8 Best SendGrid Alternatives for Email Delivery in 2026

Are you looking for SendGrid alternatives? Maybe you’re finding its dashboard really hard to handle? Newbies mostly have this problem! There is even an issue reported by marketing executives recently that SendGrid isn’t good for email marketing needs at all. 

Our research team fully conducted a SendGrid review to check if the issues raised by marketing executives are legit or not.

See! SendGrid is popularly known for transactional emails and developer-friendly APIs, but many users who are involved in marketing campaigns, have reported issues that SendGrid doesn’t offer marketing-focused features. Along with that the dashboard also feels more technical to the newbies.

Plus, one of the most common complaints is the outdated template editor. Marketing teams feel restricted by the unavailability of modern design options. On top of that, users only get basic automation workflows and limited A/B testing unless they upgrade the plan. So this way, we see that SendGrid is weak for marketing-like businesses.

Now, if SendGrid is weak to handle marketing-like businesses, is there something better out there?

Yes! There is! In this blog, we’ve listed the best SendGrid alternatives in 2026, that offer stronger visual marketing tools, easier campaign creation, advanced A/B testing and advanced automation. We’ve also explained how each platform performs better than SendGrid, especially for marketing teams. 

Every provider mentioned here has been tested and double-checked by our expert research team, so you can trust that the information is accurate.

Let’s get started!

8 Best SendGrid Alternatives in 2026

Here, we’re gonna tell you about the best SendGrid alternatives in 2026, tools that don’t have the same limitations as SendGrid but still give you all the good stuff like strong rate of deliverability, easy APIs support, simple dashboards and reliable support. 

These platforms are great for marketers and startups who want email tools that are easier to use, more affordable than SendGrid.

⏰ TL;DR:

1. Postmark – Overall Best SendGrid Alternatives
2. Amazon SES – Best SendGrid Alternatives
3. Mailgun – Powerful and Reliable SendGrid Alternative
4. MailerSend – Scalable and Affordable SendGrid Alternative
5. Brevo (Sendinblue) – All-in-one Best SendGrid Alternative
6. SparkPost (bird.com) – Faster, Smarter Email SendGrid Alternative
7. SMTP.com – SendGrid Alternatives for Trusted SMTP Service
8. PostHog Email – SendGrid Alternatives for Transactional Emails

1. Postmark – Overall Best SendGrid Alternatives

Postmark gives you what SendGrid doesn’t. See! SendGrid is powerful, but it often pushes users toward paid upgrades and gives users a complex dashboard to handle. And as far as Postmark is concerned, it takes a different approach!

Best For: Fast transactional email delivery

If speed matters to you, Postmark is really hard to beat. Password resets, order confirmations and notifications often reach inboxes in under a second. Developers, SaaS products, startups and apps sending OTP like emails benefit the most. Simply put, Postmark lets you send emails quickly.

Why it’s better than SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

Postmark	SendGrid
Free Trial: Yes (Free 100 emails per month)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $15 per month	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

2. Amazon SES – Best SendGrid Alternatives

Email tools often promise scale, but the real difference shows up when volume, free email service and control come into play. SendGrid has difficult to understand dashboards, making it clearly a bad option for newbie marketing teams that want simplicity and guided workflows. 

Best For: Cheap high-volume email sending

If you’re sending emails at bulk and don’t want your costs to increase every time volume increases, Amazon SES is the best option. You only pay for what you actually send! No upgrades required at all. It’s a great fit for startups and platforms already using AWS that need affordable email at massive volume.

Why it’s better than SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

Amazon SES	SendGrid
Free Trial: Yes (3000 messages free per month)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $0.01 per 1000 emails	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

3. Mailgun – Powerful and Reliable SendGrid Alternatives

Choosing between SendGrid and Mailgun isn’t just about sending emails, it’s actually about real inbox results. Mailgun offers good performance and scalability features for serious senders.

What really separates Mailgun from SendGrid is how it fixes gaps SendGrid users often complain about like limited validation and short-term free access.

Best For: Developers needing API-powered email

If you’re a developer who lives in APIs and really hates limitations, Mailgun is the absolutely right option. Its API-first design and deep analytics give you full control. It is good for SaaS teams and engineering-led companies for sending transactional & bulk emails.

Why it’s better than SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

Mailgun	SendGrid
Free Trial: (100 emails per day) Free Forever Plan	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $15 per month (10K emails per month)	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

4. MailerSend – Scalable and Affordable SendGrid Alternatives

Instead of positioning itself as just another email service provider, MailerSend starts from a different place! It offers a transactional email service that is simple, collaborative and reliable for real teams.

Plus, features like inbound routing, SMS APIs and built-in email verification make it more versatile than SendGrid. For users who find SendGrid powerful but restrictive, MailerSend feels easy and practical.

Best For: Startups and SMEs needing transactional + simple workflow

MailerSend is a good fit for startups and SMEs that want reliable transactional emails without overcomplicating the things. If your team includes developers and marketers and startups, apps developers (that send OTP for login from backend), MailerSend is a good option.

Why it’s better than SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

MailerSend	SendGrid
Free Trial: Yes! (500 emails per month)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $7 per 5K emails & $35 per 50K emails	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

5. Brevo (Sendinblue) – All-in-one Best SendGrid Alternatives

With Brevo, you get key capabilities (not as an AddOn) as a free by-default feature. Brevo takes a more all-in-one approach to email and customer communication. From day one, it lets you send both marketing and transactional emails without forcing you to buy premium plans, which is a common pain point with SendGrid.

It supports advanced automation, multi-channel engagement (email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat) and scalable pricing, areas where SendGrid often falls short.

Best For: Marketing + transactional in one place

It is a great fit for startups and small businesses that want to send transactional emails, run basic automation and talk to customers, all from one simple tool. If you don’t want to switch multiple platforms or pay extra just to send password resets or order updates, Brevo keeps things easy and affordable.

Why it’s better than SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

Brevo (Sendinblue)	SendGrid
Free Trial: Yes (300 emails per day)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $8.08 (100K emails per month)	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

6. SparkPost (bird.com) – Faster, Smarter Email SendGrid Alternatives

SparkPost (Acquired by MessageBird) New Name: bird.com After a careful comparison between the two, we learnt that choosing between SendGrid and SparkPost (BirdCRM) isn’t about pricing.

SparkPost’s strength lies in its analytics-first approach, giving businesses clarity that SendGrid often lacks. For businesses where inbox placement truly matters, SparkPost fills gaps that SendGrid doesn’t.

Best For: Enterprise-grade deliverability

If inbox placement is non-negotiable for you, SparkPost is the best choice. It’s built for companies sending massive volumes who need emails to land reliably, not guessing why they failed. Enterprises, SaaS platforms and fintech companies benefit most because SparkPost focuses heavily on deliverability intelligence.

Why it’s better for large-scale senders

Key Features

Pricing

SparkPost (BirdCRM)	SendGrid
Free Trial: Yes ($0 for 20 emails)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $1.5 per 1000 emails	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

7. SMTP.com – SendGrid Alternatives for Trusted SMTP Service

When it comes to sending emails at a larger scale, SMTP.com is @ the top list of SendGrid alternatives as it offers a pure infrastructure for email delivery.

This makes it especially appealing to teams that already have their own tools and simply need dependable delivery in the background. In a nutshell, we can say that SMTP serves senders who value infrastructure strength over convenience features.

Best For: Businesses wanting dedicated, stable email infrastructure

SMTP.com is a nice fit for businesses that send large volumes of important emails and can’t afford delivery issues. If you’re a SaaS company or a financial platform that needs consistency every day, SMTP.com feels like a safer long-term choice.

How it’s a Strong Alternative

Key Features

Pricing

SMTP.com	SendGrid
Free Trial: No (Request for a Demo)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: $25 per month (Get 50K emails per month)	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

---

8. PostHog Email – SendGrid Alternatives for Transactional Emails

If you think of SendGrid, you’ll picture an email engine built purely for sending huge volumes of transactional messages, with strong deliverability, dynamic templates, validation, analytics and expert support for getting your mail into inboxes reliably.

Best for: Product-led companies and analytics-based email

When you care less about “sending all emails” and more about when and why those emails should go out based on what users actually do, PostHog is the best choice. It’s perfect for product-led teams who want email actions tied directly to user events, segments and behavior, not just high-volume SMTP traffic.

Why it’s unique vs SendGrid

Key Features

Pricing

PostHog Email	SendGrid
Free Trial:  Yes! (Handle 6 Projects for free)	Free Trial: Yes (100 emails per day) for 60 days
Price: Not Transparent (Contact the Sales Team)	Price: $19.95 per month (100K emails per month)

Why Look for a SendGrid Alternative?

See! SendGrid is great for developers and high-volume transactional emails. 

But, there are many teams for whom Sendgrid is not a good option. Like for example, SendGrid is not at all good for modern marketing-driven workflows. Between the confusing interface, limited automation and outdated templates, SendGrid often feels like a wrong option. That’s why businesses, especially marketers & startups look for SendGrid alternatives that are simpler and actually user-friendly: 

So, you should look for a SendGrid Alternative:

See! We are not saying that SendGrid doesn’t work! It really is a good option, but not for newbies, but for developers and experienced users. If you want ease of use, better design, stronger automation, transparent pricing and real support, a SendGrid alternative is a good move.

What to Look for in a SendGrid Alternative?

If you’re new to email platforms, a SendGrid alternative can be a bit complex for you to understand. If that’s the case then which SendGrid alternative should you choose? There are many of them available online! Are all of them good for a newbie? No! 

See! Our goal is to help you pick the right tool from day one, so you don’t end up dealing with the same issues people face with SendGrid: like confusing dashboards, less automation, poor support service and high costs. We break things down in plain English and help you choose a platform that grows with you.

You just need to keep only these 9 things in mind when looking for the right SendGrid alternative:

High deliverability

Your emails are useless if they don’t land in the inbox! A good SendGrid alternative should have a strong sender reputation. It should also have clean IPs and smart bounce handling, so your emails actually get seen and not buried in spam. It should also actively work behind the scenes to maintain inbox placement as your sending volume grows.

API or SMTP flexibility

Let’s say you’re a simple beginner, working with developers! In that case, what you’ll require will be flexibility. The right platform should support both API and SMTP, so you can start simple and scale technically when needed. And while doing all that, you do not need to switch from one tool to another. This allows teams to work comfortably on the same platform.

Real-time analytics & logs

It’s really bad if you have to guess what’s happening with your emails. That’s why you should look for platforms that show opens, clicks, bounces, delivery logs and errors in real current time, so you can fix the issues fast and stay in control. Plus, a clear reporting feature also makes it easier to improve performance over time.

Affordable pricing for scale

Many people leave SendGrid because pricing gets messy as email sending volume grows more. A better alternative should offer clear, predictable pricing, a high number of email sending options in a free plan and affordable upgrades. Plus it should not have any limits. This helps businesses plan costs confidently as email usage increases.

Better support

When something breaks, you need help, and that too fast. A good SendGrid alternative should provide live chat, email support or even phone help, not just simple documentation. The platform should also resolve tickets quickly to avoid queues. Reliable support can make a really big difference during urgent delivery or setup issues.

More intuitive dashboards

If the dashboard feels confusing, that’s a red flag, straightaway, especially for the newbies! The best SendGrid alternative offers clean, beginner-friendly interfaces where creating campaigns, checking stats and managing contacts feels natural. A well-designed dashboard saves time and reduces the chance of mistakes.

Strong reputation management tools

Protecting your sender reputation is one of the most important factors in email marketing. Look for tools that include domain authentication, spam complaint tracking, bounce management, and IP warming guidance, without making it overly technical. These features help maintain long-term email performance without constant manual effort.

Marketing + transactional email support

Why switch between two tools? A solid SendGrid alternative lets you send transactional emails (like order updates, OTP for Login) and marketing emails (like newsletters and promos) also and that too from one platform only.

Easy template builder integration

A newbie wants pre-design templates! That’s why we’re gonna make sure that you (if you’re a newbie) do not struggle when writing an email. You should choose a platform with a modern drag-and-drop builder & ready-made templates, so your emails look great without any requirement of manual design.

Always remember! Any SendGrid alternative does not just replace SendGrid totally. It fixes what SendGrid gets wrong or doesn’t offer. If you focus on these features that we’ve mentioned above, you’ll get a platform that’s built for real growth.

FAQs

Why should I consider a SendGrid alternative?

If you’re involved in a marketing campaign, sending bulk emails to your leads to pitch your product, in that case, you should consider a SendGrid alternative as it doesn’t offer marketing email services. Plus, if you’re a newbie and have no idea how to handle complex technical dashboards, in that case too, you should look for a SendGrid alternative as well.

Which is the cheapest alternative to SendGrid?

Amazon SES, which offers 3K emails per month for free & 1000 emails @ just $0.01 only, is the cheapest alternative to SendGrid. It’s significantly cheaper than SendGrid, especially at high volumes and works on a simple pricing model. If cost is your top priority and you’re OK with a bit of setup, SES is the best choice.

What is the best alternative for transactional emails?

Postmark is one of the best alternatives for transactional services. It’s built only for transactional emails, which means faster delivery, fewer spam issues and rock-solid reliability. If email delivery rate (for email campaign) is the most important thing that you require, then in that case, Postmark is the best alternative to SendGrid.

Which alternative is best for marketing automation?

As per our detailed analysis, Brevo (Sendinblue) is the better option for marketing automation. It offers built-in marketing automation, email campaigns, SMS and workflows, and that too all under one dashboard plus, without forcing you to switch through multiple tools. 

Can I migrate from SendGrid without downtime?

Yes! You absolutely can. You can migrate from SendGrid without even a single minute of downtime. There are many SendGrid alternatives that support parallel sending, means you can switch gradually with zero downtime. Providers like Mailgun & Postmark, make migration smooth with familiar APIs and clear documentation.

Is Amazon SES better than SendGrid?

For cheap pricing and scalability, yes, Amazon SES is far better than SendGrid. Amazon SES is more stable, cheaper, simple to use and the most trusted email service provider at massive scale. While SendGrid tries to be everything, SES focuses on reliable delivery at very low cost (Just @ $0.01), which is what most startup marketing teams actually need.

Does Postmark outperform SendGrid in deliverability?

Yes! PostMark outperforms (which means, can easily beat) SendGrid when it comes to deliverability rate. Postmark delivers higher inbox placement on a consistent basis because it strictly controls senders and focuses only on transactional emails. It’s like fewer bounces, fewer spam complaints leads to better results.

Which service is easiest for beginners?

MailerSend is often considered beginner-friendly & the easiest for the newbies because its dashboard is clean and easy to navigate. New users can easily create email templates and start sending messages. The onboarding process is straightforward, and most features are explained clearly within the interface. For users who are new to email platforms and want a simple start, MailerSend can be really the best choice.

What is the most developer-friendly alternative?

As far as the developer-friendly SendGrid alternative is concerned, Mailgun is widely used by developers as it provides strong APIs, flexible configuration options and detailed technical tools. Developers can easily integrate email into applications, track message events, use webhooks and debug delivery issues through detailed logs.

Which service supports both SMS and Email?

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) supports both email and SMS within the same platform. Users can manage marketing campaigns and send transactional messages like OTP and order confirmation for multiple channels from a single dashboard. This makes it easier for teams that want to communicate with customers through more than just email.

Conclusion

After reading everything mentioned above, you must know that you’re gonna struggle hard if you sign up for SendGrid as it offers limited template customization for your marketing campaign. Marketing teams without technical support even find the interface confusing, while creative marketing may feel cringe by the lack of modern design tools.

That’s why we listed the top 8 SendGrid alternatives that offer far more value for email marketing in 2026. These alternatives of SendGrid provide modern drag-and-drop editors, richer template libraries, advanced multi-step automation, better audience segmentation and user-friendly dashboards, features that SendGrid limits. 

We hope this guide helps you find the right email service that actually fits your workflow. Don’t forget to follow our blog for more expert-researched comparisons to help you grow smarter.

Comparison Table: SendGrid vs Top Alternatives (2026)

Let’s save you from a headache! Below, we’ve lined up all the top SendGrid alternatives and compared them side-by-side on what actually matters: API support, customer support quality, deliverability and free trials. No reading detailed analysis, no time wastage at all, but learn real comparisons.

Top Alternatives	API features	Deliverability	Support quality	Free plan	Pricing
Postmark	REST API + SMTP & easy setup	High deliverability	Very strong support	100 emails per month	$15 per month
Amazon SES	API + SMTP support via AWS	Highest rate	Basic free support plan	3000 emails per month	$0.01 per 1000 emails
Mailgun	Developer-friendly REST API & Webhooks	High inbox placement	Good support, ticket system	100 emails per day	$15 per month
MailerSend	Modern API + SMTP relay & analytics	Solid deliverability	Award-winning support	500 emails per month	$7 per 5000 emails
Brevo (Sendinblue)	API + SMTP	Solid deliverability for marketing	Strong email & chat support	300 emails per day	$8.08 per 100K emails
SparkPost	REST API + SMTP	High deliverability	Good support	Upto 20 emails	$2.5 per 1000 emails
SMTP.com	SMTP API access	Good deliverability	24/7 support	No	$25 per 50K emails
PostHog Email (New)	Yes!	Depends on SMTP or ESP	Support Available	No	Contact the Sales Team