Hyvor Relay vs Postmark (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Postmark grades higher than Hyvor Relay: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hyvor Relay grades higher on value for money. Postmark grades higher on 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
Postmark
Transactional email API and SMTP, with broadcasts on a separate stream
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 Postmark if
- Fits if you want password resets kept on a separate stream from your newsletters
- Works for apps that need to look back at exactly what an email said weeks later
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you send 50,000 emails a month, at $55 with no yearly discount
- Skip it if you want a free plan to run a small app on, as it's 100 emails a month with no tier until 10,000
- Tight if you're on Basic, with 4 users, 5 sending domains and no inbound email
- Not for you if you want a dedicated IP below 300,000 emails a month, and each one is $50 a month on Pro or higher
- Watch out: DMARC reports are an add-on from $14 a month per domain
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAHyvor RelayWeak | 2.2GPAPostmarkFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DGraded on 50,000 emails a month: $55 on Basic or $60.50 on Pro, billed monthly only. That's the dearest in this category at that volume, roughly twice the middle. Bootstrapped companies can ask for $75 of credit. |
| 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. | CA free developer plan that never expires and needs no card, but it's 100 emails a month with no way to buy more. That's for testing an integration, not running an app. |
| Features | CEmail API, DKIM domains, webhooks, bounce and complaint handling, projects and observability. Delivery logs last 30 days. | BAPI and SMTP with SDKs, separate streams for app and bulk email, inbound email turned into JSON, templates, 45 days of message history and DMARC reports as an add-on from $14 a month. It covers the job; inbound needs Pro. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. Self-hosting means servers, DNS, IP reputation and deliverability are yours to run. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: official SDKs, a sandbox mode, ready-made templates for resets and receipts, and migration guides. You'll still verify a domain first. No rating on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb interface and API, with Prometheus, Grafana and Docker Swarm hooks. No apps. | BWeb, with an API and SMTP, plus Zapier, WordPress, Stripe, Slack, Supabase, Bubble, Netlify and Datadog. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | self-hosted open-source email sending | app email kept apart from marketing sends |
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 Postmark. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hyvor Relay starts at about $931 a month and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Postmark starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
Postmark scores higher and starts $916 a month lower. Of the other email sending services on the chart, 41 score higher than Hyvor Relay for less, and none scores higher than Postmark 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
- Hyvor Relay is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Postmark also covers dMARC.
At a glance
| Hyvor Relay | Postmark | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | €10,000 per year and up (Enterprise License) | $15 per month for 10,000 emails |
| Free plan | Self-hosted open-source edition: free with unlimited usage under AGPL-3.0 and community support. | Free developer plan: 100 emails a month with no expiry and no overages, for testing an integration or a small side project. No credit card needed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Hyvor | ActiveCampaign, LLC |
| Price read from | relay.hyvor.com | postmarkapp.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 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.
Postmark
- There is no tier between the free 100 emails a month and the 10,000-email paid plans.
- Billing is monthly only; the FAQ says annual plans are not offered yet.
- Basic has no inbound email processing and caps users at 4 and sending domains at 5.
- Dedicated IPs start at $50 a month per IP, need Pro or higher and 300,000 emails a month or more.
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.
Postmark
- Email API and SMTP
- Send through a REST API with official SDKs or through SMTP, with batch sending, a sandbox mode and migration guides from other providers.
- Message streams
- Transactional and bulk or broadcast email run on separate sending infrastructure, so marketing sends do not affect password resets and receipts.
- Inbound email processing
- Pro and Platform turn incoming email into a JSON object and post it to a webhook URL your app handles.
- Templates
- Responsive templates for welcome emails, password resets and receipts, with a template editor and import tool.
- Message history and analytics
- 45 days of full message content by default, adjustable from 7 to 365 days, with bounce details, open and link tracking and a stats API.
- DMARC monitoring
- DMARC Digests reports show authentication problems and who is sending with your domain, sold as an add-on from $14 a month per domain.
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.
Postmark
Free$0
100 emails a month, never expires; extra emails cannot be bought on this plan.
Basic$15
per month for 10,000 emails
5 sending domains, 4 users, 45 days of history, no inbound email. Extra emails $1.80 per 1,000; $55 a month at 50,000 emails.
Pro$16.50
per month for 10,000 emails
10 domains, 6 users, inbound email, retention up to 365 days. Extra emails $1.30 per 1,000; $60.50 a month at 50,000 emails.
Platform$18
per month for 10,000 emails
Unlimited domains, servers, streams and users, with inbound email. Extra emails $1.20 per 1,000; $66 a month at 50,000 emails.
High volumeCustom
Custom pricing for large senders, arranged through sales.
Ways to pay less
Hyvor Relay
No public discounts listed.
Postmark
- Startups
$75 credit for bootstrapped companies
Companies that have launched, are charging for their product and have taken no outside investment can ask support for $75 of account credit.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hyvor Relay or Postmark?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Postmark is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against about $931 a month for Hyvor Relay. Hyvor Relay starts at €10,000 per year and up (Enterprise License), and Postmark starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails.
Which has a free plan, Hyvor Relay or Postmark?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Hyvor Relay and Postmark 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.