadcasts, CLI and SDKs, which one person can live on. | CFree for good: 3,000 emails a month, but only 100 a day, with 3 domains, 1 webhook and 30 days of logs. Marketing email is free up to 1,000 contacts too. A launch day with more than 100 sign-ups hits that daily cap. |
| Features | CRouting across channels, journeys, design studio, inbox and an AI step. It routes through your own email provider rather than delivering mail, and add-ons like Device Preview start at $20 a month. | BAPI, SMTP, SDKs, React Email templates, inbound email and inboxes for AI agents, signed webhooks, a test mode and broadcasts. It covers the job. No address validation is on record, and dedicated IPs need Scale. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You connect providers, build templates and journeys, and wire in SDKs. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: SDKs for most languages and React templates for web developers, and test mode fakes events without emailing anyone. You still verify a domain first. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb service with SDKs, a CLI, an MCP server and connections to SES, Mailgun, Postmark, SendGrid, Twilio, Slack, Teams and FCM. | BWeb, with an API, SMTP, SDKs and MCP, and it works with Next.js, Remix, Nuxt, Express, Hono and Astro. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | notifications across email, SMS, push and chat | developers building with React and Next.js |
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: Courier and Resend. How we grade
Where they differ
- Courier also covers workflow automation and chatbots.
- Resend also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Courier | Resend | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $20 per month for 50,000 emails, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Developer plan: 10,000 sends a month, with journeys, broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs. | 3,000 transactional emails a month, limited to 100 a day, 3 domains, 3 inboxes, 1 webhook endpoint and 30 days of logs. Marketing email free up to 1,000 contacts. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Courier | Resend |
| Price read from | courier.com | resend.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Courier
- The Business plan has no monthly fee and charges $0.005 per send, with AI Translations, the AI node and EU data residency.
- The Developer plan stops at 10,000 sends a month.
- The Device Preview add-on is from $20 a month.
- Courier routes through your own email provider rather than delivering the mail itself.
Resend
- Billing is monthly only; there are no annual plans or yearly discounts.
- There is no plan between Free and the $20 Pro plan, and the free plan caps sending at 100 emails a day.
- Dedicated IPs cost $30 a month and need the Scale plan and more than 3,000 emails a day; SSO is a $150 a month add-on on Scale.
- Marketing email is priced separately by contacts, from $40 a month for 5,000; broadcasts do not use the transactional quota.
Key features
Courier
- Omnichannel routing
- One send can go to email, SMS, push, chat or in-app, with fallback between providers.
- Journeys
- Multi-step messaging triggered and personalized from your data.
- Design Studio
- A no-code visual editor with multi-channel preview.
- In-app Inbox
- An embeddable notification center that syncs across devices.
- AI agent step
- Run a language model as a step in a workflow to score users or generate content.
- Provider connections
- Bring your own email, SMS, push and chat providers.
Resend
- API, SMTP and SDKs
- Send through a REST API or SMTP relay, with official SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Rust, Java, Elixir and .NET, plus batch sending and scheduling.
- React Email templates
- Build email templates as React components with TypeScript and Tailwind through the open-source React Email library, instead of hand-written HTML tables.
- Inbound email and inboxes
- Receive email through webhooks, parse content and attachments, and give your team or AI agents inboxes reachable by API and MCP; 3 are included.
- Webhooks and test mode
- Signed webhooks report deliveries, opens, clicks, bounces and complaints, and a test mode simulates events without emailing real people.
- Broadcasts and automations
- A visual editor, contact lists, segments and broadcast analytics for marketing email, sold as separate plans priced by contacts.
- Deliverability tools
- DKIM, SPF and DMARC setup, automatic suppression lists, bounce details, region choice and managed dedicated IPs on Scale.
Plans
Courier
Developer$0
10,000 sends a month, journeys and broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs, SSO via Google and GitHub, email and chat support.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Business plus volume pricing, a dedicated Slack channel, observability integrations, role-based access control and an enterprise SLA.
Resend
Free$0
3,000 emails a month and 100 a day, 3 domains, 1 webhook endpoint, ticket support.
Pro$20
per month for 50,000 emails, billed monthly
No daily limit, 10 domains, 5 webhook endpoints, 100 AI credits. $35 a month at 100,000 emails; overage $0.90 per 1,000.
Scale$90
per month for 100,000 emails, billed monthly
1,000 domains, Slack support, urgent response SLA; dedicated IP and SSO as add-ons. $160 a month at 200,000 emails. Overage $0.90 per 1,000, less at higher tiers.
EnterpriseCustom
For 1 million or more emails a month: volume pricing, dedicated IPs, SSO, 99.99% uptime SLA and a dedicated success manager.
Ways to pay less
Courier
No public discounts listed.
Resend
- Nonprofit
50% off for nonprofits
Registered nonprofits can apply for 50% off paid plans. Resend says it does not offer education pricing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Courier or Resend?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Courier publishes no starting price, and Resend starts at $20 per month for 50,000 emails, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Courier or Resend?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Courier and Resend have 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.