Last Updated: April 2025
Let’s face it, email is the unsung hero of our digital world. Whether it’s a confirmation for your latest online purchase, a password reset link, or a shipping update, those emails keep things running smoothly. In 2025, we’re sending over 376 billion emails every single day, so it’s no surprise that businesses need reliable, fast, and affordable email services to keep up.
SendGrid has been a big player in this space for years, but sometimes its pricing, deliverability, or support just doesn’t cut it for everyone. That’s where SendGrid alternatives come in, offering fresh options to get your emails where they need to go.
If you’re running a small business, scaling a SaaS, or just curious about what’s out there, I’ve rounded up six fantastic SendGrid alternatives that are worth your time. From an AI-powered gem to budget-friendly powerhouses, these platforms are shaking things up. Let’s dive in and find the perfect fit for you!
1. Saufter.io
Pricing:
Starts at just $8/month
Imagine an email tool that feels like it’s reading your customers’ minds. That’s Saufter.io in a nutshell. This platform uses artificial intelligence to create personalized email campaigns based on what your customers are doing, like browsing your site or clicking on past emails. It’s like having a super-smart assistant who handles the heavy lifting for you.
Key Features
- Tracks customer behavior to send emails that feel personal
- Automatically creates campaigns, so you don’t have to start from scratch
- Connects with customers via email, WhatsApp, or in-app messages
- Suggests customer groups to target based on their engagement
- Straightforward pricing with no sneaky fees
2. Postmark
Pricing:
$15/month for 10,000 emails
If you’re all about getting transactional emails (think order confirmations or password resets) to your customers lightning-fast, Postmark is your go-to. They keep things simple by separating transactional emails from promotional ones, which means your important messages don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Key Features
- Crazy-fast delivery that gets emails to inboxes in a snap
- Keeps 45 days of detailed logs to track every email
- Separates campaigns and alerts for better deliverability
- No extra charges for support or templates, everything’s included
3. Mailgun
Pricing:
$35/month for 10,000 emails (Foundation plan)
Got a tech-savvy team? Mailgun is built for developers who love tinkering with email APIs. Now part of Sinch, it’s packed with tools for sending, receiving, and tracking emails, making it super flexible for complex setups. Just a heads-up, pricing can creep up if you’re sending a ton of emails.
Key Features
- Scales with your business, so you only pay for what you use
- Promises 99.99% uptime, so your emails are always good to go
- Comes with clear, easy-to-follow API guides
- Offers add-on tools to boost deliverability (sold separately)
4. Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill)
Pricing:
$20/month for 10,000 emails (requires a Mailchimp plan)
If you’re already using Mailchimp for your marketing emails, Mandrill is a no-brainer. It’s Mailchimp’s add-on for sending transactional emails, seamlessly tying into their marketing tools to keep everything in one place.
Key Features
- Works hand-in-hand with your Mailchimp campaigns
- Offers custom dashboards to track what’s working
- Includes ready-to-use, mobile-friendly email templates
- Flexible pricing for businesses sending lots of emails
5. Amazon SES
Pricing:
Just $1 for 10,000 emails
For businesses watching their wallet, Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) is tough to beat. It’s a bare-bones, developer-friendly service that’s all about sending emails at scale for next to nothing. The catch? You’ll need some technical know-how to make it shine, but given how low Amazon SES pricing is, it might be worth the effort.
Key Features
- Dirt-cheap pricing at $0.10 per 1,000 emails
- Let you customize domains and sending rules
- Offers a free tier for EC2 users (62,000 emails/month)
- Built to handle massive email volumes without breaking a sweat
6. MessageBird
Pricing:
$20/month for 10,000 emails (Starter plan)
MessageBird, which now includes SparkPost’s email tech, is a powerhouse for businesses that need serious reliability. With top-notch analytics and compliance features, it’s a great pick for industries like healthcare or finance that have strict rules.
Key Features
- Rock-solid 99.99% uptime for peace of mind
- Deep analytics to see how your emails are performing
- Global setup for fast delivery anywhere in the world
- Compliance options for GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2
Why Look for SendGrid Alternatives?
With 80% of marketers using email to connect with customers, picking the right email service is a big deal. SendGrid is awesome for many, but it’s not perfect for everyone. Maybe the pricing feels steep, the support isn’t quite there, or deliverability isn’t consistent. That’s where these SendGrid alternatives swoop in, offering solutions tailored to your needs, whether it’s speed (Postmark), smarts (Saufter.io), or savings (Amazon SES).
How to Pick the Right One
Not sure which SendGrid alternative fits your business best? Let’s break it down based on your needs, resources, and goals:
1. How Many Emails Are You Sending?
Your monthly email volume plays a huge role in choosing the right platform.
- If you’re sending hundreds of thousands or even millions of emails, like for order confirmations, OTPs, or system notifications, Amazon SES or Mailgun are built for that scale and offer flexible, usage-based pricing.
- If you’re a small to mid-sized business sending regular but lower-volume emails (say, under 100,000/month), Saufter.io or Postmark offer a great balance of features, affordability, and ease of use.
2. Do You Have Technical Resources?
Some tools are plug-and-play, while others need a bit more setup:
- If you’ve got a technical team or developer support, you’ll love the flexibility of Mailgun or Amazon SES. These platforms offer robust APIs and detailed configurations, perfect if you want full control.
- No tech team? No problem. Tools like Saufter.io or Mandrill (Mailchimp Transactional) are designed with simplicity in mind, ready-to-go templates, drag-and-drop builders, and minimal setup.
3. What’s Your Budget?
Trying to keep costs low?
- Amazon SES is the king of affordability, just $1 for 10,000 emails.
- Saufter.io starts at $8/month and provides AI-powered automation, making it a great value for SMBs.
- Postmark offers a transparent flat-rate pricing model, with support and deliverability included, making it easy to plan.
4. What’s Your Email Marketing Goal?
Define your outcome:
- If you want hyper-personalized campaigns based on user behavior, Saufter.io’s AI has you covered.
- If speed and reliability for transactional messages is your top priority, Postmark delivers consistently fast results.
- Need custom workflows or complex logic? Mailgun is a developer’s paradise.
Choosing the right tool depends on matching your email volume, technical skills, budget, and goalsonce you’ve nailed that, the perfect platform becomes clear.
Cheapest Transactional Email Service
Why AWS SES Dominates the Budget Email Game
If you’re hunting for the cheapest transactional email service that doesn’t cut corners on performance, look no further than Amazon SES (Simple Email Service). With pricing as low as $0.10 per 1,000 emails, it’s by far the most cost-effective solution on the market in 2025, perfect for startups, developers, and enterprises sending emails at scale.
The platform’s strength lies in its bare-bones flexibility. It’s not packed with visual builders or fancy templates, but what it lacks in flair, it makes up for with rock-solid infrastructure and scalability. SES is backed by Amazon’s powerful cloud architecture, which ensures high uptime, fast delivery, and global reach.
One major reason businesses switch to Amazon SES is the drastic savings. When comparing SendGrid vs AWS SES, the numbers speak volumes. SendGrid’s Essentials plan starts at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails, while AWS SES charges just $5 for the same volume, that’s nearly 75% cheaper. For developers and teams with the technical know-how, the savings are impossible to ignore.
Key benefits of Amazon SES include:
- Dirt-cheap pricing at scale
- Free 62,000 emails/month if used with an EC2 instance
- Highly configurable settings for custom domains and policies
- Robust deliverability and tracking via SMTP or API
That said, Amazon SES does come with a learning curve, so it’s not ideal for non-technical users. But if you’re comfortable with a little setup work, the ROI is unbeatable.
In short, when it comes to finding the cheapest transactional email service, AWS SES is hard to beat, and in the battle of SendGrid vs AWS SES, it’s a clear win for budget-conscious teams.
Conclusion
In 2025, your email game can make or break how customers see your business. These six SendGrid alternatives, Saufter.io, Postmark, Mailgun, Mandrill, Amazon SES, and MessageBird, bring something special to the table, whether you’re a scrappy startup or a global enterprise.
In 2025, email marketing remains a dominant force, with an estimated 4.6 billion users globally. By matching your choice to your budget, tech skills, and customer engagement goals, you’ll keep those emails flowing and your customers smiling.
Feeling overwhelmed? Let me know if you want a comparison table or a visual chart to make the decision even easier!
