Hyvor Relay vs Plunk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Plunk grades higher than Hyvor Relay: 2.6 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Plunk grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hyvor Relay
Open-source email API you can self-host
Free plan · from €10,000/yr
Plunk
Open-source email platform for transactional and marketing mail
Free plan · from $0.001
Which one is for you
Pick Hyvor Relay if
- Fits if you can run your own mail servers and want no per-email fee
- Works for teams that need the open-source license for compliance
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not run servers, as self-hosting leaves deliverability to you
- Watch out: the hosted cloud plan is a waitlist and its €30 a month is an estimate, not final
- Pricey if you need to avoid the AGPL-3.0, since the Enterprise License starts at €10,000 a year
- Tight if you need long logs, with delivery logs kept for 30 days
Pick Plunk if
- Fits if you send a few thousand emails a month and want pay-as-you-go
- Works for developers who might self-host it later
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you send more than 1,000 emails a month on the free plan, which also adds Plunk branding
- Pricey if your volume grows, since it is a flat $0.001 on every email
- Watch out: self-hosting under AGPL-3.0 carries that licence's obligations
- Watch out: the hosted service runs in the EU
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAHyvor RelayWeak | 2.6GPAPlunkGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree only if you host it yourself, which needs servers and IPs, so it sits in the middle. The Enterprise License starts at €10,000 a year, and the cloud plan is an unconfirmed estimate. | BNo monthly fee; $0.001 per email, so 10,000 emails cost $10, near the cheapest quarter of $9 for sending tools. Cost grows with volume. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe open-source edition is free with unlimited usage, but you must run it yourself, and there is no hosted free tier. | CFree for 1,000 emails a month with unlimited contacts and every feature, but emails carry Plunk branding. |
| Features | CEmail API, DKIM domains, webhooks, bounce and complaint handling, projects and observability. Delivery logs last 30 days. | BTransactional email, campaigns, workflows, segments and inbound email. The listing shows no gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. Self-hosting means servers, DNS, IP reputation and deliverability are yours to run. | CNo store rating on record. It is built for developers and can be self-hosted under AGPL-3.0. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb interface and API, with Prometheus, Grafana and Docker Swarm hooks. No apps. | BWeb, with Amazon SES and Docker listed. No apps, and the hosted service is in the EU. |
| Best for | self-hosted open-source email sending | open-source email sending at $0.001 an email |
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: Hyvor Relay and Plunk. How we grade
Where they differ
- Plunk also covers workflow automation and email campaigns.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublic APITransactional email
At a glance
| Hyvor Relay | Plunk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €10,000 per year and up (Enterprise License) | $0.001 per email sent |
| Free plan | Self-hosted open-source edition: free with unlimited usage under AGPL-3.0 and community support. | 1,000 emails per month with unlimited contacts and every feature, with Plunk branding on emails. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Hyvor | Plunk |
| Price read from | relay.hyvor.com | useplunk.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hyvor Relay
- The cloud plan is on a waitlist, listed at an estimated €30 per month for 300,000 emails and not yet final.
- Self-hosting means running servers, IPs and deliverability yourself.
- Delivery logs are kept for 30 days.
- The page states the Enterprise License starts at €10,000 a year and is priced by volume.
Plunk
- The free plan stops at 1,000 emails a month and puts Plunk branding on emails.
- The paid plan has no monthly fee: it is $0.001 per email, so cost scales directly with volume.
- The hosted service is in the EU; self-hosting under AGPL-3.0 carries that license's obligations.
Key features
Hyvor Relay
- Email API
- A REST API with idempotent sends, HTML and plain text, attachments, custom headers and multiple recipients.
- Domains and DKIM
- Multiple sending domains with enforced DKIM signing and an in-built DNS server.
- Webhooks
- Event webhooks for deliveries, bounces and domain verification.
- Bounce and complaint handling
- Bounces, complaints and suppressions are managed automatically.
- Projects
- Isolated projects each with their own domains, keys and webhooks.
- Observability
- Prometheus and Grafana integrations and health checks for servers, DNS and IP reputation.
Plunk
- Transactional email
- Send single emails through a REST API or an SMTP relay, from your own domain with DKIM signing.
- Campaigns and newsletters
- Broadcasts go to the whole contact list or to a segment, with a visual and an HTML editor and open and click tracking.
- Workflows
- Event-triggered sequences with delays, conditions and webhook steps, started by something a contact does in your product.
- Segments
- Dynamic segments are queries that re-run each time they are used, so a campaign reaches the current audience.
- Inbound email
- Addresses at your domain can receive mail, and replies become contacts that can start workflows.
- Self-hosting
- The code is open source under AGPL-3.0 and can be deployed with Docker Compose on your own servers.
Plans
Hyvor Relay
Self-Hosted Open-Source$0
You host it yourself under AGPL-3.0, with all features and community support.
Enterprise License€10,000
per year and up
The same features without AGPL-3.0 obligations, with volume-based pricing, enterprise support and SLA options.
Plunk
Free forever$0
1,000 emails a month and unlimited contacts. Every feature is included, but emails carry Plunk branding.
Pay as you grow$0.001
per email sent, no monthly fee
Removes the Plunk branding and the 1,000-email cap, with a monthly spend cap you can set. The vendor's example shows 10,000 emails costing $10.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hyvor Relay or Plunk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hyvor Relay starts at €10,000 per year and up (Enterprise License), and Plunk starts at $0.001 per email sent.
Which has a free plan, Hyvor Relay or Plunk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Hyvor Relay and Plunk 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.