Postmark vs useSend (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Postmark and useSend share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and useSend starts cheaper, at $10 a month against $15 a month.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Postmark grades higher on features and ease of use. useSend grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan 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
Which one is for you
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
Pick useSend if
- Fits if you want open-source software you can host on your own AWS account
- Works for developers who already use Amazon SES
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to set up Amazon SES, as sending runs on it
- Tight if you send marketing mail on the cloud plan, since the $10 covers 25,000 transactional or 10,000 marketing emails, not both
- Watch out: self-hosting means you run the server and pay AWS directly
- Watch out: past the allowance the cloud charges $0.40 per 1,000 transactional and $1 per 1,000 marketing emails
- Watch out: prices are on the home page, as the site has no separate pricing page
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAPostmarkFair | 2.2GPAuseSendFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | BThe cloud plan is $10 a month with 25,000 transactional emails, at the cheaper end of the category. Self-hosting costs nothing for the software but needs a server and about $0.10 per 1,000 emails paid to AWS, so it is not counted as free here. |
| 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 to self-host, but you run the server and pay AWS yourself; the cloud edition has no free tier. |
| 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 from $14 a month. It covers the job; inbound needs Pro. | CAn API and SDKs, SMTP relay, analytics, a marketing editor and a suppression list, with Amazon SES account setup and limits underneath. |
| 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. | DNo store rating on record. The free edition is self-hosted with Docker or Railway, and Amazon SES setup applies to both editions. |
| 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. | BA web dashboard and an API; the listing names Amazon SES, Supabase, Railway and Docker. |
| Best for | app email kept apart from marketing sends | open-source sending on top of Amazon SES |
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 useSend. 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. useSend starts at $10 a month and scores 2.0.
Postmark scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other email sending services on the chart, none scores higher than Postmark for less, and 5 score higher than useSend 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
- useSend is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Postmark also covers dMARC.
- useSend also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Postmark | useSend | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per month for 10,000 emails | $10 per month, then pay as you go |
| 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. | Self-host edition: free to run on your own server and your own AWS account; you pay AWS directly, about $0.10 per 1,000 emails. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign, LLC | useSend |
| Price read from | postmarkapp.com | usesend.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
useSend
- Sending runs on Amazon SES, so SES account setup and limits apply, including on a self-hosted copy.
- The cloud plan includes either 25,000 transactional or 10,000 marketing emails, not both.
- The pricing is on the homepage; the site has no separate pricing page.
- The company says it is bootstrapped and funded by the cloud offering and sponsors.
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.
useSend
- API and SDKs
- Typed SDKs are shown for TypeScript, Python, Go and PHP, over a plain HTTP API.
- SMTP relay
- A drop-in SMTP relay works with any app or framework; the site mentions Supabase as a use.
- Analytics
- A searchable log tracks deliveries, opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes, filterable by domain, status and API key, and exportable.
- Marketing editor and contacts
- A visual editor with templates and variables, plus contact lists with per-list subscription status that update from bounces and complaints.
- Suppression list
- Filled automatically from bounces and complaints and managed by import, export or API, for both transactional and marketing email.
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.
useSend
Self-host$0
Open source and free forever; you host it yourself with Docker or Railway and pay AWS about $0.10 per 1,000 emails. Unlimited domains, contact books and team members.
Cloud$10
per month, then pay as you go
Includes 25,000 transactional or 10,000 marketing emails a month, then $0.40 per 1,000 transactional and $1 per 1,000 marketing. Unlimited domains and contact books.
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.
useSend
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Postmark or useSend?
As of Nov 12, 2026, useSend is cheaper to start with: $10 a month, against $15 a month for Postmark. Postmark starts at $15 per month for 10,000 emails, and useSend starts at $10 per month, then pay as you go.
Which has a free plan, Postmark or useSend?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Postmark and useSend 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.