Postmark vs Bird Email
We give Postmark a 2.2 GPA and Bird Email a 2.6, out of 4.0. Bird Email grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Postmark
Transactional email API and SMTP, with broadcasts on a separate stream
Bird Email
SparkPost's successor: Bird's email API, paid from a prepaid balance
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAPostmarkFair | 2.6GPABird EmailGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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, which helps a bit. | BGraded on 50,000 emails a month, worked out from the listed rate: Startup charges $0.40 per 1,000, so that's $20 of balance a month, more than its $15 deposit covers. Unused balance carries forward. That's in the cheaper quarter of this category at that volume. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CFree for good: 1,000 emails a month, but only 50 a day and 1 sending domain, and sending simply stops at the limit. Enough to try the API, not to run an app on. |
| Features | 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. It covers the whole job; inbound needs Pro. | BAPI, SMTP, typed SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, inbound email and mailboxes, signed webhooks, DKIM and DMARC setup, templates and broadcasts, with SMS and WhatsApp on the same API. It covers the whole job; dedicated IPs start at $250. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CJudged on how fast a developer sends a first email: SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP plus a CLI, once a domain is set up. No rating on record. Coming from SparkPost means a new API, which Bird says to review with its team. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, with an API, SMTP, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server, plus Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Replit, Lovable, v0 and Bolt. No desktop or phone app, so B is the top. |
| Best for | app email kept apart from marketing sends | email, SMS and WhatsApp through one API |
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: Postmark and Bird Email. How we grade
Price against what you get
Postmark starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Bird Email starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other email sending services on the chart, none scores higher than Postmark for less, and none scores higher than Bird Email 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
- Postmark starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails. Bird Email starts at $15 per month, deposited to your Bird balance.
- Postmark also covers dMARC.
- Bird Email also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Postmark | Bird Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 10,000 emails | $15 per month, deposited to your Bird balance |
| Free plan | 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. | 1,000 emails a month, limited to 50 a day, 1 sending domain, 5 mailboxes and 3 webhook endpoints. Sending stops at the limit. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign, LLC | Bird B.V. |
| Price read from | postmarkapp.com | bird.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Postmark
- Software teams whose password resets and receipts must arrive fast
- Apps that need to receive and parse incoming email
- Bootstrapped founders, who can ask for $75 of credit
Bird Email
- Existing SparkPost customers planning their next integration
- Teams that also send SMS or WhatsApp through one provider
- Developers giving AI agents their own email mailboxes
Worth knowing
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.
Bird Email
- Bird Email has its own API: Bird says SparkPost integrations should be reviewed with an account team before moving traffic.
- Paid plans are deposits, not allowances: every email is charged at the plan's rate, and other Bird products draw on the same balance.
- Dedicated IPs and IP pools start with the $250 Growth plan.
- The free plan is limited to 50 emails a day and 1 sending domain.
Key features
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.
Bird Email
- Email API, SMTP, SDKs and MCP
- Send through the API or SMTP relay, with typed SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP, a CLI and a hosted MCP server for AI assistants.
- Mailboxes for agents
- Mailboxes that send, receive and store email for your app or AI agents: 5 on Free, 10 on Startup, 25 on Growth and 100 on Scale.
- Deliverability controls
- DKIM signing, SPF alignment, DMARC setup, suppression lists and managed dedicated IPs warmed over about 30 days, from the Growth plan.
- Analytics and signed webhooks
- Delivery, bounce, complaint, open and click data by domain, inbox provider and IP, plus signed, replay-protected webhooks for every event.
- Templates and campaigns
- Send raw HTML or React Email templates, and run broadcasts to opted-in audiences from the same platform.
- One API for other channels
- The same send call and webhook format cover Bird's SMS, WhatsApp and voice products, so a code can fall back from email to text.
Plans
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.
Bird Email
Free$0
1,000 emails a month and 50 a day, 1 sending domain, 5 mailboxes, inbound email and templates.
Startup$15
per month, deposited to your balance; email at $0.40 per 1,000
About 37,500 transactional emails if the whole deposit goes on email. 10 sending domains, 10 mailboxes, no daily limit; unused balance carries forward.
Growth$250
per month, deposited to your balance; email at $0.45 per 1,000
About 555,555 emails from the deposit. 500 sending domains, up to 5 dedicated IPs and IP pools, 25 mailboxes, 10 webhook endpoints.
Scale$1,000
per month and up, deposited to your balance; from $0.35 per 1,000
Deposits of $1,000 to $10,000 a month with rates falling to $0.20 per 1,000. 1,000 domains, up to 10 dedicated IPs, 100 mailboxes.
Ways to pay less
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.
Bird Email
No public discounts listed.
