The Courier Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Courier in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Courier
The Insider’s Guide
Notification and messaging API across email, SMS, push and chat
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among email sending services, read from Courier’s own pages.
Made by Courier · checked Nov 13, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Courier’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Courier’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 13, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 25 of the 50 other email sending services we grade
Courier is a customer messaging platform that routes notifications and multi-step journeys across email, SMS, push, chat and in-app channels. It sends through your own providers, such as Amazon SES or Twilio, adding templates, routing and fallback. It includes a visual designer and an in-app notification inbox.
To get you started, here are 8 things to know about Courier, taken from its own pages and our grades.
You connect providers, build templates and journeys, and wire in SDKs.
- 1
Best for notifications across email, SMS, push and chat
Courier is a notification API that routes messages across email, SMS, push and chat through providers you connect.
- 2
There is a free plan
Developer plan: 10,000 sends a month, with journeys, broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs.
- 3
It runs on Web
Web.
- 4
Omnichannel routing
One send can go to email, SMS, push, chat or in-app, with fallback between providers.
- 5
Journeys
Multi-step messaging triggered and personalized from your data.
- 6
Design Studio
A no-code visual editor with multi-channel preview.
- 7
A 2.4 GPA, above 25 of 50
That is against the other email sending services we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 8
Keep it
To replace Courier you would be making mail servers with a good name among inbox providers. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Courier at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Courier
- Category
- Email Sending Services
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for notifications across email, SMS, push and chat
Courier is a notification API that routes messages across email, SMS, push and chat through providers you connect. Free covers 10,000 sends a month, and after that Business is $0.005 per send, which is $50 per 10,000.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | The 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. |
| Free plan and trial | B | Developer is free for 10,000 sends a month with journeys, broadcasts, CLI and SDKs, which one person can live on. |
| Features | C | Routing 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. |
| Ease of use | C | No rating on record. You connect providers, build templates and journeys, and wire in SDKs. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web service with SDKs, a CLI, an MCP server and connections to SES, Mailgun, Postmark, SendGrid, Twilio, Slack, Teams and FCM. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Courier is for
- 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
Who it is not for
- 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
Good to know
Good for
- Product teams sending notifications over several channels
- Developers who want to keep their existing email provider
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
2
plans to choose from
Courier has a free plan.
Developer
$0
10,000 sends a month, journeys and broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs, SSO via Google and GitHub, email and chat support.
Enterprise
Custom
Everything in Business plus volume pricing, a dedicated Slack channel, observability integrations, role-based access control and an enterprise SLA.
The free plan
Developer plan: 10,000 sends a month, with journeys, broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs.
Read from courier.com on Nov 13, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Notification and messaging API across email, SMS, push and chat. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features, workflow automation, chatbots, transactional email.
Routing across channels, journeys, design studio, inbox and an AI step.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Amazon SES
- Mailgun
- Postmark
- SendGrid
- Twilio
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- Firebase FCM
Courier is made by Courier.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
25/50
Other email sending services it is graded above
Courier's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 25 of the 50 other email sending services we grade, and level with 8.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 35 of 50) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 51 email sending services we grade, cut by the letter each got. Courier’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 8 of 50
- BFree plan and trialAbove 35 of 50
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 50
- CEase of useAbove 7 of 50
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 17 of 50
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Courier you would be making mail servers with a good name among inbox providers. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
What you could not
- Mail servers with a good name among inbox providers.
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- A chatbot builder hooked into the messaging apps.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Courier’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Knock, Novu, Twilio SendGrid, Mailgun and Resend
The 5 tools Courier is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.2GPA
Knock
Free plan · from $250/mo
Cross-channel notification and messaging workflows for products.
- Courier also covers chatbots.
- 2.4GPA
Novu
Free plan · from $30/mo
Open-source notification infrastructure for apps and agents.
- Novu is open source, according to its own site.
- Courier also covers chatbots.
- 2.6GPA
Twilio SendGrid
Free trial · from $19.95/mo
Twilio's email API and SMTP service, priced by monthly email volume.
- Courier has a free plan. Twilio SendGrid does not, though it has a free trial.
- Courier also covers workflow automation and chatbots.
- Twilio SendGrid also covers email verification.
- 2.4GPA
Mailgun
Free plan · from $15/mo
Email API and SMTP relay for developers, with list validation.
- Courier also covers workflow automation and chatbots.
- Mailgun also covers email verification.
- 2.6GPA
Resend
Free plan · from $20/mo
Developer email API with React Email templates and a free tier.
- Courier also covers workflow automation and chatbots.
- Resend also covers email campaigns.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
12
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Courier free?
Courier has a free plan. Developer plan: 10,000 sends a month, with journeys, broadcasts, MCP server, CLI and SDKs.
How much does Courier cost?
Courier lists 2 plans. Developer: $0.
What platforms does Courier work on?
Courier is available on Web.
Does Courier have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Courier is listed for Web.
Does Courier have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Courier is listed for Web.
Is Courier open source?
Courier is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Does Courier have an API?
Yes. Courier offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Courier integrate with?
Courier's listing names Amazon SES, Mailgun, Postmark, SendGrid, Twilio, Slack, Microsoft Teams and Firebase FCM.
Who makes Courier?
Courier is made by a company of the same name.
What are the alternatives to Courier?
The closest alternatives to Courier in our directory are Knock, Novu, Twilio SendGrid, Mailgun and Resend.
How does Courier compare with other email sending services?
Courier's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 25 of the 50 other email sending services we grade, and level with 8.
Could I make my own version of Courier?
To replace Courier you would be making mail servers with a good name among inbox providers.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Courier’s own pages on Nov 13, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 13, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Courier's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Courier. Prices change, so check courier.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
7,721
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
7,721
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Courier, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/courier
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Courier: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 13, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/courier
Know someone choosing between email sending services?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/courier/guide
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See our other guides
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- Forward Email Insider's GuideOpen-source email forwarding and hosting for custom domains2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Courier’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Courier is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Courier. Prices and plans change: check courier.com before you buy.